Paul Rader and the Radio Pulpit

On June 17, 1922, in Chicago, evangelist Paul Rader stepped into the new world of radio and delivered the first of many broadcasts used to publicize his evangelistic meetings, reportedly airing over station KYW. In an era when “wireless” felt like science fiction, Rader treated it as a providential doorway. He believed the message of Christ belonged not only in sanctuaries, but also in ordinary places where people actually lived—apartments, boarding houses, factories after a shift, and rooms where sickness or grief kept listeners away from public worship.

Rader’s courage was a quiet kind of heroism: the willingness to be early, to be misunderstood, and to bear criticism for using unfamiliar tools. He did not preach radio as a novelty; he preached Christ as Lord, trusting that the Spirit could pierce distance as easily as a sermon carried across a crowded hall.

Chicago, KYW, and the “Wireless” Age

Chicago in the early 1920s was fast, loud, and hungry—an industrial city with immigrants, travelers, the poor, and the prosperous pressed together. Radio signals, newly riding the air, could leap over neighborhoods and social boundaries in seconds. KYW, then associated with Westinghouse broadcasting, represented the cutting edge of mass communication. Rader’s broadcasts helped publicize meetings, but they also served as a kind of traveling evangelism without a train ticket: the preacher stayed put while the Word went out.

This use of radio echoed the apostolic impulse to carry good news beyond familiar circles: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

Legacy for Gospel Witness

Rader’s example encouraged believers to use emerging tools with courage, clarity, and confidence that God’s Word is not bound. Radio could enter homes where a pastor might never be welcomed, and it could reach the lonely listener who would never raise a hand or walk an aisle. Even when opposition or hardship came, the principle remained: “But the word of God cannot be chained!” (2 Timothy 2:9)

His broadcasts stand as an early reminder that methods may change, but the mission does not: love people enough to meet them where they are, and speak the gospel plainly, expecting God to work.