WOAY AM 860
Serving Oak Hill and Beckley, West Virginia since 1947!
Get to Know AM 860
Who We Are
WOAY AM 860 is a prominent Christian talk and teaching radio station based in Oak Hill, West Virginia, broadcasting on 860 AM. It is owned and operated by Foothills Broadcasting and serves the Oak Hill and Beckley, WV communities.
What We Believe
"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." ~ John 17:17
We believe in one God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The triune God has created mankind in His own image and has called humans to manifest and reflect holiness through obedience to His commandments. Because humans have woefully fallen in this responsibility and entered into a state of moral corruption, they have subsequently become estranged from their Creator.
Because of a profound love for His creation, God has initiated a plan of redemption, which He has accomplished on behalf of His people in the realm of temporal history. The zenith of this redemption is located in the historical incarnation of God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We confess Jesus to be the Christ of Old Testament prophecy, being at the same time fully God and fully man. Jesus, through His substitutionary atoning death and bodily resurrection, has provided the meritorious basis of our justification, which, by God’s grace, we receive by faith alone.
Proceeding from the Father, the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of believers, effecting their regeneration and operating in their sanctification. The same Holy Spirit has been given to the people of God to empower them for the service of bearing witness to the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit brings His people together to form a corporate community of believers. We believe that Christ has established a visible church, which is called to live in the power of the Holy Spirit under the regulation of the authority of Holy Scripture, exercising discipline, administering the ordinances, and preaching the Gospel of Christ.
We believe that the Bible, in its entirety, is divine revelation, and we submit to the authority of Holy Scripture, acknowledging it to be inerrantly inspired by God and carrying the full weight of His authority.
We believe the supreme task in the mission of the Church is to make disciples for Christ in all the nations through the proclamation and teaching of the Gospel. The Church is also to demonstrate the love and compassion of Christ, through word and deed, in an alienated world.
We support the work of Christian organizations and institutions that confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We believe our faith should be visible in concrete forms and models of personal and social behavior. We seek to be faithful disciples of Christ, enduring in love and obedience until He comes again to consummate His kingdom.
Community Engagement
WOAY AM 860 is actively involved in the Oak Hill and Beckley, WV communities, with connections to faithful, local ministry partners that help us reach our community with daily encouragement and to bring hope to every listener of the promises that abound to them in Jesus Christ!
Support from Local Ministries
Learn more about the local ministries that WOAY Radio’s Christian Resource Center has partnered with in an effort to help our area “Grow In The Faith” on our Local Ministry Partners page under the Resources tab.
Resources from Local Agencies
If you or a loved one find yourself in need of resources, AM 860 has partnered with local agencies that want to help! Visit our Local Help Agencies page under the Resources tab.
History of AM 860
Historical Timeline
1947: WOAY-AM (originally meant to be WOAK) was founded in 1947 by local businessman Robert R. Thomas, Jr.
1948: Thomas started the flagship of a family-owned communications group to include WOAY-AM.
1977: Station owner and founder Robert R. Thomas Jr. died in July, and ownership of the WOAY stations was passed onto his wife Helen and their five children. Robert R. Thomas III succeeded his father as president of the stations.
1977: WOAY-AM’s radio studio was destroyed by a fire in September, but quickly returned to the air 5 weeks later.
1980s: WOAY evolved into a full-time Christian station, with music and teaching programs; and became affiliated with the Moody Broadcasting Network.
1990: The Thomas family sold the radio station, WOAY-AM, to current owners, Foothills Broadcasting.
Present: WOAY continues to operate at AM 860 and aims to air the finest Christian teaching in the world.
A Look at the Past
WOAY was founded in 1947 by local businessman Robert R. Thomas, Jr., and was the flagship of a family-owned communications group that would included the whole family of WOAY stations.
Thomas originally planned to use “WOAK” as the call sign (standing for its city of license of Oak Hill), but the handwritten application was misread by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with the “K” mistaken for a “Y”. Early programming on the station included country, bluegrass, and Southern gospel music.
On January 1, 1953, WOAY began its broadcast day with what may have been the first announcement of the death of Hank Williams, Sr. The performer was discovered dead in Oak Hill in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day of an apparent heart attack, while enroute to an appearance in Canton, Ohio.
In the early morning hours of September 30, 1977, WOAY’s studio building was destroyed in a fire. The radio station reset their operations in what had been the undamaged production auditorium for a local professional wrestling show and would resume operations over the following weeks; WOAY-AM returned to the air five weeks after the fire.
Three months prior to the fire, in July 1977 station owner and founder Robert R. Thomas Jr. died, and ownership of the WOAY stations was passed onto his wife Helen and their five children. Robert R. Thomas III succeeded his father as president of the stations.
In the mid-1980s WOAY began to evolve into a full-time Christian station, with music and teaching programs; the station was also affiliated with the Moody Broadcasting Network. The Thomas family sold both radio stations in 1990.
Current Programming
Today, WOAY offers a Christian talk format with programming that includes some of the finest Christian teaching available from both a national and local level. To name just a few are “Family Talk” with Dr. James Dobson, “Insight for Living” with Chuck Swindoll, “In Touch” with Charles Stanley, “Turning Point” with David Jeremiah, “Truth for Life” with Alistair Begg, “Hope in the Night” with June Hunt, and “Focus on the Family” with Jim Daly.
For a complete list of our programing, visit our On Air page.
GET IN TOUCH
Whether you’re just getting curious about what it means to have a relationship with Christ, or you are a seasoned believer, we’re here to help you grow in your faith.