{"id":19877,"date":"2016-08-10T14:46:53","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T21:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/?p=19877"},"modified":"2017-10-19T15:42:50","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T22:42:50","slug":"church-podcasting-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/church-podcasting-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Podcasting 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many churches today are posting their Pastor\u2019s sermons online. How do they do it? Is that something your church could benefit from? Is Church Podcasting right for your church? If you are like many churches out there today, you are either looking for a better way to get your message to your hearers or are completely clueless on how to do it. We\u2019re going to show you the easiest ways to record your messages and prepare them for distribution so those in your church and beyond can listen to them whenever and wherever they want to. This is the strength of a Podcast. So if you\u2019re away from your home church and missed the message, Podcasting gives you the ability to listen to it at your convenience. Thousands of sermons and bible studies are posted weekly and have quickly become the modern version of anytime radio in the church realm.\u00a0 In fact, that is how the name came to be (iPod <\/em><\/strong>+ broadcast<\/em><\/strong> + Internet). When Apple released the iPod in the early 2000\u2019s, it changed the way we listened to music and programs and made it possible to carry an entire library of your favorite media in your pocket. With Podcasts, all of your sermon messages can also be archived this way. Let’s jump into Church Podcasting 101.<\/p>\n

Church Podcasting 101<\/h2>\n

Although the iPod made the media very portable and accessible for the listener, the technology had not yet arrived to produce Podcasts as easily. You still needed the hardware to record the message and determine the best delivery method. This quickly became the role of the Sound Tech who was usually called in to figure this out. In the past, churches would simply record the sermon directly to a CD recorder<\/a> by way of the mixing console in the church either through a copy of the Main or Matrix outputs, or an aux bus. You would then take the CD master and duplicate multiple CDs for your congregation if you had a CD duplicator. This is a very expensive and time-consuming process. At the very least, add a stereo microphone or a pair of condenser microphones to the recording to be able to hear the room and the congregation. It brings life to the message and places you in the sanctuary with the rest of us. You\u2019ll hear the responses and the reactions and the natural ambiance of the sanctuary. This will prevent the recording from sounding like it\u2019s in a closet.<\/p>\n

To be able to listen to it on a device like an iPod, you would have to rip the CD and convert the recordings into mp3 files by way of iTunes, Windows Media Player or other assorted programs, the same way you would with your music CDs.<\/p>\n

Another way to capture your sermons would be to take the outputs from your mixer directly into your computer\u2019s line\/mic input, either MAC or a PC, and record directly to a DAW<\/a> (recording software). Your MAC already has a great program (DAW) for recording called Garage Band<\/a> that comes pre-installed. If you\u2019re using a PC you can download Audacity<\/a> for free. Another great DAW that you can get for free is Studio One Prime<\/a> from Presonus. If you like the way it works you can purchase the full version for access to all of the features.<\/p>\n

Once you have the recording software loaded on your computer, you may choose to simply plug a USB microphone directly into your computer like this one, Audio-Technica 2020USB+<\/a> to record your messages, bypassing the mixer altogether.<\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/p>\n

Although recording directly into your computer\u2019s input can work, a higher quality recording would result by way of a computer interface<\/a>. You would simply take the outputs from your mixer and connect it to the interface and the interface would connect to your computer by way of USB (the most common), Firewire (not as popular), or Thunderbolt (on most current Macs) depending on the computer. Computer interfaces typically come with more\u00a0fully featured recording programs than freeware.<\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the advantage of recording directly to a computer?<\/h3>\n

Recording directly to a computer allows you to edit the sermon.<\/p>\n