Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary
Legal name: Free Lutheran Theological Seminary
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 200052373
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Plymouth, MN, United States
- Phone
- 763-544-9501
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Graduate, Professional Schools (Separate Entities)
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,373,952
- Expenses
- $5,550,268
- Assets
- $16,641,271
- Liabilities
- $6,722,015
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Wade Mobley (President)
- Larry Myhrer (Vice President of Operations)
Highest reported compensation
- Wade Mobley (President): $140,341 total reported compensation
- James Molstre (Chief Academic OffDean of Seminary): $125,490 total reported compensation
- Larry Myhrer (Vice President of Operations): $116,477 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our Mission: establish students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His Kingdom. Professor of Youth & Family Ministry, Student Support Coordinator Groups:** Adjunct Faculty, Faculty Michelle Olson. Professor of Youth & Family Ministry, Student Support Coordinator []( Dr. Jonathan Strand. Our mission is to establish students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for a life of faith in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His Kingdom. Core Values Integrity. The Free Lutheran Bible College began in 1966 with 13 students. Patterned after the former Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis (founded in 1919), the school’s primary goal was 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 before college...
What it reported doing in 2024
Free Lutheran Theological Seminary Corporation provided a post high school Bible College and spiritual life skills training program that teaches applied theology to prepare students for ministry in church or secular roles and also a 4 year Seminary program. Full time equivalent students for the school year were 130.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 63% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.5%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 85.5% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $140K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.