Two trends define our modern landscape: church attendance is declining while social media consumption is exploding. To bridge this gap, video clips for church have become a powerful tool for reaching new audiences, particularly through short-form content on platforms like YouTube Shorts and TikTok.
While I am not a multimedia expert and my videos haven’t gone viral, I am reaching hundreds more people every week through digital channels than I could in an entire year of teaching in-person classes.
Even with minimal technical skills or a limited staff, creating impactful short videos from your existing resources is a simple and effective way to expand your ministry’s digital footprint.
Basic Steps
Let me explain to you how I do it. First off, I don’t have fancy equipment. I simply use the camera in my computer (a Dell desktop) and a USB microphone.
I start with a lesson I that record in Camtasia—though you can use any video recording program or just speak into the camera to create your initial video. I then save the video in MP4 format. (You could also start with an already-recorded sermon.)
From the long MP4 video, I create video clips using AI-powered software. The two programs I use most are Vidyo.ai and Vizard.ai. My favorite feature in Vidyo.ai is if you choose to post your clip directly on TikTok, the AI will create editable captions and hashtags for you. My favorite feature in Vizard.ai is that it allows you to edit your video shorts using a text transcription of them, which is much easier than trying to edit a waveform. Both of these sites offer free trials.
Other programs that do similar things include GetMunch.com, Repurpose.io, Qlip.ai and Opus.pro.
Once the clips are done, I upload them to various social media channels.
How These Programs Work
Let me break down the process even further.
- Upload your full-length MP4 video file of a sermon, Sunday school lesson, devotion or whatever you have recorded onto the website you have chosen.
- Using AI, the program will create a selection of video clips from your longer video. This is the key part of the process. It does in minutes the work that would have taken many hours of complex video editing if you tried to do it yourself.
- Subtitles are automatically generated.
- You can then edit the videos or add images, music and outros, or do nothing extra at all.
- Post the videos directly from the program, or download and individually post them to your church’s various social media accounts.
I know this can seem intimidating, but it is very easy to do. Don’t worry about how you look or sound when creating the recording. Just jump in and share the words of eternal life wider and in ways you never imagined was possible.
Yvon Prehn is founder and primary communications creator for Bible805.com and EffectiveChurchcom.com.