CHURCH PENSION FUND NEW YORK, N. Y. Examined to ascertain condition December 31, 1918. Examiners: C. T. Sanders, D. F. Broderick. History The Church Pension Fund was incorporated on April 3, 1914, as a charitable organization, with a special charter making the fund subject only to sections 39 and 45 of the Insurance Law, in accordance with chapter 97 of the Laws of 1914 of the State of New York, and commenced business on March 1, 1917. At the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in October, 1916, Canon No. 56, relating to the Church Pension Fund, was adopted by the house of bishops and house of deputies. This canon, which is a law of the church, authorizes the Church Pension Fund to establish and administer the pension system substantially in accordance with the principle adopted by the general convention of 1913, and approved thereafter by the several dioceses, with the view of providing for the clergy disabled by age or other infirmity and for the widows and minor children of deceased clergymen. The Church Pension Fund is entitled to receive and to use all net royalties arising from publications authorized by the general convention, and in accordance with the canons of the several dioceses to levy upon and to collect from all parishes and congregations of the church and any other societies or organizations in the church which shall elect to come into the pension system, assessments based upon the salaries of the clergymen employed by them in the work of the ministry. An initial reserve fund was derived from voluntary gifts and pledges, so as to assure to the clergy and their families such addition to the support to which they may become entitled on the basis of assessments authorized by this canon as may bring their allowances up to the scale established. The Church Pension Fund was not authorized to collect assessments or to pay pensions anywhere until such initial reserve fund amounted to five million dollars. General clergy relief fund: The original charter granted by the legislature of New York in 1855 was for "Trustees of the fund for the relief of widows and orphans of deceased clergymen and of aged, infirm and disabled clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" for the purpose of organizing, managing and applying the fund as instituted by the general convention in 1853. In February, 1908, the name was changed to that of "General Clergy Relief Fund." Consolidation: On April 13, 1917, the Church Pension Fund and the General Clergy Relief Fund were consolidated, in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement of consolidation and pursuant to chapter 239 of the laws of 1915, of the State of New York and section VII of canon 56 authorizing the merger with the Church Pension Fund. The pension system: There are four benefits as follows: 1, the age benefit; 2, the disability benefit; 3, the widow's benefit; 4, the orphan's benefit. The rules and other official information governing these benefits, by authority of the board of trustees, were printed and distributed for use of the vestries and other governing bodies. Extracts from the rules follow: 1. The Age Benefit: At the age of 68 upon relinquishment of the emoluments attached to any cure or administrative or other office in the Church previously held, the Trustees will grant to every clergyman an annuity equal to one and onequarter per cent of his average annual income derived from ecclesiastical sources since his ordination multiplied by the number of years in which assessments have been paid to the Trustees on his behalf after March 1, 1917. Minimum Annuity: If a clergyman ordained in this Church or received from another national church before the age of 36 has been in the continuous office and work of the ministry of this Church since March 1st, 1917, and all the assessments on his behalf have been paid since March 1, 1917, his annuity shall be at least $600.00. Maximum Annuity: No annuity shall exceed fifty per cent of the average income derived from ecclesiastical sources since ordination. The trustees reserve the right to establish such a maximum annuity as shall be agreeable to sound actuarial practice, the maximum not to be less than $2,000.00. Clergymen Ordained or Received at or After the Age of 36 Before March 1st. 1917: If a clergyman was ordained or received from another national church at or above the age of 36, before March 1st, 1917, the grant to him above the amount of the annuity earned by the assessments paid after March 1, 1917, shall be limited to $15.00 a year for each year of service. No such grant above the amount of the annuity earned by the assessments paid on his behalf after March 1st, 1917, shall be made unless the clergyman shall have been ten years in the service of this church before retirement. When Payments on Annuities May Be Suspended: The trustees reserve the right to suspend the payment of an annuity if a clergyman in receipt of a pension accepts the emoluments attached to a cure or other office in this church. The trustees will take into consideration, in making grants beyond the amount earned by the assessments paid on behalf of a clergyman after March 1, 1917, any grant received by him from any ecclesiastical source in the nature of a pension. 