Lead Time
Lead Time
Exploring the Evolution and Impact of the Unite Leadership Collective
Prepare to navigate the evolution of the Unite Leadership Collective (ULC) alongside Tania Hilton and Renee Bennett. Experience first-hand the excitement shared as we explore how the ULC's mission, vision, and values are continuously advancing. Listen closely as discussions delve into the ULC's mission, focusing on equipping the priesthood of all believers through world-class leadership development at local levels. Gain insight into the ULC's valued partnership with Luther House of Studies, the 'build, measure, learn' approach, and Christ Greenfield's use of the accelerator content to onboard their leaders.
Imagine the potential for church organizations that truly focus on mission, vision, and values. Picture how ULC's partnership with Luther House and Kairos University could amplify their influence and impact. Absorb the importance of experienced practitioners who coach and mentor those in leadership roles, as well as the value the ULC places on collaboration and measurable results. Get inspired by innovative methods of discovering, developing, and deploying disciples of the risen Jesus.
Discover why self-awareness and personal development are critical components of effective leadership. Understand how our identity in Christ can strengthen self-awareness and how the malleability of the brain can be influenced. Reflect on the exemplary leadership of the triune God and the humility and grace exhibited by Paul. Lastly, explore the flexibility of the ULC and the myriad ways it can serve the congregation and community.
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Leigh Time is a podcast of the Unite Leadership Collective hosted by Tim. Ollman and Jack Calliver. The ULC envisions the future in which all congregations fully equip the priesthood of all the believers through world-class leadership development at the local level. Leigh 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 at UniteLeadershiporg. This is Leigh Time.
Speaker 3:Welcome to Leigh Time, tim Ollman, here with two of my favorite leaders on planet Earth, tanya Hilton and Renee Bennett. They work in front of the scenes and often behind the scenes to move what is the Unite Leadership Collective? And our conversation today is going to be updating you on who we are, where we're going, all that the Lord is doing, and maybe even dismissing some of the rumors about our work together. So how are you doing, tanya and Renee?
Speaker 1:Doing wonderful.
Speaker 3:It's a beautiful day, yeah the heat is coming down, some here in Arizona, so it's always this the heat is on and you're wearing a sweater inside, which people do in Arizona, because the AC blasts so much. All right, so let's dig in, Tanya, Share with our listeners. We had a retreat a handful of weeks ago. The mission has evolved, Just like churches evolved. The Holy Spirit is moving Like the wind. You know, you can't. The mission of the Unite Leadership Collective has certainly evolved and even then, because of the mission, some of our strategies, some of the structure of what we're looking to do into the future is evolving as well. So talk about our revamped mission, vision and values, Tanya, and what makes you excited about them. Go ahead.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean. So the ULC really kind of started about four years ago and I think since the time we started getting an idea of how we want to reach people and impact ministries has shifted to. So a couple of weeks ago we decided, hey, we need to get together, let's see where we are, what are some of the changes that we have and who really are we trying to speak to, and so we spent two days I think it was about two days nonstop together as a team and it was great. We had all these brainstorm and that's one of my favorite parts.
Speaker 1:What brings me joy is vision casting, brainstorming, working together with wonderful minds and saying, wow, I never thought of it like this.
Speaker 1:So what kind of came out of that conversation is we did solidify our vision and our mission statement, so you guys might have seen some changes on our website, and we also identified that I guess the services that we're trying to offer our year-long accelerator maybe was not as accessible as we want it to be, and I think that kind of came out of this summer the ULC. We partnered with Luther House of Studies and we taught a leadership development course online and we realized that we could impact so many more people in that same model, and so we just really looked at the way that we're doing things. Another thing that I really love with the ULC is that we are big on build, measure, learn. Let's build something, let's put it out there. Let's measure, if it's successful, how it's impacting people and learn from it. And we learned that we have other methods available that we could more effectively reach people. So that really is what came out of that two-day conversation.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so so fun. Vision, what do we see into the future? A ways for us to be learning and then to serve. And this is just the humble build measure learn abundance mindset right, as we're growing, we want to invite others to come along side us. And the cool thing about United Leadership Collective we've got an incubator, which is a congregation called Christ Greenfield. We're actively testing sending in a number of our different teams and our family administrations through accelerator content, because it's all like the word of God, the way certain first article realities then bump up against a team. It's constantly shifting and for some people you're like well, shouldn't certain things stay the same? Absolutely, the love of Jesus stays the same, word and sacrament stay the same, but our culture and then our teams are consistently evolving and we need to have a way where we can bring this material to them. This is going to be a major part of our onboarding and ongoing personal leadership development for our 100 plus leaders within our community here at Christ Greenfield. So love it. And if we're learning, we just want as many other people to come and have accessible learning as well. Renee, why don't you express the if you have it in front of you right now, as we're internalizing it, the mission and the vision statement of the United Leadership Collective. I'm going to bring it for you because I got it right here. I got it right here.
