A008 Study of Benefit Obligation Effects on Clergy and Lay Professional Deployment
Resolved, the House of ________________ concurring,
That, the General Convention Office initiate a study, with appropriate outside consultant support, for delivery to Executive Council by September 1, 2023 and for publication that month, for the purpose of determining the extent to which the obligation to pay pension and health plan contributions for clergy and lay professionals at the current contribution rates discourages deployment of clergy and lay professionals to historically non-white and small congregations, as compared to the statistical average congregation in The Episcopal Church; and be it further
Resolved, That the General Convention Office and its outside consultant are authorized and encouraged to use existing appropriate data sources, including data as may be reasonably requested from the Church Pension Fund in this work, and data from other denominations; and be it further
Resolved, That the General Convention Office and its outside consultant be encouraged to seek additional data by means of surveys of: Bishops and Diocesan deployment personnel, and Non-white congregations, clergy, and lay leaders; and be it further
Resolved, That to the extent reasonably feasible using existing labor economic models, the Study also estimate how many more full and part-time paid clergy and lay professionals would be deployed to non-white and small congregations if these obligations were completely funded (or reimbursed) from another source; and be it further
Resolved, That for the purposes of this resolution, the term “small congregation” shall mean a congregation whose pledge and plate income is in the lowest twenty percent for their diocese, and without significant income-generating resources of their own, and the term “increasing deployment” shall mean increases in the number of personnel deployed to such congregations as well as an increase in the number of compensated hours they work; and be it further
Resolved, That the General Convention request the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance to consider a budget allocation of $40,000 for the implementation of this resolution.
Explanation
This resolution was referred from the 80th General Convention. It was proposed by Legislative Committee 17 - Agencies & Boards, listed as 2022-A164, and referred to Legislative Committee 17 - Agencies & Boards
Substantial anecdotal evidence suggests that the need to pay clergy and lay professional pension and health plan costs are discouraging the deployment of such clergy and lay professionals, both full time and part-time, to historically non-white and small congregations, particularly as compared to affluent suburban and predominantly white congregations. This resolution seeks to compile much more specific data about the degree to which these obligations deter such deployment, as well as how to provide meaningful relief that will increase the number of such professionals deployed, as well as increase the number of compensated hours that such part-time professionals work for these historically non-white and smaller congregations.
The General Convention Office (GCO) would supervise the Study because the GCO is experienced in conducting statistical surveys, both of The Episcopal Church and in cooperation with other denominations and academic institutions. The resolution authorizes and encourages the GCO to retain outside consultants to perform the bulk of the survey work and economic forecasting.
Remedies such as reducing pension rates and finding an alternate source to fund these pension and health plan obligations have been suggested. Before recommending which, if either, of these approaches would be best for the church, much better information is needed to see how much difference such changes would make to the actual deployment of clergy and lay professionals, both full and part-time. This study would seek to provide much better data on which to make such decisions.
The GCO would deliver the study results to Executive Council, the body best positioned to formulate carefully considered and workable policy responses to improve clergy and lay professional deployment to underserved historically non-white and smaller congregations.