Father Francis Hoffman, executive director and CEO of Relevant Radio, and better known as “Father Rocky,” has been heard on Relevant Radio programs for nearly 20 years. He’s never found anything as effective for evangelization than the radio, he said.
Relevant Radio conducts a listener survey every two years, he said, and “we found out very consistently, 20% of the people responding say that something they heard on the air moved them to come back to Sunday Mass,” and 43% returned to confession. Eighty-four percent of those responding said something they heard on air moved them to pray more, he said.
Father Francis Hoffman (Father Rocky)
“This is hugely impactful, hugely effective,” Father Rocky said. He and Karin Freihammer, Relevant Radio’s director of development, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss the station’s Christ Brings Hope Banquet and fundraiser in the Twin Cities Sept. 15, where Father Rocky and other on-air talent will participate.
The event supports Relevant Radio not only in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, but to help expand into new markets, Freihammer said. “Help us with our mission to get into more markets, to continue to evangelize and to help Catholic schools continue their mission of evangelization,” she said. The past year, Relevant Radio expanded into Baltimore and Seattle. “A few years ago, we went into 14 other cities,” Father Rocky said. “And we want to continue that pace.”
An anonymous donor is offering a $300,000 match for donations to tuition aid supporting schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Freihammer mentioned the joy donors experience in being part of something that’s really helping to build a new culture of life, of hope, of joy, through the media, influencing people to overcome evil by doing good, sowing seeds of joy and hope in the world that are desperately needed. “We’re in this together to make a difference in the world,” she said.
Father Rocky mentioned the four bishops on Relevant Radio’s board and 25 bishops and cardinals on its Episcopal Advisory Council. “So, this is something that is greatly supported and promoted by the Church,” he said. “But the Church is everyone. It’s not just the priests and the religious and the bishops, but we need everybody to do their part.”
Karin Freihammer
To register for the Christ Brings Hope event, visit relevantradio.com and click on the events tab. Or email [email protected].
To hear the full interview, turn on the 9 p.m. Aug. 26 “Practicing Catholic” show, which repeats at 1 p.m. Aug. 27 and 2 p.m. Aug. 28 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Peter DeMarais, regional director for St. Paul’s Outreach; and a reprised interview with Catholic Beer Club coordinators Tim Cahill and Nestor Arguello, who share how making friends with other young adults doesn’t have to be so difficult.???
Listen to their interviews after they have aired at:
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