Speaker 3:We envision a future you're awesome, renee Envision a future in which all congregations fully equip the priesthood of all believers through world-class leadership development at the local level. Now we're going to get into some detail stuff here, renee, but one value the priesthood of all believers. I think it seems very Lutheran, doesn't it? We can reach people beyond Lutherans, but get the scripture into the hands of God's people so they can go on mission to make him known. This was Luther's big charge, right. But then we also can take some first article realities to develop people at the local level.
Speaker 3:The Lord speaks through. Well, the Lord can speak through an ass in Balem's ass, right. The Lord can speak through a variety of different means. The Lord can even speak through people who are created in the image of God but may not even hold a biblical worldview but have put some principles into place, like the Jim Collins and others put principles into place to move from that proverbial good to great. So what do you say to someone, renee, if they hear about the accelerator or the church engagement model.
Speaker 3:You know this bill-measure-learn mindset you're given into the way of the world. You know You're compromising theology. Who needs to talk about church growth? We just need to talk about being faithful. You want to multiply disciples? Just do your job, show up for worship, let the pastor do his thing.
Speaker 3:And some people even say today we're teasing this out. Evangelism, sharing the gospel, this is just for the pastor. There's a percentage within the Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod actually who believed that Pastor, you just do it, we just there are, and I heard this actually again at the convention. It's fascinating In the church there are proclaimers and there are hearers. Do not mix the estate to which we say those that hear the Word of God actively proclaim it, live it, do it, speak it. All of the baptize. You are a royal priest, a people belonging to God, a holy nation that you may collectively I love this in 1 Peter declare the praises of the one who's called you out of darkness into a marvelous light. This is the call for all of the baptize. So how would you dismiss this misnomer that she's teaching the church engagement model from a track get, retain, disciple, multiply. This is just compromise in theology, just like the church growth movements of other years. Renee, what would you say to that?
Speaker 2:You know, hearing that hurts my heart because I think the world where we live in the enemy really really wants us to believe that. That's not my job. I'm a consumer. I just show up, I do my duty on Sunday check a box, that's it. We are called, all of us, we as the royal priesthood of believers, to baptize and to teach. I think we want to educate people on what that means, and it doesn't mean as someone else's job. If you really believe what you really believe, then it should really change your life.
Speaker 2:And so how does it change your life? If you really believe what you're hearing on Sunday, then what do you do about it on Monday? So you know, I have an education background and what I love about the ULC is we're appealing to the multiple intelligences. People learn in different ways, so by us now offering videos and discussion questions, that's a really great way for more people to be able to learn and to ask questions. That's so powerful. That's what we need to be doing. That's what we're called to do.
Speaker 3:That's, that's it Tonya anything to add?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just as you're saying, that it still it strikes me to hear that you know they're hearers. And then there's, you know, those that just listen. And I remember in one of our readings that we did last semester, we read a book that's about being apocalypse. You know that there's a physical change that happens when you hear the word. It Destroys the foundation of what you originally were, to the point that you have to share the gospel with other people, and I feel like that's the transformation that we're looking for for ourselves. And it's not something that I was able to experience Before. I really understood what the word meant. And so, for myself, even I am just appreciating that I have a different level of understanding of what the gospel is.
Speaker 1:And there aren't people who grew up in the church. I did not grow up in the church, I never heard this stuff, so I he would hear these words day in and day out in the church, sitting there in the pews as a member, and I don't even know what that means. I mean, I'll even admit that I didn't even know what it meant that my sins are forgiven, that I am a sinner and I have to die daily. You know the the daily death of Adam To the resurrection, you know, through the forgiveness on the cross. It's like I didn't. I hear these words and I don't understand what it means.
