What Ever Happened to The Back to God Hour?

This is really two questions in one: what happened to The Back to God Hour? (the organization) and what happened to The Back to God Hour (the radio program)? Let’s address the first one, what happened to The Back to God Hour the organization?

The Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) has been committed to leveraging contemporary media throughout its history. Despite delays brought on by the great depression, Back to God Hour began reaching people via the radio in 1939.

It took seven additional years before the organization hired its first full-time radio pastor, Dr. Peter Eldersveld, in 1946. Dr. Eldersveld preached over 700 radio sermons during his time at The Back to God Hour, before his unexpected death in 1965.

Dr. Joel Nederhood was appointed the full-time radio pastor in 1966, he went on to lead the organization for over 35 years. Dr. Nederhood continued The Back to God Hour and also developed new radio programs, pioneered television broadcasts, expanded the international work, oversaw the construction of new broadcast studios, and developed a fundraising network to sustain the organization.

In 2008 the organization was renamed to “Back to God Ministries International” to reflect the multi-language multi-platform ministry that it had become. The English ministry work of the organization fell under the brand ReFrame Media, focused on helping users reframe their perspective to see God’s story in their life.

In 2020 the organization was renamed to ReFrame Ministries, under which all ten of the language ministries now fall. The organization’s mission remains the same as it did in the 1930’s, to leverage the media of the day to bring a Reformed gospel message to the masses.

The Back to God Hour radio program ran under that name from 1939 to 2010. While firmly rooted in the voice and tradition of The Back to God Hour, the project relaunched as Groundwork using a more contemporary two-pastor conversational format.

Groundwork continues to air on various radio stations throughout North America, but currently focuses on the on-demand technology of the day. The Groundwork website features each episode, a transcript that auto-scrolls with the audio, and an episode guide to use for personal or group study. The program is also available on your preferred podcast platform, as well as voice-activated technology Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

While The Back to God Hour organization and program have changed names since their origination, the mission and spirit are very much alive. Now a ten language ministry, each language ministry uses contemporary technology in their specific context to bring the gospel message to a mass audience.