Clarke Lauffer spreads the Word of God at his chapel and on GraceFM. DISCOVER FAITH GRACEFUL OUTREACH Pastor expanding Christian message in Westmoreland County BY MARK SOROKA PHOTO: MARK SOROKA CLARKE LAUFFER HAS A PASSION for telling people about the Word of God. That is the reason he became a pastor for the Calvary Chapel in the mid-1990s. And that’s why he decided to launch GraceFM — western Pennsyl-vania’s newest Christian radio station. “About 15 years ago, our church had a prayer and a vision,” said Lauffer, senior pastor of the Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland County, a non-denomi-national church in Greensburg that has more than 300 periodic participants. “We asked, ‘What if we could offer true Biblical teaching, 24 hours a day, seven days a week?’ Through the grace of God, that’s exactly what we have today: a radio station that brings hope and a positive influence to the lives of thou-sands of people.” GraceFM, also known as WJLW (Jesus the Living Water), is broadcast 24/7 on 100.3 FM, 97.9 FM and GraceRadio.FM, an online streaming radio station that reaches listeners around the world. Each day, GraceFM features a full schedule of Bible teaching, sermons and inspirational Christian music. “We try to appeal to a variety of listeners by providing a diverse mix of programming,” said Lauffer. He added that GraceFM is a way to reach out to people who may be unable to attend church or someone who is just starting to explore the Christian faith. “Many years ago, I attended a pastor’s conference that featured Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement,” said Lauffer. “Chuck said that the best way to communicate the Gospel to the world was through radio. And that made a lot of sense. If you can get on the radio, you have the potential to broadcast the good news to thou-sands of people, many of whom you may not personally meet on this side of heaven.” GraceFM’s genesis was a long, ardu-ous process. But Lauffer’s dream finally became a reality, thanks to faith, perse-verance and good timing. “We had to jump through a lot of hoops to start our radio station,” Lauffer recalls. “First, we had to wait until the FCC opened up a filing win-dow for a low-power FM radio station in the area. Then we had to find a tower site that would provide the best cover-age for Westmoreland County. We also needed financial support to buy the proper equipment. Fortunately, we got a lot of help, from experienced techni-cians to generous benefactors.” After years of preparation, GraceFM was finally launched on 100.3 FM on March 17, 2015. The first broadcast was an emotional experience for Lauffer and his congregation. “The first night we went on the air brought tears to my eyes,” said Lauffer, who serves as president of WJLW. “All the pieces came together, even though the path was daunting. God made all of this possible.” GraceFM is broadcast daily from a small basement room at the Calvary Cha-pel of Westmoreland County. Most of the programming is pre-recorded and edited, including “Living Waters of Grace,” a 30-minute program hosted by Lauffer. “My program comes on at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. each day and in-cludes expositional teachings from my Sunday sermons,” said Lauffer, who is 30 | Discover Westmoreland 2016
SSM_X001XXC07312016_Discover Westmoreland
To see the actual publication please follow the link above