2. The Disability Benefits: Upon disability which, in the opinion of the physicians to the Trustees, prevents a clergyman from continuing in the work of the ministry, the Trustees will grant to said clergyman, during the continuance of said disability, as evidenced by periodic examinations by the physicians to the Trustees, an annuity equal to 40 per cent of his average income from ecclesiastical sources for the five years preceding the disability, with a minimum of $600.00 and such a maximum not less than $2,000.00 as shall be established by the Trustees. The disability allowance, for clergymen in the service of the Church on March 1, 1917, shall only exceed $600.00 as the Actuaries to the Trustees shall certify, from time to time, that such excess can be safely granted, and in the amounts for such excess as the said actuaries shall, from time to time, so certify. Any clergyman in receipt of a disability allowance, who attains the age of 68 years is transferred to the Age Benefit. 3. The Widow's Benefit: The widow of a clergyman dying after March 1, 1917, is granted by the Trustees an annuity equal to one-half of the annuity to which her husband would have been entitled, calculating his annuity from the date of marriage instead of from the date of ordination or reception, with a minimum of $300.00, provided that marriage took place before retirement, and that the minimum does not conflict with the rules laid down for the Age Benefit. The annuity to the widow ceases upon remarriage. 4. The Orphan's Benefit: When a clergyman dying after March 1, 1917, shall leave minor children the Trustees will pay to the mother or guardian on behalf of said children on an annual basis, as follows: $50.00 below the age of seven years; 100.00 between the ages of seven and fourteen years; 150.00 between the age of fourteen and majority, during dependence; provided that the Trustees may so adjust the annuities to the widow and the children that their sum shall not exceed the annuity to which the clergyman would have been entitled. Assessments: The pension assessinents were authorized by the general convention and by the concurrent action of the legislative power of the various dioceses of the Church. The trustees of the Church Pension Fund levy upon every parish and mission, and upon every organization subject to the authority of the Church, where an ordained clergyman is employed, an assessment which is equal to seven and one-half per cent of the actual salary paid to a clergyman by a parish, mission or Church organization. Where the clergyman is provided with a rectory or other quarters, the money salary paid to said clergyman shall be considered as increased by one-sixth. Clergymen not holding any office in the Church can secure the full benefits of the pension system provided that the diocese in which they are canonically resident pays on their behalf an assessment based upon a hypothetical salary of $1,200, and provided that the diocese pays such an assessment on behalf of all of the clergy upon its canonical roll not holding any office in the Church, in order that there may be no selection against the fund. The assessments are due on the first day of each month; if not paid within thirty calendar days after it is due, interest at the rate of five per cent per annum is charged. In a diocese where a canonical committee on the Church Pension Fund, created by canon to administer the assessment system, is fully organized, all of the parishes, missions and other organizations in said diocese are notified either by the Church Pension Fund or by the diocesan authorities, and assessments are collected by the treasurer of the said canonical committee, who in turn remits the amount to the treasurer of the Church Pension Fund. Treatment of Pensioners: All applications and correspondence regarding claims for the various benefits are filed together in alphabetical order. No separate file is kept of cases not approved. The claim papers and correspondence for 200 cases, including old age, disability, widows' and orphans' benefits were examined. There is no contract or certificate issued to the clergyman or pensioner, and no receipt is given for the assessment when paid, unless specifically requested. It is assumed that the cancelled check will be ample receipt for the assessment paid. The printed rules issued subsequent to October, 1916, for use of vestries and others, gives in detail the method of calculation of an annuity where the clergyman was ordained or received after age 36. The Church Pension Fund has been governed by these rules, and no exceptions were noted in the cases examined. At a meeting of the Board of Trustees in December, 1918, it was resolved that clergymen ordained or received in this church after March 1, 1917, at the age of 36 or over, should participate in the benefits of the Church Pension Fund only upon the trustees receiving pension assessments upon his behalf at a rate in such actuarial ratio as his age at ordination or reception bears to the rate of 72 per cent to clergymen ordained before the age of 36. The consulting actuary was requested to supply such rates of assessment for the ages of ordination of reception at 36 and above. This information has recently been furnished as requested and will be applied to cases as they may occur. Orphans' Benefit: In "The Plan" previously referred to, a statement is made as follows: "To the widow for minor orphans $100 a year, before the age of seven; $200 a year between the ages of seven and fourteen, and $300 a year above fourteen, until the end of dependence.' |