WJTL History
We still have people come up to us and tell us that they were praying for a station like WJTL 5 years On August 28, 1984 WJTL came in to being. Lancaster's first all Contemporary Christian Radio Station became a reality, pumping out continuous CCM 18 hours a day.The station's previous roots had been in a mix of Southern Gospel/Inspirational music and teaching under the call letters WPTG. The station's ownership at the time, Joy Public Broadcasting, felt it was time for a switch and WJTL has been on the cutting edge of Contemporary christian Radio ever since. Former pop powerhouse station FM97 DJ's Eric Lee and Chris Silver held down the first weekday on air positions along with Ben Krothe. The on-air staff in those early days of 1984 also included Bill Neff and John Shirk (both holdovers from the WPTG days) and Fred McNaughton. WJTL's first station manager was the one and only Paul K. Logsdon who added managing the new station to his other duties of booking CCM acts such as Glad, Daybreak and Morgan Cryar. Paul was the perfect choice for the fledgling enterprise because of his strong ties to Contemporary Christian Music which included being a past President of the fellowship of Contemporary Christian Musicians, Vice President of GMA and sitting on the board of the Creation Festival and Creation Concerts.
December 1990, Joy Public Broadcasting sold WJTL to local non-profit organization Creative Ministries Inc. Creative Ministries had been active in local ministry via Creation Concerts and the Creation Festival. Creative Ministries began pro In 1995 WJTL executed one of its most popular on air events -The Top 500 Countdown. Listeners were encouraged to mail in their top five favorite Christian songs of all time. The votes were tabulated and WJTL played the top 500 back in order, in its entirety. Other favorite contest and on-air events have included, the Creation Survival Kit, Tag Team DJ's, and All Request Days. The DJ'seven had their spouses and relatives in a couple of times as co-hosts. In 1992 WJTL began plans for a power increase. Approval was granted by the FCC in December of 1992. No one would have guessed the long road ahead. During the Spring of 1993 WJTL linked up with Lancaster County Wide Communications who was also looking to build a tower in the Ironville area. After much red tape and delays the tower was constructed during the late summer of 1996. On October 26, 1996 WJTL announced that we had increased the power from 4500 to 12,000 watts. Now WJTL is able to be heard throughout Lancaster,York, Harrisburg, Lebanon and most of Central Pennsylvania. WJTL can now be heard worldwide with listeners regularly emailing from Hong Kong, Thailand, Sweden, Argentina and many other locations giving thanks for the taste of home and the Best Mix of Christian Music. WJTL is a listener supported, non-commercial radio station. WJTL plays the Best Mix of Contemporary Christian Music featuring Newsboys,Michael W. Smith, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, and much more. WJTL's goals are to Glorify God, encourage believers and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please pray for us. Also, I want to give you this opportunity to financially invest in the ministry of WJTL. Please check out the finances section of our web page for more information. Thanks for visiting. Stop by again.
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before it came into existence.That's where WJTL was born; in prayer meeting and bible studies throughout the Susquehanna Valley. The area had already been exposed to the new art form of Jesus Music and then Contemporary Christian Music through the yeoman efforts of Creation Concerts (1973) and the Creation Festival (1979).
WJTL went 24 hours in March of 1985 with Fred McNaughton holding down the overnight flight. The first Wake N Shake show with host Bill Neff also debuted at that time. In December of '85WJTL went stereo. The first song played, as voted by the listeners was Servant's "We Are The Light". Big happenings in those early days included a sold out skate night at Overlook Roller Rink with thousands having to be turned away and the Steve Taylor Meltdown Video Contest. Billed as "The Ultimate Video" a JTL listener won the chance to make their own Meltdown video with help from Steve and Some Band. The video was filmed prior to Steve's concert at Elizabethtown College.
moting Christian concerts in Central PA in 1973, first under the name Jesus Music Series and eventually Creation Concerts. Creative Ministries took over the management of the station and immediately instituted a Stewardship Committee made up of local Christian Businessmen. The stewardship committee was instituted to insure financial integrity during a time when many Christian ministries were falling under tough scrutiny.