Christian podcasting, one of the fastest growing genre's of podcasting, is being tapped into by Christian.com and the Christian Web Network.

|PIC1|Since the launch of GodCast1000.com this July, their website now showcases the largest podcasting directory on the Internet that is dedicated solely to Christianity.

"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 helpfully ranks the top Christian podcasts by such categories, the largest of them being church sermons.

Religion has never before been seen to grow so fast in 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 this new technology; the main advantage being that even smaller churches can afford the expense required to get their message out.

|AD|Also popular is the Podcastalley.com which now 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, following its launch in July now includes over 600 godcasts to choose from with free subscription, and podcasts from Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Lutheran and Pentecostal Christians from around the world.

Christian.com also 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," announced Raney.

SermonCast.com is due to be launched this year and will be available for iPods, and other mp3 players, cell phones and mobile devices.




Lillian Kwon
Christian Today Correspondant