Speaker 1:Don't we want to equip people to understand what that means, like the beauty of that forgiveness? It's for them. I think it's, and this is where we stand firm on our Lutheran doctrine. It is the word that transforms the world, and I think that, yes, yes, and and that's what we're trying to do is just With you all, see is to equip the people, the leaders who are leading, to understand that their job is to equip the people, just like this was Luther's. This is why the small catechism was written right, because he wanted to get that back into the homes, into the families, and I think maybe we've gone off on a tangent here, that's not exactly okay, but it's just good it's good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the part of the mission that I love, the work that we do, that it truly is Transformational that we are able to just help individuals the old-school pastors or the old-school Churchgoers that believe that all I have to do is show up on a Sunday and listen and that's my job. It's like no, the Great Commission is something that we're all commissioned to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and our mission everybody influences someone, so we're all.
Speaker 3:Amen, yeah, take responsibility. It's not just a pastor's call. Pastor is called to equip the saints for 11 loving good deeds. It can't be it's way beyond. This is just like such a dust statement. But if Jesus asked for help, how much more help do do we need if Jesus? The mystery of faith that Jesus hung out with the three and then the 12 and the 70 and he sent them and and then he released them and gave the spirit I mean the radical trust of God, the Trium God to Bring us into his mission. And that mission it better include more than just those who are in the apostolic line of the preaching office. There's nothing dismissive about that. We need solid leaders. But we need, we need pastors who recognize their primary function is to move Consumers by the power of spirit in the word to contributors in the mission of God. So here's our, here's our updated mission statement.
Speaker 3:Our mission at the ULC is to collaborate with a local church to discover, develop and deploy leaders Through biblical and there's integration here, integration between biblical Lutheran doctrine and then innovative and you could use first article Methods. So what are the systems that are helpful today? How, when we talk about attracting, do you know who these people are you? Are you getting them? And what are your systems? You know, I Jesus, luther the Apostle, I mean they would have used modern-day systems, technology, right advancements. They would use that to help them work smarter rather than rather than harder, and they go on that integrated journey of discipleship all the way to recognize having that flip be switched. Man I am, I'm not just one who's being poured into, I'm pouring in and I'm pouring into others who can pour into others, second, timothy To-to. So anything to say about that integration between doctrine and and these first article, innovative methods, tonya, renee, are the one.
Speaker 1:You know? It's interesting because, tim, you actually had a sermon. I think it was last Sunday. You talked on Technology, right, wasn't that Sunday? Yeah, so the beauty of technology and like you mentioned in the sermon, is that we can use technology for good or we can use it for bad, and we've seen this throughout the ages that technology could be a beautiful thing. We have a. It is a blessing of technology today that we're able to reach so many more people. Just think about this conversation we're having now. We could reach thousands of people throughout the whole world.
Speaker 1:So with the ULC, we take the current Technology that we have available, which can be learning from the best of the best, learning for some people who are organized in more of a secular world viewer. Or, you know, when you say Organization and church, some people get their feathers ruffled a little bit. But really we have businesses out there that are extremely successful and if we can learn from those methods and use them for good, why would we not want to do that? You know, why would we not want to use? While we maintain, of course, we always stand on our Lutheran doctrine first and foremost we don't ever compromise doctrine, but I believe that we have the ability to reach people without compromising doctrine right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I kind of. I kind of laugh when you say people may get rustle, ruffled feathers with the word organization. Our God is an organizer, he is a creator and all organization is is a group of people ordering themselves, hopefully after the order of the creator, as they work together to build culture, system, structure around a big y of multiplying disciples. So yeah, I don't. I don't know why we would get really so the church, the church can, and this is where we kind of have polite conversations with our friends at Luther house, because Can the church talk about, can the church talk about organization? I think I think we should. I would much rather refer to us as the people of God gathered around the word of God and the sacraments of God. But then we are an organization of sorts as we organize to go on mission. Anything else to add to that, renee?
Speaker 2:No, I think you know, when we look back in the Bible and what Paul did, I mean he used the resources that he had at hand, right, and he was Known as an intellectual, but he, he really leaned into whoever his audience was. So we're leaning into who our audience is and we're using the tools that are available to us. Shame on us if we don't.
Speaker 3:Yeah, in fact, good Our values. Here they are, five of them Biblical Lutheran doctrine. Ulc facilitators are proud and committed members of Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. We're experienced practitioners. Ulc facilitators are in real-time leadership roles Similar to those we serve. We can connect and relate.
