Lead Time

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What if your congregation doesn’t need to manufacture more missionaries—but simply learn to recognize the people God has already placed there?

Tardelli Voss joins Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg to share what is happening through the Lutheran Mission Society San Diego. In just three years, the society has begun working with mo...

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Why are faithful families quietly leaving the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod—even when their children still love Jesus, worship faithfully, and raise their own families in the Christian faith?

Former LCMS President Rev. Dr. Jerry Kieschnick joins Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg for a candi...

Lead Time was asked to remove our recent conversation with Casey Salminen concerning Concordia University Ann Arbor. We have done so.

In this personal response, Tim Ahlman addresses the decision, acknowledges what he does and does not know, and reflects on the sadness of conflict and litigation among fellow Christians. He emphasizes that the story of CUAA is complex, that no one should be reduced to either hero or villain, a...

Lead Time was asked to remove this conversation with Casey Salminen concerning Concordia University Ann Arbor. We have done so.

In this personal response, Tim Ahlman addresses the decision, acknowledges what he does and does not know, and reflects on the sadness of conflict and litigation among fellow Christians. He emphasizes that the story of CUAA is complex, that no one should be reduced to either hero or villain, and that he con...

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(LCMS Current Events Newsletter) 

What if words Christians use every week—like law, preach, prophecy, confess, obey, sanctification, and sacrament—do not always mean what we assume they mean?

Rev. Dr. Mike Middendorf joins Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg to examine how these familiar theological terms are actually used in Scripture. The conversation chall...

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This story simply must be shared.

Carter Nath was already serving his rural Iowa congregation when its pastor announced his approaching retirement. As two neighboring Lutheran Church Missouri Synod churches searched for a path forward, Carter was willing to pursue pastoral formation and continue serving the people and community he loved. Then he learned that his age could p...

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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...

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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...

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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...