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Ocean Shores radio board will seek legal review before selling airtime for religious services
Summary
The Ocean Shores Radio Board on April 22 agreed to seek a legal opinion and city feedback before moving forward with a plan to air pre-recorded religious sermons for a fee. Board members and public commenters said the proposal raises separation-of-church-and-state and council-approval questions.
The Ocean Shores Radio Board on April 22 agreed to ask the city attorney whether the city-owned station may legally broadcast prerecorded religious sermons in exchange for payment and to get council feedback before selling any time.
Board members described the idea as exploratory and said they would gather legal and council guidance before pursuing sales. "Put together a small package, present to the mayor and Scott Anderson and ask Kendra, is there a violation of separation of church and state," City Council liaison Richard said during the meeting.
The proposal surfaced as a revenue idea: the board discussed offering one-hour Sunday morning blocks to churches for prerecorded sermons and charging a fee (the board mentioned an example price of $250 per hour). Supporters said the program could increase station income; critics and several board members said the legal and policy risks require vetting first.
Public commenter Gina urged a quick city-level review, saying the subject “has been talked about and been talked about and talked about prior to COVID.” Board members agreed public feedback would be useful but prioritized confirming legality and whether the City Council would need to approve any change in station programming policy.
Next steps the board recorded: a board member volunteered to email the mayor and city administrators to request a formal legal opinion and to return with the resulting guidance. The board did not sell or schedule any paid religious programming at the meeting.
If the city attorney and council sign off, the board said it would follow a public-feedback step before any formal sales or program changes.
Details and context: the station’s leadership framed the discussion as exploratory. Several members warned the topic is politically sensitive in Ocean Shores and asked that the board proceed only after counsel and council review. Richard said the board’s revenue goal is to become more self-sufficient, but added that legal clearance must come first.
