Just because conservative radio personality Cisco Cotto is working feverishly to become a church pastor doesn’t mean he’s ruling out a return to the airwaves.
Despite high ratings, Cotto, 36, was dropped from his afternoon show on WLS-AM 890 in July to make way for Bruce Wolf and Dan Proft. He saw the sudden ouster as a sign from God and has been working to “plant” a church in the village he calls home.
Cotto said his days of conservative radio chatter are likely over while he pursues opening a church. But he’s in “serious” talks with three different local stations to possibly do religious talk — or news radio — which he did for much of the eight years he spent at WLS.
“Throughout the summer, I started becoming increasingly restless about being a conservative talk show host while planting a church in Oak Park and beginning a brand new ministry,” Cotto said. “How can you scream about President Obama or the Democrats Monday through Friday and then tell Democrats they’re welcome at your church? They’re not going to take you seriously.”
Cotto declined to say which three stations he’s been talking to, as the negotiations are still ongoing. But he did do a fill-in spot for Moody Radio’s WMBI-FM 90.1 recently, according to Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder.
His search for a new radio spot has less urgency, with WLS still cutting him checks through the end of this year, when his contract runs out. When Wednesday Journal profiled Cotto in January 2010, he said he spent hours getting ready for his show, reading 10 magazines, five newspapers and numerous websites. Since his ouster, Cotto has avoided the news altogether, not opening a single paper, magazine or news app on his phone.
“It’s been nice not to have that pressure all the time,” he said. “I’ve escaped it for the time being.”
Cotto has been thinking about “planting” a church in Oak Park ever since he finished his Master of Divinity degree at the Moody Bible Institute in the spring of 2010. He took the firing at WLS as a sign that church pastoring was likely his next occupation.
So he hooked up with the Great Lakes District of the Evangelical Free Church — which covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Western Ohio. He had previously interned at one of its churches while he was a student at Moody. A month or so ago, Cotto and his wife met with people from the Church for several hours and got the go-ahead to start pursuing a church location here in Oak Park.
Brett Gleason, director of church planting for the Great Lakes District, said about 20 percent of the Evangelical Free churches that have started up in the past four years have failed. Among the challenges a Village Church of Oak Park will face in its infancy include building a team to get things running, understanding the needs of the community and becoming a good neighbor. Right now, there are about 100 Evangelical Free churches in Illinois, with the closest one in Chicago.
“You need to be focused on serving the needs of the community and not just building a big church or finding a place to speak every week,” Gleason said.
For now, Cotto is meeting with local schools, churches and theaters to find available space around town. They’re also raising money, as he estimates it will cost upwards of $200,000 each year to run the church, with rent, salaries and other bills. He hopes the church will open next year, and become self-sustaining within three years.