“Some of our material is ‘out there,’ but really, we’re trying to befriend the unchurched,” Eric says. “[Our members] could see something funny on Sunday and count on it being on YouTube so that they can go home and send it to their friends. It’s easy for an attendee to share.”

With nine campuses (two in Naperville and seven in surrounding Chicagoland), CCC is a stalwart in the nondenominational community. In fact, a poll of 2,000 congregations last year rated CCC the 13th most influential non-Catholic congregation in the country. The church has really made a name for itself – among dedicated worshippers and simple Web-surfers – through its YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/bramsvan. Just like a TV channel, a YouTube channel allows users to post a collection of videos. But unlike TV, viewers can watch YouTube videos at any time, and anyone can be a broadcaster – even a few offbeat, trendsetting Christ-followers such as Eric, Elic and the rest of their team. Posting videos is free, and users can post as many as they want.

GodTube, a spin-off site, limits its content to the Christian and family-friendly. Eric says he’s OK with that, but CCC puts its emphasis on YouTube, “where the pre-churched are.”

“[YouTube videos] are a way for somebody who’s never walked into the doors of our church who might consider it to get a sneak preview of who we are, what we do and how we do it,” Eric explains.

Duplicating the video ministry success of CCC might be tough. (Part I of the “Christ-follower" series even aired on MSNBC.) But emulating their concept is easy. Eric says most of the equipment they use to produce the videos can be bought at any home-electronics store. That’s because they aren’t so concerned with producing extremely high-quality, professional videos, but rather “viral” videos — the kind that make people want to pass them on to friends. The creative team uses Final Cut Pro, an Apple product that facilitates homemade video editing. But Eric says maintaining the ministry requires the time equivalent of almost three full-time staff members, and that writing and generating ideas is the most important part: “We work harder on the scripts than anything else.”