7Class will teach audio, recording, and content techniques for those who want to use the internet to preach the gospel
Also according to this same survey, 80% of the content found on the web is video. With that in mind, 7Class, a school to train Christian YouTubers, was launched in partnership with the Adventist University Center of São Paulo (Unasp). As part of this online school, 83 video lessons are offered in two different languages.
The training is especially targeted to young audiences. “Many teenagers and young people who visit Feliz7Play send messages [to us] expressing their desire to participate in the mission to share Jesus through video content. 7Class is a response to these requests,” explains Carlos Magalhães, Manager of Digital Strategies for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America.
“God uses… different tools to preach the gospel. I believe that technology gives us multiplied possibilities for the gospel to be preached more clearly, stronger and more incisively”, emphasizes Rafael Rossi, who recently led the Communication Department at the South American Adventist headquarters and helped develop the 7Class school.
Distance learning
Classes will be opened periodically. The training is divided into 13 modules where students will learn how to plan their own YouTube channel, receive technical instruction on audio and video capture, and learn how to disseminate the content.
The objective is “to train and prepare a generation, which already knows a lot about technology and online social networks, to serve as missionaries and positive influencers in the digital world”, emphasizes Magalhães.
For Rossi, the pandemic accelerated the migration process. “With the pandemic, we need to reinvent ourselves and move digitally. Young people were the ones most apt to use technology in favor of the gospel. They were the ones who pulled the line for all the transitions, adaptations, and the more strategic use of communication.”
The first class will be available for free on Feliz7Play’s YouTube channel so that everyone has the opportunity to be introduced to the content. Those who enroll will have access to classes through Next, Unasp’s distance learning platform.
“Because of the internet, information has become more accessible. However, there is still a gap in access to knowledge. Unasp understands that the experiences that the institution brings, added to the information and the Christian principle that we pass on to the students, forms knowledge”, explains Geyvison Ludugério, Coordinator of Extension Courses in Distance Education at Unasp.
On the other side of the story, are local pastors and church leaders who will be able to learn and hone their gifts for internet preaching. In the coming months, a digital ministry will be launched.
With content aimed especially at church leadership, the proposal is that they learn to communicate better using new technologies, occupying spaces on social networks, and also create content for Youtube and other online platforms. For Rossi, creator of the project, “it is essential that leaders are prepared and active in this new and growing way of talking about Jesus.”
This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site
