Tom Quick likens his two-hour, monthly radio broadcast to Salvation Army open-air meetings.

“I do the program with a lot of faith,” he says. “I have no idea what good I am doing for people behind closed doors. I don't even know how many people listen.”

Keeping track of numbers is no easy task for Quick. Not only does he broadcast on the last Monday of every month on CKWR 98.5FM as part of the “Monday Evening Concert,” but his program is also streamed online on two websites: The Salvation Army Amsterdam West Corps website created by Pieter Van Horssen and Australian John Bannister's salvoaudio.com.

“It is people like Pieter and John that make the show what it is,” says Quick. “Without them, my program would just be a local radio broadcast.”

Quick—who was born in St. Ives Cornwall, England, moved to Australia and then to Canada—is a third-generation Salvationist. He currently worships at Hespeler Community Church, Ont. with his wife, Betty Ann.

Hespeler Community Church is one of many Salvation Army communities from Southern Ontario that sponsor the two-hour Monday night broadcasts. Additionally, Quick has received overseas sponsorship from Ken Ward in the United Kingdom, Pieter van Horssen in The Netherlands and Albert Stewart in Australia.

“I wanted to involve corps to make it a community event,” says Quick. “A representative from the sponsor will come on air and talk about what services they offer their community such as Sunday services, meals and clothes. But that is only a small part of the program. People tune in for the music, so the program is 80 percent music.”

As a result of his international background, the music includes songsters, brass bands and soloists from around the world including the Canadian Staff Band, Brisbane City Temple Band (Australia), the International Staff Band and other groups from Amsterdam, Japan, Germany and Argentina, to name a few.

“The radio station laid down rules about not praying or preaching on air,” Quick says, “but Salvation Army music speaks for itself, and so I will read words from the Army Song Book of the song that I am about to feature.”

Beyond Monday Night
Quick has always been an avid listener of classical music and when he joined a classical music society in Brisbane, Australia, that later became a radio station devoted to the genre, an interest in radio emerged.

This has led to his involvement in various radio programs including “Let There Be Praise.” The half-hour Sunday night Salvation Army radio program is described by Quick as the “genesis” to his current Monday night broadcast. For eight years, individual Army officers offered prayer and inspirational meditations between Salvation Army music.

The program developed a community thirst for Army music, a thirst that is still able to be met through Quick's two-hour monthly program now that Let There Be Praise has been retired.

Let There Be Praise began when Quick envisioned a Salvation Army-sponsored Christmas Eve broadcast with the purpose of thanking the community for their support throughout the year. He talked to Major Sterling Snelgrove, his corps officer at the time, who contacted Major George Patterson, then public relations officer for Ontario Great Lakes Division.

The Christmas Eve program commenced as a three-hour broadcast and has been going for 10 years. Quick's wife, Betty Ann, offers support for the program by answering the phones.

“Lots of non-Salvationists call in,” says Quick. “On one particular Christmas Eve, in just two-and-a-half hours we gave away 84 territorial Christmas CDs. I was told by the station manager that for every phone call, there are about 100 listeners. So it was a huge response.”

Moreover, Quick volunteers at Faith FM (faithfm.org)—a Christian radio station in his local area—on a program called Music for the Soul. It is a Wednesday night program that always includes some Salvation Army music.

“People from around the world have contacted me because they have heard my Monday night broadcast somewhere online,” says Quick. “The response has been amazing and it is an honour to be able to share The Salvation Army's message through music.”

To find out about Tom's upcoming broadcasts, or to listen to previous ones, visit his website (provided by Steef Klepke, the Netherlands): salvos.com/tomquick. Tom can also be contacted for requests and suggestions at quickmusic@sgci.com.