Podcast

The Podcast module turns the audio sermons you already record into a real, directory-listed podcast. GCM generates the Apple-compatible RSS feed; you point Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google at the feed once, and every audio sermon you publish from then on shows up in your listeners' apps automatically.

There is no separate "episode" object. An episode is just a published audio sermon. Anything you can do to a sermon in the Website Builder — edit the title, swap the audio file, change the cover image, fix a typo in the show notes — flows through to the podcast feed the next time a podcast app refreshes.

Where it lives

The podcast lives inside the Website Builder, not as its own top-level page. Go to Website → Podcast to configure the feed, and Website → Content → Sermons to manage episodes.

The reason it's bundled this way: most churches want their podcast and their public website to share the same audio files, the same cover images, the same speakers, and the same series names. Splitting them into two modules would mean uploading every sermon twice.

How it works end-to-end

1. Configure the show once — title, author, description, cover art, category, language. This is the "podcast identity" Apple and Spotify display next to your feed. See Set up your podcast.
2. Publish audio sermons — upload the audio, fill in the title, speaker, series, and show notes, set Published to on. See Publish an episode.
3. Copy your feed URL — app.geniuschurchmanager.com/api/podcast/feed.xml?org={your-slug}. Or if you've connected a custom domain, just yourchurch.org/api/podcast/feed.xml.
4. Submit the feed once to each directory — Apple Podcasts Connect, Spotify for Podcasters, Google Podcast Manager. See RSS feed & directories.
5. From there it's automatic — every audio sermon you publish appears in the feed within minutes; podcast apps poll the feed every few hours and pull new episodes.

What goes in the feed

The feed includes published sermons where:

• media_type is audio (not video, YouTube embed, or Vimeo).
• is_published is on.
• media_url is set (the actual MP3 file location).
• The sermon isn't soft-deleted.

The most recent 500 episodes are included, ordered newest-first. Video sermons, YouTube-only sermons, and drafts are excluded automatically — there's no separate "include in podcast" toggle.

TIP

If a sermon's audio file is somewhere else (Buzzsprout, Anchor, an old static site), paste the direct MP3 URL into the Media URL field instead of uploading. The feed will reference your existing file and Apple will treat it as a normal episode.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Why
Podcast module enabled on your plan	Available on growth and above
Website Builder module enabled	Podcast settings live in the Website Builder UI; sermons are website content
podcast.manage permission	Required to enable the feed and edit show identity
A cover image at least 1400×1400 px	Apple Podcasts rejects feeds without compliant artwork
A reachable audio file URL per episode	Either upload through GCM or paste an existing URL

If your org doesn't see the Podcast tab in the Website Builder, your plan probably doesn't include it yet — see Choose a plan.

What this module is not

• It's not a media host with bandwidth limits. GCM stores your audio in the same public Supabase bucket as the rest of your site. There's no per-stream charge and no monthly download cap, but if you outgrow the bucket quota on your plan you'll need to upgrade.
• It's not analytics. Listener counts, retention curves, and country breakdowns live inside Apple Podcasts Connect and Spotify for Podcasters — GCM doesn't pretend to compete with them.
• It's not a transcription engine. Show notes are whatever you type into the sermon's description field. We don't auto-generate transcripts (yet).

Next steps

1. Set up your podcast — show identity, language, category, and the on/off switch.
2. Publish an episode — upload audio, fill in the metadata, hit publish.
3. RSS feed & directories — copy the feed URL, submit to Apple/Spotify/Google.
4. Cover art & show notes — meet Apple's artwork rules, write descriptions that don't get cut off.