PCC News

One of the things I decided to do was to podcast my sermons. Podcast is a version of radio, but it doesn’t require a licence, and is hosted by a provider. After a little research, I decided upon Anchor (www.anchor.fm). Anchor is completely free, and there are no limits on how much content you store on it unlike some other providers.

I found that I could record straight onto the Anchor app on my phone, which would then put it in the cloud, and I was able to access it on the website in the account I had created. Unfortunately, I found my normal earbuds gave poor sound quality, so I bought a microphone which connected to my phone for £17.

The website has a fairly straightforward editing area. Most Anchor users agree using the website is the best way to do it. As part of editing it, I used the free music which comes on the website which is royalty/copyright free. This gave me the opportunity to create various sections (intro, prayers, Bible reading and sermon).

Once finished, I can schedule the podcast to go ‘live’ at a time and date of my choosing; usually a Sunday morning.

As part of what they do, Anchor allows me to connect to Facebook, Twitter and Spotify. The only ‘speed bump’ being that Spotify wants 48 hours to check that everything in the podcast is either owned by me or free to use. If I want to connect to other platforms (e.g. iTunes) then the options are there. On the webpage which people see, they can play the episode there or go through to Spotify, and the Facebook link takes them straight to the Church Facebook page. The final place I put a link to Anchor was on A Church Near You.

I use a full script and, once recorded, I email the script to others who may not be able to access the podcast.

There are many ‘how-to’ videos out there, and the Anchor app has a series of episodes on putting a podcast together. The main difficulty is learning to relax your voice. I’m still working on that!

It’s been a fun learning experience, and I may well keep recording my sermons after lockdown is lifted.

One listener, Ken, commented:

“These sermons have been challenging, encouraging and thought-provoking, leading me to a greater awareness of God and to a deeper appreciation of what Christ has done for us. Given that it’s more difficult to be engaged as a mere listener rather than a participant in interactive worship, a preceding hymn and a following pause for responsive prayer round the theme might make one incorporate all the more.”

Another listener, Kate, said:

“It’s been a comfort to be kept in touch in this way. The familiar structure of daily worship and weekly sermons has given us continuity and held us together when it would have been so easy to drift apart.”

You can listen to the podcast at: www.anchor.fm/derek-mcclean