​The deaf and hard of hearing relate to the hearing world in a diversity of ways, but in recent years, closed captioning has become so technologically easier and economically affordable, that in 2015 the FCC mandated closed captioning for commercial broadcasting.

This requirement does not, for the most part, apply to churches, but on the other hand, after a church invests tens of thousands of dollars into video and audio equipment in order to broadcast sermon content into YouTube, Vimeo and iTunes for the hope of winning souls and changing lives, why feint at spending a few hundred dollars per month to make sermons accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing, too? ​

In the 20th century, mostly middle-aged and elderly folks really needed to worry about hearing loss--mostly factory guys and war veterans.  Then, Baby Boomers partied pretty hard with the Grateful Dead and ended up Ungratefully Deaf.  Today, mega-decibel environments are nearly ubiquitous, from millennials with their “iPod-itus” to even the church, which is increasingly marked by loud bands pushing volume to 95 decibels and more -- clearly in the hearing-damage level.

Hearing loss used to be a concern for the old, but the popularity of closed captioning for the middle-aged and even young people is manifested in how popular captioning is for Netflix and YouTube today. Captioning should be part of a church’s video sermon regular workflow.
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ReSermon will prepare your sermon archives into closed caption files to serve the deaf and hard of hearing.

.​John and Susan share with Pastor Steve one morning after church that they need counseling. Steve wants to schedule a meeting with them later that week but he wants them to dive into some material he already preached upon this year and last. 

Or, he tries to remember, was it in the year before? 

No matter, because Steve’s sermons are transcribed and published at his church blog.

“Look up ‘marriage’ and ‘Cassie’ in the search windows of the church blog,” Steve says, “because the messages I want you to review include some stories I shared about me and Cassie and some of the challenges we went through.” 

This has a few big benefits: 

1. The marriage “counseling” begins today, not Thursday. John and Susan don’t have to wait until Thursday to get started on their marriage counseling appointment. In fact, they’ve been given explicit homework. Why let them focus on more fighting Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when they can be applying that time toward growth? 
2. John and Susan are “doing” the counseling. They are actively working on their problem, rather than just passively waiting for the professional to fix this for them. 

Because Steve’s sermon archive is transcribed and published, John and Susan might find the breakthrough they need, transforming Thursday’s meeting from less of a counseling appointment to more of a celebration appointment.

ReSermon can transcribe and publish your sermon archive. Let’s get started!

Roger is working on material for Wednesday night’s youth ministry and wants to know how Pastor Steve would handle a sensitive subject. Steve, however, is knee-deep preparing for a funeral and won’t be available until much later in the week.

No problem, because Roger can just go to the church’s website where Steve’s transcribed sermon archives have been posted and tagged for easy reference. Not only is Steve’s archived sermons a huge help to Roger, but sunday school teachers, committee members, and ministry leaders now have access to Steve’s teaching. 

Sermon transcription has a few other key benefits for your staff and colleagues. If these leaders are presently treating the pastor or his assistant as their de facto librarians, sermon transcription now makes this a thing of the past, or at least greatly reduces the burden. 
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ReSermon’s transcription service can make your entire sermon archive available for optimum access for your staff and church leadership. 

1. Get your sermon library transcribed.
2. Post those transcripts as individual blog posts at your church’s blog.
3. Convert transcripts into closed caption files and upload to whatever platform you use (usually, Vimeo or YouTube). 
4. Watch your views and missional impact increase.

"What? I'm way too busy to do all that."

​Good news: ReSermon can do all this for you.

​​​“Public square” is a metaphor for the places where the community’s dialogue takes place. Historically, that meant the physical community centers like town halls, literal public squares and the like, but also included forums like community newspapers, restaurants, bars, theaters, town meetings, and the like. 

Today, that also includes radio and TV stations, websites, and more. Too often, however, the public pats the pastor on the head and admonishes him to stay in the church, because that is where his expertise and relevance supposedly begins and ends.
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ReSermon is a group of experienced Christian media professionals who help pastors return to and/or serve the public square, which is desperate for biblical, life-preserving salt. Big decisions are being made, and pastors are missing from the discussion table. 

Have you ever read your own preached sermon? Chances are good that you would be surprised. How many times are you interrupting yourself? How many times are you pausing with “um” or “uh” or interrupting your point with “Now, listen” or other go-to phrases. Sermon transcription can play a helpful role in your homiletic improvement and missional effectiveness.
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ReSermon can transcribe your entire sermon archive. Call today.

By Christopher Mann
for ReSermon.com

Captioning your video sermon is one of the easiest, low-hanging-fruit ways of immediately expanding your ministry reach. By captioning your videos, which demographics do you pick up? 

In one sense, you pick up some specific profiles. In another sense, you pick up everybody. 

By Christopher Mann
for ReSermon.com