Dear Praying Friends of Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary:
Greetings, praying friends! As a reminder, you are receiving this because at one time you signed up to be part of our prayer team, or I added you because you are part of the Schools Corporation. This is an almost-monthly update of sorts, but the emphasis is prayer focus for you.
I’m writing this on the bus of Leon Ritter, who is in his 36th year of ferrying choirs to and fro. Last night we had a packed first concert in the ELCA church building in Kindred, ND. Our host, West Prairie, is a delightful congregation with a small-ish facility, and the brand-new high school auditorium didn’t have its certificate of occupancy yet. I counted about 225 people at the concert, including many FLBC alumni and dozens of community members. Pastor Ryan Patenaude was pumped— even more than usual. Tonight is Northwood, ND, then Grafton, Stanley, and Williston, ND. If you get a chance to spend time on a bus full of our students, you will see firsthand the quality of young person with whom we get to work. It’s great.
I need to explain one prayer request lest it come off as more tragic than intended: Starting July 2026 employers in Minnesota must provide paid medical leave of up to 20 weeks for all employees (and PTO of up to 6 days for all employees— even part time). The amount of compensation has not been determined yet, but the closer that it is to 100% the more tempting it will be for people to take unfair advantage of it, and the definitions within the law make it very easy to take unfair advantage of and very difficult to deny claims. Claims are paid by a newly enacted state payroll tax. Best case scenario means that this is simply a new tax that will cost us .88%. That doesn’t sound like much, but it makes a 3% raise a 2% raise and squeezes the institution and our employees alike. The effect is $162 per student. More to come. It won’t kill us, but there are many such little pressures, so pray for wisdom and course correction for our state legislators.
Praise God for…
- A good, packed board meeting last Monday
- A high-quality interaction with the Budget Analysis Committee (they are doing well)
- Good progress in AFLC donor relations— welcome to Mark Sivertson, VP of Development
- Our AFLC President Micah Hjermstad
- A solid staff who loves and invests in our students
- Good recruiting progress, especially in the seminary (6-7 new students seems likely)
- A great start to choir tour
- A safe first leg of our cross-cultural missions trip
- Good progress on our Annual Campaign (about 80% in, fiscal year ends July 31)
- A seminary intern who recently accepted a call
Please pray for…
- Good concerts and home stays on the rest of this tour
- Students who are considering coming to FLBC— this is decision time for them and their parents
- Access to prospective students from different backgrounds— we seek two such sources every year— the biggest reason people don’t come to FLBC is that they don’t know we exist.
- One seminary intern still seeking a call
- Several congregations seeking a pastor
- A strong finish to the school year, followed by graduation the first Saturday in May
- A good Annual Conference for the AFLC (second week of June at the ARC)
- (can I ask for one for me?) I have a knee replacement March 26, and I’d like to heal quickly
Thank you for praying. It means the world.
In Christ,
Pastor Wade
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