Contents:

What is Podcasting and how do I use it?
How to download iTunes or windows media player
How to download MP3 audio files from our website
How to make a CD
How to listen on an mp3 player
How to listen in a car that only plays tapes
What do I do if I’m having trouble?

What is podcasting and how do I use it?

Podcasting is a way of subscribing to a certain audio "channel," having new files automatically download to your computer whenever they become available. It’s kind of like an online audio magazine subscription. Every week when the Sunday sermon is uploaded to Church of the Resurrection’s website (www.churchrez.org/audio/sermons), it will be automatically downloaded to your computer.

There are two ways to subscribe to Church of the Resurrection’s Sermon Podcast:

1.) Navigate in your web browser to www.churchrez.org/audio/sermons. (You can also follow the links from the church homepage by clicking on "going deeper" and then "audio" and finally, "sermons" or "sermon audio"). You'll see "Audio Podcast" with a small orange icon underneath it on the right hand side of the page. Click on that icon. You'll be taken to a new page that lists all of the available sermons. On the right hand side, under the "actions" heading, you'll see "subscribe in iTunes". Clicking on that link will automatically start your subscription.

2.) Open your iTunes player (if you haven't downloaded it and need instructions, see the Appendix). With iTunes open, select either "iTunes store" from the library bar on the left hand side of the window. In the upper right hand corner of the subsequently appearing window, you'll see a search field titled "search iTunes store". Enter the following terms in order to get straight to the Rez sermons: "Church of the Resurrection audio files". There should only be one search result. By clicking on the "subscribe" button and by saying "ok" or “subscribe” to the confirmation prompt, you're all set. The most recent sermon will automatically download into iTunes, and each new sermon posted will arrive in your iTunes player as if it were the daily paper landing on your front porch.  

How to Download iTunes or Windows Media Player

Before downloading either program, check to see if you already have one or the other already installed on your computer. Chances are, Mac users will have iTunes already, and PC users will have Windows Media Player. iTunes will also work great on PCs, and I actually prefer it. 

iTunes

To download iTunes, go to www.apple.com/iTunes, find the "download now" button for the latest version of the program (iTunes 7.6 at the present time of writing this), click on that and follow on-screen directions from there. For PC users, make sure that the site has correctly detected your operating system, so that you get the Windows version rather than the Mac version.

Windows Media Player

To download the latest or previous versions of this player, go to www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player (or just follow the links from the Microsoft homepage). On this page, you will see options for downloading the program, depending on which operating system you have (XP, Vista , etc.). Select whichever option matches with your computer. This may be a "previous version" if you're using an older computer and don't want a huge program slowing things down too much.

How to download mp3 audio files from our Website

You can download sermons (and other Rez teachings) directly from the website one at a time. Here’s how!

Step 1

In your web browser, input the following url: www.churchrez.org/audio/sermons. There is also a link at the bottom of the Rez home page titled "sermon audio". This will take you to the same place.

Step 2

When you see the listing of sermons, click on the "download audio file" option located underneath the listing of the sermon you want to download.

Step 3

When you click on that link, the file may immediately start downloading, or you may be prompted to selection a destination for the file. If the latter, just put it anywhere it will be easy to find, either on your desktop, or in the folder devoted to your music and audio library. You may also see an “open with” option appear. You can then select the appropriate program (Windows Media Player, iTunes, or another media-playing program). 

How to make a CD from mp3s

You can burn the MP3 files that you download from the church website to a CD to listen to in the car or to give to a friend. All you need is a computer with a CD drive capable of burning CDs (this would be designated "CD-W" or "CD-RW"). Here’s how!

Step 1

Download the sermon from the church website (see ‘How to download mp3 audio files from our Website’ section above)

For iTunes

If you don't see the audio file you want already in your music library, click on "file" in the toolbar, then click on "add to library" in the pull-down menu that appears. This will take you to a menu of location options in which you can locate the desired file. Typically, the audio file will be found under "desktop", but it will appear in whatever location you selected for it when you downloaded the file. Once you can see the desired file in your library, click on "new playlist" which is the first option in the "file" pull-down menu. Drag the file (or files) into that newly created playlist. Click on the playlist, confirm that the right file is in it, then click on "burn playlist to CD", which is another of the options located in the "file" pull-down menu.

For Windows Media Player

Once you have downloaded the mp3 file or begun playing it in WMP, locate the “Burn” pull down menu (one of the black and blue options in the bar that runs across the top of the screen in WMP – in version 11, at least). When you click on the “Burn” button, a short list of options will appear, including “burn now playing list to CD”. That option will work just fine. You can accomplish the same thing (and include multiple sermons on the same CD) by clicking on the “Burn” button, then dragging each file into the “burn list” space in the toolbar on the right side of the screen. Once you have inserted a blank audio CD into your computer, click on the “start burn” button at the bottom of that right-hand side bar to complete the process.

How to listen on an mp3 player?

You can download the sermons from the website through podcasting or individually and then load them onto your portable mp3 player. This allows you to listen to the sermon while going for a jog or washing the dishes!

If you want to download directly to an mp3 player, plug it in, follow all of the same steps as above in the ‘How to download an MP3 from the website’ section, but then either select the player as the destination for the download, or drag the file onto the icon for the device after the download is complete.

Some players double as USB flash drives. For these, simply plug it into any available USB port (probably the same type that the mouse is plugged into). The computer will recognize the player as an external hard drive, allowing you to drag files onto or off of the drive just as you would with any other drive or folder.

A note about iPods

iPod users should follow the same method they normally do for transferring music from their computer to their iPod - either by dragging the new file over, or by syncing the iPod using iTunes (though this is not recommended when using a computer other than your own, as you may lose the music already on the device)

What if I don’t have an mp3 player?

Though the iPod is the most popular type of mp3 player on the market, you need not spend that much money (upwards of a hundred dollars), especially if you'll be using the play primarily for listening to sermons. Completely functional models cost as little as $20.

How to listen in a car that only plays tapes

In case you don’t know, tapes are little square pieces of plastic that play sound like a cd or iPod does, just not as well. If your car or Aunt who you are spending the summer with only has a tape player, then this section is for you. A tape deck adapter can be purchased from most any store which sells audio/visual gear (Best Buy, Radioshack, etc.). It plugs into your CD player or mp3 player just as a set of headphones would, with a cassette-shaped converter at the other end, plugged into your tape deck.

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