Podcasting from the Pulpit Part 1

Do you want to reach more of your parishioners?  

Do you want to grow and expand your brand?

Do you want to put your sermons online for church members (and others) to access anytime? 

Podcasting is a great way to share church sermons, teachings, and daily devotionals. This gives your followers a regular dose of inspiration that they can easily incorporate into their busy lives.

Benefits of Starting a Church Podcast

There are so many benefits to creating a church podcast. It is a convenient way to provide inspiration to your followers. A church podcast offers members who cannot attend services the chance to stay connected to your community. You can offer enhanced bible study, devotionals, or more in-depth teachings. A church podcast brings your message into followers’ regular lives. It offers a sense of connection throughout the week.

How to Start a Church Podcast

1. Choose your content. You may record your weekly sermons, or create a special message. You could read key passages or create a special bible study. You could even repurpose old content. Many churches have recordings/CDs or YouTube videos of old sermons or events. They can easily be converted for your podcast. If your audio is already in MP3 format, you can upload it to your podcast site as is. If not, there are many programs to easily convert different files. 
2. Sign Up for hosting for your church podcast, I use EC Podcast Media and Buzzsprout and they can handle all your media storage needs. This ensures your files are easily shared to your followers or subscribers. There are many affordable hosting accounts that provide all the tools you will need, including blogs, this way your followers can enjoy your content anywhere, via phone or computer or read hardcopy.. 
3. Record your content. Turning your sermons into podcast episodes can be done in three steps.  You can record using your phone or you can use the recording equipment you already have on hand.
4. Publish and share. You can record and publish your church podcast directly from a recorder app on your phone.  You can then simply upload your MP3 files to your hosting account and create a post. You can add show notes, additional text or scriptures or other events.  It’s easy to get the word out about your content and. You can also integrate your podcast with your existing church website with embeddable players or direct links to the site.

There are so many benefits to starting a church podcast. And, it doesn’t have to be hard to do. It’s one of the easiest ways to broaden your outreach to church members and beyond.  If you need assistance, please send an email to [email protected] 

3 Steps to Starting a Church Podcast:

It doesn’t have to be overwhelming to turn your sermons into a podcast. Creating a church podcast is easier than ever!  Here’s how you can turn your sermons into a podcast in three steps:

1. Record your sermons (or other teachings, devotionals, etc.) using your phone.  You can simply put the phone near your pulpit to record, or use a headset (even the iPhone earbuds produce good quality audio).  You can record yourself sharing your message or have a parishioner do it and you can edit the recording later if necessary using Audacity or GarageBand.
2. Publish your sermon podcast. Create a title and a description for the recording and upload to your hosting platform or hit “publish” when you’re ready to go.
3. Share your new church podcast! You can easily share to social networks and embed your podcast on your church website and other sites. You can even share to Facebook and Twitter directly from the app when you publish. Now, your church members and others can hear your message even if they can’t make it to church. And, they can continue to reflect and deepen their understanding and connection in daily life.

The advance of technology has opened new worlds of ways for us to connect with church members and first-time guests. One effective way to connect is to podcast your sermons. If you’ve never done this, it may seem a bit intimidating. However, I assure you it doesn’t have to be. You can create a simple, effective, sermon podcast on a budget and without much technical expertise. 

Next week, I will cover the 4 components to get you started.