Speaker 3:Just to pause on that, I have no intention and nothing against other organizations in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod or beyond, but if the Lord allows, I would love this to be always intimately connected to the work of the local church as well as thinking about how to serve the broader church. Sometimes organizations can kind of remove themselves, if you will, from the struggles of the grassroots effort and some of our struggle and our conversation with maybe Synod Incorporated Are you listening to those who are at the grassroots, especially those of us who are trying to start micro-church communities and multisites, et cetera? We want to remain with that humble practitioner mindset. We're contextual in our collaboration. The ULC values congregations who collaborate. We work together. Pastors are in pastors, church is working with churches, circuit congregations working with circuit congregations.
Speaker 3:That was my doctrine. It just makes sense. It's the way we're supposed to created to function together. We're after measurable results. The ULC values accountability derived from churches, capturing and using data. It's not a bad thing. Data's good. It's just about people moving on their journey with Jesus for effective ministry outcomes. And then last one, innovative methods. The ULC curates new and time-tested methods. So new and time-tested methods of discovery, developing, deploying disciples of the risen Jesus. If you could just double-click on one or more of those to go off Renee, which one really captures your attention right?
Speaker 2:now, I would probably say just appealing to the leaders of today.
Speaker 3:Yeah innovative methods I love it Tanya.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that we have the experienced practitioners. Well, of course, the Lutheran doctrine First and foremost we have in the beginning, because that's the most important to us, right? We do not compromise our Lutheran doctrine ever. But knowing that the people that the ULC faculty and unfortunately Jack couldn't be here today he wasn't feeling well, but our faculty are real-time practitioners of what we're teaching, so we have people that are actually going through it, so we know the struggles. It's hard for you to give advice or coach people through difficult challenges if you don't understand what they're going through. And I think I'd have to give it to Jack he's one of our when it comes to systems and it comes to the structure and, being an experienced practitioner, he knows his stuff. He really, really, truly does. So he's just such a value to the team. I know you guys have great conversations on lead time all the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he is a gift, for sure. So talk about the leadership class that we just walked through. What were your takeaways? And our partnership with the Lutheran House of Studies and Kyrgyz University in general. How much fun was that class and what would we learn and how are we going to get better, even as we teach this? It was a flip classroom experience, right. I mean we gave them a lot of content, a lot of reading, a lot of videos, and then they got together for an hour. Gosh, it could have been two hours easy. We had a conversation every single week. So we have these 16 modules that we're going to be rolling out. We'll share more details here in just a second, but it could have easily been a 16 week class too. I mean, we shoved a lot into those eight weeks drinking from a fire hose. Any takeaways, though, renee, from that experience with about 15, 20 students or so?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was such a. It was a breathtaking experience because I think Tanya and I kept remarking how we saw, sort of at the beginning, maybe a resistance. You know, is this Lutheran based? What are you teaching me that I could possibly learn and apply? And I think, especially because a lot of our audience were, you know, like country churches, you know the average attendance was like maybe 40 to 100 people, and so I loved how we watched as they started to go through the exercises.
Speaker 2:They started to see how they and their people, they started to look at their people differently and instead of looking at it from a scarcity, mind said, I really saw them looking at it like from abundance and they started to say, wow, we really can attract more people. And as I was grading one of the papers, he started to say I'm going to have this day where everybody invites a friend and that's just, that's so powerful, like yes, that's what we're called to do. And I just loved how, as they went through the classes, you could see the energy and the enthusiasm because they realized, oh my gosh, it's not just me, it's the enemy who wants them to think they're alone. And I've only got 40 people and I've got to do it all and by the end they were like, so excited, like, oh my gosh, I you know, bill can do this and I see this in Sally and just so energized to have the IC and you conversations and understanding the value of what the Lord is placed in front of them.
Speaker 3:Mike Joprenay. That was so good Tonya.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so this leadership class was really interesting because we took so our accelerator program is a year long in person and we meet three times throughout the year, meeting with these different congregations as a cohort, and we took the high level and maybe, like we kind of scan the accelerator and said, if we can only teach one thing, what would the most important thing be? And it was. It was a lot of content that we crammed in eight weeks and so, interesting enough, you know, as we're moving this to our online platform that we're offering to the public, we're realizing that I can. I just say to all the listeners who are students I'm sorry there was a lot of work for you guys to do, but it was very good work it was. There's just so much information that we want them to walk away with right. So it was a really interesting class and, like Renee said, there was in the very beginning.
