Are you ready for VBS? What curriculum or theme are you using this year? Or did you let it die ? We talk about VBS -- and a little tech this week. Blessing does have a super idea about church tech training, so be sure to listen for that. Be sure to tell us how you VBS by messaging @ChurchMag using #cmagcast, send us an email at podcast@churchm.ag, or tell us here -- you can even send us a voice or video message that we'll share on an upcoming podcast. Do you VBS? How do you VBS? Let's here it. :...
Jun 07, 2018•25 min
Blessing Mpofu delivers this weeks topic and things get pretty real as we discuss how honest and raw churches, ministry leaders, and ourselves can be when sharing on social media. Is every Sunday service really that amazing? Where do we draw the line between being "real" and "marketing speak?" Or maybe social media requires an entirely different set of communication rules? We discuss this (and an entire bonus segment about peanut butter following) and more on this weeks ChurchMag podcast! If you...
Jun 01, 2018•53 min
Blessing Mpofu joins us again! (This is fun.) Jeremy kicks things off talking about his new Pixel phone, which leads us to the conversation of warranties . Are they worth it? You can get them for just about anything -- should you? And what about churches? Let's talk about it. :) If you would like to join in the fun, say "hello" to us on @ChurchMag using #cmagcast, send us an email at podcast@churchm.ag, or submit your thoughts here -- you can even send us a voice or video message that we'll shar...
May 24, 2018•26 min
We are excited to finally have Blessing Mpofu on the podcast this week! Blessing has been blessing ChurchMag readers since 2015 and has more recently become a Senior Staff Writer with us. He joins us from South Africa and brings a rich experience in church leadership and digital media -- and most recently -- is doing great work with Alpha. Get to know Blessing a little more in this episode -- he's an amazing guy. A few links to note: Blessing's website , Instagram , and more information about Al...
May 18, 2018•44 min
This week on the podcast, we invite Nate Smoyer on the podcast for the second time -- you can catch him here previously. Nate is an amazing guy and we're sure you'll enjoy the various topics we explore on this episode like Why The Christian Post hates its readers, random trolling, and many other random topics. This is the ultimate mega mix tape! You can find Nate on Twitter , but you should really check out the Real Team Panda . If you would like to send Nate a question -- send a tweet our way @...
May 10, 2018•1 hr
This week on the podcast Eric, Jeremy, and Phil talk about some of their biggest church email pet peeves and talk about some of the great ways you can level up your church email with MailChimp . While we were not sponsored by MailChimp in any way , we certainly wouldn't mind if they emailed us -- podcast@churchm.ag -- to get our mailing address to send us some of that sweet-sweet MailChimp swag... But even if they don't, we still wub them. If you would like to share your email pet peeve, send a ...
May 04, 2018•24 min
When you see his face, you may very well recognize him. Is he on your church website? Maybe the latest Christian publication you read? Or perhaps your favorite blog? It's hard to say where you may have seen his face, but with his contribution to Creative Commons 0 photography with a Christian focus (see what we did there?), his photos are among the favorites of Unsplash users. This week on the podcast, we have a chance to talk with Ben White about his experience as an Unsplash photographer, what...
Apr 26, 2018•43 min
Why is it that so much Christian media is -- lame? From movies to video games (not so much with music anymore), anything within the Christian marketing genre is stereotypically bad. There are some bright spots, sure, but what happened to creative works, by Christians, like Lord of the Rings? Why don't we have more "playable parables"? This week on the podcast we discuss this further, mostly with the focus on video games, as we think back to the ol' Wisdom Tree games and argue that there are many...
Apr 20, 2018•24 min
This week has been full of headline news -- " Senate fails its Zuckerberg test ", "' Um, uh, no': Zuckerberg not keen to reveal own personal info ", and many others. One observation we've had is the struggle between generations. The speed at which technology has increased is staggering. The Technology Snowball is very real, and we see this fleshed out on Capitol Hill as questions ask of Mark Zuckerberg seem ridiculous at times, it's obvious that it's not just church tech that faces these struggl...
Apr 12, 2018•17 min
We kick-off this episode with John Wilkerson's comments he shared regarding our podcast a few weeks ago -- Publisher vs InDesign? -- and then dive head-first into the Facebook data disaster drama. What can Church Techs and leaders learn from all of this? Jeremy refers to his recent blog post on the subject (you can read that here ) and we all realize that church data security is serious business. Talk to us on @ChurchMag using #cmagcast, send us an email at podcast@churchm.ag, or submit your tho...
Apr 06, 2018•23 min
It's almost become a tradition, it feels like. We take the podcast time around Easter to remind all of you that have been working so hard for the "Super Bowl Sunday" of church services -- to put your feet up and reflect. We mentioned this week that we've talked about Easter before -- you can catch those podcasts here: Easter Church Tech Tips with Chip Dizárd , Get Your Church Website Ready for Easter , Getting Ready for Easter , Easter Sunday: Achievement Unlocked , and Grab Bag #1 (the only "Gr...
Mar 30, 2018•13 min
This week on the podcast we talk about, we touch on a subject we've talked about before -- discussing church tech . We talk about a specific example -- a case example if you will -- and whether any church staff member should use an application like Microsoft Publisher or Pages, or if they should use a more professional application like Adobe InDesign. While we pitched this idea around a few times and explored some of the nuances, we are curious to know what you think. Not which is "better" per s...
Mar 22, 2018•23 min
Technology is always around us -- do we turn it off often enough? And what about social media? Are we consuming it -- or is it consuming us? You can join in on this week's conversation about mobile media consumption on Twitter via @ChurchMag using #cmagcast, send an email at podcast@churchm.ag, or submit your question here -- and we'll share your comments on an upcoming episode....
