Lead Time
Lead Time
Tim Ahlman Issues a Formal Apology to the LCMS...
Tim Ahlman shares important commitments being made to increase unity in the LCMS regarding pastoral formation discussions, explaining his decision to step back from public commentary on this topic while pursuing appropriate denominational channels for dialogue.
• Tim commits to no longer discussing LCMS pastoral formation on his podcasts or promoting non-Synod-approved leadership training programs
• Christ Greenfield Lutheran has historically served as a mentoring congregation for pastoral students in various LCMS programs
• The congregation had been exploring alternative leadership development approaches while maintaining transparency about their methods
• Recent confusion arose over a commissioning ceremony that was misinterpreted as an ordination
• Tim will pursue the formal LCMS dissent process, organizing a private "fellowship of peers" for constructive dialogue
• Both Tim and Chris affirm their commitment to the LCMS while seeking to address the shortage of pastors (over 700 vacant pulpits)
• They emphasize creating "dialogue not discord" while honoring established ecclesiastical structures
• The goal remains supporting the work of LCMS seminaries while exploring how to meet the church's growing leadership needs
Join the Lead Time Newsletter! (Weekly Updates and Upcoming Episodes)
https://www.uniteleadership.org/lead-time-podcast#newsletter
Visit uniteleadership.org
Under your advice. I am making these commitments to you in the hopes of increasing unity in the advancement of the gospel in the LCMS One. I am no longer going to be discussing LCMS pastoral formation on my weekly podcast, lead Time and the Tim Allman podcast. Now I have a lot of guests that are lined up on this podcast into the future. Many of them care about this topic. What I am committing to is I'm not going to add any of my opinion. I've shared what I need to share into the future, as folks are guests on my podcast, but this will not be something that I or Jack are actively talking about on a consistent basis.
Speaker 2:This is Lead Time.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Lead Time, tim Allman here. Jack is off today. Pray, the joy of Jesus is your strength. I get the privilege today of hanging out with my partner in the gospel here, congregational President Chris Korb, here at Christ Greenfield Lutheran Church and School in Gilbert and East Mesa. Chris, how you doing, buddy? I am well. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man.
Speaker 1:So let's just before we get into the primary kind of meat of the discussion today and this is going to be a discussion around kind of the state of the conversation around pastoral formation and kind of the role that the Unite Leadership Collective and even Christ Greenfield has played in raising up leaders, doing it very transparently in a pathway that's not approved by Synod, and we're going to be talking about that We've been running a test, hopeful that many would watch with curiosity, and we're just at a very unique time, kind of crossroads right now, and we're going to be reading a little bit of letter that we put together in partnership with our district president, president Mike Gibson.
Speaker 1:But before we do that, I think people you know, there's a story here at Christ Greenfield that is and we don't talk about a whole lot on lead time, because every congregation is unique and everybody's situation is kind of unique. But this is a very unique congregation in that we really, really want to, by the Spirit's power, develop people. We use language like discover, develop and deploy different folks, both for church work as well as for and this is all church work as well as for advancing the gospel in various vocations and training toward that end. I mean that's one of the things that makes us I wish we weren't as unique but the systems and structures that even accommodate moving in that direction. Chris, that's one of the things that I think people that may look in from the outside don't understand how much that's in our DNA. Anything to say to that, chris. And then other things that are kind of unique about Christ Greenfield.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think we've been here about eight years now and it is a very unique place, I think, for various different reasons. One is we're in a very part of the country that's growing a lot right here in the Phoenix area. It's sprawling suburban areas. I think the other thing that makes us in this area and the congregation unique is the diversity that comes with that. So you know, we live in a warm climate here in the Phoenix area we get a lot of snowbirds, so the congregation is very diverse in terms of like. We have people that are here half the year and then we have a very a good size school right, so we have a number of young families that come to the school, also attend church, and so it also presents opportunities for leaders kind of across the spectrum.
