Magazines 2022 Jul - Aug Podcasting as a community-building exercise

Podcasting as a community-building exercise

13 July 2022

Commons Church, Calgary, rose to the challenge of creating a podcast that would knit a community together.

THE CHURCH

Commons Church, Calgary www.Commons.church

THE CHALLENGE

Create a podcast that would knit a community together.

THE IDEA

Between Sundays, a podcast of long-form interviews with people from the Commons community and beyond talking about the projects they are working on between Sundays.

THE COST

Audio recorder investment ranging from $150-$500+, microphone investment of $50+, audio editing services ranging from volunteer to $100 an hour. Tech and equipment costs can scale up and down depending on needs and budget.

bobbi salkeld

Podcast host and pastor Bobbi Salkeld explains:

I really love podcasts. I realized that as a pastor I was having so many interesting conversations with people in our church and it was pretty hard for others to get to each other’s stories. That could be true in any size church. I delight in the people I pastor, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if they got to hear each other’s stories?’

I love collaborating. Jon, a friend and volunteer, has been with me since the beginning of Between Sundays. Finding someone with the technical chops is important if you don’t have them or don’t have the time learn. We record in person. Jon sets up a microphone, checks the sound, and we record the conversation. Jon puts the unedited conversation into a Dropbox folder. I download the file into GarageBand to make notes. It’s time consuming, but it’s part of me working out what I want to keep. Jon takes my notes, edits the episode, and posts the final version.

Dream up a conversation you want to host. Offer it with generosity.

I wanted a creative sound, and Jon made the neat beats you hear through each episode. I have a clear structure for each conversation. I put a lot of thought into an outline. I know what it takes to get people to speak freely about a theme we’re exploring. I would like the shows to be an hour long, but I’m still working on bringing the time down.

podcasting as a community

Podcasts of sermons are wonderful, especially if your sermons are well done, and lots of churches do that. If you want to feel like you’re part of a deeper conversation that has the qualities of mutuality and reciprocity, that’s where something like Between Sundays has resonated. Folks find themselves in the conversations in ways that deepen their thoughtfulness about their faith.

You have to have real affection and love for the form of podcasting, and there’s a lot of variety in that. Dream up a conversation or series you want to host and offer it with generosity.

Do you have a story to share about your church’s community outreach? Contact our editors at editor@FaithToday.ca. Read more stories at www.FaithToday.ca/CIC.

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