February 2021

The Stewardship of Life Institute is suspending its Stewardship Education Grant Program for at least through the Fall 2021 granting cycle. The Board of Directors agreed to the suspension to provide a time both to evaluate the continuing effectiveness of the grants and to explore other ways of fulfilling SOLI’s mission to promote stewardship education in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Ordinarily grant applications are received on March 15 and September 15 of each year. No decision has been made whether the program will resume in time for the September application deadline. In recent years the grant program has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund stewardship education efforts in ELCA synods, seminaries, congregations and partner ministries.

In making the decision to suspend the grant program, SOLI’s directors noted that the ELCA has recently curtailed its longstanding stewardship efforts and that the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, a key ELCA partner, has ended operations. SOLI’s leaders will explore the organization’s mission, purpose and operation in this changed environment.

The suspension reflects only SOLI’s desire to evaluate and possibly recalibrate programs to meet current needs in stewardship education. SOLI is financially stable, drawing from secure funding sources.

Founded in 2000, the Stewardship of Life Institute is an ELCA-affiliated 401(c)3 organization headquartered at United Lutheran Seminary’s Gettysburg, Pa., campus.

If you have any questions, please contact SOLI’s executive director, the Rev. Dr. Martin Zimmann, mzimmann@uls.edu.