Coming Soon: Diocese of Cascadia Podcast | By Corby Stephens
The Diocese of Cascadia is climbing aboard the Podcast train this fall. Here is a short primer on podcasting and what to expect from ours.
What is a podcast?
If you already know what a podcast is, feel free to skip ahead. Suffice it to say that a podcast has four basic parts:
A “feed” - A feed describes the topic of the podcast and the individual episodes in human language, along with a bunch of technobabble for a program to read. It lives out on the Internet somewhere. As new episodes of the podcast are created the feed gets updated with the new information.
An audio file - Think of it like a radio talk show, typically an MP3. This audio file also lives out on the Internet, somewhere.
A “reader” - A reader is a program/app on your device that knows how to subscribe to a feed, read it, and play the audio file for you to listen to. If the audio file is talk radio, the reader is the actual radio itself.
A device - This could be your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. Subscribe to a podcast, and the reader periodically checks the feed for new episodes and updates accordingly. People listen to podcasts while exercising, doing yard work, driving to work/school, just about anytime they want.
How do you find a podcast to listen to? You go to a directory. There are many of them. Many apps work hand-in-glove with the app-maker’s podcast directory (Apple, Spotify, Google, etc.). They all let you search the directory to find what you want and subscribe.
What are they used for?
You name it. Seriously. During the COVID pandemic the number of podcasts skyrocketed as celebrities and hobbyists alike had to find new ways to get their content out there.
In a church/ministry context they are typically used by a church to archive and distribute their Sunday sermons/homilies. This way if a family misses a Sunday, they can listen to it after the fact. It’s a way for those who are home-bound to feel connected and get some spiritual food. Podcasts are even used for outreach. You can share a link to an episode with someone for encouragement, or help them meet Jesus for the first time.
What will be on ours?
There are two main goals for our podcast:
To bring together individual believers and churches across our diocese, which spans Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. There is much to celebrate and share. You are not alone!
To help our Diocese feel more like a part of the larger ACNA and the global Anglican Communion. As a Diocese we are part of something bigger both nationally and globally. WE are not alone!
How will this be done? Let me answer that with another list. :-)
From The Bishop - a brief message from or possible conversation with Bishop Kevin.
Author! - I will interview the authors of the articles in these newsletters to go a little deeper into the subjects they write about.
Who’s Who - I hope to interview Diocesan leadership and individual parish leaders from around the Diocese. It’s a chance to get to know the priests across the Diocese and what’s happening in their parishes.
Vocabulary with the Vicar - (OK, I know “vicar” is not the term we use in the US, but it goes well with the title.) In case you haven’t noticed, we Anglicans have words for everything. Some of us need some help. OK, I need some help. It’s for me and you get to listen in.
Church Planting with Fr. Ryan Brotherton.
And more!
When will ours be available?
We will officially be launching our podcast this year at Synod, October 15-16. Between now and then you can bookmark this page on the Diocese website. In the coming weeks we will be posting a teaser episode with a preview of what’s to come.
Suggested Listening
With each quarterly newsletter I hope to highlight an Anglican-oriented podcast for your listening pleasure. For this edition I’d like to recommend “Word and Table” with Fr. Alex Wilgus and Fr. Stephen Gauthier from the Diocese of the Upper Midwest. I love this podcast because it is a kind of “deep dive” into topics and ideas concerning liturgy, church history, elements of worship, it’s just great.
About The Author
Since this is my first article in the newsletter, I thought I’d share a little so you know who this is coming from. I’ve been married for almost 27 years to my amazing wife Jessica. We have two grown sons, two giant dogs, one fat cat, and we live in Kalama, WA. We have been involved in ministry in some form or another for all of our adult lives, including pastoring two churches. We discovered the ACNA about two years ago, found Iona Community Anglican Church in Vancouver, WA (our home town), and haven’t looked back. I am currently in the early steps of pursuing ordination. My full-time job is as the IT Directory at King’s Way Christian School in Vancouver. Using the Internet (and podcasting) for ministry and outreach has been a part of what I’ve done serving the church since the technology went mainstream in the 1990’s. (OK, now I feel old.) I pray that the newsletter and podcast help you grow closer to Jesus and others in our Diocese.