How to start a church podcast in 5 easy steps

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If you’re a church leader, you’re most likely looking for new ways to connect with your community, share the gospel, and make disciples. So, what if someone told you that there is a simple way to start a church podcast and share meaningful content with your community, without requiring a lot of time or work? 

Church podcasts have become popular as a simple but powerful medium to connect pastors with their communities on a regular basis, and to expand their reach to a larger audience as well. Check out the following church podcast guide to learn how to start a church podcast in five easy steps. 

Why start a church podcast?

Podcasting is more popular today than ever. This year alone, 125 million Americans are expected to tune in each month to learn new things, keep up to date, and find inspiration. Podcast listeners spend an average of 23 minutes each day listening to podcasts. 

Creating a church podcast allows you to reach people who are already listening to podcasts while also offering many other benefits, such as:

• ^{Providing discipleship resources. Discipleship requires proximity in order to teach people how to think, act, and become more like Jesus. A church podcast puts your messages front and center all week long, allowing your community to dive deeper in discipleship. This is important because we become like those we follow.} 
• ^{Giving direction to people who are lost. Who and what are your church members listening to? There are so many voices calling for their attention, each of them offering different opinions, beliefs, and values. Christian podcasts give a voice to biblical values and gospel-centered messages.} 
• ^{Building relationships with people inside & outside of your church. Starting a daily, weekly, or monthly church podcast is an excellent opportunity to spend time with your followers. People who identify with your message will be more likely to engage with your other content, visit your church, and partner with your mission.}

By using on-demand audio to create these touchpoints, you can lead conversations, provide discipleship resources, and engage your church community in a meaningful way beyond just Sundays. Let’s take a look at just how easy it is to start your own church podcast.    

5 simple steps to start a church podcast

Thanks to advances in technology, launching a church podcast is simpler and less expensive than ever. Instead of a team of media experts, you just need some common tools and a bit of creativity. Let’s dive in!

Step 1. Create a content strategy

Before you start publishing your podcasts, it’s essential to create a content strategy. Here are some questions that can help frame your content direction:

• ^{Whom do you want to impact with your content? Knowing who your ideal audience is will help you shape the style of your content.} 
• ^{What content do you already have? You may already have content such as recorded sermons, Bible studies, and devotionals. Your previously created content can be a great resource that can be repurposed as a podcast episode.} 
• ^{What kind of content should you be creating? Depending on the audience you’re looking to engage with, you can create new content to speak directly to them. It should capture their attention and speak to issues that are relevant to them.} 

Pro-tip: Strategize how you can extend your impact by dividing a single episode into several short-form content pieces. For example, if you cover several different topics, consider breaking those segments into separate episodes as well. Or, you may want to make your hour-long podcast a two-part series. Dividing your content up this way provides your audience with multiple ways to engage your content. 

2. Choose a church podcast hosting provider

The next step is to find a church podcast hosting provider to ensure each new episode is easily accessible to your audience. While many people automatically think of hosting platforms like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify, they are not built with churches in mind.

Podcasts can quickly take up a lot of digital memory space, so it’s crucial that your provider offers sufficient storage for you to build your podcast library. Subsplash Media hosts both audio and video podcasts with up to 5TB of storage alongside your other on-demand video and audio content. It also pushes your podcast content to your mobile app, website, and other podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and more—all managed in one place. 

Pro-tip: Some providers offer more than others. For example, Subsplash Media converts videos to audio content with the click of a button, which is perfect for sermon podcast hosting. 

3. Record & edit your first episode

All you need to record your first podcast is a laptop or desktop computer with a microphone, computer, recording software, and an audio editor. If this sounds like a lot, don’t worry, it’s not!

Most laptops come with a built-in microphone and basic recording software. If you own a MacBook, you also have recording and editing software with QuickTime or GarageBand. To level up your sound quality, consider investing in a simple external microphone that costs around $30 to $50. 

If you’re looking for a more advanced recording and editing software, you can use a free tool like Audacity or something similar. Its simple interface allows you to add intro and outro music, optimize your sound quality, and much more. 

Pro-tip: Don’t be too hard on your first recordings. Just like any worthwhile project, getting everything just right takes time and practice!

4. Publish your church podcast

With your first episode recorded and edited, you can now upload it to your host service. Name your episode, upload some cover art, and add a description. Your podcasting solution will automatically add your church podcast to an RSS feed that is then picked up by other apps and services such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. 

Pro tip: Most providers will let you schedule your podcast episodes in advance, so choose a time that works best for you and your audience. 

5. Get people excited about your church podcast

You want as many people as possible to discover and listen to your podcast, so now it’s time to promote it! Start by publishing it on your church’s website. Remember, if you’re using Subsplash Media, you can easily host, publish, and play your audio and video podcasts on your website and mobile app. 

Be sure to share your new podcast with your church community and on your social media. Similarly, have any guest speakers promote your church podcast with their audience. Ask people to rate and review your podcast, and use their feedback to shape and refine your future episodes. 

Pro tip: There are a lot of Christian podcasts to choose from, so be sure to explain how your podcast is focused on providing content that your audience will find meaningful. 

How to start a church podcast today with Subsplash

Subsplash makes it incredibly simple to start a church podcast with everything you need: hosting, a media player, and integrations with your website and mobile app. You can quickly turn your existing on-demand media content, such as previous sermons and other videos, into audio and video podcasts with the click of a button. 

Discover for yourself just how easy church podcasting is with Subsplash Media!  Just fill out the form below to schedule a demo. Or, if your’e a current client, log in to the Subsplash Dashboard to connect with your Client Success Manager or our Support team.

Interested in setting up a demo? Simply [.blog-contact-cta]click here to learn more about Subsplash podcasts[.blog-contact-cta], including custom mobile apps, digital giving, websites, media, and more!