“It always makes me think.”
“The music is great!”
“Religion isn’t forced on you - it’s just there in the background.”
“You sound like you’re in my front room!”
These are just a few of the comments from listeners to The Full Breakfast, Whistling Frog Production’s lively Sunday morning show on local radio in West Yorkshire.
This award-winning programme, presented by Colin
Lowther and Yvonne Oliver, turns the usual pre-conceptions about
religious broadcasting upside-down. “The emphasis is always on entertainment,”
says Colin, “there’s no point in trying to tell our mainly un-churched audience
about the Anglican Synod’s latest pronouncements, or preach a 30 minute sermon
at them, they’d switch off straight away! And if we can’t keep our listeners,
the station won’t allow us to keep the show on the air.”
Instead The Full Breakfast plays classic hit songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s and glues it all together with some ear-catching features designed to communicate something about God’s love in bite-sized pieces. For example The Toaster Challenge where people explain why they believe in God in one minute before the toast pops up; then there are Thoughts in Shorts - humorous commercial-type reflections on recent events or moral issues.
Many listeners to the show phone Colin and Yvonne on a Sunday morning for a chat, and a handful show an interest in spiritual matters. For example, one lady called the studio after being challenged by one of the Thoughts in Shorts and had a long conversation with Colin about her life. After he put her in touch with a local church she became a Christian the following week.
The Full Breakfast can be heard every Sunday morning in West
Yorkshire on Pulse Gold from 6 till 10am on 1278
and 1530 medium wave and on DAB digital radio. You can also hear the show live
on the Internet at www.pulsegold.co.uk
Many of the Toaster Challenges and Thoughts in Shorts that appear on The Full Breakfast can be downloaded from Audiopot using the ‘Thoughts’ and ‘Faith Stories’ sections of the home page.
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