The most popular church leadership podcast in 2026 is the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast, and it isn’t close. Groeschel holds 10,707 Apple Podcasts ratings — more than the next four shows combined. I know that because my team and I measured 174 church leadership podcasts against public data — Apple ratings, YouTube episode views, and publishing activity — and ranked every show that’s still actually publishing.
This started as a cleanup job. We published a list of 35 church leadership podcasts back in 2024, and when I re-checked it this month, a chunk of those shows had quietly stopped publishing. Some had been dead for years. That’s the problem with every podcast list on the internet: nobody checks. So we rebuilt this page the same way we built the Pastor Influence 100 and the Church Influence 100 — public data, a published formula, and a correction policy.
How we ranked these podcasts (and why downloads aren’t part of it)
Here’s the truth every “best podcasts” list skips: podcast downloads are private. Only the show’s own host can see them. There is no public download number for any podcast on earth, which means any list that claims to rank shows by downloads or listens is guessing. We don’t guess. Every number on this page comes from a public surface you can check yourself.
The score combines two signals:
- Apple Podcasts rating count (85% of the score). The number of listener ratings a show has accumulated is the best public proxy for lifetime audience size, and it’s comparable across every show. We pulled it from each show’s public Apple Podcasts page in August 2026.
- Median YouTube views per episode (15%). For shows with a dedicated YouTube channel, we took the median view count of the last 10 full-length episodes. Medians, not averages, so one viral episode can’t inflate a dead channel. Shows without a real video audience score zero on this pillar — same way platform breadth works on our influence indexes.
One more call worth explaining: this year we stopped putting worship, kids, youth, and communications podcasts in their own side list. Running a worship team, leading a kids ministry, or managing a church’s social media is church leadership, not a lesser cousin of it — so every specialty show in this ranking competes in the same list, on the same data, against the same leadership giants.
Both signals are curved (square root), so ten times the audience doesn’t mean ten times the score. And there’s one hard gate: a show had to publish an episode in the 90 days before August 25, 2026 to be ranked. No exceptions. Podfaded shows are listed in their own section at the bottom, with the date they went quiet.
Three disclosures, because we don’t do silent edits:
- The REACHRIGHT Podcast is on this list, at #43. It’s ours. It was scored by the exact same formula as everyone else, and the formula put it at #43, mostly on the strength of its YouTube audience. I’m not going to pretend we’re not in this space, and I’m not going to exclude us and act humble about it either. The number is the number.
- Spotify publishes no play counts for podcasts, so Spotify isn’t in the score. Apple ratings and YouTube views are the two honest, public, cross-comparable signals that exist.
- If we got something wrong about your show — wrong feed, wrong count, missing channel — tell us and we’ll verify it against the public page and correct it with a dated note. That’s the same correction policy we run on the influence indexes, and pastors’ teams use it every week.
Nobody can rank podcasts by downloads, because downloads are private. Anyone who claims otherwise is guessing.
The 10 most popular church leadership podcasts in 2026
1. Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast — Score: 100
10,707 Apple ratings (4.9★) · 24,448 median YouTube views · 6 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2016
The Life.Church founder runs the most popular leadership show in the church world, and the gap between #1 and #2 is bigger than the gap between #2 and #20. Monthly episodes, heavily produced, half church leadership and half general leadership, with leader guides published alongside. If a church staff in America listens to exactly one podcast together, it’s usually this one.
2. Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast — Score: 68.5
2,223 Apple ratings (4.6★) · 7,277 median YouTube views · 8 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2013
Andy Stanley’s show is the elder statesman of the category — running since 2013 and still shipping every month. Short, dense episodes on organizational leadership from the North Point founder. The YouTube numbers here come from his broader channel, so treat that pillar as directional.
3. The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast — Score: 66.8
2,251 Apple ratings (4.8★) · 3,476 median YouTube views · 20 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2014
Nieuwhof publishes more than anyone in the top ten — 20 episodes in the last 90 days — and has built the deepest interview archive in church leadership. If Groeschel is the show church staffs listen to together, Nieuwhof is the one lead pastors listen to alone. He showed up on more “best of” lists than any other show in our research — nine of the fourteen we harvested.
