600+ Empty Pulpits—What Is the LCMS Plan? | Convention Day 2 and 3 Debrief

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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 preferred pathway for pastoral formation, the convention’s response to unauthorized formation partnerships, and the urgent reality of hundreds of empty pulpits. Can the church maintain rigorous, confessional formation while continuing to explore faithful ways of meeting the leadership needs already confronting local congregations?

The conversation also moves beyond resolutions and institutional policy. Tim and Joe address labels, caricatures, communion practice, LCMS history, the future of SMP, and the “narcissism of small differences” that can cause Christians who agree on nearly everything to treat one another as enemies.

How can the LCMS disagree honestly, guard its confession, raise up more workers, and continue walking together in love?

Share your perspective in the comments—and remember that faithful reform should never produce unhealthy zeal, contempt, or division inside the local church.

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