Speaker 1:With that school in mind and with also kind of the diversity in the congregation, the types of different things we're trying to do from a church perspective, the types of offerings that we look to have, and so we've been running the test for some time now in raising up word workers, so those that are carrying the word in our congregation and beyond our congregation, those that love Lutheran theology and want to go deeper there. And one part of my story is that I've been privileged to be a mentor pastor and Christ Greenfield even a mentor congregation for student pastors in just about every program that the Synod has offered, and so that's also kind of a unique thing with us is that we've had the residential coming third year. We had a four-year vicar in Jake Besling through the CMC program. One of our rostered pastors has been through the SMP program. I've been a mentor pastor for two guys that have gone through SMP and I also then have a lot of connections with some of the other routes, like the EIIT program. So we have looked at and tried to care for, use, steward those partnerships, those routes well and at the same time, because of the vision to bring Word and Sacrament to as many people as possible, we've been running a test saying could there be a model and we like the Kairos model because it is a model that moves between character and content and craft, kind of the head, heart and hands. Was it a perfect partnership with Luther House over the years? Well, we would have loved to have greater partners in the LCMS, to be sure, but nonetheless, many of these students have been trained very, very well.
Speaker 1:Now, the reason we're bringing this to the fore is there was a completion of a degree from one of our students and that student had been in the program over four years and he's at one of our campuses and we wanted to celebrate this brother and then kind of commission him into not Word and Sacrament ministry. It wasn't an ordination, it was commissioning him to continue on his leadership journey as a campus lead. And the hard thing is the use of pastor. You know a lot of other denominations in our area or non-denom. They use pastor whether you're ordained or not, right, and so we're definitely not going to use the word pastor. But, um, there are a number of different, different churches where that people won't come in and who's doing some of the shepherding here, and he definitely has a shepherding, spiritual care kind of component to his, to his work, and at the same time he's not ordained, um, and and wanted to make that clear ordained, and wanted to make that clear, and one of the pictures got out around a stole, one of our members, well-intentioned, gave him a stole. A picture was taken with him in a stole and since then I've had to tell President Gibson it wasn't an ordination he's not actively pursuing. He'd love to be on the roster at some point down the line whether it's going through one of our programs, colloquy, et cetera. We know that's not a possibility right now with colloquy, but he's just serving faithfully under the covering of those that have been ordained here at Christ Greenfield.
Speaker 1:So, with all that being said, lots of conversation with my district president and not wanting to do and say anything that would bring, we want to elevate the conversation of pastoral formation, but we want to do it in a reasonable way that brings unity. And I've learned some new things around how the LCMS operates. And so, chris, I'm just going to read a letter. This letter has been addressed. And then our board also wrote a letter to President Gibson after his visit a couple weeks ago to us just talking about kind of where we are right now and to allow Christ Greenfield to clarify our intentions. And so I'm going to get into that. President Gibson and I have some kind of niceties to him. He's a dear brother in Christ. So here's the commitments. Under your advice, I'm making these commitments to you in the hopes of increasing unity in the advancement of the gospel in the LCMS.
Speaker 1:One I am no longer going to be discussing LCMS pastoral formation on my weekly podcast, lead Time and the Tim Allman podcast. Now I have a lot of guests that are lined up on this podcast into the future. Many of them care about this topic. What I am committing to is I'm not going to add any of my opinion. I've shared what I need to share into the future, as folks are guests on my podcast, but this will not be something that I or Jack are actively talking about on a consistent basis. Point number two to the best of our ability, we will remove past podcasts that highlighted pastoral formation in the LCMS. Point number three I will no longer be discussing or publicly promoting on my podcast non-synod-approved lay leadership development training programs, especially including Luther House of Study or the Center for Missional and Pastoral Formation. Number four commitment on an upcoming lead time podcast.
Speaker 1:I will read this letter, which I'm doing right now, and publicly ask to be forgiven for causing any appearance of division in the LCMS. Now my letter goes on here. I have seen the power of podcasts, especially long-form podcasts, and building bridges across various contexts in the LCMS. I have sought to ask questions and discuss LCMS plans for the quantity of pastors needed now and into the future. Nonetheless, I am aware that our desire to publicly discuss controversial topics can create the appearance of divisiveness. This is not our intent. We have simply wanted to share diverse perspectives on topics of adiaphora across the LCMS.