4. Pastors Talk (9Marks) — Score: 52.2
716 Apple ratings (4.8★) · 2,990 median YouTube views · 5 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2017
Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever talking ecclesiology and pastoral practice. Pastors Talk is the highest-ranked show that’s about pastoring rather than organizational leadership, and its YouTube audience is real — nearly 3,000 median views per episode inside the 9Marks channel.
5. The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast — Score: 49
666 Apple ratings (4.8★) · 830 median YouTube views · 6 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2015
Pete Scazzero’s show is the category’s conscience: the inner life of the leader, not the org chart. In 18+ years of pastoring I’ve watched more leaders flame out from what this podcast addresses than from anything a strategy podcast covers.
6. Leadership Lean In with Chad Veach — Score: 47.2
734 Apple ratings (4.9★) · 6 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2018
The Zoe Church (Los Angeles) pastor’s show was the biggest thing our 2024 list missed — Leadership Lean In has quietly out-accumulated most of the shows that make every listicle. Practical leadership with a heavy dose of team culture.
7. GrowLeader Podcast with Chris Hodges — Score: 43.8
330 Apple ratings (4.9★) · 1,967 median YouTube views · 5 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2021
Church of the Highlands’ pastor built GrowLeader into a top-ten show in four years, and it’s one of only a handful on this list with a genuine, dedicated video audience. Long-form conversations aimed squarely at senior pastors.
8. Rainer on Leadership — Score: 43.4
461 Apple ratings (4.8★) · 152 median YouTube views · 26 episodes in the last 90 days
Rainer on Leadership published 26 episodes in the last 90 days — twice the cadence of anything else in the top ten. Thom Rainer built Lifeway Research before he built Church Answers, and it shows: short episodes, one practical question each, answered by someone who’s studied more churches than anyone alive.
9. Making Disciples with Replicate Podcast — Score: 42.7
491 Apple ratings (4.9★) · 13 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2018
The lone discipleship specialist in the top ten. Gallaty pastors Long Hollow in Tennessee and runs Replicate Ministries, and Making Disciples is where he works out the difference between drawing a crowd and making disciples — the question underneath every other show on this list.
10. The Pro Church Tools Show with Brady Shearer — Score: 42.2
470 Apple ratings (4.9★) · 14 episodes in the last 90 days · since 2014
Nobody in church communications puts up numbers like this. Brady Shearer has been at it since 2014, and 904 episodes later he’s still shipping — 14 more in the last 90 days alone. The biggest specialist show in the entire ranking, and it earns its seat at #10 against leadership giants.
Ranks 11–25: the strong middle
11. The Church Answers Podcast — 38.4
273 ratings and 26 episodes in the last 90 days: short, frequent, practical church questions from the Church Answers network — between this and Rainer on Leadership, nobody publishes more ranked episodes. Apple Podcasts →
12. The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast — 36.8
Ed Stetzer’s interview show for ChurchLeaders holds 271 ratings across a 508-episode archive going back to 2015 — one of the deepest active catalogs in the ranking. Apple Podcasts →
13. The Global Leadership Podcast — 36.6
The Global Leadership Network’s show (267 ratings) serves marketplace and church leaders both, but its audience and heritage are church through and through. Apple Podcasts →
14. Worship Ministry Training Podcast — 36.3
258 Apple ratings from worship leaders who needed the practical team-building playbook nobody else was writing. Apple Podcasts →
15. The Ferment Podcast — 35.5
Adam Russell has held a 4.9-star average across 235 ratings since 2018 — proof that conversations about worship and transformation don’t need a big name to earn trust. Apple Podcasts →
16. Leadership & Other Stuff with Brian Houston — 35.4