Speaker 1:You can see how people are like why am I reading this book? Or why are we learning this stuff? This is organizational, this is secular thoughts and how does it apply. So there was a lot of breaking down and Chris Krogan talks a lot about the backpack that you're going to bring that a lot of students bring to class, and there was definitely a backpack too. When you mentioned leadership, people will say, well, that's not what we're called to do. We're just meeting people. We're just supposed to be preaching and doing, and it's like, okay, so having people work through that, and then near the end of the class, you would see this shift. It's almost like the light bulb came on and students are like, oh, I mentioned this in our board meeting or I thought about this, and so you just saw the growth model change with them. So it was pretty transformational.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's so good. I'm looking at here. It is Hebrews 13, verse seven. For those that say and I'd love to get into the Greek here, I don't have the Greek in front of me, but Hebrews 13, verse seven remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God, consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. So if you have the privilege of proclaiming the word of God consistently the author of Hebrews he wants those who are following you to remember the outcome of your way of life, and that includes that's not just what you say, it's how you live, it's the love and joy and peace, it's the belief that God is on the move. God is up to way more than we could possibly hope, think or imagine, and he's inviting us not just me as the leader, but us. So I mean one of the simple things, for even for a small church, it's like who's on your leadership team? Do you have a group of people that you're partnering with with unique gifts that compliment your, your gifts?
Speaker 3:I've been, I've been on a self-awareness kick here recently. Everybody's got gifts and gaps. We've been saying this for a long time, but the audacity that a person and this really is an audacious not in a good way kind of a negative, in a negative way that we would go on a journey to become experts in industry, right, and yet we don't become experts in how God made us as as unique, fearfully and wonderfully made, that we don't spend the deep, deep time to understand why do I do what I do, why, why do I say what I say, why do I think what what I think, and then to lovingly Challenge you know where there are gaps in our thinking, gaps in our leadership. And that doesn't mean that doesn't mean you're awful, that means you're human, that means that you need help, and help is here in Jesus and help is here in his, in his people and anything to add to that sort of. Because that that is the journey of. If you, if you choose to accept this mission, there will be points and you're like, oh my goodness, I have a lot, or you, or you feel like a failure. How did I lead this long and not know these things? Or why did I not put together a people development system so we can track you right?
Speaker 3:You know, I think a lot of leaders, especially through Kobe, like, oh my goodness, you can give into that sort of shame and guilt and security or on the other side. I don't mess with any of this kind of stuff, it's just the growth journey as a as a human. It the last point on this Roxy's not thinking my dog Her name is Roxy, a little French bulldog. She's not thinking about personal development. She's not thinking about changing the way she thinks or behaves. Right, you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and that means you have this oh my goodness, the what shaped me in the past has gone, has been forgiven by Jesus, and I don't have to walk like that any anymore. Yeah, any, any response to that. I'm just. I'm just getting going off on personal development.
Speaker 1:And I don't know why that's.
Speaker 3:I don't know why that's negative in the church. I don't know why that's negative for us as humans filled with the Holy Spirit. So go ahead, renee.
Speaker 2:I think that Humility is really hard for us, especially, you know, if you've been. We were all gifted with leadership in different ways. But the Godhead is really our example, the triune God, that, the three strand cord, it's not just one. We have got the father, got the son God, the Holy Spirit, you know, if you think of, like the mind, the body and then the spirit of us. We're supposed to work in communion with other people, as you said before. Jesus said 12 and and then they multiplied the 72. I mean Jesus set the example for us from the very beginning and then he even said and you're gonna go and do even more than I did. Like what? What? Well, we're not if we just think, oh, woe is me, and we try to do it all ourselves. That's sinful, because that's prideful it's, and then we fail and then the enemy wins. We're never supposed to do it. Oh God did.
Speaker 1:And I think self-awareness is so important, you know, like you said, and one itself, awareness of being humble or being too prideful, but that's one of the things we teach to in this class is it starts with the leaders, leader, leaders, and again, just to reiterate what Renee said earlier in the call is that if you have influence in any capacity, you are leader. And so if you are parents, if you have friends, if you work with people, you have influence, so you're a leader. So that's pretty much everybody listening to this calls a leader. So the first job of the leader is self-awareness. And I'm actually reading I love self-awareness stuff and how the brain works and how people React to certain situations. So I'm reading a book that's that's called. It didn't start with you, it's. It is based on trauma and family trauma and family history that can be passed down. But the chapter I was just reading earlier today it's interesting. It talks about the neuroplasticity of the brain and how you may be stuck in a certain pattern of thinking, and before we used To think that the brain was solid, like once it happened. Now we know that it's more like plastic. You can change it very easily.
