In these days of shock jocks and Federal Communications Commission fines, it's becoming harder and harder to tune in a radio station that doesn't include off-color commentary.

But some local listeners never have to reach for the dial to turn off something their children shouldn't hear. That's because they have tuned in to one of the area's newest local radio stations, based in Sarver and operated by Evangel Heights Assembly of God church in Buffalo Township

WAVL-Praise 910 AM has been solely owned and operated by the church since for the past three years. The station broadcasts a Christian contemporary format from the Christian Hit Radio Network in Nashville, Tenn.

"It is our desire to minister to the community and one of the ways we can do that is thorough Christian music - positive, uplifting music," said the Rev. Jeff Bogaczyk, associate pastor at Evangel Heights.

Along with his ministry duties at the church, Bogaczyk also serves as the station's manager.

"We believe it's a ministry," he said. "We believe it's good for people to listen to Christian music. Statistics say that people who listen to Christian music say they feel more in touch with God, that it helps their spiritual life through the day."

"The nice thing about our station is that it is completely family friendly. You're never going to turn on our station and hear something that you don't want to hear, that you don't want your kids to hear."

Bogaczyk said his wife, Lisa, listens to the station with their three children.

Andie Mitchell of West View is another parent who listens to the station.

"I found it when (the station) was fairly new," Mitchell said,.

She and her husband, Greg, listen to WAVL each morning before leaving for the day.

"I like that they play contemporary Christian music," Mitchell said. "There is no other station around that does. It's helpful to focus your attention on God and not on some of those lyrics from the other radio stations."

"I like to have it on for our kids to listen to. They really do walk around the house singing the Christian songs that they hear on the radio."

Although Bogaczyk said the church congregation is very supportive of the radio ministry, it is kept separate from the church.

"Our radio station is for everybody," he said. "It is not an Assemblies of God station. It is not an advertisement for our church.

"We bought the radio station as a ministry to all people of all faiths."

The radio ministry has its seeds in a program launched in 1990 by Evangel Heights pastor John Kuert. One of the goals of Kuert's Vision 2000 program was for the church to launch a radio ministry. At the time, the church had neither a radio station nor a radio program.

"Time had gone on and he (Kuert) had gone to a seminar and was praying when this vision came back to him," Bogaczyk said. "When he returned from the trip, the first letter on the top of his desk was from a church member who had contact with the previous owner of the station."

The owner wanted to sell the station, then based in Apollo, but he wanted the station to remain a Christian format.

Taking this as confirmation the plan for a radio ministry should move forward, the congregation voted to purchase the station and move its broadcasting offices to Sarver. The station's tower remains in Apollo.

However, the station is expecting to receive a new tower under a recent agreement to swap frequencies with WPTT-1360 AM, owned by Renda Broadcasting.

The deal would improve coverage areas for WAVL, Bogaczyk said, because Renda has agreed to construct a new tower.

The location of the new tower will likely remain somewhere in Westmoreland County, Bogaczyk said, because the station is still licensed in Apollo.

Renda Broadcasting recently received FCC approval for its part in the frequency swap. Bogaczyk said WAVL's application is pending with the FCC.

WAVL is currently operating at 5,000 watts during the day. It can be heard as far away as Somerset and reaches in to most Pittsburgh metro and suburban areas.

Bogaczyk said there are some lapses of coverage south of Pittsburgh, but that coverage should be helped by the new tower and frequency switch.

When first acquired, the station was broadcasting an old-time gospel format. The station's former program manager switched formats to Christian contemporary, the fastest-growing format in the country.

Bogaczyk said the station has been making strides in listenership since the new format took effect, although the station doesn't subscribe to ratings services.

The audience is estimated by call-ins to the station and by word-of-mouth feedback. WAVL-Praise 910 has also been promoted at a number of area concerts featuring contemporary Christian performers, most recently on the "Still the Cross" tour by FFH, along with Matthew West, at Northway Christian Church in Wexford.

"The phone was ringing off the hook," said WAVL secretary Sheila Jacobs of the station's ticket giveaway for the concert. "It was great because the word is getting out."