Why add audio content?
Adding audio content to your church website provides a great resource for your members. Users of your  website can listen to sermons they may have missed or listen again to a message they found particularly helpful. As well as being useful to church members, your recordings may be played by those who might not otherwise have come to church, giving you another way to reach people. Recordings don't just have to be sermons, you could record a prayer and thought for the week or let the youth get creative and record their own 'radio play'.
What is a podcast?
Users can listen to your recordings on their computer by simply clicking on them at your church website. But another very popular way for people to listen to audio content is on a portable audio/mp3 player such as an iPod. Using the iTunes software on their computer, they can select from many thousands of 'podcasts', including yours. That way, any new 'episodes', (ie recordings) will automatically be downloaded to their computer and ipod when they become available. iTunes is free software and can be used to subscribe to podcasts whether or not you've bought an ipod! The Church Edit control panel takes care of all the technical details behind the scenes, so once you are uploading your audio recordings, creating a podcast is an easy next step. (see the download section for more details).
Recording your audio
This is probably the stage that varies most depending on what kind of recording device you choose. A few options follow, but if you already have someone in the church who looks after the sound system, they'll probably be able to help you choose the right method.
If your church has no PA system
If your church has no PA system, you'll have to provide a microphone for recording. You'll need to make sure that your recording device has a microphone input (not just a line input), and that you can get the right kind of plug on the end of your microphone to go into it! A tie clip microphone will pick up a speaker's voice consistently, but since the microphone is attached to the speaker, they will either have to have the recorder in their pocket, or you will need a radio microphone, which costs more. Alternatively, a static (ie stationary) microphone could be placed on the front row of seats or the lectern, but think about the area the speaker will move around in, and check that the microphone will cover this area - a trial run is the only way to be sure!
If your church has a PA system
If your church already has a PA system, it makes sense to record from this. You will record sound from all of the microphones at once, so you can for example hear the reading from the lectern microphone as well as the sermon from the speaker's tie clip. If the recording device can be placed at the back of the church, it will no longer be the job of the speaker to press record (they often forget!). If you have a sound desk, find out what kind of cable you need to connect its output to the line input of your recording device. If there is no sound output available, you may be able to buy or invent a 'splitter cable' to give you access to the signal from the main microphone, whilst still keeping it plugged into the amplifier.
Choosing a recording device
If your budget will stretch to it, the best item is a dedicated digital audio recorder. This will record directly to an mp3 audio file, usually on a removable memory card. If you can set the right compression level (32 or 16 bit) you can just move the file onto your computer and publish it to your church website straight away.
see also Audio part 2
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