Speaker 1:President Gibson, you have recently made me aware of a portion of the LCMS Internet Usage Policy Council of President Manual so I wasn't aware of this which states in the case of using the internet to express dissent, the appropriate district president will remind the worker of his or her doctrinal commitments as a member of the Synod and of LCMS bylaw. So to remind them of LCMS bylaw 1.8 on the topic of dissent, it would also be helpful to share the CCM opinion, which I'm going to read here in just a second, on the fellowship of peers Based on this policy. I say you state, president Gibson, you state that some of our content may be breaking the internet usage policy and I was unaware of this policy. Also, you have made me aware of the formal dissent process found on page 36 of the 2023 LCMS handbook. My congregation and I will prayerfully be considering how the formal dissent process could be engaged in the coming days. I believe a private gathering and this is very important, private, not public, not a podcast a private gathering of a fellowship of peers as outlined in the dissent process, with diverse perspectives on the topic of pastoral formation in the LCMS, will produce the fruit of unity.
Speaker 1:The Commission on Constitutional Matters, so CCM, of Synod has produced a wonderful document highlighting the effectiveness of the dissent process. It highlights the CTCR report which stated the Synod may be in error on some point of doctrine or practice, but the dissenter may also be in error. The process seeks to protect not only the conscience of the dissenter, but also the consciences of those who believe that the position of the synod is not in error or who are still deliberating the matter. It upholds the necessary right and responsibility of expressing dissent, while also seeking to ensure that our life together, within the fellowship of the synod, is preserved with as great a degree of peace and unity as possible. And then I write I fully subscribe to this perspective and I'm grateful for the CCM and CTCR for their work over the years creating the space for brotherly dissent. I also agree, coming down the homestretch here.
Speaker 1:I also agree with the words quoted in the CCM opinion of our LCMS founding father one of our founding fathers, cfw Walther, who wrote in his 1879 essay to the first Iowa district convention two men this is to quote Walther now two men in a synod or district may disagree about something, and that disagreement can easily become a fire that inflames the entire synod or district, for both of them then often try to gather support for their own position. We cannot prevent bitter thoughts from arising. Unfortunately our hearts are such touchy tender that such sparks can immediately start a fire. But we should immediately get water and put it out. And then this is my close here this letter is an attempt to use the water of our shared identity in baptism and shared subscribers to Scripture and the Lutheran confessions to put the fire out on the touchy and nuanced conversation of pastoral formation in the LCMS.
Speaker 1:This letter and this podcast is a prayer for a fellowship of peers with diverse perspectives to continue to work together on solving our need for more pastors in vacant pulpits and pulpits yet to be filled. Finally, I have no intention of leaving the Lutheran Church. Missouri Synod. Christ Greenfield Lutheran Church, I believe, feels the same as you're going to hear from Chris here as a third-generation LCMS pastor. This church body is my family and I'm praying that various family members can forgive me for causing division. We are not enemies, we're brothers and sisters in Christ, united on our shared mission of confessing Christ and making Him known. And then I end with Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed, hallelujah.
Speaker 1:And so I guess, chris, before I get your kind of response to that, we're going to be exploring the formal dissent process. I don't, frankly, know if there are others. You could reach out to me at tallman at cglchurchorg if you've walked this path. But I'll be working with President Gibson to set up a fellowship, a private fellowship of peers, to privately talk about pastoral formation, and that will be sometime in the fall, and then we'll take our next steps from there. But I hope this letter and even this podcast, this conversation, can allow us to just breathe and come together and care for one another. Because what we agree on, chris, is way, way more than what we are divided on Our common confession of Christ crucified, the way we talk about how God speaks through law and gospel and the Word and Sacrament, and needing more pastors for Word and Sacrament work. This has just been our heart's cry, not just for us but for the wider church over 700 pulpits that are yet to be filled, and not to mention the churches that need to be started. So praying that the conversation can continue in a healthy way.
