Haven Today is a national broadcast

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

program. The

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

program was founded in 1934 as The Haven of Rest by Paul Myers, who became a

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

known for Christian ministry. The

program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Progra ...

has had four hosts: Myers, Paul Evans, Raymond C. Ortlund Sr., and Charles Morris. The daily broadcast is currently on over 600 stations in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and overseas.

History

Paul Myers credited the founding of ''Haven'' to hitting rock bottom: kicked out by his wife and passed out on a beach during a drunken bender, he was awakened by a ship's bell; back at his hotel, he opened a Gideon Bible and felt called to ministry. After returning to his wife and family, he was back on

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

airwaves on

KHJ (AM) KHJ (930 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California. Owned and operated by Relevant Radio, Inc., the station broadcasts Roman Catholic religious programming as an affiliate of the Relevant Radio network. ...

, and in 1934 started the radio broadcast ''The Haven of Rest'' on KMPC. Myers gave the show a

nautical Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...

theme, hosting under the name "First Mate Bob" and starting each show with a ships’

air horn An air horn is a pneumatic device designed to create an extremely loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which produces compressed air, which passes into a horn through a reed or diaphragm. The stream of air caus ...

, Eight Bells, and an in-house quartet singing 1890 hymn “The Haven of Rest." Myers retired in 1971 and turned the program over to Pastor Paul Evans, who hosted the show until 1981. In 1981, Evans was replaced by Dr. Raymond C. Ortlund Sr., the former long-time Senior Pastor at Lake Avenue Congregational Church in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, where he had broadcast services over

KRLA KRLA (870 kHz) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, which also ...

. By 1988, the Haven of Rest was on 275 stations. Ortlund hosted the ''Haven of Rest'' radio broadcast from 1981 to 2000. Ortlund also served as a teaching pastor at Mariner's Church in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

in the 1980s. In 2008, Ortlund was inducted into the

National Religious Broadcasters National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is an international association of evangelical communicators. While theologically diverse within the evangelical community, NRB members are linked through a Declaration of Unity that proclaims their joint comm ...

Hall of Fame for his years of hosting the ''Haven of Rest''. In 2000, the program was taken over by Charles Morris, a former

news reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and editor for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

who also worked as

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Duti ...

for two former

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

. Morris changed the program's name to ''Haven Today'' and replaced the live in-house quartet with contemporary Christian music in 2001. Morris has co-authored several books with Janet Morris, his wife, including ''Saving a Life, Jesus in the Midst of Success'', and ''Missing Jesus''. The ''Haven of Rest'' broadcast moved to a new station about every 2 years:

KNX (AM) KNX (1070 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM radio, AM radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. It airs an all news radio, all-news radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. KNX is one of the oldest stations in the U ...

KMPC KMPC (1540 AM, "Radio Korea", 라디오코리아) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean– ...

, then the

KFI KFI (640 AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel Class A stations. It was the first U.S. station west of Chi ...

AM studio in Los Angeles, then the

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

and

NBC Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

Haven of Rest historical building

In 1941, Paul Myers commissioned a nautical-themed two-story building at 2432 Hyperion Avenue in the

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

District of Los Angeles for the Haven of Rest broadcast. In 1998, the Haven program moved out of the nautical building to

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...

, then to

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. On December 5, 2007 the building was awarded site number 895 on the

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cult ...

list for its unique architecture. The building has

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicles ...

windows, gangway ramp and

promenade deck The promenade deck is a deck found on several types of passenger ships and riverboats. It usually extends from bow to stern, on both sides, and includes areas open to the outside, resulting in a continuous outside walkway suitable for ''promena ...

hand rails. The interior studio was equipped with a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

for the program.

Present day

Charles Morris' ''Haven Today'' program is a mix of

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

, biblical teachings,

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

s and a discussion of current events. The program airs 5 days a week for thirty minutes. In addition to the radio program, ''Haven Today'' continues to publish a devotional guide called ''The Anchor Daily,'' founded by former host Pastor Paul Evans in the 1970s.

Haven Quartet

The Haven of Rest Quartet was started in 1934, the same year that the radio program began. Referred to on air as the "Crew of the Good Ship Grace," the group performed traditional hymns and gospel songs

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

or with

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

accompaniment. From 1934 until the 1950, all songs were performed live on air. With the addition of their own ship-like

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

and modern

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...

s in the 1950s, the quartet started to record their songs in advance for playback on the show. In the 1980s, the group began to incorporate a more contemporary sound, but it still lagged behind the most popular trends in contemporary Christian and worship music. A name change to The Haven Quartet in 1989 failed to increase the group's recognition beyond its established audience. By 2003, the quartet was no longer consistently included on the radio broadcast. Members of the quartet since its inception included: * Ernie Payne, bass singer (1934-1975) *

Lorin Whitney Lorin J. Whitney (September 11, 1914 – August 29, 2007) was an American organist and recording artist who played on Christian radio programs such as the '' Haven of Rest'' in the 1930s–1950s. His organ music programs were heard on the C ...

, organist (1934-1958) * Bob Bowman,

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

(1934-) * Charles Turner, second

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

(1934-) * Kenneth Nelson, first tenor (1934-) * Fred Lindblad (1934-1935, 1941) * Clarence Soderberg (1936) * Dean McNichols, organist (1958-1985) * Glenn Shoemaker, bass singer (1975-1998) * Herman Hosier, bass singer (1955-) * Walt Harrah, tenor * Randy Crenshaw, tenor * Bill Cantos * Jeff Gunn * Truitt Ford, tenor * Paul Sandberg, tenor * Steve Ragsdale, baritone * Dwayne Condon *Jim Bergthold, first tenor (1967-1977) *David Kleinsacker *Leonard Fox *Val Hellikson *Frank Alpers *Steve Lively *Scot Wojahn *Ron Mitchell *Gene Miller *Mike Redman The quartet's discography included the following albums: * ''Favorites'' (1961) * ''His Name Is Wonderful'' (1962) * ''Glory to His Name'' (1969) * ''The Music of Haven of Rest: Collector's Edition'' (1978) * ''We're Just the Singers of His Song'' (1979) * ''Starboard'' (1983) * ''Precious Memories: 50th Anniversary Album'' (1984) * ''Tidings of Joy'' (1984) * ''Awesome God'' (1989) * ''Christmas with Haven'' (1989) * ''With One Voice'' (1995) * ''A Cappella'' * ''An Acappella Christmas'' * ''A Cappella Hymns'' * ''Anchored'' * ''Best of Christmas by Haven'' * ''Best Of Vol 1'' * ''Best Of Vol 2'' * ''Be Ye Holy'' * ''Come Let Us Adore Him'' * ''Coming Home'' * ''Crew of the Good Ship Grace'' * ''Enter In'' * ''Everything's Gonna Be Alright in Christ'' * ''Haven of Rest'' * ''The Hope'' * ''The King Is Coming'' (This was a solo album by Jim Bergthold) * ''Leavin' on My Mind'' * ''Shipmates of Song'' * ''So Many Ways To Praise'' * ''Something To Sing About'' * ''With One Voice'' * ''Glory to His Name''

Hosts

References

External links

*
Facebook Haven TodayThe Haven of Rest - Early Film Footage on youtubeThe Haven of Rest - How it began, interview on youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haven Today Evangelical parachurch organizations American Christian radio programs 1935 radio programme debuts