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WGTS 91.9's History Timeline

For 60 years WGTS 91.9 has served Washington, D.C., and shared Christ. See a timeline of their history here.

1957
WGTS is the first non-commercial radio station to start operating in the Washington, D.C., area.

1960
The station’s power increases from 10 watts to 10,000 watts, and another power increase is completed in the mid-1960s.

1966
WGTS is the first non-commercial radio station to broadcast in stereo in Washington, D.C.

1972
Don Martin, WAU alumnus and current board member, becomes the first full-time manager of the station.

1982
The station starts broadcasting 18 hours a day.

WGTS 91.9 Celebrates 60 Years of Service

The WGTS 91.9 staff and volunteers from the community celebrate a successful 2017 fall fundraiser that yielded more than $1.2 million.

Story by WGTS Staff

On May 8, 1957, in the basement of the men’s dormitory on the campus of then Washington Missionary College, WGTS 91.9 started broadcasting on a 10-watt transmitter, covering a scant square mile in Takoma Park, Md.

The call letters—WGTS—echoed the college’s motto “Gateway to Service.” 

WGTS 91.9 Celebra 60 Años de Servicio

The WGTS 91.9 staff and volunteers from the community celebrate a successful 2017 fall fundraiser that yielded more than $1.2 million.

Historia de Personal de WGTS

El 8 de mayo de 1957, en el sótano del hogar de varones en el campus del entonces Colegio Misionero de Washington, WGTS 91.9 comenzó a emitir en un transmisor de 10 vatios, cubriendo apenas una milla cuadrada en Takoma Park, Md. 

Las letras—WGTS—se hicieron eco del lema de la universidad “Gateway to Service”. 

Local Conferences Plant 50 Churches, Embrace Evangelism

Members of Potomac’s Living Hope church in Haymarket, Va., provide massages and distribute literature and register 100 people for health seminars and Bible studies at the Town of Haymarket’s 2017 Parade.

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

In 2016 conferences within the Columbia Union territory started 50 new church plants, the most in the North American Division (NAD) that year. To make this possible, the union provided $67,500, and solicited $250,000 from the NAD and General Conference, reports Frank Bondurant, vice president for Ministries Development.

Potomac Conference Celebrates 215 Baptisms

Story by Visitor Staff

Members from 30 Hispanic churches across the Potomac Conference recently gathered at the Southern Asian church in Silver Spring, Md., to celebrate 215 baptisms during “Pentecostes Now.” Thirty evangelists, led by Pastor Abel Pacheco, president of the Salvadoran Union, joined Potomac pastors to preach during 30 series across the conference and visit attendees in their homes.

The pastors who conducted the meetings each shared testimonies and reports from the event. The 215 baptisms are part of the 2,498 that have taken place in Columbia Union Hispanic churches in 2017. Members from around the union will gather to celebrate these evangelism efforts at Vivangelismo 2017, December 8 -10 in Ocean City, Md.

November 2017 Editorial: I've Been There

Editorial by Josh Voigt

Addict. It’s a word we don’t like to use to describe ourselves. But at age 17, I was addicted to alcohol and cigarettes, and a user of marijuana, PCP (Phencyclidine) and other drugs.

I cannot place blame for my poor decisions on my parents or upbringing, as I was raised in a loving Seventh-day Adventist home. I became addicted through peer pressure and my inability to say no. I wanted friends to like me, and never wanted to look like I was too afraid to try something. 

On the Front Lines

Photo of Norman Carter by Kevin Cameron

Story by Tamaria L. Kulemeka

Norman Carter, a member of Allegheny West Conference’s Temple Emmanuel in Youngstown, Ohio, is also on the frontlines of the drug crisis. 

“[The opioid crisis] is a beast that’s been unleashed. … In order to stop it, you have to stop drugs, and we know that is not going to happen. I think that all we can do is be prepared to provide services to those in need,” says Carter, who kicked his crack cocaine habit nearly eight years ago, and three years ago founded the Carter House, a transitional residential program in Youngstown. 

In the Trenches

Photo of Darcel Harris by Kelly Butler Coe

Story by Tamaria L. Kulemeka

Darcel Harris is thankful for the success her 12-step group, patterned after the Regeneration model, has experienced for nearly three decades. Harris, a middle school Language Arts teacher, psychology professor and author in Westminster, Md., says the group grew out of Chesapeake Conference’s Westminster (Md.) church, where she is a member. Today they meet every Friday night and during a branch Sabbath School service called True Vine. They also operate a non-profit called Grow, which enables them to provide resources and minister to the needs of homeless people, drug addicts and the less fortunate in the community.