Speaker 1:So with self-awareness, it starts with understanding. Well, what are my, my pitfalls or what are the areas of myself that I'm not particularly happy with? And so you can be in denial With your head in the sand and not address these things or say you know what? That is something of me and I'll just be, you know, transparent here I I have been known in the past. You asked my husband how price a for sure to have a temper.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I would get very heated. It would pass quickly and and I'm like, well, that's just who I am, and I realized I didn't like who that was. I Wanted to be someone with more patience and especially dealing, dealing with children, my own kids. I wanted to be known as a patient person, not as someone had a quick temper. That was, you know, similar to my upbringing in my parents, and so it's something that I had to work on changing. So the beauty of self-awareness is, once you realize an area that you're not comfortable with, you're not happy with, or you Just don't like the outcomes that that area is, you can very easily change it. But it starts with understanding Well, where am I? If you don't explore these areas that you're not comfortable with, then how can you change it? So that that's the beauty of self-awareness.
Speaker 3:Again for those of you say this, max of secular psychology, psychiatry, blah, blah, blah. You know, yeah, this is just confession and absolution. Take into the personal. This is taken to the personal level, anything. Yeah, your identity is so it's also understanding.
Speaker 1:And this is where I feel again, coming from a non-christian background to now Knowing the word and how powerful the word is. Is that back? If you'd asked me ten years ago, I I would say what's all up to me to fix myself? It's up to me or I'm just a terrible person? No, my identity is in Christ. Christ did not say Tanya, you are an angry person. He said you were wonderfully and beautifully created in the image of God. So when you understand that and you start with the base of God wants you, he's got a plan for you, he wants you wonderful, he wants you living the life that he created for you, then you can say, okay, let me see these areas of my life that maybe the devil speaking or whispering some lies to, and then you can change that. So it all starts with Christ and his identity, who you are.
Speaker 3:Amen story. Paul is so compelling to me. Right, I'm doing a Leadership journey Through the life of Paul, both in the epistles in the book of Acts, with our, with our football team right now, every Thursday, preparing for our first devotion as we're kicking off JV's tonight, varsity tomorrow, pray for Gilbert Christian High School. My son's a freshman, gonna have a lot of fun. Anyway, I there's a part of me that wants to start like barking out my hand signals and my play calls right now, fun on defense. But I'm a resist, resist that urge. But I'm looking at the transformation of Paul's past story. Something like scales fell from his eyes and within, within just that couple chapters, goes from a persecutor of the church to being persecuted and having in. And I is another was like this guy. He was doing all this. Should we welcome him, like the humanity of that Whole story? And now, yes, yes, he gets a blessing of other elder leaders, you know, bishops, etc. And the guy goes on the greatest leadership multiplication journey next to Jesus you can possibly imagine.
Speaker 3:And the rest is history. I mean the, the influence that the Apostle Paul had and moving between the churches and, and you know, reflecting good self, I'm the chief of sinners. And yet a lot of times we live with this, this kind of and, and Luther even Maybe justifies it a little bit. It's true, it's just not complete. We're all beggars, right, we're all. We're all wretches, poor, miserable, poor, miserable sinner. I have nothing good within me, all true statements, but now, made alive by Christ, the scales have come off. I have been transformed. My identity is in, is in him that I mean, even just saying those words. The word is powerful, by the way, changes my mindset, changes what I want to accomplish by the power of the spirit and the word. Anything more to add there, tanya?
Speaker 1:Amen. No, I think it's perfect, it's beautiful. You're absolutely right. It's you know, and working with people too that that either struggle with that self-awareness. You know, that's why we have. We are a hundred percent sinner and we're hundred percent saint at the same time, all the time together, and it's understanding that and and just leaning on the word, like you said, the words powerful, just hearing you say it too, it's like wow, that's powerful for me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, it's good. This is so much fun. Let's let's get into the last stretch of the conversation here regarding what we're going to be offering to to the public and, just like our churches are, build measure learn. This is gonna be a build measure learn for us, but we really like where the the product is right now of the self-paced and hopefully, team-paced Accelerator journey. Talk about it, tanya.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So again, the challenges that we were running into with our accelerator. It is a year-long program that we'd have different churches join us and we'd meet three times a year here in Phoenix, arizona, and then of course, they'd have work to do throughout the the season. We check in with them and you. It wasn't the cost of the accelerator that became a barrier as much as it was the cost of travel. I mean, traveling is just very expensive. You bring a team of people, it gets costly.
