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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 prevent him from entering the Specific Ministry Pastor program.

Carter joins Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg to tell the deeply personal story behind an approaching church closure—and to explain what is truly lost when a rural congregation disappears. This is not merely a conversation about institutional policy. It is about people, communities, pastoral formation, and whether the LCMS can develop faithful local leaders before more Gospel outposts reach their final Sunday.

Carter’s story deserves to be heard by anyone who cares about rural ministry, the pastoral shortage, and the future of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

If you have a story to share, email: tahlman@cglchurch.org

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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 whatever society currently values?

Minnesota South District President Lucas Woodford joins Tim Ahlman and Jack Kalleberg for a wide-ranging conversation about faithful ministry in a rapidly changing America. They explore the dangers of allowing the church to be co-opted by political parties, the difference between healthy contextualization and reshaping Christianity around a target market, and why modern secularism may be less atheistic than it is a return to ancient paganism.

Lucas also explains why Christians are not called to evangelize a collapsing culture, but to bring the hope of Christ to the people living within it. The conversation examines Lutheran worship, cowboy and culturally specific churches, the work of the Holy Spirit, pastoral formation in the LCMS, institutional adaptation, and what it means to be “in the world and of the Word.”

The culture may be changing—but the Word of God still works. Where the Word is sown, its culture is grown.

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Care about the future of the LCMS?
Join the LCMS Current! (LCMS Current Events Newsletter)
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To learn more, visit uniteleadership.org

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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 be equivalent to a residential MDiv, and confront the growing tension between maintaining rigorous formation and reaching congregations and communities that lack pastoral leadership.

The conversation moves beyond filling vacant pulpits to ask what the church’s entire ministry ecosystem could become. Could deacons and evangelists recover meaningful roles? Should SMP lead into broader certification or an online MDiv? How can residential education, contextual formation, and lifelong supervision complement one another rather than compete?

The church must get the message right—and get the message out. This conversation explores what may need to change for the LCMS to do both.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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Care about the future of the LCMS?
Join the LCMS Current! (LCMS Current Events Newsletter)
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To learn more, visit uniteleadership.org