I’m sure you’ve at least heard of the term “podcast.” Many churches, television and radio networks, and non-profits are developing podcasts as a means of spreading their message and building their community. This is the first of a two part article on podcasting. Today we’re going to talk about what a podcast is, how subscribing to podcasts might be a helpful tool for your ministry, and some nuts and bolts about subscribing using various tools.
Next week we’ll talk about how you can put together your own podcast, including hardware, software, and web tools.
What is a podcast?
A podcast is basically an audio or video file that is posted to a website with special code. This special code (called RSS) will talk to your computer and automatically download new “episodes” when they are placed on the website. This allows you to subscribe to a podcast (in ITunes or other software, we’ll cover that later) and get any new episodes that are posted automatically rather than going back to that website on your own to look for new “episodes”.
Podcasting gets its name by combining the words broadcasting and IPod. The first podcasting code was written for IPods, but now nearly all MP3 Players and computer media players can do podcasting. So do not think you need an Apple computer, IPod, or even ITunes to listen to podcasts. For a more in depth treatment of what is podcasting check out this article in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting .
Why might this be useful in Ministry
Podcasting reflects one of the great truths about the internet, there is great space for niche communities. You can find podcasts about youth ministry, preaching, youth culture, hobbies, current events, etc. You are no longer at the mercy of a television network or publisher to get your news, but you can customize your stream of information. I enjoy listening to sermons from other churches, technology podcasts, and “A Prairie Home Companion” (yeah, Garrison Keillor!). If you like talk radio, you will probably like podcasts. There are, by the way, music podcasts for those not into the talkie thing.
Okay, How do I get Started
I’m going to walk you through podcasting ITunes. In ITunes, the easiest way to subscribe to a podcast is in the ITunes store. In the ITunes store you can search for a topic or browse through the podcasts. Each podcast has a simple subscribe button that automatically subscribes you to the podcast using ITunes. Most podcasts are free, even in the “store,” but some do charge for subscriptions (typically those with exclusive content).
Sometimes you will want to subscribe to a podcast that is not listed in the ITunes store. A podcast does not need to be listed in the ITunes store for you to subscribe using the ITunes software. This is how you can subscribe: Your podcast is probably associated with a website. On the podcast website look for the “subscribe to this podcast” button (or something like that). Click on that button; this is the “podcast feed.” The podcast feed looks like a website address and probably ends in “rss”. Copy that address to your clipboard. Now, in ITunes click “Advanced” (top toolbar) and then click “Subscribe to Podcast.” A window will come up that allows you to paste the feed you had copied to the clipboard earlier. You will now be subscribed.
When I synchronize my IPod with ITunes, I can set my podcasts to synchronize, meaning I will always have something fresh to listen to. I can also set my IPod to synchronize only new episodes (un-listened to) and remove old episodes (listened to) from my IPod. You don’t have to use your IPod to listen; you can just watch or listen to an episode using your computer. You can also use other portable MP3 players by synchronizing using other media players.
Auto Delete
I would recommend setting your podcasts to auto delete. This setting will delete your episodes after you have listened to them. This will keep you from filling up your hard drive with shows you’ve already listened to. There may be some shows you want to keep, but generally auto delete will avoid some frustrations down the road.
Other Programs
There are a number of other programs that one can use to podcast. I have chosen to show you how using ITunes because it’s the most popular. One alternative is Juice http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/. Juice is an open source program that focuses solely on podcasting as opposed to ITunes, which does many other things. Subscribing to and finding podcasts on Juice is very similar to ITunes.
Viewing Online
Many podcasts will also let you view or listen to the episode online, directly on their website. I will often listen to/watch an episode before I subscribe to future episodes. Understand that when you subscribe you are going to automatically download an audio or video file to your hard drive.
Some Podcasts you may want to check out
(these are web page addresses not feeds)
Youth Ministry
The Source for Youth Ministry
http://www.thesource4ym.com/podcasts/
Simply Youth Ministry
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-podcast.html
Youth Specialties
http://www.youthspecialties.com/freeresources/podcasts
Preaching
Sermon Brainwave Working Preacher.org (Luther Seminary)
http://www.workingpreacher.org/default.aspx
Have fun trying out this new way to find information and participate in a community. Next week we’ll talk about how to create a podcast and how this might be useful to you in ministry.
Thanks to Andy Sahl for helping all of us learn about podcasts.
Andy Sahl is the Director of Youth Ministries at Bethlehem Lutheran in Saint Charles IL. He also blogs occasionally at Unpackthis.com and can be found on Twitter at twitter.com/andysahl.
Comments
Post has no comments.