The Gottesdienst Crowd

TGC 508 – Thinking Out Loud (Easter 5)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, John 16:5-15.

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TGC 507 – The Church’s Year of Grace (Easter 5)

This is a recording of the sermon for The Fifth Sunday of Easter from George Stoeckhardt’s book Grace Upon Grace: Gospel Sermons for the Church Year, reprinted by Steadfast Press. 

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TGC 506 - Digital Tools for an Ancient Church

In this episode, we’re talking about one of the most overlooked yet essential tools for church outreach today: search engine optimization (SEO) and making the most of Google. Whether you’re a pastor, church administrator, or volunteer managing your church’s website, this conversation will equip you with practical strategies to ensure your church is found by the people who are looking for it.

Every day, people in your community are searching online for answers—some are seeking a place to worship, others are looking for hope, community, or help. But if your church doesn’t show up when they search, you’re missing a major opportunity to connect with them. That’s where SEO comes in. It’s not about gaming the system or marketing gimmicks—it’s about being present where people are already looking.

We’ll walk through what SEO actually is (in plain English), how Google ranks websites, and the top things you can do today to make your church website more visible online. You’ll learn about the importance of keywords, how to write content that Google recognizes and people appreciate, and why updating your church’s Google Business Profile might be the most important five minutes you spend this week. We’ll also touch on how to make your sermons, events, and blog posts easier to find—and how small things like page speed, mobile-friendliness, and simple URLs can make a big difference.

Our goal isn’t to turn your church into a tech startup—it’s to help faithful churches reach real people with the Gospel by stewarding the tools that are already at our fingertips. This episode is packed with tips, examples, and encouragement to take small, consistent steps toward making your church more discoverable.

If you've ever wondered why your church isn't appearing in search results, how to bring more people to your site, or what Google actually wants from your content, this episode is for you. The harvest is plentiful—even online—and the tools are in your hands. Let's use them wisely.

• The Lutheran Church in a Digital Age: SEO, Outreach, and Mission blog post
• Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Lititz, PA

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TGC 505 – Thinking Out Loud (Easter 4)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, John 16: 16-22.

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TGC 504 – The Church’s Year of Grace (Easter 4)

This is a recording of the sermon for The Fourth Sunday of Easter from George Stoeckhardt’s book Grace Upon Grace: Gospel Sermons for the Church Year, reprinted by Steadfast Press. 

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[From the Archives] TGC 169 — Cultivating Family Piety

In our episode on Raising Up Men, a listener asked a question about a topic brought up tangentially to what we were discussing. The question: “How do you wrangle little ones for family devotions?” In this episode, Adam and I answer that question and offer some other thoughts on how to cultivate a family piety. 

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TGC 502 – Thinking Out Loud (Easter 3)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Easter, John 10:11–16.

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TGC 501 – The Church’s Year of Grace (Easter 3)

This is a recording of the sermon for The Third Sunday of Easter from George Stoeckhardt’s book Grace Upon Grace: Gospel Sermons for the Church Year, reprinted by Steadfast Press. 

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TGC 500 — The American Interim (Part 2)

The Augsburg Interim was a tumultuous time in the history of the Lutheran Church. With outside pressure and from within to compromise and capitulate, the time was tumultuous but also revelatory and clarifying. In this first episode, Karl Hess begins to take us through how the Lutheran Church in America is experiencing it’s own Interim. 

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TGC 499 – Thinking Out Loud (Easter 2)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Easter, John 20:19–31.

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