A new Christian radio station has taken to the Central Alberta airwaves.

Shine 90.5 FM held its official launch celebration last Friday at the Black Knight Inn.

Located on the second floor of Scott’s Parable Christian Store (37464 Hwy. 2) in Gasoline Alley, Shine 90.5 hopes to cater to the Christian community in Central Alberta.

Shine 90.5 joins the half a dozen other radio stations in Red Deer.

“The radio station is an adult contemporary Christian radio station. It’s not the kind of religious radio station someone might be used to. It’s very up-tempo,” said Randy Reiffenstein, manager of Red Deer. “We call it safe and fun for the whole family and we really mean that. It’s about families.”

He added officials with Shine 90.5 are looking forward to being a part of the Central Alberta community.

“Central Alberta is the heart of the Bible belt. With the number of churches and the number of people who truly believe and have deep faith – they live here,” said Reiffenstein. “Red Deer is one of the largest centres per capita where more people attend a church than anywhere else in North America.

“There’s a church on every corner.”

Officials with Shine 90.5 FM have been looking at the Red Deer market for quite some time and it has taken nearly three years to go through the approval process before hitting the ears of Central Albertans, said Reiffenstein.

Shine Touch Canada began in Edmonton in 1993 and moved to Calgary after that time.

“With the help of the community we are able to launch here in Red Deer.”

For more information check out www.shinefm.com or call 403-356-9052.

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com