Woodburn, Indiana, Government Financially Supporting Lifewise
Woodburn, Indiana, and East Allen County Schools support Lifewise Academy and allow government facilities to support a religious organization that uses the public schools as its mission field.
The Lifewise Academy building, under construction on city-owned property in Woodburn, Indiana, has become an issue that the City Council voted not to discuss. During the July 6, 2026, council meeting, the project's contractor raised several questions and issues, and the city voted not to discuss them at all. The motion to table the discussion passed with all council members voting in favor.
What is Lifewise Academy?
Lifewise Academy is a Christian ministry that removes students from school during the school day for Bible classes. This practice is commonly known as released time religious instruction (RTRI). Lifewise calls itself non-denominational, yet its curriculum is drawn from the Southern Baptist Convention. Lifewise describes itself as a locally run grassroots program, but much of the local funding goes to its corporate headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio, where it is used to lobby across the country to change laws and to force coordination between public schools and Lifewise.
Indiana State Law for Released Time Religious Instruction
In 2024, Lifewise Academy lobbied the Indiana legislature to amend state law, requiring public school districts to coordinate with Lifewise Academy. Before the change, districts could choose whether to coordinate with Lifewise. This didn’t mean that RTRI was prohibited or that parents couldn’t sign their children out for religious classes; it simply meant the school could choose not to participate or set its own rules and policies. Under the new law, all school districts are now required to coordinate with Lifewise.
Indiana State law 20-33-2-19 requires that RTRI programs “not be supported, in whole or in part, by public funds.”
The City of Woodburn, Indiana, Goes Silent
The City of Woodburn, Indiana, approved the construction project, and work began on or about June 24, 2026. At the July 6, 2026, Woodburn City Council meeting, contractor Jake Gentz raised several issues with the project. The main issue was determining how to run power to the new building. The city has plans for future expansion of the property, and the placement of the building and utilities will not be allowed. After Gentz presented his information, a motion to table the discussion and not discuss anything was made. It was seconded and passed. The video is long. At the 5:15 mark, the city states that they should table the discussion.
Prior to this meeting, I sent the City of Woodburn a public records request. I believe this request has led the city to conclude that it should not discuss the project. The city acknowledged the request, but later, the city’s attorney required a different form to be completed to process it. That form has been returned, but the city now says it might deprioritize the request.
According to the city, construction of the Lifewise classroom is still progressing, but the city cannot discuss the project. The city has a construction company building on the water tower property and has decided it cannot answer the contractor's questions about the project it approved. All because I asked for public records. Let that sink in. When asked, the Mayor had no comment on whether the city was supporting a religious organization or violating Indiana state law.
The city’s response to my public records request is below.
East Allen County Schools Approves Use of Facilities
The East Allen County Schools Woodlan Elementary building is adjacent to the City of Woodburn property, where the Lifewise building is under construction. The plans indicate that changes to the parking lot will provide handicapped spaces for the Lifewise building. The plans also indicate that no water or sewer will be provided in the new building, and it can be assumed that Lifewise staff will use the school’s facilities for these purposes.
An after-school program called GLOW is managed and operated by Woodburn Missionary Church. Cherie Schlatter is the director of this program. She is also the Lifewise contact for the building permit. Attempts were made to ask Cherie how the school facilities were used by a religious organization, but no response was given.
A list of questions was sent to the school district, but as of this article's publication, no response has been received.
The City and School District have coordinated with Lifewise for two years to advance this project to its current stage. This story is probably far from over. I do not know how long the record requests will take, and I can only assume it will be completed as slowly as possible. If a local resident would like to submit their own request, the information I requested is below.
1. All emails in possession of the City of Woodburn with the domain lifewise.org between the dates of May 1, 2023, and July 6, 2026.
2. All communications in possession of the City of Woodburn discussing the placement of a structure at the address 4420 N Webster Rd, Woodburn, IN, between the dates May 1, 2023, and July 6, 2026
3. All building permits for 4420 N Webster Rd, Woodburn, IN, from May 1, 2023, to July 6, 2026.
4. All contracts, leases, memoranda of understanding, or memoranda of agreement with Lifewise Academy between the dates May 1, 2023, and July 6, 2026.
5. All communications from or to jakegentz@frontier.com between the dates of May 1, 2023 and July 6, 2026.
6. All emails in possession of the City of Woodburn that contain the word “Lifewise” (case-insensitive) in the subject or body of the email between the dates of May 1, 2023, and July 6, 2026.
I located the building permits to allow the request to be removed. The City of Woodburn and the local school district are clearly using public resources, time, and money to support a religious organization. Going silent will not correct this issue. Public schools are not mission fields. Government entities are not permitted to provide financial support to religious entities. This is another example, in a long list, of Lifewise Academy ignoring the law.