Church Reaches Out to Youth Followers Via Podcast

A church in the diocese of Portsmouth has been using the latest technology in bringing the Word of God to its youthful followers. The Church of the Good Shepherd in Crookhorn has been offering podcasts of Bible studies to its 11 to 14-year-olds. It's the first in the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth to do so.

Youth worker Max Cross writes the Bible studies and records his wife Suzy reading them. Cross then edits the files and uploads them to the website.

They've discovered that the church youngsters prefer to download and listen to the podcasts on iPods and MP3 players, rather than reading the Bible and study notes.

The local drive has become increasingly diverse in its outreach since its commencement; with the material now being downloaded by people across the world, from Argentina to New Zealand in the six months since the podcasts were first created.

Cross said: "We were finding it difficult to engage the boys with the Bible, especially as many of those who come on Wednesdays don't tend to come on Sundays.

"We'd used books, some of which only worked for a while. The idea came that we could record devotionals that they could access every day.

"I normally do around five a week. Half of it is usually the actual Bible passage - we use 'The Message' version of the Bible - and then we include some practical thoughts about what that might mean for the young people. There's a short prayer and then a call to act on what's been learnt.

"On Wednesdays, we can then talk about that week's devotionals - and perhaps listen to one all together. It does seem quite bizarre that they are happier to listen to Suzy via a podcast than me talking to them in a group, but they've grown up with this technology.

"And the technology we're using to record the podcasts isn't difficult - it's the kind of thing people could set up in their own home. We have a microphone, recording software, sound editing software and the software to publish them."

The podcasts are downloaded from www.aftershock.org.uk. They are free to download, and are updated on a weekly basis.

Cross is also the webmaster of the parish's website - www.cogs.org.uk - where sermons from the Sunday services at Church of the Good Shepherd can also be downloaded as podcasts.