Set the Sails

After months of deliberating, praying and contemplation I have resigned from Ignite 107. I was becoming too bitter about the inner workings of the station and it was affecting the rest of my life. A negative emotion poison that was seeping into my general consciousness. I haven't been happy there for a long time, but it had reached a whole new level. But, I do care about the station and the roll I feel it should be playing, so I spent a little over a week writing, restarting and altering my letter of resignation. The first drafts were rather angry and accusing upon rereading, but I eventually ended up with this:

Ignite 107/Goldenwest Radio,

I have been with the station for almost a year now. It has been a beneficial experience and I feel that I have grown as a result of my time here. However, I feel that at this time Ignite is no longer a good fit for me, nor I the best person for the position. You need a person that can share in your vision for the station and has a passion for radio. So at this time I am hereby giving my two weeks notice.

Ignite walks a tricky path. In representing yourself as “Christian” Ignite has placed a responsibility and standard upon itself that is difficult to follow. Your intentions are to minister to people but must still consider the bottom line. I pray that God will bless the station and help it grow into a prosperous business that can represent Christ well and be a support to the listeners.

In my first meeting at Ignite I was told, “we are not going to change the world.” This has stuck with me and bothered me immensely. That is exactly what Ignite should be doing. I am beginning to see this view surface. Take more risks, push more envelopes, be willing to make people uncomfortable or the station will slowly die.

I would like to encourage the station especially in moving the power over the playlist to Kyle. The people on the front lines should be the ones making the music decisions. All the on-airs have a passion for the music and have a vision as to how Ignite can best thrive. Let passion be the driving force. I also encourage you to look beyond CCM. In my experience CCM is a bad system. It draws moral and spiritual safety lines based on distributers, and labels. There are amazing Christian musicians with artistic merit and deep spiritual messages that are not distributed by the easy channels. Reliance on the charts and mainline distribution will create stagnancy and stump the stations possible effectiveness. God is the ultimate creator, let the music on the station be a celebration of that and worship to Him.

In all your actions with staff and the community let the love of Jesus permeate completely. Do not be a business filling a market niche, be a Christ intentioned business.

I will continue to hope for Gods will to be done in the future of both Ignite and CHVN.

Joel Schwab

Hopefully this is a step back to take two steps forward. I don't have any real work lined up yet, but I'm trusting that God has something for me. Regardless of work (or worklessness) I feel energized, empowered and inspired. Being free of the poison alone makes it worth it.