Cornerstone Network spreads message of hope amid pandemic from 'spiritual front lines'

A broadcast tower stretches up from atop a hill in Wall, streaming what producers at Cornerstone Network hope is a guiding message to those navigating the unfamiliar reality created by the coronavirus.

The network, which has broadcast several programs from its location tucked between Pitcairn and North Versailles since 1979, has taken on a new role through its show “Coronavirus: Hope for Today,” said chief operating officer Tom Hollis.

“It feels like this is what we’re built for,” he said. “We have this opportunity to give hope and talk about what the Bible says about hope, what God says about hope and to give that hope to people. Let’s face it, we’re all in this uncertain time, so I think it really is kind of cool that we have this opportunity to speak into people’s lives.”

Sitting behind a desk on a recent morning , hosts Sydni Goldman and Amanda Brougher read Bible verse and said a prayer for people battling the coronavirus. The duo conducted Skype interviews throughout the show and encouraged those watching to call a 24/7 prayer line.

The line, which has about 80 partners standing by, has seen an uptick of about 17% since the virus that causes covid-19 started spreading across the country in late January, Brougher said. Last year, partners received about 81,000 calls, according to Hollis.

“We’ve had a lot of people calling the prayer line, and a lot of them have fear, they have concern for their family,” Hollis said. “That’s understandable. But a lot of them also said, ‘I’m thankful for your programming because it’s helped me kind of get through this time and trust God through this time.’ ”

Online Masses

Churches across Western Pennsylvania started streaming services online after in-person services were canceled last month, following recommendations from the White House that groups greater than 10 people do not gather. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all nonessential businesses to temporarily shutter physical locations to help curb the spread of the virus.

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh canceled all weekday and Sunday Masses, and later canceled all funeral Masses, weddings and baptisms. The Diocese of Greensburg followed suit, suspending public Masses, canceling Lenten fish fries and modifying other church events.

To still offer Sunday Masses, officials from both dioceses started streaming services online. When the first weekend services were streamed, about 45,000 people tuned in, causing the Diocese of Greensburg’s system to crash. To ensure people will be able to stream the Mass, the diocese beefed up its computer system in anticipation of a growing audience.

Although churches are streaming services, Hollis said viewership has not changed on Pittsburgh Faith & Family, a sub-channel of Cornerstone Network that streams services from about 75 area churches regardless of denomination. The program can be streamed on several channels and online at ctvn.org/pff/watch-online.

“A lot of churches are seeing there’s a lot of value in taping their services, streaming their services and there’s a lot of value in a program or station like the Pittsburgh Faith & Family channel that gives them an opportunity to reach not only their parishioners and people that know about it, but to broadcast it to a wider audience,” Hollis said.

While churches traverse the media landscape, Hollis said it is simply a next step for ministries in the digital age.

“I feel like, with church, we often think of the four walls, but it was never intended to be that way,” Goldman said. “It was intended to have community. But I think now’s the time to go beyond the four walls, so for us to be that voice in this season, because people aren’t able to get to churches or different services, it’s an amazing thing to be part of.”

For Goldman, who has worked at the station for just over four years, spreading a message of hope during the pandemic is what she was called to do.

“We are the front lines in a different way, the spiritual front lines that we can really be a voice of hope to people in this season,” she said. “Just to know that God is for them, God is with them and he’s in the midst of it all. Just to be able to do that in this season, we know that’s our obligation and responsibility to the public, which is a joy, especially in times like these.”