After losing their principal donor this fall, the First Radio Parish Church of America (FRPCA) may not be able to raise enough funds to pay their bills. As a result, the churches morning religious program, “Daily Devotions,” may be forced to go off-air.
WCSH 6 and WLBZ 2 both donate the air time and production staff to broadcast the short homilies delivered every morning by Rev. Peter Panagore, of Ocean Point. Daily Devotions broadcasts over 700 programs per year for television.
“We are unique in using stories to teach messages of faith,” Panagore said. “We strive to find the sacred within the secular.”
“Daily Devotions,” is heard on a half dozen local radio stations. American service men and women serving around the world can also hear the program on the American Forces Radio Network. Panagore delivers more than 102 programs per year on the radio.
“It means a lot to me to try and bring the soldiers a little piece of home,” Panagore said. “Folks here need to recognize our soldiers are out there; try to care for them, and make sure they’re not forgotten.”
The First Radio Parish Church went on-air April 18, 1926, according to their website (www.dailydevotions.org). Panagore is the church’s fifth minister. He joined the program in Aug. 2003.
When Panagore took the position, he had no idea how much his role would involve fundraising, he said. He was concerned when the church’s Board of Trustees asked him to try and raise funds from audience members this fall.
According to Panagore, for the past two years, the church has relied on a principal donor for half of their annual funding. That donor has been forced to reduce, and finally this fall, cut off his support of the church, due to illness and impacts from the recent economic downturn.
“It is completely understandable that our donor had to pull back his support, but that is one of the dangers of relying on a principal donor,” said Panagore. “If that donor withdraws the funds, for whatever reason, it becomes difficult to recoup those funds.”
The principal donor was helping the church transition to a larger group of donors. The church was not able to finish that transition before the donor’s health problems escalated to a point he had to withdraw his funding.
Panagore said his predecessor, Rev. Dr. David Glusker, established an endowment worth several hundred thousand dollars, but that has been depleted during the past half decade to cover expenses during times of financial hardship for the church.
Discussing the church’s extensive search for grant funding. Panagore said that most non-profit organizations separate church and state, therefore, the First Radio Parish is often ineligible to receive funds from those sources.
The two television stations, WCSH 6 and WLBZ 2, donate all production equipment and staff to create the short program segments. They also provide the broadcast time free of charge.
“Channel Six is generous to provide us with the production equipment and staff, as well as the studio space,” Panagore said. “They give us everything we need for broadcasting, but they can’t help us pay our bills.”
The radio stations also provide the First Radio Parish with free airtime, but the church must pay for the materials to produce the radio programs. Those airtime donations would amount to more than $1 million per year if they had to pay for it, according to Panagore.
He said the church is left to pay for things like insurance, salaries, office supplies and other sundries. Those expenses only add up to about $120,000 per year, but that means they must try and recoup almost $60,000.
All told, the First Radio Parish Church produces more than a million dollars worth of programming for just over $100,000 each year, according to Panagore.
Never before in the church’s 82-year history has a minister requested funds on the program from the audience. This month Panagore was forced to go on-air asking for donations from viewers to keep the program alive, he said.
Asking for money makes him uncomfortable, Panagore said. He realizes that as the fifth minister of this parish, the organization is much bigger than himself. He explained it is his duty to help it survive.
Panagore wrote and taped five segments requesting funds from viewers to run this month. The two television stations will only allow them to solicit funds during December and April, months when there are no sweeps, he said.
At first, due to the great need of the church, Panagore said he thought of asking for $10 per month from viewers. In light of the difficult economic times, he was afraid it might be too much for some people to afford. He decided to request just $1 per month or $12 per year.
“If 10 percent of our viewing and listening audience gave at that level we would be okay,” said Panagore. “With the 100,000 daily television viewers daily, and 1 million listeners each week between local radio and the Armed Forces network, we have more than 1.4 million listeners weekly.”
Three years ago, the First Radio Parish worked with Maine Bank & Trust to allow supporters of the program to donate on the Daily Devotions website. Panagore described starting with just two online donors, which grew to 30 individuals in November, and an amazing 230 people by Dec. 22.
Online there is a large group of e-mails sent in by viewers with accolades for the program, the church and Rev. Panagore. He explained those are just e-mails, the church receives another huge stack of paper letters as well.
One online donor has offered to match donations each month for the next year up to $2000 per month. “I have hope that we will actually make it,” Panagore said. “We need to recover 40 percent of funds now, but with the match donation we only need to fill the remaining 20 percent gap.”
He explained the church is ecumenical within Christianity. Previous ministers have followed the Congregational, Methodist, and Episcopal faiths. Rabbi Harry Sky is on the FRPCA on Board of Trustees, who Panagore describes as the grandfather pre-eminent Rabbi in Maine, whom everyone looks us to.
Panagore had been a Congregationalist minister after graduating from Yale with a Masters in Divinity. He received his undergraduate degree in English from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
Panagore was raised Catholic and Greek Orthodox, and ordained United Church of Christ. He was pastor at the Boothbay Harbor Second Congregational Church before coming to the First Radio Parish. He describes himself as deeply spiritual.
“I believe in standing shoulder to shoulder with other faiths, and building bridges not walls,” he said. “We live in a pluralistic society now. It is nice to know who our neighbors are and compare our similarities and differences.”
He said the program could really benefit people now, in these difficult times, when they need hope and inspiration to help keep their heads above water. He uses myth and symbol in his stories, because it helps people adjust the lenses through which they view the world.
“I’ve always felt my faith very strongly,” he said. “I want to open people’s minds and hearts to the world beyond ours.”
Panagore thinks one of the purposes of the First Radio Parish Church is to help people move towards the center from the extremes. He puts a focus on recognizing and respecting different perspectives. He believes people are not really that far apart, and most find themselves somewhere in the middle of the spectrum on most issues.
“Sometimes I wonder whether it is just time for us to go away like the Grange system or the Eastern Star,” he said. “I am okay with the idea if that is the case. God and people willing, we will stay on the air.”
Panagore said he would know after the beginning of the year whether the church and programs will survive for another year.
