Gospel Program

Jerry T. Hardison, Sr. began his career in radio broadcasting in the late seventies with a prerecorded ministry program on Radio Station WBSC in Bennettsville, South Carolina.  Because of his love for gospel music, he approached Michael Orr, who at that time was the owner of WCRE Radio Station with a request to have a Sunday morning Gospel Program. Michael Orr agreed and gave Jerry a 30-minute program on Sunday morning following Robert L. McCall’s Chariot Wheel Gospel Program which aired on Sunday mornings at 6:00 am until 9:00 am.

The first program was aired in the fall of 1980 and was named The Emmanuel Gospel Program.  In the studio was Jerry standing on one side of the control board with a floor stand microphone and a young lady working the control board.  This was done because Jerry at this time had not learned to operate the control board.  The first program turned out quite well with Jerry selecting the music to be played and talking to encourage his listeners to attend a church service.  One of the outstanding features of this gospel program was offering prayer to each listeners who only had to call in.

The 30-minute program soon grew to an hour long program and eventually it evolved into a two-hour program.  At this time Jerry had progressed and learned how to operate the control board and to make recorded commercials.  

Today, the Emmanuel Gospel Program has grown to five hours on Sunday morning with hundreds of names on the prayer list. The program also consists of birthday requests, church and funeral announcements, and much encouragement to every listener.  Since the introduction of ITunes and Facebook, the program has now expanded its outreach and is reaching many cities and states across the United States.