The Hillsong founder’s show (232 ratings, running since 2016) continues independently after his 2022 resignation. We rank what the data ranks. Apple Podcasts →
17. Pastor Well with Hershael York — 35
The Southern Seminary dean interviews pastors about the actual work of pastoring: 223 ratings at a 4.9 average, and criminally under-listed everywhere else. Apple Podcasts →
18. Watermark’s Church Leadership Podcast — 34.1
The Dallas church’s staff-room conversations (200 ratings, 4.9★, since 2017) travel far beyond megachurch scale. Apple Podcasts →
19. Beyond Sunday Worship Leader Podcast — 33.8
194 ratings at 4.9 stars, 200 episodes deep and still shipping 7 in the last 90 days — this show hasn’t slowed down once. Apple Podcasts →
20. The Unstuck Church Podcast — 33.6
Tony Morgan’s team (156 ratings, 475 episodes) runs the only top-25 show built around published church-health and staffing benchmark data. Apple Podcasts →
21. Trench Talk — 33.6
Brian Croft and Jim Savastio (188 ratings) on pastoral ministry for normal-size churches — shepherding, not scaling. Apple Podcasts →
22. Gerald Brooks Ministries Leadership Podcast — 32.9
Four decades of pastoral leadership wisdom from the Grace Outreach founder, at 173 ratings and a 4.9 average. Apple Podcasts →
23. Churchfront Podcast — 32.6
Jake Gosselin built 168 ratings talking straight about worship production and tech — the stuff most leadership shows never touch. Apple Podcasts →
24. Leadership in Black and White — 32.4
John Siebeling and Wayne Francis on leadership across racial and cultural lines: 163 ratings and a perfect 5.0 average. Apple Podcasts →
25. 200churches Podcast — 30.3
Encouragement for pastors of churches under 200 — which is most pastors. 125 ratings, publishing since 2013. Apple Podcasts →
The rest of the ranking (26–58)
| # | Podcast | Score | Apple Ratings | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 |  Center for Baptist Leadership — SBC leadership and reform, 561 median YouTube views | 30.2 | 69 | 2024 |
| 27 |  unSeminary Podcast — Rich Birch on what seminary doesn’t teach | 29.4 | 110 | 2021 |
| 28 |  Revitalize and Replant — dying-church turnarounds, 27 episodes in 90 days | 29.4 | 111 | 2023 |
| 29 |  The Richard Blackaby Leadership Podcast — spiritual leadership, Experiencing God lineage | 29.1 | 107 | 2018 |
| 30 |  Church Planter Podcast — Peyton Jones’ planting show, running since 2013 | 28.9 | 104 | 2013 |
| 31 |  [Nick Blevins Family Ministry Podcast: Children | Youth | Students | NextGen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nick-blevins-family-ministry-podcast-children-youth/id1114357026) |
| 32 |  The Worship Circle Podcast — Todd Fields on worship team culture | 27.1 | 80 | 2017 |
| 33 |  The Christian Leader Made Simple Show | 26.5 | 73 (5.0★) | 2021 |
| 34 |  The Walk (Worship Leader Magazine) — devotional practice for worship leaders | 26.5 | 73 | 2022 |
| 35 |  Influence Podcast — the Assemblies of God denominational leadership show | 26.2 | 70 | 2023 |
| 36 |  Lead Culture with Jenni Catron | 25.6 | 64 (5.0★) | 2018 |
| 37 |  Lead On Podcast — Jeff Iorg | 25.2 | 60 | 2017 |
| 38 |  Women of Faith in Leadership | 23.9 | 48 (5.0★) | 2023 |
| 39 |  The Church Revitalization Podcast — Malphurs Group | 22.9 | 41 (5.0★) | 2020 |
| 40 |  Group Answers Podcast with Brian Daniel — Lifeway’s small-group leadership show | 22.6 | 39 | 2018 |
| 41 |  John Nuzzo Leadership Podcast | 22 | 35 | 2017 |
| 42 |  Pastor Pastor | 21.7 | 33 (5.0★) | 2024 |
| 43 |  REACHRIGHT Podcast — ours; see disclosure above · 718 median YT views | 21.4 | 6 (5.0★) | 2020 |
| 44 |  The KidzMatter Podcast — Ryan Frank on kidmin leadership | 20.3 | 25 | 2019 |
| 45 |  Leadership Now with Dr. Aaron Rock — 10 episodes in the last 90 days | 19.6 | 22 | 2021 |
| 46 |  Conversations with Josh Andrew — healthy leaders, teams, and churches | 19.4 | 21 (5.0★) | 2022 |
| 47 |  The 95 Podcast — small-church pastors (the 95%) | 18.9 | 19 | 2019 |
| 48 |  Means of Grace — United Methodist clergy leadership | 18.4 | 17 (5.0★) | 2019 |
| 49 |  The Church Planting Podcast with Greg Nettle — Stadia’s planting-leadership show | 18.4 | 17 | 2022 |
