wfn.org | The United Church of Canada Launches Its Own YouTube Channel

["Broadhurst, Tom" <tbroadhu@united-church.ca>]

News Release -- Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The United Church of Canada Launches Its Own YouTube Ch annel

Toronto: While it may not be a traditional pulpit, for  The United Church
of Canada, it is a communication platform like no other .

This week, the church is launching its own YouTube chan nel, featuring a
playlist of more than 20 videos with more to be added  in the weeks
ahead.

"Many people think the church is just a collection of  buildings with
steeples, but by using YouTube, we can show how active  the church is,
whether in a downtown mission like First United in Vanc ouver or through
overseas partners working on water issues in Kenya," says  Catherine
Rodd, the church's Multi-Media Producer. "Our audience is  the world and
we want to add our faces and voices to the tapestry  of people working
for just change, wherever they are."

The United Church's YouTube playlist includes videos of s ome of the
United Church's hundreds of community projects, both in C anada and
overseas, as well as video messages from the church's c urrent spiritual
leader, Moderator David Giuliano.

Rodd explains that while this YouTube venture is a firs t for the church
as a national body, many local congregations and youth  groups have been
posting videos independently for some time. She hopes to  integrate the
best of those videos into the channel in the coming m onths.

"For 20 years the United Church had a weekly television  show on
VisionTV. When it ended, we needed a new window. YouTub e offers us
that," says Rodd.

"YouTube also gives us a chance to showcase videos prod uced by our
overseas partners that people wouldn't normally get a cha nce to see,"
adds Rodd. "We are very excited about the possibilities  to show local,
regional, and international stories that make people think  about the
world from new and different points of view."

The United Church of Canada's YouTube channel can be fo und at www.youtube.ca/unitedchurchofcanada.

>For more information, please contact:

>Mary-Frances Denis
>Communications Officer
>The United Church of Canada
>416-231-7680 ext. 2016 (office)
>1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016 (toll-free)
>mdenis@united-church.ca

>--30-

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