God also saw fit to allow Bangor Baptist to start Christian radio in the Bangor area. In 1980, WHCF 88.5 FM was founded as an educational station through Bangor Christian Schools. The station has grown from 10,000 watts to 100,000 watts reaching much of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. The station remains the anchor for many with a mission to reach the lost, edify the saints, and to inform the people.

In 1997, the Lord led Bangor Baptist to purchase another radio station to reach young people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This 50,000-watt station went on the air in 1998. WHMX 105.7 FM is now one of only twenty charting stations nationally that plays "Christian hit music."

This is an amazing feat considering that Bangor is 274 out of 283 radio media markets in the United States. Only 4% of the radio stations in the country play the "Christian Hit Music" format with WHMX being the only one in New England. About 36% of WHMX's audience is not born-again. Because 80% of Christians are saved before they reach the age of 20, this great outreach to our young people makes the format absolutely critical.

WHMX is known as SolutionFM and can be heard live on the world wide web at http://www.solutionfm.com/ . WHCF can also now be heard around the world on the world wide web at http://www.whcffm.com.  The ministry is working to accomplish the same goal for WHMX but for a different audience.

In the fall of 1985, the ministry went through a time of testing. Through unfortunate circumstances, the church dipped to a grand total of 69 people in attendance. The school dropped to under 100 students, and WHCF became extremely understaffed. This was a time of heartache but also a time when faith was pushed to the limit. There was nowhere to turn but to the Lord.

It was at this time that Dr. Jerry Falwell stepped in as interim pastor of Bangor Baptist Church. Dr. Falwell sent individuals from his organization to help our church get back on its feet.

Bangor Baptist also had a debt of $2.2 million. With a congregation of fewer than 100, humanly speaking, things looked rather bleak! With God's provision, things began to change for the positive. An instructor from Liberty University, Dr. Ken Chapman, came to fill the pulpit one wintry day. During his sermon, Dr. Chapman believed that God had called him to be the next pastor of our church. He and his wife Marie began officially ministering in 1986. The church began to grow under his leadership strengthening financially as well. It is a tribute to a man who would leave sunny Virginia and come to Maine and take a struggling church at the age of 69! But it was exactly what the church needed at that time. His integrity, hard work, leadership, knowledge of the Bible, dedication, sincerity, and experience was God's gift to us. Looking back, it is easy to see that he was the one God used humanly to salvage Bangor Baptist Church. Our total gratitude will never be able to be fully expressed to these two men.

Richard Rockwell succeeded Dr. Chapman in October of 1988. During his tenure, the church continued its course of growth and healing. Richard was a former deacon at Bangor Baptist in the seventies. Following his deaconship he felt called into the ministry and enrolled at Baptist Bible College located in Springfield, Missouri. Upon graduation he started a church in New Limerick, Maine. It was from this ministry that Richard was called to Bangor Baptist Church. He and his wife gave nine years of loyal service to the congregation. Under Richard's leadership, the church became a more inclusive ministry emphasizing its responsibility to the Body of Christ and the local community. We thank the Rockwell's for their years of ministry they shared with us. Richard now pastors the Family Bible Church in Ellsworth, Maine.

In August of 1997, Dr. Jerry Mick became the fifth pastor of Bangor Baptist Church. Jerry had been the associate pastor since 1989 and held other ministry positions since January of 1984 such as school teacher, athletic director, principal, superintendent, assistant pastor, and announcer on WHCF. The transition from Pastor Rockwell to Pastor Mick was a smooth transition.

Pastors of Bangor Baptist Church

Herman Frankland	1966-1985
Dr. Jerry Falwell	1985-1986
Dr. Ken Chapman	1986-1988
Richard Rockwell	1988-1997
Dr. Jerry Mick	1997-Present