Using Podcasts at Impact

It’s been over a year now that we have been podcasting our weekly messages to the youth here at Impact. We do this for several reasons:

1. Communication to Parents

2. Accountability to Parents and Leaders
3. Students miss a week

4. Online Listeners

As we plan out our messages in series we work right along with our Sunday message series. By sending one central message to not only the adults but also to the students there is much more family interaction that can take place. Imagine families talking about what God is doing in their lives through each generation! We podcast these messages specifically so that parents can tune in and listen along. Parents can now listen in and ask direct questions of their students that will draw out more information and help empower the parents to disciple their own kids. If the parents can use this as a tool to communicate with their students then we all win.

This also adds a level of accountability to the students and myself. There have been times a statement has been made by me in the message that has been taken out of context by a student. By podcasting the messages there is the ability to listen along and clear up any confusion. It also helps when the students give the standard answer, “Nothing” to the question, “What did you talk about tonight?”

I’d like to think that there are youth that tune in and listen when they miss a week so they won’t feel like they missed out on an awesome message. (but I am also a realist and acknowledge that they are probably just IMing their friends and checking their MySpace…) Podcasting does give students the ability to catch up on what they may have missed out on. I know of one family that heads off to Florida each winter and their daughter keeps in touch with what is going on here each week by subscribing to the podcast.

I have actually received emails from people in Scotland and Vietnam who tune into the podcast each week. I am still humbled to think that we have a worldwide audience for Impact.

If you have not yet tuned into our podcast now is a great time to subscribe. You can tune in at home or take us with you on your iPod.

(the idea for this post came from Tim Schmoyer over at “Life in Student Ministry”)