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From that humble beginning, the Lord saw fit to bless and prosper the program. Those who participated in that first broadcast included a mixed trio with Don Shoff, Fern Keur and Lorraine Wikell, choir director Don DeVos, announcer/producer/soloist Marvin Matson, narrator Torrey Johnson, and the organist, Mrs.
It was probably Don DeVos who then mentioned that the same title might also be used as the name of the program, recalling the Scripture in Job 35:10, “But none saith, Where is my maker, who giveth songs in the night.” With that, it was decided to go ahead with the program.Īnd so, on Sunday evening, June 6, 1943, at 10:15pm, over WCFL, Chicago, Songs in the Night went on the air. In that discussion, Corny Keur suggested a song written by Wendell Loveless entitled “Songs in the Night,” for use as a theme. Later, a meeting was called which included Pastor Johnson, Bill Ernie, Don DeVos, Corny Keur and Marvin Matson. So when Pastor Torrey Johnson of the Midwest Bible Church considered enlarging their radio ministry to include an evening broadcast, Midwest’s music director, Marvin Matson, suggested a format similar to “The Back Home Hour” since he had participated on that earlier program. At that time Pastor Rader had led a Sunday evening program called “The Back Home Hour.” Because he felt that people had been “preached to” all day on Sunday, his philosophy called for a program with a relaxed and conversational home-like atmosphere. Yet the basic concept of the program actually originated back in the 1920s with Paul Rader, a former pastor of The Moody Church. Songs in the Night came into being in the spring of 1943 at the Midwest Bible Church of Chicago. 50 Years of Songs in the Night Article written in 1993