2024-2027 Strategic Plan

A three-year rolling strategic plan developed by the FLBCS Board of Trustees.

Core Purpose

The mission of FLBCS is: Establishing students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His Kingdom.

The goal of this strategic plan is to provide increased quality of Bible education to FLBCS students, while standing strong against physical and spiritual pressures to the institution and its mission. Please refer to the FAQ's section for answers to commonly asked questions about this plan.

FREE LUTHERAN BIBLE COLLEGE was founded in 1966 to see God transform young people through the teaching of His Word. It was of primary concern among the founders of the AFLC to establish young Christians in the Word of God and help believers be equipped for life and ministry in local congregations and communities.

FREE LUTHERAN SEMINARY was founded in 1964 to train men to be servant pastors in the AFLC. The founders of the AFLC wanted pastors trained to handle the infallible and inerrant Word of God with respect and care, and to minister to their congregations with love and attentiveness, understanding the congregation as the right form of the kingdom of God on earth.

Institutional Objectives >

Word of God
Congregation
Spiritual Maturity
Great Commission Disciple Making

Core Values >

Equipping for Future Vocation
Integrity
Stewardship
Whole Life Discipleship
Life Together

Our Promise to Our Students

WE PROMISE THAT AT FREE LUTHERAN BIBLE COLLEGE you will learn from great teachers to love Scripture and the Author of it. They will care for you, walk with you, and introduce you to the truth of the Bible. Here you will find a warm, encouraging community of people like you who want to know and follow Jesus more deeply. You will learn in great facilities on a beautiful campus that provides places to study, think, pray, and reflect. Here you will find a sure foundation for your life and be prepared for a lifetime of service in your congregation and calling.

WE PROMISE THAT AT FREE LUTHERAN SEMINARY you will be mentored by professors who will care for you and prepare you to shepherd God’s people and preach the Word in the congregation with impact. Here you will be immersed in the Word of God and historic Lutheran doctrine and find fellowship with peers in a community that will pray for you, care for you, walk with you, and encourage you. You will leave here with ministry opportunities, little to no seminary student debt, and the confidence to fulfill God’s calling on your life and vocation.

Strategic Goals

The FLBCS strategic plan exists as three-year plan that is updated every year. This plan is a result of strategic planning, which exists at FLBCS because of regular strategic thinking. Every year FLBCS is in a new “year one” of a strategic plan, so the plan is never neglected, ignored, out of touch, or out of date.

The full Strategic Plan document can be found here.

Goal #1

By July 31, 2027 FLBCS will implement a process of risk management for the ongoing identification, assessment, and treatment of potential internal and external risks.

Several risks (for example—cultural, financial, theological) exist to the mission of FLBCS. Staff, administration, and board members will keep an eye on trends and current events so that the mission of establishing students in the Word of God for life in Jesus Christ continues to be strong.

Goal #2

By July 31, 2027, while operating with a balanced budget, FLBCS will have a positive net change for operational income for the previous three fiscal years, have established an endowment of $5M, a 3-month operating reserve, and reduced overall facility debt to under $2M. Additionally, FLBCS will have a plan in place to provide affordable Campus Housing options for students and staff.

FLBCS has operated with a balanced budget for years, and will continue to do so. The School will now operate with a positive net change in operational income, making sure that the services provided are appropriately priced to provide a margin that supports the mission of FLBCS. A three-month operating reserved is deemed to be sufficient, and a combination of endowment and debt reduction will occur due to operational gains, capital gifts, and/or estates approximating $6M over the next three years. Affordable housing is a challenge for many, and FLBCS will investigate ways of providing some such housing for students, faculty, staff, and/or administration.

Goal #3

By July 31, 2027 FLBCS will have increased enrollment in the Bible College to 160 while maintaining its theological integrity and campus culture.

Current enrollment projections, including the start of the BA in Bible and Ministry, make a full campus of nearly 160 students likely. Additional student housing could accommodate a total of 300 students, but the current funding model for FLBCS also succeeds at current enrollment levels (approximately 130 students fall 2024).

Goal #4

By July 31, 2027, FLBCS will graduate its third cohort of students from the AA and BA in Bible and Ministry programs.

The first cohort of BA students will graduate from FLBCS in the spring of 2025, and by 2027 such occurrences will become a routine occurrence. Current estimates plan on 15-20% of FLBC students to continue on to the BA program, likely influencing an increase in Seminary enrollment.

Strategic Narrative

(Where we aim to be by Spring 2027)

At graduation 2027, leaders of the Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary share about the state of the school with parents and financial partners. They report that enrollment has surpassed 160 thanks in part to the new AA and BA in Bible and Ministry and more focused recruiting efforts. The seminary trains a student body of 25 students each year, many of whom are robustly prepared for seminary studies through the BA program.

They share the good news that for a third year in a row the school has ended the fiscal year with a positive net operational gain, and that the total of all endowments has exceeded $5 million. The mortgage on the Student Life Center has been refinanced with no more than $2 million remaining. Additionally, FLBCS is executing plans for affordable on or near campus housing for students and staff.

