Designed for all to see

Some YouTube videos can be pretty boring.

Originally posted Jan. 7, 2013, at Toolbox for Faith. Republished with permission of the author.

I am not nearly as technically advanced as the rest of my family. Son Bob said that most people today are on Facebook while I am still in phonebook. At least, I have learned to text.

I have recently been introduced to churches using YouTube. They are posting sermons, cantatas, conversations with the pastor and even Sunday school classes. At first, I was extremely impressed because it was free and I thought this would be a wonderful asset for the congregation I am serving. That changed as I began to watch some of the videos. Even though I knew the people, the presentations were unbelievably boring.

As I talked to Media-Savvy Son Bob about how to use YouTube best, he shared the story of a couple who returned from vacation with over four hours of video and asked him to edit it for them. Bob edited it down to a five-minute presentation, but the couple saw it and asked for some changes. The result was an hour presentation that only they could appreciate and not the five-minute presentation that anyone would enjoy. As he shared the story, I had flashbacks to my father-in-law’s slides from his vacation that could drone on for over an hour and sometimes two.

Bob was correct. What I have seen from churches on YouTube has been aimed at people who were already a member of the church family or who knew the people in the presentation. That is probably why most of the congregational material that I have seen has had less than 100 viewers and many have 10 or less.

If the church I am serving puts something on YouTube which, by the way, I am going to recommend that they do, I will make sure that it is designed for everyone. With so many wonderful and easy ways to edit today, I’m sure we can find someone to make sure that whatever we post is meant for everyone, not just those already inside the family.

Find a link to John Wertz Sr.’s blog Toolbox for Faith at Lutheran Blogs.

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Congregational Life 2.0 in the ELCA