A series of articles on why we do what we do here at St. John’s.

How do we finance the ministry we share?

The ministry of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School cannot be accomplished without financial resources. Both the source and the amount of these resources have changed dramatically over the years. 

Undesignated Offerings

For several generations God’s people have been providing for ministry through a “freewill” offering provided either as a part of worship, through some sort of automatic payment or withdrawal, or a gift mailed to the church. What these have in common is that there is no designation for their use. General Fund offerings help to pay salaries and other payroll costs, utilities, ongoing repair and maintenance.

Designated Gifts

We undertake many projects at St. John’s that simply would not be possible without the designated offerings of many. Recent examples include Capital Improvements, Project Welcome, and the new Preschool play area. Recent donations will help to offset the cost of technology upgrades for our school.

Tuition and Fees

Students at our school, member and non-member, pay tuition and fees that in the coming school year will be $8,700 per student. However, these costs are covered by several sources of income:

• Choice Scholarships: Nearly every student (and by the 2026-27 school year every student) will receive a Choice Scholarship through the State of Indiana. St. John’s received $730,000 in Choice Scholarships this school year. That amount should increase to well over $750,000 next year.
• SGO Scholarships: Many donors make a gift to the St. John’s Fund at the Lutheran Scholarships Granting Organization of Indiana. This school year St. John’s will award students nearly $40,000 in scholarships.
• Other Scholarships: The congregation funds (through its General Fund) another $130,000 in scholarships for our students.
• Direct Payments: Many households will have a balance due after scholarships. In the coming years we expect this amount to increase to nearly $100,000 since the Choice Scholarship only covers about 85% of the cost of education for our students.

Grants

In recent years, St. John’s has received income from grants to help fund new projects or even ongoing expenses, especially for our school’s ministry. By the end of this year we will have received nearly $140,000 in grants to support security and safety upgrades for our school. The Health Foundation of La Porte has helped us cover the costs of social and emotional learning for our students as well as some cost for more student support such as counseling.

Several other projects have received grant funding such as the Preschool Play Area. Lesa Hill has recently submitted an application for new equipment for our school’s kitchen and Pastor Albers submitted an application for security improvements for our church building.

Funding ministry is getting more and more complex all the time, but the basics remain very much the same: donations and other income is provided, and we incur expenses that must be paid!

Next month: Voter’s Assembly