Sermon, Devotional & Lecture Podcasts
WEEKLY SERMON
PACKAGE
Give us your tape/CD each week and we'll take care of the rest!
What Is "Podcasting"
and Why is it Useful for Churches?
"Podcasting" refers to the making audio files (most commonly in
MP3 format) available online in a way that allows software to automatically
download the files for listening at the user's convenience.
This brand-new technology allows a church to make sermon and lecture archives available online for church members and others to easily download and hear over the computer or on a portable MP3 player.
It has been possible to transmit audio over the computer for several years now, and for many years, people have been able to subscribe to news "feeds" of text and images. Recent advances allow audio files to be incorporated into news feeds. This is exciting for all churches because it allows people to "subscribe" to sermons online and receive and download new sermons automatically as they become available. Missionaries and students away-from-home, as well as those on vacation or who cannot attent church for medical reasons, can all catch-up on missed sermons. Daily devotionals can be delivered in audio format by way of a "feed" that is downloaded and played as/when desired.
The term "podcasting" derives its name from the iPod™ manufactured by Apple Incorporated. The iPod is an electronic gizmo that allows downloading files in .mp3 or AAC (Apple iTunes™ format). To date, the primary file download use has been for music for the iPod to be used as a mobile music player. The iPod is manufactured in various hard disk capacities that predict the download of other, larger-sized files, such as video, in the future. The name "podcast" is no longer specifically related to the iPod but to any software and hardware combination that permits the downloading.
See:
www.baclass.panam.edu/mana3333/glossary/chapter02.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting