ELCA Pension Board Plan Balances Clergy, Congregation Needs

Chicago (ELCA)-SS -- Affordability, personalized service, advocacy for members, the promotion of health and wellness, and development of financial products and services were key components of the 2003-2005 strategic plan approved by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions trustees at their Nov. 1-3 meeting here.

John G. Kapanke, president, ELCA Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, noted the challenge in creating such a plan. The board must strike a balance between what's good for congregations, what's good for clergy and other plan members, what's good for the church as a whole, what's fiscally sound and what's possible in today's health-care and pension climates, he said.

One initiative of the strategic plan was: "Congregations and other sponsoring organizations would appreciate more choice in the level of benefits they provide, along with the ability to require members to contribute to the cost of benefits."

Variance in benefits between congregations will affect the call process, said the Rev. Robert D. Berg, bishop of the ELCA's Northwest Synod of Wisconsin, Rice Lake, Wis., affirming the board's commitment to a unified philosophy of benefits. An advisor to the trustees, Berg explained that a health-care package could become a bargaining tool in the call process, with pastors turning down calls because of the particular benefit package offered by a congregation.

The board's plan states that, for that specific initiative, the pension unit will consult with ELCA leaders to answer such questions as:

+ Are current benefits too generous, just right, or not generous enough?

+ Should employers continue to pay the entire cost of benefits?

+ Should policies differ for clergy, rostered laity and non-rostered laity?

+ To what extent should there be local discretion on compensation and benefits?

Rostered individuals are those on the ELCA's lists of official lay and ordained ministries.

"We are still committed to a bundled plan," Kapanke said. "We'll keep the employer-paid plan but will shift to higher co-pays and deductibles for members." With the bundled plan, those in the retirement plan are also in the health-care, disability and survivor benefit plans.

Trustee Jon R. Lee, Dallas, questioned part of the strategic plan that calls on the pension unit to "develop retirement and other financial products and services to better meet the needs of members, congregations and other sponsoring organizations." He said, "If we provide investment counseling, I don't want us to set expectations too high for members and then disappoint them."

Kapanke replied, "I know what you're saying, but this is probably the 'number one' service that's been asked of us."

The board of trustees approved a 2003 budget of $60.5 million and expressed support for the preliminary budget analyses for 2004 and 2005.

Subject to ELCA Church Council action, the trustees approved a strategy of changes that could bring about full funding of the ELCA retiree medical obligation. The ELCA subsidizes the monthly cost of medical coverage for retirees with predecessor church service, an obligation assumed when the ELCA began in 1988.

Retiree medical liability has risen by 25 percent in the last two years, said David G. Adams, vice president of research and design, ELCA Board of Pensions, and current and future funding levels are insufficient if changes aren't made.

"Two groups of people aren't paying their way in this plan: rostered people who aren't part of the ELCA plan and congregations that aren't paying mission support for one reason or another. Is there any way that an assessment can be made to a congregation that doesn't participate in the plan or that doesn't provide mission support?" asked Kenneth G. Bash, trustee chair, Phoenix.

Some church bodies have a membership fee system of some type, said ELCA Secretary Lowell G. Almen, adding that it would represent a significant departure from the church's history.

"Participation in the ELCA plan isn't mandatory," Adams said, "but we enjoy about 95 percent participation."

* Sonia C. Solomonson is managing editor for The Lutheran, the magazine of the ELCA.