With the popularity of iPods and other mp3 players, many churches have utilized podcasts to reach out across the world with great success. But are we making sure that we are not so excited to embrace the new that we throw out the old too soon?
Not everyone has an mp3 player or streams audio online, but cars still have built-in CD players. Sermons on CD still have uses for those who are not mp3 savvy. Or just haven’t charged their iPod. It’s a cheap and easy way to put a message in the hands of your congregation.
Here are some people it will specifically benefit:
1. New People
A CD with two or three different sermons makes a great addition to a new attender packet or even to offer to new attendees. If your church has a special day with testimonies and baptisms and a first-time attender that day, they don’t really get a good idea of what the message or tone of the church is really like. You can give them the option to get a real feel for your church beyond that day’s service.
2. Absentees
When regular attenders miss a week or three, it can be easy for them to feel out of the loop and eventually drift away. By having the last sermon or the current sermon series available for free on CD, they can catch up and still feel connected.
3. Seniors
Many seniors, including the shut-in seniors who can’t come during bad weather or at all, have CD players at home. It’s most likely a technology they have mastered, and won’t take a long orientation. They can still get fed by the church they love, even if their circumstances prevent it.
4. Anyone Who Has a Car with a Working CD Player
When the iPod is uncharged or left behind, even the tech masters still have a CD player in the car. Why not give them an option to pop in a CD of [Your church name]’s greatest hits? Or let people get a copy of the sermon that particularly inspired them that they can listen to in the car when they need to hear it.
As church communicators we are tasked with reaching everyone in our church no matter age, demographic, or where they are in their relationship with God. We need to make sure we keep the same outlook on our use of technology too—even if that means going back to the cassette tape (remember the plastic square with two holes that you had to turn over to listen to more than four songs?).
Jennifer Armitage is the director of communications and community outreach at Crossroads Christian Fellowship (Wesleyan) in Sacramento, Calif. Used with permission from Church Marketing Sucks.
Comments expressed do not necessarily represent those of The Wesleyan Church Corporation.
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