Radio and Pod ministries: A Primer

I. Intro
Many churches use media in their worship services and have begun contemplating using media to "export" or broadcast their worship services or other ministries. This hopefully can spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to more people. This blog is designed to help you start pod, blog or radio ministries for your congregation.
In all likelihood, you just want to dig in, but at some point, take a look (and comment) on the Theological considerations.

II. 1st Consideration: The Audience (and their impact on you!)
It is necessary to know one's audience in order to make good decisions about how/when/which media to use when broadcasting religious content. Yet the audience will shape more than simply your decisions about how to broadcast content, it will actually impacts the content you broadcast.

See later in the blog for more commentary on this: Reading and Responding to the Radio Audience

III. 2nd Consideration: The Format

A. Radio

In terms of radio ministry, one could try to purchase and run a station. This seems virtually impossible, especially as a first step. See later in the blog for more details on options for purchasing stations for broadcasting: Starting a Radio Station Ministry

More likely though, one will purchase time from a local radio station in order to broadcast your services (or other content). This simply requires calling up a local station, purchasing time on the radio station, setting up the recording equipment and then figuring out the logistics of getting your recording (or live feed!) to them. Likely they will work with you on this as the specify format. However, before you move too quickly, Reading and Responding to your Radio Audience is a must.

B. Podcasting

Podcasts are probably the most exciting opportunity for churches to spread their message. For many people, we know that podcasting sounds cool, but we are not exactly sure what it is. Here are two websites with some good background on podcasts:
iTunes and Luther Seminary

Podcasting is actually pretty straight forward. It is simply putting audio files (of a sermon or a lecture) on a website for download in an .mp3 format. .mp3 might again sound complex, but this means a standard audio file that not just iPods, but virutally all other computers can read.

The big difference between podcasting and broadcasting is not simply the format (internet audio files versus radio waves) but the fact that podcasting is not live, whereas broadcasting is. The big advantage of podcasting is the feasibility and low costs.
But you likely are asking:
What do you need to podcast?
How do I get my church's podcasts out to the world?
What are some possibilities of podcasting?

C. Blogs

There is a fair amount on the web about blogs. My own experience is that blogs need to be used in connection with already existing communities. However, if you have more ideas on how blogs can be used in ministry, post a comment! One thing to note is that people can not only visit blogs, post to them, but also subscribe. See comments on the right-hand bar and later on in the blog for more about subscription.

D. TV

This website does not address TV very much, but Cable Television is required to broadcast community-made shows on public-access TV. For an excellent website discussing how you can put your services (or other programs) on these stations click here