The Gottesdienst Crowd

TGC 561 – Fit for the Call: Why the Man and the Office Both Matter

In this episode we sit down with former Marine Special Operations Officer and lifelong LCMS Lutheran, Jarryd Allison, to explore one of the most pressing questions facing the church today: who should be allowed to wear the collar? Drawing on his recent essays “Are Our LCMS Pastors Fit for Purpose and Duty?” and “Does the Man Wearing the Collar Matter?”, Jarryd argues that the pastoral office is not simply another vocation—but a spiritual battlefront—requiring men who are not only doctrinally sound but spiritually, mentally and even physically prepared.

We’ll discuss topics including:

• How low attrition and high graduation rates in seminaries may mask deeper problems of pastoral formation and suitability. 

• What standards Scripture (especially 1 Timothy & Titus) sets for the pastoral office—and why those standards still matter in our age.

• Why pastoral calling is more than desire—you don’t simply ‘want’ the job of shepherding souls—it must be discerned, proven and tested.

• How seminaries, congregations, and district leaders might rethink recruitment, formation, and accountability in order to raise up faithful shepherds rather than convenient job-fills. 

• The culture of the church in decline, the risk of sentimentality in wired calls, and the urgent need for pastors who are ready to fight—not just preach.

Jarryd brings his unique vantage point—military rigor plus Lutheran theological tradition—to ask tough questions about the pastoral office and the church’s mission in a post-Christian culture. Whether you’re a pastor, aspiring pastor, church board member, or simply a congregation member wondering about the health of church leadership, this conversation promises to challenge, provoke and perhaps inspire renewed commitment to the gospel and the office that ministers it.

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[From the Archives] TGC 419 — Thinking Out Loud (All Saints)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for The Feast of All Saints; Matthew 5:1–12.

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TGC 560 – The Church’s Year of Grace (Trinity 20)

This is a recording of the sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity from George Stoeckhardt’s book Grace Upon Grace: Gospel Sermons for the Church Year, reprinted by Steadfast Press. 

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[From the Archives] TGC 417 - Thinking Out Loud (Reformation)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Epistle and Gospel reading for The Commemoration of the Reformation; Romans 3:19–28; Matthew 11:12–19.

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TGC 559 – The Church’s Year of Grace (Reformation)

This is a recording of the sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity from George Stoeckhardt’s book Grace Upon Grace: Gospel Sermons for the Church Year, reprinted by Steadfast Press. 

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TGC 560 – Thinking Out Loud (Trinity 18)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 22:34-46.

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TGC 559 – The Church’s Year of Grace (Trinity 18)

This is a recording of the sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity from George Stoeckhardt’s book Grace Upon Grace: Gospel Sermons for the Church Year, reprinted by Steadfast Press. 

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TGC 558 – Deus Vult and the Knightly Ideal

In this episode, we discuss the resurgence of the Deus Vult meme. What began as an internet rallying cry has tapped into something deeper: a longing for courage, honor, and transcendence in an age that often mocks those very virtues.

We’ll explore how people are reclaiming the image of the knight—not as a relic of the past, but as a symbol of moral clarity and spiritual warfare. What does this say about our cultural moment?

Along the way, we’ll hear from literary giants who understood the power of myth and chivalry:

“Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.”
— G. K. Chesterton

And C. S. Lewis reminds us why the knightly ideal still matters:

“Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.”
— C. S. Lewis, The Necessity of Chivalry

Join us as we trace the Deus Vult phenomenon from meme culture to meaningful cultural critique—examining how the knightly ideal offers a vision of virtue, discipline, and holy purpose in a world seemingly gone mad.

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TGC 557 – Thinking Out Loud (Trinity 17)

Two pastors thinking out loud about the upcoming Gospel reading. This episode is devoted to the Gospel reading for The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, Luke 14:1–11.

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TGC 556 – The Church’s Year of Grace (Trinity 17)

This is a recording of the sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity from George Stoeckhardt’s book Grace Upon Grace: Gospel Sermons for the Church Year, reprinted by Steadfast Press. 

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