Speaker 2:They have to give up that much time all at once, three times a year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. So blocking, I mean we'd have to make sure that churches were scheduled with us a year in advance just to be able to block out the schedule. So we looked at other options that we have and we said, well, how can we get this into the hands of the churches that need it the most? And our solution to that is well, let's try an online version of the accelerator. So, interesting enough, like as we were meeting for these two weeks to move things to the online accelerator again, it's just so much content that we have to put out there.
Speaker 1:And then Jack and I were actually we were meeting one time trying to go through some of our courses, and then I think it was Jack that said, hey, let's just move the, the leadership class that we've just done, that we have all the content for recorded. Let's move it to our own online platform. And I was like, oh, that's a brilliant idea. Yeah, why didn't you know? Why not? So that's where we are now is we're still going to do this online accelerator.
Speaker 1:It just might not be as soon as we'd hoped for, which, you know, we dream big dreams. So we originally said that we'd like it by November 1st. It's still the goal, at least the first portion of that accelerator. We'd like to have November 1st, but what it looks like we will have sooner rather than later by the end of the month, is that our online leadership course, where we introduced the church engagement model and then our core leadership values. We're going to have that available online for people to take it individually or take it with their team. And I don't know, do you want me to mention any prices or anything? I mean, we're still sure.
Speaker 3:We're keeping it really affordable for sure. Go ahead.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we're looking at having an offer for like $29, $29.99 a person. But if you sign up and you're like this is great, I want my team to do this with me, then we'd give you an 80% discount on any future so you can have your whole team join as well, and I think it comes out to like $6 a person or something like that Super affordable. It will be like a 16 week course or it's at self-paced, so it's a 16 module course. You could do it faster, you can do it slower, whatever time permits.
Speaker 3:And then we'd also like to offer and all this is being built out in real time, so we're just talking it through we're also going to offer coaching calls for those who would like to connect with the ULC faculty between, say, you finish your first four modules, hey, let's set up a coaching call. That can certainly be arranged as well. Any more details along those lines? Tanya?
Speaker 1:So Jack and I again are in conversation with one of our other pastors there. Jeff Sutherland has a great coaching model that he's done, so we met with him to see what this coaching model looks like. We still need to work out some final details on how that's going to look, whether it's going to be our entire faculty, the ULC faculty, on these coaching calls or one at a time. But we are so flexible. We're really like what is the need of the ministry? And all ministry have different needs.
Speaker 1:So the ministry is like I just want to meet with you guys one time, let us know we're on the right track. We can do that. If someone's like, nope, we'd like to have more consistent weekly meetings, we can do that too. So I would just recommend that anybody reach out to us on our website, send us an email through the info at Unite leadershiporg, Let us know what you need and if you don't know, just say hey, I just want to meet with you guys and see what I need, and then we can do that too. So we're just here to serve the congregation and the communities any way we can.
Speaker 3:And the best way to stay up to date with what we're doing. A lot of you are listening on YouTube or Spotify, but subscribe to our weekly email. We have blogs and there will be other announcements for when this comes out. So Unite leadershiporg sign up with us there. The last thing that we kind of do is a lot of my work, and I just love podcasts like this because it allows us to have real time, long form conversations. In a world, a day and age, where we just want quick, quick soundbites, just give it to me, give me the real, give me the real, make it catchy. All that I mean we can do that, but deep self-discovery, jesus' discovery, comes in longer conversations of depth like this. So that's what we're getting to have.
Speaker 3:On lead time, primarily toward a Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod audience, we're talking about the culture, systems and structure. Yes, at the local level, yes, the practical things on, I say, a church engagement model that we need to focus on. But then also if there are areas of growth and opportunity for us as the Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod, as we walk together, we're teasing out some of those ideas as well there and then in the American Reformation podcast, a lot of leaders from beyond the Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod who are shaping those conversations from within. But I'm trying to get a lot of folks that say have specialized in multisites, say have specialized in there's psychologists who are coming on the Galtiers Bill and Christie Galtier, we guess, as they talk about Enneagram and soul work and things like that. So a lot of those conversations coming up on the American Reformation podcast. So please like, subscribe, comment around those two podcasts. Anything to add about the power of podcasts? Tanya Renee.
