British broadcaster Diane Louise Jordan

(Dec. 21, 2012 - by Ralph Kurtenbach) Religion doesn't receive frequent airtime on commercial radio in the U.K., but 16 radio stations nationwide will air a one-hour show all about angels on Christmas Eve.

The UKRD network has agreed to broadcast the show featuring a popular British announcer, Diane Louise Jordan. She will guide listeners through various questions such as these: What are angels? What do they do? What do they look like? Do people today encounter them?

People with expertise on angels will offer their viewpoints, interspersed with sidewalk interview segments giving an average person's ideas on the celestial beings. Among these will be various people who claim to have met angels at crucial moments in their lives.

Music with angel themes by U2, Aretha Franklin, Shaggy and Robbie Williams will be featured as part of the radio special. The show will also explore the appearance of angels in the Christmas story and explain why there was so much angelic activity surrounding the birth of Jesus.

HCJB Global-UK staff made arrangements with UKRD to air the special program. "We are thrilled to have secured such a high-profile slot on Christmas Eve with a large audience of commercial radio listeners," said Director Colin Lowther. "And to have Diane Louise Jordan fronting the show is a real bonus."

Early in her career, Jordan challenged programming boundaries on the world's longest-running children's television program, Blue Peter, by becoming the show's first black presenter. The program is produced by the BBC. Jordan's popularity soared, and upon leaving the show six years later, she received two complete shows dedicated to her departure-a first in Blue Peter history. Nearly 1 million people called in to vote for their favorite Jordan moments.

She presently appears on another long-running BBC program, Songs of Praise, and hosts the much-loved radio program, Sunday Half Hour, which has aired for 72 years.

HCJB Global-UK Director Colin Lowther with 9-year-old Lottie Harrison who voiced Bible verses for the radio special on angels.

Lesser known but equally enthusiastic to participate in the radio special, 9-year-old Lottie Harrison voiced Bible texts for the radio special on angels. She sang with a children's group in the HCJB Global-sponsored 2011 Quito Day Concerts in Ecuador before she and her family returned to England earlier this year. Lottie is the daughter of Martin and Ruth Harrison who formerly served in HCJB Global's Vozandes Community Development department in Quito and now coordinate international ministry at HCJB Global-UK.

"Angels are a topic of fascination for many people these days with the popularity of the New Age movement and people wanting to interact with the supernatural," Lowther said. "We hope to reconnect listeners with the God who sends the angels, and in the process remind them of the real meaning of the season."

The program is supported by Jerusalem Productions, a media production company involved in radio, television and Internet broadcasting. The angel show will air on UKRD at 2 p.m. GMT Monday, Dec. 24. To listen, visit http://www.ukrd.com/portfolio/ and click on one of the 16 station logos.

Source: HCJB Global-UK