Church and Leadership:
Boredom Relief
by Ed Vasicek

As a pastor, I often minister to the spiritual needs of shut-ins, dialysis patients, and those who are temporarily incapacitated. Besides spiritual needs, they have other difficulties, one of which is boredom... lots of time with nothing to do.

One way to relieve their boredom is to purchase Old Time Radio Broadcasts for them to listen to. These programs are great for shut-ins (or anyone engaged in menial work, like washing dishes or matching socks) because they require using one's imagination. They are available at unbelievably low prices (about 10 cents per half hour show) or for free over the Internet. I suggest purchasing them as MP3 CDs. Some of these have more than 50 shows per disk. Of course, an MP3 player, a Walkman, or a computer that plays MP3s is necessary to play them.

I suggest the following programs: Comedy - Jack Benny, Burns and Allen; Mystery/Detective - Philip Marlowe, Box 13. My favorite source for free sample programs as well as quality MP3 CDs at a low price is Old Time Radio Show Catalog.

If you would like more show recommendations, feel free to email me. Or sample the free shows offered on this and other sites. You can probably find exactly what you are looking for.

God bless, Old Time Radio fan