Wed 28 May 2008
I’m also presenting this paper at AoIR in October, as part of a panel on online religion:
Godcasting: exploring religious audiences and podcasting communities
In 2006 it was reported that, second only to radio station programs, religious programs are the most popular genre of podcasting. Yet to date very little research has been conducted on religious podcasting, its content, production or consumption. I would like to offer some preliminary findings from data collected in 2006 and 2007 from individuals’ and organisations’ use of podcasting for religious purposes. In my presentation I will consider how information produced by religious practitioners has been framed by podcasters for online consumption, and its effect on the messages received by audiences. I will also put forward some arguments and questions to consider on how podcasting is working to create and enhance online religious communities, and shape relationships between producers and consumers of podcasted religious content. I will focus particularly on the new role of “podcast priest” and how religious practitioners’ roles are changed in this relatively new online medium.
June 1st, 2008 at 17:55
Hiya Paul,
This sounds like tremendously interesting research. I started a podcast approx. three years ago with someone I’d met at a podcasting meetup. We both had gone to Bible College/ Seminary with the intent/desire to enter full-time ministry and later changed course. When we started the podcast we were both out of church (hence we named our podcast “Outchurched”) and we tried to have a meaningful discussion about the issues that the disenfranchised face. I viewed it as a form of therapy that we were recording and sharing.
Outchurched had two “seasons.” The second involved myself, my friend who had “led me to Christ” as an adult (he’d been involved in full-time ministry for a number of years and was also “outchurched), and a former minister from Canada.
As a direct result of the podcast and blog, I’ve met a number of really great people who have had similar experiences. I think if outchurched accomplished anything at all that it was sending out the message to the disenfranchised that “you’re not alone.” The tone of the outchurched blog has changed quite a bit since its inception, mostly because I’ve changed a lot since it was started.
One of our goals was to try to either get people back in church or to help ‘em move on. I personally grew a tremendous amount (I hope!) because of it, and I’d love to share stories about my experience with you if it’s interesting to you and/or relevant to your research.
There are a number of other podcasters who were in the same/very similar niche, and perhaps you’d be interested in their stories as well. (My experience is that we like to talk about this stuff…)
I’d highly recommend the Stupid Church People podcast/blog, Out of Fellowship, Godscrum, and also Wired Jesus. The Wired Jesus podcast isn’t really in the “disenfranchised” bucket, but I think Tom Lyberg has a clue and asks a lot of good questions.
Best regards,
- Dan
June 1st, 2008 at 20:05
Hey Dan,
How serendipitous that you should find this post and make a comment! Outchurched is one of the podcasts I was thinking about using. But I lost the downloads and couldn’t remember the URL, so it’s great that you’ve found me, so now I can go to the site and download them again.
SCP and WJP are on my list to discuss. True, WJP wouldn’t be considered very marginal, but I agree Tom does have a certain eye, has a grasp of being “post-church”, at least in relation to the megachurch model.
If you have time, would love to chat more with you and anybody else who may be interested, and I can give you a run-down of my methodology and the main arguments I’d like to pursue, so you can tell me if it works or not.
If you have skype you can find me, username is paulteusner.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:52
Thanks for the kind words, Dan. Its true that Wired Jesus tends to be more of a christian “in-house” thing, with many de-churched folks but there are a hefty number of non-Christians as well. The other large groups seems to be pastor people looking for a postmodern place to hangout.
The sad thing is that most of the postmodern podcasts that I liked listening to have fallen silent - too much time and too hard to compete against all the corporate/megachurch heavyweights. Three years ago, Wired Jesus was a top 25 religious podcast - today we aren’t even a blip on Itunes radar. I only have a few thousand listeners who are faithful and do word of mouth for WJP but I can’t match Joel Osteen or Willow Creek.
August 27th, 2008 at 14:27
Tom, you said “but I can’t match Joel Osteen or Willow Creek.”
Nor should you, I reckon.
I think the beauty about yours and Dan’s and Pete’s work is that they “stay imtimate” so to speak, don’t try to speak to and for everyone, and so remain unafraid to say the important things.