A new Benefits Plan to serve the changing Church
The 2025 Benefits Plan provides flexibility and choice for congregations and their pastoral leaders. Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the new Benefits Plan brings the Church into the 21st century by allowing congregations to structure a benefits plan that best serves their particular context of ministry.
Supporting pastoral leaders
The new plan is the outcome of the season of rebuilding initiative launched by the Board of Pensions in 2023. Through conversations with the broader Church, in face-to-face meetings and in Virtual Town Halls, we developed plan changes to enable more congregations to support their pastoral leadership through the Benefits Plan.
The new plan:
- creates parity among all Benefits Plan members who serve the Church
- may lead to more pastors receiving benefits through the Benefits Plan
- may lower costs for congregations, allowing dollars back into their budgets
2025 plan changes
Dues packages
The new Benefits Plan introduces to two new dues packages to support congregations and pastoral leadership: the Congregational Pastors Package and the Covenant Package. Transitional Pastor’s Participation is an option during the transition from the current dues structure to the new one.
Benefits Plan enhancements
Many benefits have been enhanced to provide even greater value to members and employers.
Innovative ministries for the changing Church
Innovative ministries are vital to the flourishing of the changing Church and will be supported through dedicated funding and dues incentive programs.
- Defined Benefit Pension Plan — offers financial security in retirement as guaranteed monthly income
- Retirement Savings Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — helps participants achieve long-term retirement savings goals through a qualified 403(b)(9) defined contribution church plan
- Death and Disability Plan — offers peace of mind and income protection through death and disability benefits
- Term Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan — includes coverage at a low cost in cases where death or injury occur as a result of an accident
- Temporary Disability Plan — provides partial income to employees for a disability up to 90 days
- Long-Term Disability Plan — provides partial income to employees for a long-term disability that extends beyond 90 days
- Medical Plan — features three coverage options (PPO, EPO, and HDHP), with personalized support for navigating healthcare, generous preventive care and prescription drug benefits, an employee assistance plan, telemedicine, and an online well-being program
- Vision Eyewear Plan — can help save hundreds of dollars every year on the cost of eyeglasses, contacts, and more
- Dental Plan — covers a wide range of basic and major services and orthodontic treatment for children under age 22
- Employee Assistance Plan — can help with life’s daily challenges or bigger concerns, confidentially and at no cost
- Dependent care flexible spending account — allows members to set aside pretax dollars to pay for eligible care expenses
- Healthcare flexible spending account — allows members to pay for eligible healthcare expenses, such as deductibles, copays, and prescription drugs, with pretax dollars
- Health savings account — uses pretax dollars for qualified healthcare expenses when offered with the high deductible health plan (HDHP)
Benefits Plan members have access to important assistance and education programs* that help foster wholeness. Some programs are designed specifically for ministers. For 2025, we have dramatically expanded access, so we can support more members’ well-being through these programs.
Programs include:
- need-based grants through the Assistance Program, including financial assistance for emergencies; debt relief; transition-to-college and adoption-related expenses; and respite, vocational, and sabbatical opportunities
- CREDO, an in-person, weeklong conference focused on pastors’ well-being
- lifelong learning programs, providing opportunities to learn about wholeness at specific stages of life, career, or ministry
*Member must meet program eligibility requirements.
Why a new Benefits Plan
The Church has changed, but the Benefits Plan has not changed with it. Designed 40 years ago for a different type of pastoral leadership and a different family structure, the current plan and its dues structure are outdated and do not support today’s congregations.
An affordability crisis
As many congregations struggle financially, fewer and fewer can afford to install pastors, in part because of the cost of Pastor’s Participation, which is required for installed pastors.
- In 2023, for the first time ever, a majority of PC(USA) churches did not have an installed pastor.
- Approximately 30% of ministers ordained since 2007, the very people the plan is meant to embrace, have never been enrolled in the Benefits Plan by their employers.
Those who have been excluded
Additionally, the current Benefits Plan excludes women, communities of color, and those serving small congregations.
- Women represent 63% of those not covered through the Board of Pensions, even though the PC(USA) has ordained more women than men every year since 2010.
- Only 28% of churches with 150 or fewer members have an installed pastor.
- Only 20% of African American congregations have installed pastoral leadership, regardless of membership size.
Conversations to support decision-making
By covenanting together, congregations, presbyteries, and pastoral leadership can structure benefits that best meet their needs.
Mid councils and congregations are encouraged to meet with their Church Consultant. Located throughout the country, Church Consultants can help church leaders determine which dues package is right for their situation and guide faithful decision-making. Congregations can save money by carefully considering their options and choosing the dues package that best fits their and their pastor’s needs.