our team

Pastor Derek Bastian  has significant nonprofit leadership experience, as well as pastoral care experience in church, hospital and hospice settings. 

His experience includes work with children and youth in educational settings at the Mary Grove Children’s Center and the Boys and Girls Club, as well as work with those facing the end of life in hospice care. He also founded a program to assist homeless women and children with housing and transition to home ownership. He has worked in both rural and urban settings.

Bastian is the founder of two organizations in Des Moines, Iowa, designed to serve those facing challenges in their lives: The Transformation Christian Center and Safe Village Afterschool Program and Services. 

 He has been the honored speaker at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration events in East St. Louis and Des Moines.  In addition, he was chosen as one of 30 community leaders in Des Moines to participate in an intimate forum with then presidential candidate Barack Obama. Bastian was also an Enterprise Empowerment Zone Community Partner and an Annie Casey Foundation Making Connections Neighborhood Partner award winner. 

 Mark Langston has been in the radio industry for more than 40 years. Mark worked at WIL-FM in St. Louis for 20 years as the Music Director and Assistant Program Director. He also spent time at KSD-FM in St. Louis as the Music Director and afternoon host. He owned radio station WVIL-FM located outside of Springfield, IL for 12 years. He was elected Mayor of the City of Maplewood, MO from 2001 through 2009.

Mary Taylor joined the Board of Directors at the Webster-Rock Hill Ministries about a year before the radio station was launched as a new WRHM program in 2017. 

Mary represents Webster United Methodist Church on the board, and since 2019 has served as Chair of the board's Radio Committee.  

Mary has also volunteered countless hours in the office at the station, working with the founder and  general manager Ellie Wharton.  To help get the word out about KWRH, in those early days station supporters and crew formed a marching contingent in the Webster Groves July 4th Parade, carrying the banners of both Webster-Rock Hill Ministries and of the our new radio station KWRH.  

Mary is the Radio Committee board president.  The Radio Committee meets regularly, to gather information on updates, goals, needs, and volunteer opportunities at t

Wynn Miller has always found community involvement to be very important. Wynn was the the President of the Action Council of the Webster-Rock Hill Ministry, where he had the distinct pleasure of serving as the representative for Peace United Church of Christ in Webster Groves for more than 10 years. Wynn and his wife have lived in Webster Groves for 44 years, finding it a wonderful community in which to raise two sons. They are both married and have provided Wynn and his wife with four granddaughters. Wynn retired from the Ladue School District after a more than 30 year carrier where he served as a teacher and elementary principal. His wife was also a teacher; therefore, education has played a prominent role in their lives. Wynn is excited about KWRH 92.9 FM, organized by the Webster-Rock Hill mInistries, as it reflects the ongoing efforts to sustain a community that is valued by all. 

Dave Buck moved to Webster Groves  in 1977 after growing up in Wichita, KS, He eared his degree in college at SMU in Dallas, TX, and completed graduate school at Kansas University in Lawrence, KS.  Following college he enjoyed a 42-year marketing career.  My wife and our family of 6 kids and 8 grandkids have been proud to call home in Webster Groves or St. Louis County and keep my inner child playful and active!

Dave is the host of the daily show heard on KWRH, "The Buck Stops Here".  Dave is quick to point out, "my goal for every show is for my audience to listen, learn and celebrate our great people, their life stories and their outstanding contributions to advancing the quality of our community".

Ellie Wharton is a 30-year broadcasting veteran, having worked for ABC- NBC- and CBS- owned television stations in San Francisco, CA, St. Louis, MO and Birmingham, AL. In the St. Louis market she worked for KMOV-TV, KEZK, KYKY and KSD radio stations. A graduate of Webster Groves High School, she entered Washington University in St. Louis immediately following high school, then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where she earned an Associate’s Degree in Journalism from Laney College in Oakland, CA and the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Communications from San Francisco State University in San Francisco, CA. At Laney College she created the first campus radio station for that college. Ellie founded Offbeat Tours, LLC, one of the first online adventure travel agencies, which eventually morphed into a marketing company, 2Life Publications, LLC.