PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- It brought strength and solace during The Great Depression, World War II and The Attack on the World Trade Center.
However, like most old-line churches, The First Radio Parish Church is falling by the wayside.
"I think people are gonna miss it. I am going to miss it," said Reverend Peter Panagore, the fifth and last head of the church. " I feel heartbroken that I'm letting people down."
Panagore came to the ministry from his local church in Boothbay Harbor. In a changing world, he tried to take the church online, but couldn't do it. That Maine Broadcasting System, Gannett, and TEGNA carried the program as long as they did was unique in the commercial broadcast world.
Panagore, who attended Yale Divinity School, says that he will continue as a writer and lecturer. He is also producing a children's show that he hopes to launch at the network level.
Panagore says the loss of the radio ministry does not matter, "Everything living passes on. Nothing living stays," he said with a smile. "Supernovas molecularize their star systems.."
His final benediction was for people to look inside and see the good in themselves and share that good with their neighbors.
The ministry's last broadcast was Sunday morning, February 25, 2018.