| 50 |  Leadership Collective Podcast | 17.5 | 14 (5.0★) | 2021 |
| 51 |  The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast | 16.9 | 12 | 2020 |
| 52 |  The Missional Marketing Podcast | 16.9 | 12 (5.0★) | 2020 |
| 53 |  5 Points Church Planting Podcast | 16.1 | 10 (5.0★) | 2020 |
| 54 |  The One Thing | 15.7 | 9 | 2018 |
| 55 |  Christian Leadership Podcast | 14.2 | 6 (5.0★) | — |
| 56 |  Cultivate — Calvary Chapel Church Planting | 14.2 | 6 (5.0★) | 2023 |
| 57 |  The Biblical Leadership Show | 13.6 | 5 (5.0★) | 2023 |
| 58 |  The Executive Pastor (XPastor) | 11.9 | 3 (5.0★) | 2019 |
The graveyard: 39 podcasts that podfaded
This is the section that justifies rebuilding this page. Of the 174 shows we evaluated, 39 that once belonged on lists like this have stopped publishing — including two we recommended ourselves in 2024. Nobody announces it. The feed just goes quiet, and every listicle on the internet keeps recommending the corpse.
A few notable ones, with the date of their last episode:
- 5 Leadership Questions (Lifeway) — last episode October 2023. It was on our own 2024 list.
- ChurchPulse Weekly (Barna, with Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman) — quiet since December 2022.
- Churches Planting Churches (Tony Merida) — quiet since November 2020.
- The Exponential Podcast — quiet since December 2023.
- Hello Church! — quiet since July 2023.
- The Ron Edmondson Leadership Podcast — quiet since June 2024.
- Christian Woman Leadership Podcast — quiet since October 2024.
- The Resilient Pastor (Barna) — last episode May 2026, worth watching in case it returns.
And an honest note on the gate: a handful of good shows missed the 90-day cutoff by weeks, not years — Preachers Talk (9Marks) missed it by six days, and New Churches Podcast, The Acts 29 Podcast, and Pastor Writer all published this spring. If they resume, they get ranked at the next refresh. The archives of dead shows are still worth mining — a 2019 episode on staffing is still a good episode on staffing.
What the data says about church leadership podcasting
Video is the open lane. Only 8 of the 58 ranked shows have a measurable YouTube episode audience, and the ones that do — Groeschel, GrowLeader, Pastors Talk — outperform their audio-only peers at every ratings tier. Our own show is the extreme case: the REACHRIGHT Podcast sits at #43 with a video audience that out-watches shows thirty spots ahead of it, on almost no Apple footprint. The lesson cuts both ways, and it cost us nothing to admit it: we’ve built the video side and neglected audio distribution. Most shows on this list have the opposite problem. If you’re starting a show in 2026, the video-first path is the one with room left in it.
The category has a king and no princes. Groeschel’s 10,707 ratings are more than the next four shows combined. In the Pastor Influence 100 we found the same pattern with personal social reach — the top of every church-media category is far steeper than people assume.
Small shows with perfect scores are a real signal. Fifteen ranked shows hold a 5.0-star average on small rating counts. That’s not fake — niche shows serving a specific pastor tribe (small-church pastors, women in leadership, UMC clergy) earn intense loyalty from small audiences. If one of those tribes is yours, the #47 show on this list will serve you better than the #2 show.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where this data comes from
My team at REACHRIGHT built this the same way we built the Pastor Influence 100 and Church Influence 100: a candidate pool of 174 shows assembled from six independent sources (existing lists, the Apple and Spotify charts, 15 podcast network rosters, YouTube, and Apple’s related-show recommendations), verified against public pages in August 2026, gated on 90-day activity, and scored with a published formula. 58 made the ranking and 39 turned out to be podfaded. If leaders are readers, they’re listeners too — and now you know which shows have actually earned the listen. For more, here’s our list of church leadership blogs worth your reading time.
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