The Small Church Ministry Podcast
The only podcast created for volunteers and everyday leaders in smaller congregations, this show embraces small church ministry as a place where God is already at work. Founder of Small Church Ministry and the Small Church Network, Laurie Graham Ertl shares why small churches matter—not as a scaled-down version of something bigger, but as powerful communities with their own unique strengths. Each episode offers creative solutions to real challenges with a mix of honest encouragement, leadership skills, and actionable next steps.
Laurie hosts the show with a perspective shaped by decades in ministry on every side of small church life—as a volunteer, staff leader, and pastor’s spouse. She knows both the pressure and the beauty of small churches firsthand, and brings steady encouragement, practical wisdom, and deep care for both volunteers and ministry leaders.
Episodes
242 episodes
242: Your Church Wants to Reach New Families. So Why Aren't They Coming?
Your small church wants to reach new families. You’re planning events, finding volunteers, inviting people, and trying hard, but sometimes the families you’re hoping to reach still aren’t coming. In this episode, we’re looking under...
241: Healthy Responses to Unhealthy Church Leadership
Churches are made up of people, and people aren't healthy all the time. So what do we do when church leadership isn't at its best? In this episode, we're talking about how to recognize unhealthy patterns, respond wisely, and become ...
240: Is "We've Always Done It This Way" Keeping Your Small Church Stuck?
Most churches don't struggle because people don't care. They struggle because they're trying to solve today's challenges with yesterday's ideas.In this episode, we share one of our favorite strategies for creating a culture of learning t...
239: Healthy Churches Grow by Developing Everyday People | Leading Well Conference
What if one of the most important things your church could do isn't add another program, but intentionally develop the people you already have? Recorded live at our Leading Well in a Small Church Conference, Laurie Graham E...
238: Reaching the Churched, the Unchurched & the Dechurched | with Pastor Patrick Dailey
Reaching your community starts with understanding your community. Pastor Patrick Dailey explains why the words churched, unchurched, and dechurched matter more than ever, what it means to minister in a pos...
237: The Future Of The Small Church: What Has To Change? | with Dr. K. Kale Yu
The church is changing. The question is whether we're willing to change with it. In this conversation, Dr. K. Kale Yu shares why the future of the small church won't be built on better programs or bigger budgets, but on ordinary peo...
236: How to Make Your Small Church Matter in the Community
What if the future of your church isn't determined by how many people attend on Sunday, but by the difference you make the rest of the week? In this episode, Pastor Raymond Cabello shares how his church shifted from focusing inward ...
235: We've Expected Too Much from Pastors - and Underestimated Everyone Else
I've been told more than once that the real leverage point in a church is the pastor. Get the pastor healthy, and everything else will follow. I don't buy it. In this episode, we're talking about why pastors matter, why ordinary peo...
234: Great Volunteers Need More Than Spiritual Gifts
Great volunteers aren't just gifted. They keep growing. In this episode, we're talking about why practical ministry skills matter more than many churches realize and how growing yourself may be one of the greatest gifts you can give...
233: "I'm Just a Volunteer" Might Feel Safer. But It's a Myth.
"I'm just a volunteer."That one phrase - one we've all heard and many of us have said - reveals a bigger problem than we realize. In this episode, we're talking about what happens when churches concentrate growth, development...
232: The Most Influential People in Your Church Might Not Be the Pastor
We spend a lot of time talking about pastors, church leaders, and people with titles. But what if I told you some of the most influential people in your church will never stand on a stage, lead a meeting, or sit on a board? In this ...
231: Why “Take a Break” & “Just Say No” Aren’t Fixing Ministry Burnout
Burnout recovery goes deeper than just taking a break. In this episode, we’re talking about why surface-level burnout advice often isn’t enough, the deeper patterns underneath emotional exhaustion, and why so many people in ministry...
230: You Can’t Help Everyone (And It’s Exhausting)
A lot of people in ministry feel like they’re constantly choosing who to disappoint. The church needs something. The team needs something. People want access to you. Your family needs you too. And eventually, it starts feeling impos...
229: Ministry Burnout Is Real (But It’s Not Inevitable)
Burnout is real … but a lot of the time, we’re not as stuck as we think we are. We say we’re overwhelmed, but we’re still saying yes, still filling gaps, still stepping in “just this once.” At some point, we have to get honest about...
228: How to Get People to Step Up at Church (Without Asking for Volunteers)
At some point, we have to admit that recruiting isn’t fixing our volunteer problem. We keep planning … and then trying to get people to care about it afterward. And that’s where things break down.But what if the real shift happens be...
227: Why People Stop Volunteering at Church (And How To Fix It)
Most people don’t say no to serving - they say no to how it feels. And often, that feeling comes from how ministry is built in the first place. When a few key shifts happen, things become more relational, more sustainable, and somet...
226: Why You’re Struggling to Get Church Volunteers (It’s Not What You Think)
Most churches assume they have a numbers problem. They’re trying to get more volunteers, when what really needs attention is the experience people walk into. It’s rarely a recruiting problem. It’s a culture issue that started long b...
225: 4 Simple Intergenerational Ideas to Stay Connected This Summer
When everything gets inconsistent, connection matters more - not more programming. Summer might actually be the easiest time to bring people together in simpler, more natural ways. Not perfect, not polished. Just real moments across...
224: Maybe Sports Aren’t the Enemy (And Neither Are Vacations)
Every summer, we quietly start competing—with travel, sports, family time—and it gets exhausting. But what if the problem isn’t where people are going … It’s how we’re responding to it? People having full, busy lives isn’t a threat ...
223: What If Summer Is Exactly What Your Ministry Needs
What if the thing we keep trying to push through… is actually the thing we need? Summer changes the rhythm of everything - attendance, energy, schedules - and instead of fighting it, we might be invited to work with it. ...
222: Mistake #7: Not Giving Them an Easy Way to Quit | Church Volunteer Series
We close Stop Doing This to Volunteers: Top Mistakes Our Churches Are Making with one of the most uncomfortable conversations of all — quitting. When there’s no clear exit, service slowly turns into obligation. In this epis...
221: Mistake #6: Recruiting (Yep, Just Stop It) | Church Volunteer Series
In Mistake #6 of Stop Doing This to Volunteers: Top Mistakes Our Churches Are Making, we rethink recruitment altogether. Instead of building programs and then scrambling to fill roles, what if our people shaped our ministry? <...
220: Mistake #5: Planning First, Asking for Help Second | Church Volunteer Series
This episode in Stop Doing This to Volunteers: Top Mistakes Our Churches Are Making looks at how we unintentionally sideline volunteers before they even begin. We’ve been taught in leadership to make plans first and ask for...
219: Mistake #4: Requiring Them to Come to Meetings | Church Volunteer Series
In Stop Doing This to Volunteers: Top Mistakes Our Churches Are Making, we’re talking about meetings - and how they often do more harm than good. We say we value people’s time, but when we gather by default instead of by ne...
218: Mistake #3: Treating Volunteers Like They’re Volunteers | Church Volunteer Series
In this episode of Stop Doing This to Volunteers: Top Mistakes Our Churches Are Making, we talk about something subtle but powerful: the way our language and posture shape culture. When we treat people like “just volunteers...