Keith, Executive Radio Producer
You may not recognize his face, but any listener of In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley will immediately pick up on the voice of Keith, our announcer on the program. But that’s only one small part of his role in the Radio Department at the ministry. While the finished project is smooth and seamless, much work goes into creating each episode that features Dr. Stanley’s sermons. And Keith monitors that progress from start to finish.
“That’s satisfying and gratifying—to know that the Holy Spirit works in whatever language, whatever culture, whatever geographic place on the globe.”
“Editing is removing barriers to distraction,” Keith said. Whenever Dr. Stanley involved a visual reference when he preached, that illustration would need to be considered for radio—will it come across to the listener? Additionally, Sunday sermons were trimmed to fit the time allotted for the broadcast. There were many steps, including several rounds of working through transcriptions; putting the program together in an editing suite; and getting the files prepared for radio stations.
About five years ago, the decision was made to digitize all of Dr. Stanley’s sermon transcriptions—a hefty task given the decades of paper stored in numerous filing cabinets. Though inevitable in a technologically advanced time, the move proved fortuitous when the staff had to begin working from home at the start of the pandemic.
Like many of the employees at In Touch, it can be difficult for Keith to step back and see the overall fruit of his labor. Yet the Lord gifted him with one special moment years ago as he was waiting for his daughter to get out of an Awana Bible study. It was a pleasant fall evening, and all the vehicles in the carpool line had their windows down. As Keith inched forward, he heard a familiar voice coming from the next car over. Someone he didn’t know was listening to Dr. Stanley on the radio.
The moment pulled him out of the day-to-day aspects of his job and reminded him that there are people all over the world hearing the gospel because of In Touch. “That’s satisfying and gratifying—to know that the Holy Spirit works in whatever language, whatever culture, whatever geographic place on the globe,” he said. “He’s using Dr. Stanley’s sermons, and He’s letting us be part of getting that into people’s heads and into their hearts.”
