"It is true that the whole world can see and hear what we do in our worship service, but that is precisely what we want to happen. We have no secrets here. All is open."

Dr Harold Salem
Pastor at First Baptist Church

The first live telecast of the Christian Worship Hour began in 1979 on KABY TV in Aberdeen, SD. Since then, 10 other ABC affiliated TV stations have been added.

The vision of the CWH is to offer a worship service to those who are housebound. Although possible viewership of 1.5 million people in 7 states and 1 Canadian Province, the telecast was never meant to be a substitute for worshipping in your own church.The broadcast airs live on KABY in Aberdeen, SD: KSFY in Sioux Falls, SD: KPRY in Pierre, SD, and other ABC affiliates with a 1-week tape delay including WOI in Des Moines, IA: KOTA in Rapid City, SD: KSVI in Billings, MT, and WDAY in Fargo, ND, along with a cable link from WDAZ in Grand Forks, ND, to Winnipeg, Canada. These stations also service western MN and northern NE as far as 60 miles from their borders. KSDN radio in Aberdeen, SD, has carried the service for more than 40 years.

At exactly 10:00 o'clock AM and 10 seconds CST every Sunday morning cameras roll. Five volunteers run 2 remote controlled cameras, a video mixer, a computer that projects the words to hymns, sermon notes and the Scripture on the TV screen and 2 separate audio mixers. At exactly 10:58 and 26 seconds the service is cut off automatically by the TV station in Sioux Falls, SD. Four "atomic clocks" synchronized daily by the US Atomic Clock in Fort Collins, CO to ten billionths of a second are used to keep on schedule to the second. The services, along with the sermons, need to be timed exactly so they are completed on time.

In July of 2003 Internet access was established on the CWH website. Four services are archived with the current service available by 2:00 PM CST on the same day.