Other leaders from the AFLC share stories of how FLBCS students are influencing congregations across the Association. Student leaders share how the school has prepared them for life and ministry because of its unwavering theological stance and focus on its mission and core values. The President concludes the presentation by stating that as a result of its financial strength, vision, and unequivocal commitment to its values, donors are giving more, and students are
enrolling, then contributing to the life of congregations.

Strategic Plan FAQs

This list will be updated as new questions materialize.

The Strategic Planning Team consisted of six administrators, two alumni, and four board members. Most faculty members, many staff members, several alumni, and a handful of corporation and community members were consulted at various times through the process.

The Strategic Planning Team used a consultant to help move the process along. Scott Rodin of The Focus Group was the consultant that helped with Board Governance Training, so he understands the culture and needs of both FLBCS and the AFLC. The consultant helped the Strategic Planning Team avoid “echo chambers” and “group think” that makes institutions blind to their own blind spots. He also helped synthesize the team’s thoughts and led the team to a place of broad agreement around the mission, vision, and core values of FLBCS.

After significant development, checking, input, and revision, the Board of Trustees adopted this strategic plan at their January 2023 meeting, seeking to establish and strengthen the mission of establishing students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His kingdom.

The mission statement has been in use at FLBCS since about 2013, and it remains unchanged. The Strategic Planning Team came to understand that the mission statement is hard to measure: Just how does one determine if someone else has been established in God’s Word, at least in the near term? For this reason, the Strategic Planning Team spent significant time in defining terms and learning to measure inputs more than outcomes.

Most strategic plans would restate a “vision” that serves to “put legs on” the mission of the institution. Rather than develop a statement like that, the Strategic Planning Team chose to emphasize the well-developed institutional objectives of scripture, the congregation, spiritual maturity, and great commission disciple making. The full statement of these institutional objectives may be found here.

The promise statements are new to the Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary and have been helpful. The current promise statements are written to prospective students. FLBCS cannot promise certain outcomes, but the promise statements tell prospective students what they can expect while on campus and what they can expect because of their time at FLBCS. Promise statements are valuable because they exist outside of the student and the institution, representing a desired experience that both student and institution pursue together.

A strategic goal is not an operational goal. FLBCS will continue as it has been, provided for by operational plans that keep the institution moving in the current direction. Strategic goals identify desired change and focuses the Board of Trustees and Administration to provide for that desired change. In this way the mission of establishing students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His kingdom is more robustly fulfilled.

For more on each strategic goal read the Strategic Plan– and paragraphs of explanation– closely. Each goal is addressed specifically, below.

Strategic Goal 1: Successfully standing against the increased pressures of conformity and compromise

The mission of FLBCS is establishing students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His kingdom. The seminary trains future pastors and leaders for free and living Lutheran congregations. The Bible College trains young men and women for whatever comes next, teaching and modeling the foundation necessary for life in Jesus Christ. Everything within this plan is designed to fulfill that mission best. FLBCS realizes that such a mission will face internal and external challenges, and this strategic plan is designed to keep compromise and conformity far away.

Strategic Goal 2: Operating with a balanced budget and have established a $10M endowment and a 9-month operating reserve

In one sense, FLBCS already has a balanced budget, using funds from the balance sheet to make strategic investments like this strategic plan. This is necessary to get the institution where it needs to be in years two and three, with strong programs and growing enrollment. The past few years have been challenging for everyone on the expense side of the ledger. Year one may very well end in the black on the income/expense side, but the goal is year two and three for certain.

Like anything, endowments can be poorly used. Higher education endowments infamously grow tax free and insulate institutions from accountability and oversight. Some such endowments are in the billions (with a “b”) of dollars. But the Christian Higher Education world is a different world. A modest endowment can make the financial future of the institution more sure and absorb the ebbs and flows of year to year changes.

Strategic Goal 3: Increased enrollment in the Bible College to 160 while maintaining its theological integrity and campus culture

The focus of FLBC is not quantity, but fulfillment of its mission. Faculty, staff, and administration have never been more focused. Even if the full campus capacity of 300 is reached, it is still small enough to offer the current program and services with excellence and integrity, allowing more students to be established in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His kingdom.

Strategic Goal 4: Offer a BA and AA in Bible and Ministry

Diploma in Biblical Studies– The current program at FLBC.

Associates of Arts in Bible and Ministry– Building on the current program at FLBC, the AA will add general education requirements (*see below), either through transfer credits already earned by students, or by taking a few new classes offered by FLBC (**see below).

Bachelor of Arts in Bible and Ministry– Building on the current program at FLBC, the BA will allow students to take more classes that FLBC offers or would like to offer, including a number of congregationally-focused emphases.

While there is nothing wrong with degrees other than Bible and Ministry, and one could certainly provide other degrees in the context of establishing students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His kingdom, Bible and Ministry is all FLBCS does. It would be a stretch to do anything else, and the campus lacks capacity for more programs. Adding programs to gain students is an approach that doesn’t work. FLBC plans to keep the focus narrow and the standard high and expects to gain both quantity and quality by doing so.

