ELCA News Blog
August 16, 2006
ELCA Videos Available on Google Video
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service
Video programs from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) can now be viewed and downloaded at "Google Video" on the Web, a free service that allows anyone to upload videos and search and play videos directly from Google Video. The ELCA has posted more than 60 videos since June 1, said Tim Frakes, associate director for public media, ELCA Communication Services. Since then, the posted videos have been viewed some 36,000 times.
"With new video distribution systems like Google Video and 'YouTube,' congregations can distribute their videos and target their audiences in a cost-effective way, in a way that they have never been able to do before," Frakes said. "You can take your production, whether it's a sophisticated marketing video or whether it's just a portion of the Sunday sermon, upload it and target it to a specific audience that has access to the Web," he said.
While Google Video restricts the posting of pornographic and graphically violent videos, congregations should be aware that they are posting to an uncensored public marketplace, Frakes said. "It's important to understand that this isn't sanitized, and if you're going to put your message out there it's going to be out there in the open marketplace, so you can't be shocked by that. In fact you need to celebrate it," he said. "That's what Jesus did, he went to where people needed to hear the gospel, and this is a way we can do that more effectively than we have in a long, long time. We can go right to where people are," Frakes added.
*Katherine R. Hinck is a senior journalism and religion major at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
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