Dig down into the scriptures
We have always produced a podcast at STN, predominantly featuring our Sunday talks, as a way for those who wish to engage from a distance or catch up on Sunday.
These talks were not always recorded to the highest quality and before COVID-19 we were already to improve our output via podcasts, with a view to featuring audio and video interviews (for YouTube) and making the podcast more conversational with in person interviews and recording these over distance via video chat.
In response to lockdown, we quickly put this plan into action (in a way that lockdown allowed) to create a daily podcast with one of our curates, PJ Brombley. These are short 8-10-minute episodes for people to dig a little deeper into scripture during what could be a time of isolation and, perhaps, loneliness or anxiety. We made an investment into some high-quality mics and some USB adaptors to allow those mics to connect into a computer for recording. We then add some music to the start and end of each episode ready for distribution via Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcasts, etc.
A video version is released on our YouTube channel for people who prefer to watch. We advertise the podcasts through our social media channels and direct people to our website for all the info. We also do regular emails to our mailing list subscribers and mention the podcasts at Sunday ‘gatherings’. We recently started a second podcast with Matthew Hutton, taking a tour of the whole Bible over 18 weeks. This is a ‘coursebased’ podcast which people are encouraged to follow along.
Top tips for a podcast:
- a quality microphone
- consistent imagery, branding and language when communicating it
- be concise in saying what it’s about and how people can use it
- keep things fun, light-hearted, approachable and clear
The author...
Jason Baldry
Head of Media & IT St Thomas’, Norwich (STN)
This article is from...
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Maintaining youth and children’s work online
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Supporting our life together despite the financial impact of COVID-19
I want to begin by thanking so many of you – parishioners, PCC members, churchwardens, lay ministers, clergy and others – for the incredible way in which you are continuing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect it is having on our local communities.
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A long-term solution for live-streaming in church
When the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions came into force, audio and visual specialist Darren Butler, owner of south Norfolk based Audio Electronic Design (AED), knew straight away that many churches would be facing a big problem.
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