AA and BA degrees must include a broad base of study. This contrasts with technical or professional training which is specific and narrow. In recent years general education requirements have shrunk in number, shifted in content, and become quite easy to obtain. Every system has different general education requirements, and you can find them listed on most college/university web sites. For TRACS-accredited institutions (FLBCS), general education must include at least three credits in each of four areas:

Communications
Mathematics and Lab Science
Social or Behavioral Science
Humanities and Fine Arts

AA students must have at least 15 total credits in these areas, while BA students must total at least 30. The other credits are major specific.

Many FLBC classes already fulfill general education requirements. Indeed, the first catalog of “Free Lutheran Bible School” in 1966 included composition, literature, public speaking, and typing as general education courses. FLBC will offer some additional courses (**see below) soon, but these courses are necessary for great education, not just to fulfill a requirement. Most FLBC classes fit under the “humanities and fine arts” label, so there is no problem achieving the total number of credits.

FLBC will be slow to transfer in major-specific courses, but about 2/3 of current FLBC students already have some general education credits completed before attending FLBC. This is due to AP, dual enrollment, and PSEO courses that are now offered by various state entities and secondary school curricula. For this reason, most students will be able to fulfill general education requirements with little change in the current FLBC program.

While this plan is still under development, FLBC plans to offer several courses that are desired or required for seminary admission, plus some other courses that would provide students a more robust education in Bible and Ministry. Courses are being developed not to satisfy requirements but to better establish students in the Word of God for life in Jesus Christ. This includes more history than is already taught, a formal composition class to teach students how to write better, and classes that will study great Christian literature. Additionally, FLBC is working on a way for students to take an introduction to logic class from a world class instructor, thus satisfying the math/science requirement. We also envision an introduction to Biblical counseling class and a congregational lay leadership class that would build on what students learn in Principles of Congregational Life. Areas of emphasis will have specific congregational application, including (potentially) some internship/residency requirement. Finally, FLBC students will be able to take Greek, Hebrew, a full hermeneutics course, an introduction to philosophy, and potentially even Norwegian.

Currently, students graduating from FLBC receive a Diploma in Biblical Studies, something that means a lot to many alumni, but very little in the context of degree completion and/or credit transfer. A reasonably sized portion of FLBC graduates go on to finish a major in Bible and Ministry at other institutions, often using their courses from FLBC as the bulk of that major, taking generals and electives at the transfer institution.

Very few modifications are necessary, in part because over half of enrolling students bring general education credits with them as they matriculate at FLBC. Several FLBC courses would fulfill general education requirements, and other courses are necessary as FLBC teaches students to read, write, think, speak, and listen, or to do so better than they already do. Many do not know that the original catalog at FLBC included speaking, composition, literature, and typing. Doing all of this (maybe not typing) is an essential part of establishing students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His kingdom. Students will need to complete someplace between zero and nine credits beyond what they already take at FLBC, and for doing so they will gain a degree that is more recognized and transferable, and thus valuable.

Another significant opportunity identified in the process of strategic planning is the ability to teach the rest of a Bible and Ministry degree to those students seeking the same. While this directly affects men preparing for seminary, other students will benefit as well. This comes with many benefits: Graduates do not have to depend on the faithfulness of another institution; Recruiters will focus on the FLBC program rather than answering how credits will or may transfer; Students will have more exposure to AFLC congregational settings and instructors from the AFLC; Students will benefit longer from the discipleship learning community experience on campus at FLBC.

FLBC believes that the best way to accomplish the mission of establishing students in the Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His kingdom is to teach the full scope of the Bible and Ministry curriculum at FLBC. A growing number of students want more of what FLBC offers. Some go elsewhere to finish Bible and Ministry degrees, taking classes that FLBC would gladly teach if offered more time. This is true especially in the seminary, where FLS staff coaches students on how best to prepare for a future seminary education, when those classes could be offered in an AFLC setting and context.

Students with no prior general education credit will either need to take more classes or reduce elective credit to make room for general education credits. As nearly 60% of classes at FLBC are exegetical Bible classes, this could cost a student one or two Bible classes. The tradeoff is that at the same time these students will be taught to read, write, think, speak, and listen, making their remaining Bible classes more effective and their education more enduring. For many students there will be no change. BA students will receive much more Bible instruction than in the current FLBC program.

One reason to consider this development is to mitigate government involvement. Non-degree-granting institutions tend to receive higher scrutiny from government entities, and non-accredited entities even more so. The language of AA and BA is easier to communicate with governmental entities. There are no guarantees, and institutions such as ours are often targeted, as studies in Bible and Ministry are seen as superfluous– even evil– by some. FLBC works closely with other institutions and the Alliance Defending Freedom to monitor potential threats. Through the current strategic plan, FLBCS works diligently to identify threats, preserve the character, and maximize the effectiveness of the Bible and Ministry program.

Strategic Goal 5: Implement at least three new outreach emphases and practices, employing the values and skills of students and graduates to impact the AFLC