In that I officially stepped down from managing the channel following this year’s National Quartet Convention and having turned over day-to-day management a few weeks earlier … and that November 15, 2013 marks the 9th anniversary of the birthing of enLighten … allow me to again review a little of its history.
First, looking back on this year of 2013 … I feel it was a banner year in a number of ways. We aired three events live as they happened … the Absolutely Gospel Awards, which featured several top groups, from Johnny Minick’s River of Life Church in Smyrna, Tennessee, back in April, all four nights of the first annual Memphis Quartet Show in June as well as broadcasting from the 2013 National Quartet Convention all six nights. Regarding the NQC, I was pleased with how it all came together …that we had a stellar lineup of guests stop by to chat and that we were able to bring you at least one performance by each of the 48 groups and soloists who made appearances on the Main Stage in Freedom Hall, considering that NQC management restricts the amount of time enLighten is permitted to air stage performances each evening. Still, this is far more than any other broadcaster is permitted, plus enLighten was the only place to hear the nightly performances of the Memphis Show. Plus, we were privileged to bring you the emotion-filled Tracy Stuffle Benefit Concert held back in the Spring and the Awards Show from Dollywood just a few weeks ago.
And, you should know that the managements of both the NQC and the Memphis Quartet Show have already invited enLighten to be part of their 2014 events.
As I write this, not much has changed in the on-air sound. How, when and to what extent this may occur in the days or weeks ahead, I do not know … as I am no longer making such decisions, even though my voice continues to be heard on the air.
It was not easy for me to give up the management of this channel … which has become the single most powerful voice in and for Southern Gospel music and communicating the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through this music. However, as the Lord called me to this role of shepherding the channel back in 2004 when XM management had no plans to hire anyone … earlier this year I began to feel the Holy Spirit saying, “Marlin, it’s coming time to prepare for handing over the reins to someone younger, who possibly will bring a new perspective that will take it to even greater heights in spreading the message of Christian love across all of North America.
The history . . .
Yes, this “all Southern Gospel, all the time” channel had its humble beginnings when, in an attempt to satisfy the hundreds of XM satellite subscribers who were requesting a channel devoted to the genre, it was included as an Internet-only channel when the XM Radio OnLine service was launched on November 15th, 2004.
And, I feel that saying, “you’ve come a long way, Baby” is fitting to this situation. When it was announced that this channel would be launched, we had less than 30 days to prepare and a minimal amount of appropriate music in hand. After a little research into who was who and what was what, I was able to reach out to Jim Stover at Crossroads Music and Rhonda Thompson at Daywind Records and two others whose names escape me. Each sent us a box of 30 CD’s which we simply dumped into the giant XM “digital music tub” to create a library to play from … and we were off and running.
While I admit we were not awfully good musically and it did not satisfy many because we were not on a satellite channel, enLighten did pick up enough of a following that when, one year later, XM’s music channels were being added to DirecTV’s lineup on November 15th, 2005 . . . enLighten was included.
All along the way there’s been reasons for rejoicing as, looking back, one could see the Lord’s hand at work … as five months later, at Midnight on Easter Sunday night 2006, enLighten became one of XM Radio’s 69 commercial-free music channels! When XM did a survey of subscribers a few months later, their decision to include the channel in the satellite lineup was dramatically confirmed by the numbers of you found to be listening to XM Channel 34 … so much so that in early 2007, at a company-wide gathering of employees, enLighten was declared to be the “XM programming success story of 2006!”
And then … on its 4th anniversary in 2008, the merger of XM and Sirius channels was completed … with enLighten becoming available to all Sirius radio subscribers as well. When you add in all those listening in Canada via SiriusXM Canada … you can understand why enLighten without question is “Southern Gospel radio for all of North America!” However, without every one of you … the well over an estimated 300,000 or more of you who listen regularly … much of this would be meaningless, as you are our reason and purpose for being.
In His precious love,
Marlin
“This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!”
Psalm 118:24
