The District is using the size of our credentialed minister pool to access guaranteed issue insurance coverage for our ministers that may not otherwise qualify at preferred pricing.  All Active Credentialed Ministers will receive up to a $10,000 life insurance policy depending on their age ($10,000 Age 20-69; $6,500 Age 70-74; $5,000 Age 75+) at no additional cost as well as access to a variety of voluntary insurance benefits under a guaranteed issue basis.  In addition, the District is creating a benevolent fund with a portion of the funds used to fund this new initiative to provide a death benefit to our Senior-Retired and Disabled Ministers of $3,000 as well as $1,000 for their spouses.

The Ministers’ Life Insurance Program will replace the Joseph Fund Benevolence Program.  Effective June 8, 2021, the Joseph Fund Benevolence Program will cease to exist.  As previously noted, the new Ministers’ Life Insurance Program is only available to “Active” Credentialed Ministers.  However, as part of the new life insurance program, the District will still be providing a life insurance benefit to all Senior-Retired and Disabled credentialed ministers and their spouses.  This benefit will be $3,000 for the minister and $1,000 for their non-credentialed spouse.  Please Note: This benefit is only available to a surviving spouse and is not payable to any other family members.

The program requires a $20 initial enrollment fee and a $10 assessment each time a member of the program passes away.  We currently have 316 active members in the Joseph Fund Benevolence Program.  Based on the current active membership role, the District would collect $3,160 in assessments from its members to make a one-time death benefit of $3,000 to the beneficiary of the member that passes away.  The remaining $160 is held within the Joseph Fund Benevolent Program to cover administrative costs associated with printing and postage.  The program will cease to exist as of August 1, 2021 when the benefits under the Ministers’ Life Insurance Program become effective. Any funds remaining within the Joseph Fund Benevolent Program will be transferred to the benevolent program for our Senior-Retired and Disabled Credentialed Ministers.

Under the Ministers’ Life Insurance Program, the District will use a portion of the 4% tithe allocation to setup a spousal benevolent fund for our Senior-Retired and Disabled Credentialed Ministers to provide a death benefit of $3,000 for the credentialed minister and $1,000 for their spouse. 

PLEASE NOTE:  This benefit is only available for the surviving spouse. 

If I am a Senior-Retired or Disabled Credentialed Minister, what do I need to do to ensure I am part of the new spousal benevolent fund? Do I have to enroll? In order to qualify for the new spousal benevolent fund for Senior-Retired or Disabled Credentialed Ministers, you must renew and maintain your credentials with the District on an annual basis.  Should you withdraw your credentials or allow them to lapse, you would no longer be eligible for the spousal benevolent fund.  From an enrollment perspective, there is no enrollment requirement since this particular fund is a benevolent fund for Senior-Retired and Disabled Credentialed Ministers and not a life insurance policy.  The only additional information the District needs is beneficiary information for both you and your spouse.  Please contact the District Secretary/Treasurer’s office to ensure your beneficiary information is correct.

Since this is a Spousal Benevolent Program and only available for the surviving spouse, what do I do if I don’t have a surviving spouse? If you don’t have a surviving spouse and there is a benevolent need related to burial costs, please contact the District Assistant Superintendent’s office to make a request through the District’s general benevolence fund.  The District’s Benevolence Committee will determine eligibility and availability of funds to meet such requests.

Unum is the insurance carrier for all benefits in this new program except Out-patient Medical.  Unum is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Fortune 500 insurance company formerly known as UnumProvident.  Unum is the top disability insurer in both the United States and United Kingdom.  The most recent Fitch Insurer Financial Strength rating for Unum was affirmed at “A-“.

The $10,000 life insurance policy provided in this program along with any voluntary benefits elected are in addition to the insurance policies you may already have in place.  The life insurance policy is not a replacement of any current life insurance policies you may have in place.  This policy is in addition to your other coverage.

The voluntary benefits are completely voluntary and can be declined.  If you only want the $10,000 life insurance policy, you can enroll for it alone and decline all other coverages.  If this is the case, you will have no additional monthly costs under this program.  Your only additional costs for the policy will be any voluntary coverages you elect to obtain.

Under this new program, the $10,000 life insurance policy is automatic for all “Active” Credentialed Ministers.  Enrollment is required to properly identify your beneficiary.  Coverage cannot be declined for this policy.    

Our initial open enrollment will occur from June 8, 2021 to July 15, 2021.  The effective date of all policies for this initial open enrollment will be August 1, 2021.  Moving forward, open enrollment will occur during June of each year for a two-week period, typically beginning on the first day of the District’s annual LEAD Conference and Council.  The District office will notify you of open enrollment in advance through email and/or text message.  In addition, it will be announced during LEAD Conference and Council.  During open enrollment, you will be able to make any changes (additions or deletions) to your coverage(s).  All changes made during Open Enrollment will be effective August 1st of that year.  

Based on our proposed resolution, the standard $10,000 life insurance policy for all Active Credentialed Ministers would be paid out of a 4% allocation of the District Tithe paid by the credentialed minister.  The District would pay this monthly premium to the insurance carrier directly.

Any and all voluntary benefits elected would be paid by the credentialed minister directly to the insurance company through auto draft on a credit card or bank account.

Under this new program, all Active Credentialed Ministers are required to enroll in the standard $10,000 life insurance policy.

The 4% allocation of the District Tithes will be used to fund the monthly standard life insurance policy cost of all Active Credentialed Ministers.  We estimate this policy cost to run approximately $60,000 per year.  The 4% allocation is anticipated to equate to $105,000 annually, which leaves approximately $45,000 of additional funds. These additional funds will be placed into a Benevolent Program that will provide a $3,000 death benefit for our Senior-Retired and Disabled Ministers as well as a $1,000 benefit for their spouses.  Based on our historical experience with the Joseph Fund Benevolence Program, the District would pay out more than $60,000 annually in death benefits.  Therefore, the District does not anticipate having a large excess of funds on hand from the 4% allocation of District Tithes but rather a potential scenario where the District will contributed additional funds to the Benevolent Program to keep it sustainable.

For our initial enrollment, all coverages are effective August 1, 2021.  For any newly credentialed ministers, coverage for the standard life insurance policy is effective the first of the month following the date the credential status is active/confirmed.  All voluntary benefits will have to be elected during the next open enrollment period in June of each year.  The voluntary benefits will be effective August 1st of that year.

You can visit this link to access additional details regarding all voluntary benefits offered.  A detailed brochure and, in most cases, a short video is provided to explain the offerings in detail.  In addition, you have the ability to contact a representative for enrollment to walk you through all coverages offered.

Please visit this link to obtain additional information regarding enrollment.  From this webpage, please click on the “Info/Enrollment” tab to access the enrollment webpage that includes all detailed information on coverages.  The actual enrollment will only be open during June of each year but you can still access information relating to this program.

Once your credentials are approved and confirmed by the District, your standard $10,000 life insurance policy is effective the first of the month following the date your credentialed status is active.  For voluntary benefits, you will have to wait for the next open enrollment period in June.  The voluntary coverages you elect with be effective August 1st.

All voluntary benefits are guaranteed issue, meaning that you are not required to complete a health questionnaire to provide evidence of insurability.

All information is confidential and will only be used for purposes of this specific program.  Your information will not be shared with third-party entities not associated with the program.

Should this occur, you would no longer be eligible or enrolled in the standard $10,000 life insurance policy that the District is offering.  However, any voluntary coverage that you have purchased is portable and can remain active if you continue to make your monthly premium payment.  This coverage would continue to be administered between the insurance provider and you directly.