Mar 16, 2018•27 min
We are excited to talk with Katie Allred this week! She is the co-founder of the very awesome Church Communications Facebook Group . With over 15,000 members, it is easily the most robust Church comms community on the planet. You can find Kaite on Twitter , read her blog posts on ChurchMag , but make sure you at least sign up for the cool stuff on the Church Communications website. Ask Katie a question via @ChurchMag using #cmagcast, send an email at podcast@churchm.ag, or submit your question h...
Mar 09, 2018•45 min
This week on the podcast we level-up in two different ways. First, we hit our 200th episode! And the second way we leveled-up? We have the very cool Drew Dixon on the podcast. Drew is not just a gentleman and a scholar -- nope -- he's also a master podcaster and world-class gamer who explores the intersection of faith and gaming. Are you a gamer? What's your favorite game? Has a game made you cry -- like Eric did with Bastion ? Or do you love Minecraft as much as Jeremy? What did you think of Dr...
Mar 01, 2018•50 min
Have you heard about home automation? It's basically the Intenet of Things becoming a reality with things like Google Home , Echo, Alexa , and others. Your coffee maker, TV, computer, refrigerator, fireplace, and living room lights are suddenly interconnected and you are given full control -- or maybe given up full control? On this episode, we talk about Home Automation and what they means for the Church today and tomorrow. What do you think about all of this? Tell us @ChurchMag using #cmagcast,...
Feb 23, 2018•28 min
We haven't been this excited about a podcast episode in a very long time. This week we have a very special guest -- Chad Hugghins from CV Outreach . CV Outreach is a North American Google Partner, that is Kingdom minded, analytics-driven, and provides a 100% free service for churches. By the time you're finished hearing some of the details Chad shares with us on this episode, you'll not only realize why we are so excited, but why your church needs to sign up right now ! Are you as excited as we ...
Feb 15, 2018•39 min
What would Jesus tweet? While we didn't ask that questions specifically on this week's podcast, that pretty much summarizes the episode. We spend so much time as church techs talking about "best practices," "social media ideas," and "evangelizing online," that sometimes it's easy to overlook the most powerful witness we have online: Our behavior. So even though Jeremy left Twitter (Y THO!?!) and social media marketing has a lot to do about business , there is a dark side to social media , but do...
Feb 09, 2018•28 min
A few weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg announced some major changes to how Facebook's News Feed is aggregated. We shared an awesome post about how the new Facebook News Feed will affect church Pages on ChurchMag, but each of us have our thoughts and ideas about this change. Phil's touched on some of this before, but what about you? What do you think about this recent change? Tell us at @ChurchMag using #cmagcast , send us an email podcast@churchm.ag, or submit your thoughts here -- we would love to he...
Feb 02, 2018•29 min
So you want a new mobile app for your church? What about a new sound system or lighting? Has the question been asked as to why these things are wanted? What's the real or fundamental reason for these desires? Does it truly help build the Kingdom and move the Gospel forward? These are some tough questions when we start addressing these honestly and really consider the catalyst for desiring new technology. This week on the podcast, we dive into some of these questions and touch on some of the pote...
Jan 25, 2018•22 min
Phil is back on the podcast!?! We not only welcome him back, but we also answer a question submitted by John Wilkerson regarding bandwidth. If you have sermon audio being listened to overseas, should you require a lower bit rate version for mobile downloads? Is it worth the while? Is it just those downloading media overseas? There are several things to consider, but the bottom line is simple. Take a listen and join the fun! Send us a message @ChurchMag using #cmagcast , send us an email podcast@...
Jan 19, 2018•21 min
On this episode, we welcome Paul Alan Clifford as he discusses one of his biggest passions: Live-Streaming Church! Paul shares his heart, streaming, and a little about his new ebook from ChurchMag Press . Be sure to visit Paul's website: TrinityDigitalMedia.com . Follow him on Twitter: @paulalanclif . And download his ebook: Live-Streaming Church . If you would like to join the fun, send us a message @ChurchMag using #cmagcast or send us an email podcast@churchm.ag....
Jan 12, 2018•32 min
This week's "Phil-In" is church communication pro Seth Muse (http://www.sethmuse.com/). On this very special episode, Seth talks about church Instagram and social media.
Jan 05, 2018•38 min
This week on the podcast, Phil Schneider is busy with babies, so we invited The Christian Nerd, Scott Higa to join the podcast. You find him almost everywhere on the web, but mostly here: http://thechristiannerd.com
Dec 29, 2017•49 min
ChurchMag Senior Staff Writer Chris Wilson and WhyChristmas.com founder and ChurchMag Fellow James Cooper lead another British invasion -- taking over the ChurchMag Podcast with some good-natured British and Christmas fun. #maba
Dec 21, 2017•31 min
Church tech is much more than just soundboards, video wipes, and an update on the front page of the website. Church tech is a chance to disciple, teach, and even reach those outside of the church.
Dec 15, 2017•23 min
Are your church announcements stale? Is there anything else that's stale? (Stale is a weird word.) This week we talk about church announcements and why it's important to think about what your church is doing.
Dec 08, 2017•22 min
Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas and New Years is up next. Even during this busy time, you need to take a moment to slow down and refill yourself before diving into the next thing.
Dec 01, 2017•22 min
Welcome to the fourth annual Black Friday edition of the ChurchMag podcast! Yowza!
Nov 23, 2017•19 min
John Wilkerson asked the question: "...Church website managers: How do you handle closings?" From there, we talk about some of the ways you can use technology to spread the word! Also, Klingon.
Nov 17, 2017•18 min