Speaker 1:As I've said many, many times, chris, I love our seminaries. I am a graduate, I went through our system. I love our universities. Praise be to God, you know. And I um doing a visit to Concordia, nebraska, this fall for my son to explore, uh, playing football, running track, but also the pre-seminary program there in the, in the potential that he ended up maybe in a pastor as well. And uh, for our young people, I, I think for sure, go to the seminaries. They're both fantastic, led by wonderful, wonderful leaders. This is not an either-or conversation. We've been trying to put it as a both-and kind of conversation to move the gospel forward. So that's all I got to say about that, chris. What's your response, bud?
Speaker 3:I just also appreciate your passion for raising up future leaders, tim. I know as part of this church we've had a number of vicars come in for seminary, like both in my time here and in the time leading up to it. A number of guys that I can think of that are pastors elsewhere now have come through and spent a year here and just learned alongside a number of people here and it's just been, you know, kind of fun even to reflect back on the different guys that you know have come here and where they are now. I think we we value like so much being part of a wider church body, right, that shares beliefs. I think there's a lot of power that comes in that and a lot of benefits to us as a church that we value so much and continue to appreciate just being a member of the LCMS and all that comes with that.
Speaker 3:I think the one word that we are focused on a little bit is like trying not to create discord, right, so we want to create dialogue but not discord, and I think also clarifying just roles of different leaders that we have in the church, including the gentleman you were talking about, like clarifying what his role is is one of the things that we're looking to do as part of this. We were obviously not ordaining anybody that's gone through not appropriate training. We value the training that comes with being a pastor in the synod and so like we're not, as a church, ordaining anybody that hasn't gone through that that training. So look forward to continuing to have the dialogue about what future leadership development looks like, um and kind of again appreciating you being willing to have such passion around that and continuing to drive that conversation in the appropriate forums.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no thanks, chris, it's a. It's a lot of fun. You know this is a not nobody here at our church or any any church in the LCMS is doing it because it's a job. You know this is uh, nobody here at our church or any any church in the LCMS is doing it because it's a job. You know this is a calling and, um, we take the call very, very serious and a local church. You know, this.
Speaker 1:I'm a reading CFW author and I won't go off too much here to close, but uh, what a unique, unique character he was in our, in our church. I don't know how much you know about the origin story we've had. We've had some folks on talking about Walther and the Stephan struggles, the bishop who kind of led our group over here and then had some kind of money power control struggles, and then CFW Arthur being a leader that kind of held the church together and his heart was the local congregation, right. Whatever it takes to allow all of the priesthood to use all of her gifts. It sounds a lot like Luther, right? This is one of Luther's main proponents is you need pastors, and I think on our best days pastors are here, yes, to bring word and sacrament, but to protect and elevate the voice of the laity, everyone else, all of the priesthood, to equip and empower them. Ephesians, chapter four. But then also, this isn't any kind of healthy church body or local congregation, right. Then the honor comes back the other way. The laity, the priesthood of all believers, are there to give honor and respect to the office of holy ministry. We walk that line. They were kind of amazed over in Germany and in Europe, when a guy by the name of Walter, but also Winnikin, went over there and they told this story of how are you guys growing so fast? And that's basically what they said about the early LCMS. Well, it's because we honor one another, pastor and people working together to elevate the name of Jesus, so pretty special.
Speaker 1:I'm grateful for all of our leaders and all of our different roles in the LCMS and we commit here on Lead Time to continue to have fruitful, provocative. There's a lot that we can talk about as it relates because I'm going to keep talking about healthy culture and systems and structures and obviously what leadership looks like. Pastoral leadership looks like. None of that's off the table. We're just not going to talk anymore about the pastoral formation specifics in the LCMS. This is a lead time. Please like, subscribe, comment wherever it is you take in these podcasts and we pray that the joy of Jesus is your strength and Chris, you're a dear brother in Christ and thank you for your leadership here at Christ Greenfield. It's a good day. Go make it a great day. Thanks, chris.
Speaker 2:You've been listening to Lead Time, a podcast of the Unite Leadership Collective. The ULC's mission is to collaborate with the local church to discover, develop and deploy leaders through biblical Lutheran doctrine and innovative methods Lutheran doctrine and innovative methods To partner with us in this gospel message. Subscribe to our channel, then go to theuniteleadershiporg to create your free login for exclusive material and resources and then to explore ways in which you can sponsor an episode. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for next week's episode.