Creating videos has never been easier, cheaper or more convenient. A piece of equipment worth hundreds of pounds ten years ago is now an essential part of a mobile phone given away for free on some tariffs. High Definition video cameras, creating TV-quality pictures, are now affordable by most churches, leading them to wonder whether they should not simply record the sermon as an audio file, but also as a video.
There are many reasons to consider this. Firstly, downloading video is something many of us are used to doing via YouTube or iPlayer. We are even used to watching entire programmes on computer screens as opposed to our televisions. So far, so sensible.
A-list preachers
There are also some very successful and notable churches who ‘vodcast’ their sermons. Marc Driscoll, John Piper and many others offer videos of their sermons. But these are men who run large churches — whose videos are being downloaded not only by their own sizeable congregations, but by Christians all over the world. Driscoll has joked that they have so many people downloading Mars Hill’s sermons, they’d almost constitute a country.
The execution of Archbishop William Laud
On 28 January at St Paul's Cathedral, Sarah Mullally will be confirmed, officially making her the Archbishop of Canterbury. The …