The communications department has been growing and developing over the last few years. And we are looking forward to ongoing growth and expansion into new arenas. Let’s take a look at what our Victorian Adventist Communications department does for the local church
You all know about IntraVic, the regular newsletter. It went from bimonthly to monthly, then back to bimonthly with an email version in-between printed editions. It was found that the email version was not good as a replacement for the printed, but was a viable alternative, so now is released at the same time as the bimonthly edition, with the same content.
But did you know that the articles and stories are also posted online and shared through facebook?
For a while now, main conference events, such as Big Camp, have been recorded and people can access them via the tv website, VictorianAdventist.TV. This year was the first time where we tried live streaming the programs, and while not without some technical difficulties this went well and we anticipate will become a regular part of our Big Camp experience. We are working currently, on a series of one minute presentations, taking the key points from sermons, and have begun posting these on Facebook as well as our usual platforms on youtube and vimeo.
From the TV website you can also link to a series of sermon podcasts. In fact this is one of the areas we would like to expand further. Does your church put up podcasts of your sermons? Please contact us at [email protected] so we can share resources and increase our reach.
And talking websites, one of our biggest projects over the last twelve months has been working with developers to create a new conference website. At the time of print, we anticipate that it will be up and running by the end of September. So check it out at Vic.Adventist.org.au (and if it still looks the same, come back a week or so later!) This is the Conference’s main ‘Go To’ for church information; upcoming events and registrations; departmental resources; all things media related; linking through to other sites such as Camp Howqua, VicYouth and Adventist schools; latest news… All you need to remember is Vic.Adventist.org.au.
The VAC team has been involved in discussions with other conferences around sharing resources and focusing on social media. So in the ensuing months you may see some changes in our facebook account. And of course, with such a large contingent of Victorians attending the Digital Discipleship Conference, and the subsequent meetings we have been having with them, you can look for changes in the digital space as we work together to share Christ more effectively, both personally and corporately. Another spin off from these meetings is that where it is possible, there will be intentional training and mentoring as projects are developed, so that skills such as sound mixing, video recording and switching can be taken back to the local church.
VAC is here to facilitate communication at both conference and local church level, however we do not want to keep this internal – there is so much of our news that is worth sharing with the wider community – the news of how good our great God is, and what hope He offers to this troubled world. And we want to share our resources and opportunities, working with local church members, to this end.
Does your church produce its own skits and would like an opportunity to record them? We have mentioned podcasts, but perhaps your church takes it further and streams or records your sermons. We would love to know more, and explore how we can work together. Are you interested in learning more about social media and how to use it for Christ? This is a project we are beginning to work on, so stay tuned. Are you willing to share your digital skills with other churches and be involved in our collaboration project? Please contact us at the above email, if any of these possibilities resonate with you. Or share this blog with someone you know, passionate about this sort of evangelism but who doesn’t read IntraVic!
Sherrie Courtney