Speaker 2:Well, I think the really cool thing is we just kind of meet you where you are, you know, and that's that's what Jesus did. You don't have to be at a particular place or be a particular size church to get something out of this. You know, I think that's the beauty of what we're trying to put out there, is that there's really something for everyone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the only thing that I would add on more of that, because I do manage the social media and we hear comments from you know all into the spectrum. I love that the ULC loves to disagree agreeably. So if you hear what we're sharing and you don't agree, we want to hear from you and I love that. You know Pastor Tim has so much humility that he will gladly invite guests on that are completely disagreement with us and like we want to have a conversation. We don't say we have it all right. We don't say that this is a way to do things. We're like let's, let's just talk about it. We want an open conversation, I love that.
Speaker 3:How do we humanize yeah, work together. How do we humanize those who we villainize? As the other, on social media, right, social media is not a great place to change in, but he's mine. I don't think anybody's mind gets rarely changed in those, in those debates, but maybe we grow together in a conversation and a relationship based on, based on trust. And if I know that you, like me, care for me, if I can see it in your eyes, then maybe, maybe all, maybe all. That's just human nature. Like, think about the church you go to. You want the pastor to look you in the eye, to speak God's love and truth, and then, by the power of the word, here's some opportunities for collective growth, to change your spiritual disciplines, to be light. And saw that in a dark and dying world, but hopefully that's out of the foundation of love and care and respect. But our church body can splinter in the social media realm when we, when we villainize those we should just just listen to. I've had so many conversations with people you know thinking of Christian price and Christian. You'll be back. You'll be back on here if you happen to listen to this. I love learning with you, man. I got, I got a lot, lot to learn with you and there may be areas of, say, the role of women in the church or or the worship practices where we're like. You know I'm gonna hopefully we get to the day and age where we have the same confession and I trust you, I like you Right that's one of the nicest things we could say to one another. It's not just I love you as a brother, sister and Christ, but actually like your presence, I like the way God made your mind and and I want to I want to learn with you and then out of that, can we trust one another in our unique context under the one shared confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, our sacramental theology. There's so many things that we agree on and then I trust you to make your unique contextual changes. I think that's the biggest prayer that I'm praying for right now.
Speaker 3:In the wider conversation, can we have more contextual, contextual hospitality? You know and I don't think that's in the water that we drink in the Lutheran Church, missouri Senate, and I think we need, I think we need to add it to the day. You know you need to put your supplements sometimes in the water, because your water may not be that good we need. We need the supplement of contextual hospitality along with theological hospitality as well. But as it relates to theology and doctrine, man out of the convention, as it relates to our witness to the world around a shared, conservative, confessional Lutheran statement.
Speaker 3:We're not sliding, you know, we we are, we are in lockstep. We understand collectively the world. Satan is a liar and he's having a heyday today. People believe in lots of lies and we will stand upon the truth of God, greatest male and female, you know, and so many other, the right to life, etc. You know. So, yeah, we are a united church body that I pray becomes more united in spaces like this, and our podcasts just provide that sort of an example for us as a people of God. Because, by the way, just kind of, does conflict ever happen in the church? Do people disagree in the church?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Can you have a?
Speaker 1:relationship without disagreement. I mean you cannot have a relationship without some conflict. Think about your family units, your home, your marriages. It's healthy to have conflict because you get to grow and know people born and that's a beautiful thing. You can move from different places in your relationship through conflict. It doesn't have to be bad.
Speaker 2:It's hard to just hang out with like minded people, and that was really what happened, like during COVID, and that's the enemy. We are called to lean into conversations and to listen to people who have different opinions than us. That's how we learn and grow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, amen.
Speaker 3:So I pray that gave you a snapshot of what the ULC is up to on this wild adventure of following Jesus and simply trying to learn with other people. As we're learning here at the local context, we would humbly invite you to come learn with us, and the Lord is ahead of us. We're not worried at all. We have the peace and joy of Jesus and we pray that that peace and joy of Jesus would rest upon you as you choose, by the power of the Word and Spirit, that abundance mindset to have a mission and a vision of values to go out and multiply, multiply disciples. Tanya, renee, your dear friends, partners in the Gospel, thank you for your time today. This is great. This is lead time. Sharing is caring. Please like, subscribe, comment wherever it is that you take in podcasts, and the ULC promises to continue to have conversations like this that lead to the abundance of joy that comes in Jesus. We'll see you next week on lead time. Thanks, renee, thanks Tanya.
Speaker 1:Thank you. You've been listening to lead time, a podcast of the Unite Leadership Collector. The ULC's mission is to collaborate with the local church to discover, develop and deploy leaders through biblical Lutheran doctrine and innovative methods to partner with us in this Gospel message. Subscribe to our channel, then go to theuniteletorshiporg 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.