From Cliques to Community: Ministering in a Lonely Ward | An Interview with Ganel-Lyn Condie
Leading Saints Podcast
Leading Saints
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ganel-Lyn Condie is a popular speaker, author, and mental health advocate. With insight shaped by faith, lived experience, and cultural awareness, she brings both compassion and clarity to the question many leaders and members are asking: How do we help people feel seen, known, and loved—especially those on the margins?
In this episode, Ganel-Lyn discusses her new book, Sourdough and the Savior, which explores the parallels between the process of making sourdough bread and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The conversation emphasizes the importance of ministering, community building, and personal growth through shared experiences.
Links
Sourdough and the Savior
Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community
Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community
Key Insights
Sourdough as a Metaphor: Ganel-Lyn uses sourdough baking as a metaphor for understanding the characteristics of the Savior, illustrating how personal struggles can lead to spiritual growth.
Ministering through Connection: The act of sharing sourdough has become a means of ministering to others, fostering connections, and creating opportunities for healing and conversation.
Building Community: Ganel-Lyn emphasizes the need for community in the church, particularly for those who may feel isolated. She shares her experience of hosting informal gatherings to create a space for connection without the pressure of formal church events.
Vulnerability in Leadership: By sharing her own feelings of loneliness and identity struggles, Ganel-Lyn encourages leaders to be open and vulnerable, which can help others feel seen and understood.
Diversity in Gifts: The discussion highlights that everyone has unique gifts to share, and these contributions, no matter how small, can significantly impact the community and help build Zion.
Leadership Applications
Encouraging Informal Gatherings: Leaders can create opportunities for members to connect outside of formal church settings, fostering a sense of belonging and community.
Modeling Vulnerability: By being open about their own challenges, leaders can create an environment where others feel safe to share their struggles, leading to deeper connections and support.
Recognizing Individual Contributions: Leaders should encourage members to share their unique talents and experiences, reinforcing the idea that every contribution is valuable in building a strong, diverse community.
Highlights
00:03:02 – Ganel-Lyn’s Journey to Writing
00:06:29 – The Struggles of Sourdough
00:10:18 – The Role of Ministering
00:11:03 – Building Zion Through Community
00:13:04 – Sharing Talents and Gifts
00:15:08 – The Impact of Sourdough
00:16:49 – The Importance of Connection
00:20:50 – Navigating Loneliness
00:24:01 – Creating Inclusive Gatherings
00:27:21 – The Essence of Community
00:30:20 – The Role of Church Leaders
00:34:25 – The Importance of Vulnerability
The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.
Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes.
Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | All right, here's our goal, folks. |
| 0:03.6 | Leading Saints is no longer a podcast. |
| 0:05.6 | Well, obviously we are a podcast. |
| 0:07.5 | We will continue to podcast, but we're really shifting our focus over to Zion Lab, |
| 0:12.6 | which is an online community put on and developed by leading saints. |
| 0:17.1 | And this is where we want to go and gather the masses and share ideas about leadership, |
| 0:22.1 | share ideas about different calling, share ideas about building Zion. |
| 0:26.2 | And this is the place that we want to make online where all things are discussed, |
| 0:30.3 | great ideas are shared, and that we can help one another in whatever calling we're in |
| 0:34.8 | or what calling we're not in to feel like, you know, I've got purpose |
| 0:38.0 | here. I can really make a difference in shifting culture in a better way or developing Zion in my |
| 0:42.6 | own corner of the kingdom. So join us over at Zion Lab at LeadingSaints.org slash Zion. And there you can |
| 0:49.8 | just jump in. It's free to join and create a profile and jump in and look around and answer some |
| 0:55.5 | questions, leave a comment, pose a question. I think you'll benefit from the things we're doing |
| 0:59.5 | over at Zion Lab. So join us. So you're checking us out as maybe a potential podcast you could |
| 1:07.6 | start listening to. I know many of you have been listening for a long time, |
| 1:11.4 | but let me just talk to the newbies for a minute. What is leading saints? What are we trying to do |
| 1:15.5 | here with this podcast? Well, let me explain. Leading Saints is a non-profit organization, a 501 |
| 1:21.6 | C3 is what they call it, and we have a mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. |
| 1:28.4 | Now, of course, often means in the context of a calling. |
| 1:31.4 | It may mean in your local community, your work assignments. |
| 1:34.8 | We've heard about our content influencing all sorts of leaders in all sorts of different contexts. |
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