The Bethlehem Foundation Makes an Investment in Bethlehem

The Bethlehem Foundation has provided a special one-time $250,000 grant to the general operating fund of Bethlehem Lutheran Church Twin Cities to address an unanticipated funding gap in the church’s FY2026 budget. No further grants to the church’s general operating fund are anticipated.

The Foundation’s mission is to gather, invest, and disburse financial resources to further the mission and values of Bethlehem. The church undertook a very thorough assessment of its financial health late this spring and determined that its balance sheet and cash flow were not as strong as expected or as strong as they needed to be. In fact, a cash flow crisis would have occurred by now without undertaking some very disruptive cost reduction actions that would have had a lasting impact on Bethlehem’s ability to carry out its mission. We didn’t want that to happen.

The Foundation board carefully reviewed the FY2026 budget and is encouraged by Pastor Chris’s and the council’s plans to create a strong financial foundation for the church, starting with a capital campaign that will move the church towards eliminating its mortgage. Since the campaign is expected to get underway before the end of the current fiscal year, we believe that no further grants of this nature from the Foundation should be required. And as a matter of principle, we believe it is important for the church to ultimately have a sustainable budget that does not require such grants to support general operating costs.

The Bethlehem Foundation remains committed to providing its regular grants – supporting seminaries, community outreach, and special church programs, staff development and unexpected capital costs – at our usual level, which is currently approximately $250,000 per year. Your legacy and one-time gifts make this possible, and we praise God for each of them.