Podcast Feed

TimelyChurch automatically generates an iTunes/Spotify-compatible RSS feed from your published sermons so anyone can subscribe to your church's audio messages in their podcast app of choice. This article covers configuring the feed, deciding which sermons appear in it, and submitting the feed URL to the major podcast directories.

How the Feed Works

Whenever a visitor or podcast app requests https://yourchurch.timelychurch.com/podcast.xml, the platform builds a fresh RSS document on the fly that contains:

• Channel-level metadata about the podcast (title, description, cover image, language, author).
• Up to 100 of your most-recent sermons that meet all three of these conditions:
  1. The sermon is published.
  2. "Include in Podcast" is turned on (on by default for new sermons).
  3. An audio file is uploaded.

Sermons are listed newest-first, one entry per episode. Each entry includes the sermon's title, description, sermon date, audio file URL, duration, speaker (as the podcast author), and an episode-level cover image (the sermon thumbnail if set).

The feed is open to any visitor -- podcast apps need to be able to fetch it without signing in.

Accessing Podcast Settings

1. From the admin sidebar, click Sermons.
2. At the top of the sermons page, click the Podcast button.

You will see the podcast configuration page, which displays:

• Your feed URL -- copyable, ready to paste into Apple Podcasts Connect, Spotify for Podcasters, etc.
• Episode count -- the number of sermons that currently meet all three publication conditions.
• A form to edit the feed metadata.

Configurable Settings

These settings are saved with the rest of your website settings. Cover-image uploads are kept with your other podcast assets.

Choosing Which Sermons Appear

For a sermon to appear in the feed:

1. Publish it -- toggle the Published checkbox on the sermon edit form.
2. Upload an audio file -- video-only sermons cannot be in a podcast (the RSS spec requires an audio enclosure).
3. Leave "Include in Podcast" checked -- this option defaults to true on new sermons but can be unchecked on a per-sermon basis to keep some published sermons out of the feed (e.g., a video-only kids' message you would rather not have in the audio podcast).

If any one of those conditions is missing, the sermon is silently excluded from the feed without affecting its appearance on the public sermon archive.

The feed shows a maximum of 100 episodes. Older sermons remain on your public website but drop off the RSS feed; podcast apps typically cache older episodes locally so subscribers do not lose access.

Submitting to Podcast Platforms

Once your podcast settings look good and you have at least one valid episode, copy the feed URL from the podcast settings page and submit it to the major directories. The settings page links directly to each submission portal, but for reference:

Each platform will fetch your feed, validate it against the iTunes RSS spec, and within 24-72 hours your podcast will appear in their directory. You only have to submit once -- after that, every time you publish a new sermon with audio, the feed updates automatically and the platforms pull it in on their normal refresh schedule.

Validating the Feed

If a directory rejects your feed, paste the URL into a third-party validator like Cast Feed Validator or Podba.se. Common issues:

• Cover image too small -- The iTunes minimum is 1400x1400; under that, Apple may reject your feed.
• Missing email -- iTunes requires an owner email on the channel. Set the Contact Email field.
• Episode duration is "0:00" -- Make sure your sermons have a duration set (in the sermon edit form). Without it, some apps treat the episode as invalid.
• Audio file is unreachable -- The feed links to a public audio URL for each episode. If your church's audio files are set to private, podcast apps cannot download them. Talk to support to confirm your audio uploads are publicly downloadable.

Related Articles

• Managing Sermons
• Sermon Series
• Public Sermon Pages
• Worship Overview