Lead Time
Lead Time is a podcast of the Unite Leadership Collective, hosted by Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg. The ULC envisions a future in which all congregations fully equip the priesthood of all believers through world-class leadership development at the local level. Lead Time taps into biblical wisdom for practical solutions to today's burning issues. Each podcast confronts real-time struggles facing the local church in a post-Christian culture. Step into the action with the ULC. This is Lead Time
Episodes
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In a hyper-political, post-Christian culture, what is the church actually called to do? Should Christians retreat from the world, fight to reclaim the culture through political power, or continually adapt the church’s message to fit wha...
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The LCMS needs more pastors—but can it expand the pastoral pipeline without sacrificing theological depth?
Rev. Dr. Andrew Bartelt and Rev. Dr. James Voelz join Tim Ahlman to trace the history of DELTO and the Specific Ministry Pastor program, explain why SMP was never designed to...
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One of the clearest moments of pushback at the LCMS Convention came when the body rejected a proposal that would have moved the Synod presidential election to the convention floor—choosing instead to preserve and strengthen the broader congregational voting process.
Jack Kalleberg and Pastor Joe Beran explain why that vote mattered, what it revealed about author...
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Recorded on location at the 2026 LCMS Convention, Jack sits down with Joe Beran for an immediate and honest reflection on what the convention floor is revealing about the direction of the church body.
Why do floor committee recommendations carry so much weight? What did the difficult Simple Seminary and Jeffrey Klo...
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Recorded across two days at the LCMS Convention in Phoenix, this 2 part special Lead Time episode captures the conversation both before and after one of the convention’s most consequential debates.
Tim Ahlman and Joe Beran discuss the reaffirmation of residential seminary as the LCMS’s primary and prefe...
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Just days before the 2026 LCMS Convention, the debate over the future of the Concordia University System has reopened.
Concordia University, Nebraska President Dr. Bernard Bull joins Tim Ahlman to explain why he believes the Synod should preserve the current CUS structure while completing deep...
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Could a Lutheran medical school have changed the future of Concordia University Ann Arbor—and strengthened the entire Concordia system?
In this special 2026 LCMS Convention episode, Tim Ahlman sits down with Dr. Paul Fowler—physician, attorney, LCMS lay leader, and experienced medical-...
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The LCMS Convention is almost here—and the decisions being made are about more than resolutions, bylaws, and floor committees. They reveal a deeper question facing our church body:
Are we building the Kingdom, or are we building the castle?
In this special Lead Time episode, Tim Ahlman is joined by Rev. Rob Bailey and Pastor Joe Beran for a practical, honest, and hopeful conversat...
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Is the LCMS too strict — or is it simply trying to be faithful?
In this episode of Lead Time, Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg sit down with Pastor Ben Hollingsead, a former LCMC pastor who colloquized into the LCMS, to talk about close communion, confessional Lutheran identity, pastoral format...
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Resolution 9.11 may sound like a technical bylaw issue — but it could have major implications for the future of mission, ministry, property, insurance, and institutional trust in the LCMS.
In this special Lead Time episode, Tim Ahlman sits down with Bart Day, President and CEO of Lutheran Ch...
https://www.uniteleadership.org/thelcmscurrent
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Dr. Jeff Kloha joins Tim Ahlman for a timely Lead Time conversation in the middle of a heated LCMS convention season.
They discuss the Center for Missional Pastoral Leadership, the accusations and misunderstandings surrounding CMPL, Floor Committee 6, SMP costs and pastoral formation, social media...
https://www.uniteleadership.org/thelcmscurrent
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In this special Lead Time conversation, Tim Ahlman sits down with Rev. Dr. Erik Ankerberg, President of Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor, and Rev. Dr. Aaron Moldenhauer, Vice President for Mission and Church Relations, for a timely conversation about Concordia Ann Arbor.
This episode g...
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The Concordia Ann Arbor story continues to raise painful questions for many in and around the LCMS.
In this episode, Tim Ahlman sits down with Paul Pollatz from Ann Arbor City on a Hill to talk about the group’s behind-the-scenes efforts to preserve a Christian presence on the Concordia Ann Arbor campu...
The LCMS presidential election has moved into historic territory.
After two rounds of voting, President Harrison’s lead has narrowed from 228 votes to just 14 votes, while hundreds of eligible voters still have not cast a ballot. In this special timely edition of Lead Time, Tim Ahlman is joined by Tania Hilton and Pastor Jeremy Jacoby to talk about why Round 3 matters, what the numbers reveal, and why disengaged pastor...
In this episode of Lead Time, Tim Ahlman welcomes back Jim Sanft, former President and CEO of Concordia Plans, for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, trust, Lutheran education, lay leadership, LCMS bureaucracy, and what it means to steward faithfully in a changing church.
This conversation is honest, hopeful, and deeply practical for pastors, school leaders, commissioned ministers, lay leaders, and anyone who loves t...
The LCMS presidential election is heading to a runoff — and the numbers are impossible to ignore.
President Matthew Harrison received 43.8% on the first ballot. Dr. Joel Biermann received 39.0%. For the first time in this election cycle, the Synod is now moving into a second round of voting, and the future direction of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is very much in the balance.
In this special joint ep...
In this episode of Lead Time, Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg sit down with Philip Meinzen, a longtime LCMS educator and creator of The Grace Formula, for a powerful conversation about stewardship, generosity, tithing, debt, vocation, and the mission of the local church.
Philip argues that the church has often allowed the culture to disciple Christians in money, resources, debt, and scarcity — while Scripture gives us a ...
In this episode of Lead Time, Tim Ahlman talks with Jim Simpson, a retired higher education leader with decades of experience in curriculum development, administration, accreditation, and student success. Together, they explore what higher education has learned about adult learners, hybrid models, mentorship, internships, and competency-based formation — and what those lessons might mean for Concordia seminaries and pastoral ...
In this episode of Lead Time, Tim Ahlman sits down with Coach Patrick Daberkow, head football coach at Concordia University, Nebraska. Together, they talk about what makes a healthy team culture, why football still matters in an age of individualism, how young men are formed through accountability and hardship, and why faith cannot simply be one priority among many — it has to shape the whole life.
This conversation is...
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod loves its history. But what if we have forgotten one of the most important parts of it?
In this episode of Lead Time, Tim Ahlman talks with Pastor Mark Brandt about the story of St. Lorenz Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth, Michigan, the missionary vision of Wilhelm Loehe, the early tensions between mission and doctrine, and what today’s LCMS can learn from its own complicated begi...
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