The Selma Times-Journal

The official groundbreaking for Christian broadcast station WRNF 89.5 FM was held Tuesday evening shortly before sundown, across from Pleasant Grove Church on County Road 84.

Local officials in attendance included County Commissioner Roy Moore, Probate Judge Kim Ballard and Valley Grande Mayor Tom Lee.

Moody Radio South manager Rob Moore said the goal

for the foundation is for the tower to be complete by the end of September.

The tower will be constructed in October and the station’s foundation laid toward the end of October.

“The station will be built in November and the plan is to be on-air by December,” Moore said. “It’s even better if we can get it done before then.”

WRNF 89.5 FM will be the fourth station to join Moody Radio South. Sister stations are WMBV 91.9 FM Dixons Mills, near Demopolis; WMFT 88.9 FM in Tuscaloosa; and WMBU 89.1 FM in Forest, Miss.

WRNF’s coverage will extend to Plantersville, Maplesville, Billingsley and Autaugaville, in addition to Selma and greater Dallas County. The station will broadcast breaking news in Selma and information pertinent to the Christian community, such as church revivals and Vacation Bible Schools.

Moore said the station will play Christian contemporary music, southern and urban gospel, but the focus will be on helping listeners learn the Bible.

“Our middle name is Bible,” he said. “You can buy music anywhere, download it off the Internet for free. People will listen to what they want to listen to. We want to have more teaching.”

Moody Radio South is an arm of the Chicago-based Moody Bible Institute, a self-described “inter-denominational higher education Christian organization that seeks to serve Christ to advance his cause” founded in 1886 by Dwight Lyman Moody.

The station’s call letters are in honor of former Moody Broadcasting Vice President Robert Neff, who died of Lou Gehrig’s disease last year.

For more information, call Moody Radio South at (888) 624-7234, or email wrnf@moody.edu&. Tax deductible donations can be mailed to: WRNF, P.O. Box 10, Selma, AL 36702.