Tapping into one of the fastest-growing genres of podcasting, Christian.com announced Tuesday the official launch of GodCast1000.com, which is said to debut as the largest podcast directory on the Internet dedicated solely to Christian podcasts.
"Religious believers want more 'God on their iPod,' and churches are rapidly finding that through podcasting, church members can take the Sunday sermon with them throughout the week,” said Lee Raney, president of Christian.com, in a released statement.
Already, visitors have come from 31 countries including China, Germany, Australia, South Africa and India in their search for church sermons, Christian music, Bible studies and teen-directed messages. The new website ranks the top Christian podcasts by such categories, the largest of them being church sermons.
Religion has been seemingly the fastest growing segment of the podcast community. From Battle Cry podcasts for teens to Harvest podcasts for seekers and believers, more and more evangelicals have been getting in step with technology and prevailing.
Megachurches have always been up to date with technology with pastors preaching on television and radio, but podcasting has made it easier and more affordable for smaller churches to get their message out.
The popular Podcastalley.com has a larger listing of podcasts under Religion/Inspiration than most other genres, offering anything from a morning dose of Christian music and news to church drama video podcasts.
Video podcasts or "vidcasts" are also featured on GodCast1000.com with CyberPastor.com – a daily video devotional by Pastor Andrae Bailey – at the top.
GodCast1000.com first went live on the Internet in July and now includes over 600 godcasts to choose from with free subscription.
Although the term "godcast" refers to a podcast of any religion, GodCast1000.com is focused on the Christian faith with podcasts from Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Lutheran and Pentecostal Christians from around the world.
Christian.com plans to launch SermonCast.com to provide churches the service of converting audio tapes and CDs to podcasts.
"With SermonCast.com, we can help pastors and youth pastors turn their sermons into podcasts without the technology hassles, so they can focus on their message and ministry," said Raney.
