So you came to the terms with reality, people in your church like podcasts. More people in your church listen to podcasts than connect with the church outside of Sunday service. You have your basic equipment, but your search for the ideas, here are 3 good starting points that can help your new church podcast.
Sermon based podcast
The simplest form of the podcast that many churches can start with immediately is a sermon based podcast. Most likely, the sermon is already amplified through the church sound system and is processed by sound mixers that have integrated recording tools in them. Alternatively, you can use a smartphone to capture that sound by simply connecting the sound output from the mixer into a smartphone headset and using a simple recording app. Another way is to record it independently of the sound system simply by recording directly to the mobile phone in your pocket and with a connected lavalier microphone connected to your shirt.
Similarly to live streaming, sermon podcasts allow listeners:
to catch up with the past sermons, especially since so many people do work on weekends,
listen to sermons on the go, as podcasts are listened to by a majority of passengers commuting to and from work. Whether the listener is travelling on the train, on the underground or driving to work, week and occasional internet connection are often preventing from streaming past services through Youtube, but most podcasts applications allow users to download the episode on their device.
Many churches stick to the formula of sermons being 20-25 minutes long because there are so many needs to address during the Sunday service like worship, notices, prayer ministry. Sermon based podcast allows building on top of what’s already recorded and bring additional content. Chruch can record the main sermon lasting 20 minutes, and then record another 20, 30 or even 60 minutes of content such as deep dive into the related scripture, Q and A from church community about the sermon, additional explanation or life application.
Interview podcast
Interview style podcasts are a great thing to help grow the church community. Many pastors are well connected with other churches and leaders, as well as leaders within the church, but the connections between individuals in the church are not as developed. Especially in a larger community, it is hard to know everyone in the church. The interview style is often very engaging to the listener, just like talk shows or morning TV programs. It can often be far more interesting than lecture-style preaching.
Some of the ideas for interviews:
Local church leaders - interviews about the life of their church, challenges in their local settings, examples of what is working or not working in their settings in order to edify people in the church
Local business people and community leaders. They often know their community very well and have thousands of interactions every day. It can be an owner or manager of your local coffee shop, barber place, grocery store, gym, pharmacy, foodbank, social care office, every business and every establishment will know something your church community does not know.
The church leaders in your church. Especially in larger churches with a wide variety of ministries, people often do not know about some of them.
Small group leaders of the church.
Missionaries connected to the church, to show the impact the church has outside of its locality.
People from the church with powerful stories and testimonies to tell. Whether it is a testimony of answered prayer, healing, fulfilled prophecy, miraculous deliverance, reaching someone far from God, there are many stories of God at work that can be shared. Such interviews can help to learn about the broader community of the church.
Discipleship resources
Podcast based on discipleship resources. Often people can not join Small groups in your church for various reasons. Podcasts based on discipleship resources can help them grow and partake in your church’s mission. It is a great place where you can share:
How to pray and how to teach others to pray,
How to study the bible and how to teach others to do the same,
How to share a testimony,
How to share a gospel,
How to serve God through serving the local community,
How to lead others to Christ,
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