Pastor Al Goracke of Kingswood Church in Blaine, Minn., is one of many Christians who have found a new evangelical opportunity in GodTube, a Christian video-sharing Web site. On the site, visitors can choose from a multitude of Christian videos, from music videos to hard-hitting sermons to the popular humorous but point-driven commentaries on the Christian faith. With his series of video features on GodTube, Pastor Al offers a laugh and an invitation to discuss Christianity on a deeper level.

“We heard about GodTube from our youth pastors [and] we jumped in right away,” Goracke said. “We’d been doing videos at Kingswood for a number of years, so we thought, ‘Why not post some of the crazy stuff we’ve done?’ Some of the things we do are pretty irreverent and zany, but humor connects with people.”

The humorous clips Goracke produces for his congregation are also meant to put new or returning churchgoers at ease. From videos about Pastor Al battling the Easter Bunny over the Christian holiday to game shows to mock episodes of “Dancing with the Stars” (in which the Easter Bunny returns as Pastor Al’s dance partner), these clips are made to intrigue viewers and encourage fellowship and discussion.

“We’re a church for unchurched people,” Goracke said. “We disarm them with humor—it’s hard for people to be nervous in church when the pastor’s fighting the Easter Bunny.”


Site creation
Like Kingswood Church, GodTube was designed by Christians but aims to reach an unchurched populace.

Searching for Christian materials under secular video sharing sites such as YouTube could result in anything from Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian” to the latest Christian Dior fashion show. However, GodTube gives visitors a wide selection of Christ-related contributions to be shared worldwide—with just enough humorous parodies, such as a Christianized hip-hop tune “Baby Got Book,” to attract Christian and non-Christian visitors alike.

Chris Wyatt, creator of GodTube, used his years of experience in online media initially to develop a way for churches to better reach their congregations and their surrounding communities.

“I had been selling this technology in churches for the past several years, and I came to realize that Christianity is about 5 years behind today’s religion—and 10 years behind the Internet,” Wyatt said. “I decided that I would do this for all churches, so it would be free or inexpensive for them all.”

GodTube soon became more than a tool for churches. After launching a development site on Jan. 5 to simply demonstrate the site’s possibilities, GodTube quickly became the most trafficked Christian video-sharing site in the world, with everyone from pastors to preteens visiting the site in droves. Humorous videos made viewers laugh and tell their friends about the site. And significant press coverage soon followed, as GodTube was featured in news sources from the Star Tribune to ABC News: Nightline.

“We were very fortunate and blessed with the initial feedback we received from the world,” Wyatt said. “We haven’t launched the site yet—that happens in July. It will look like a different site, and it’ll have a lot better tools and functionality.”

Wyatt also said he plans to release a new product in August or September which may have an impressive effect on Christians and non-Christians as well.

In the meantime, GodTube has already reached some impressive goals. The site remains in the top three most trafficked Christian Web sites, and it is the largest broadcaster of Christian video, exceeding both network television stations and other Web sites. Once the site officially launches, GodTube will broadcast more video in one day than a television network can in an entire year.

In addition, GodTube is set up to be viewed everywhere—which is crucial to the site’s success as an evangelical tool.

“We’re trying to pass the Gospel around the globe to those who have not heard it,” Wyatt said.

So far, he said, it seems to be working. “People are uploading videos all over the world. We’ve had 400 people from China on our site, 200 from Iran, and one from Vatican City.”

“We’re hoping it was the Pope, but we don’t know,” Wyatt added.

GodTube also gives visitors an ample opportunity to learn more about Christianity.

“There’s a section for nonbelievers wanting dialogue, and other Christian users are answering their questions,” Wyatt said. “This site is well designed for that.”

Other users have found that GodTube is ideal for communicating with and broadening their already-Christian audiences as well. Carl Bliss, web producer at KTIS Radio, said the station has posted numerous videos with the Christian musical artists his listeners admire.

“Most of the videos are from a series called ‘3 Minutes with…’ where we sit down with Christian artists and break down that wall between listeners and artists,” Bliss said. “We often try to do this with new bands, but we’ve also interviewed artists such as Paul Colman from the newsboys.”

For Bliss and others at KTIS, GodTube is both an opportunity to evangelize and an effective method of reaching Christian audiences in a modern way.

“Not all our listeners are born-again Christians—some are on the fringes of the Church,” said Dr. Paul Virts, senior vice president for media at Northwestern College and Radio. “That excites us because we don’t want to just focus on reaching Christians. We ask ourselves, ‘What can we do to extend our reach?’”

With the development of GodTube, evangelicals have extended their audiences to include Christians and non-Christians worldwide.

And Christian video posters everywhere, from radio producers to Pastor Al, are appreciating the opportunity.