New Anglican radio station brings church to Iqaluit homes
Initiative helping church get through post-pandemic ‘recovery mode,’ says Rev. Abraham Kublu
Rev. Abraham Kublu sits in the broadcast room next to the altar at St. Jude’s Anglican Cathedral in Iqaluit. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
The Iqaluit Anglican church has broadened its outreach to the radio waves by launching a new radio station.
The test broadcast of 98.3 CIJC-FM happened around lunchtime on Sept. 9, after Rev. Abraham Kublu and Archdeacon Alexander Pryor installed recording and broadcasting equipment in small rooms on both sides of the altar at St. Jude’s Anglican Cathedral in Iqaluit.
Since then, the station has been providing live broadcasts of three Sunday services at the cathedral — one in English and two in Inuktitut.
During the week, it airs gospel songs and hymns, many of which were recorded by Kublu in the 10 years he spent as part of the Arctic Diocese in Pond Inlet, Arviat and Iqaluit.
The creation of the new station was initiated by the former dean of the cathedral, Rev. Chris Dow.
He got funding for the project from St. Paul’s Bloor Street church in Toronto. The broadcast equipment, antenna, computer and radio licence cost around $15,000, according to the Diocese of the Arctic’s Facebook page.
During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, the Anglican Church used local radio to provide an “alternative service” to the communities, Kublu said.
He spoke on the radio in Pond Inlet and Rev. Ann Martha Keenainak, who now serves alongside Kublu in Iqaluit, preached on radio waves in Pangnirtung.
Now they have decided to continue this practice by creating 98.3 CIJC-FM.
“It was a learning process for me,” Kublu said. “I never thought the tools that I gained in Pond Inlet will be used here as well.”
But church-going spirituality is still in “recovery mode,” he said. Before the pandemic, his church had from 100 to 200 people coming to Sunday service. Now, that number is somewhere between 40 and 60 on average.
The new station is an attempt to increase the church’s outreach in post-pandemic Iqaluit and it seems to be working.
“Since we started airing, I have noticed that we are seeing new faces on Sunday services,” he said.
As of now, the broadcast is only available in Iqaluit and on the land around the city. Kublu hopes that sometime in 2025, they will be able to launch online livestreams of the broadcast so people across the territory can listen to it.
Bring bingo
Lmfao
The exact opposite of what we need. Do we want decolonisation or not?
I WANNA (christian) ROCK !!!!!!!!!
We want bingo
Decolonize bingo!
Congrats on getting it off the ground.
I think this will be a welcome service. Look forward to seeing the station go online.
It be great if you start broadcasting online. I wanna listen too .
I’ll make sure I listen when I’m there!
I’ll be the only positive comment i guess… i like this idea!
Congratulations Rev. Abraham Kublu (and to your missus) – on your ministry, your dedication and your initiative.
an old friend from Tuesday evening