The UPCI OFFERING BENEFITS TO ITS MEMBERS

[Dora]

Is it finally going to happen? Do you think the UPCI will finally step up and offer a benefits package to its ministers including health/life insurance, 401k, retirement support, pensions?

Do you think several Tulsa recruits could be persuaded to stay with the mothership if they were offered benefits?

Why are elderly UPCI preachers allowed to waste away without financial support in their senior years after all that they have contributed?

Why do preacher's wives and children have to go without insurance because their husband don't have "company" health insurance?

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Dora

Is it finally going to happen? Do you think the UPCI will finally step up and offer a benefits package to its ministers including health/life insurance, 401k, retirement support, pensions?

Do you think several Tulsa recruits could be persuaded to stay with the mothership if they were offered benefits?

Why are elderly UPCI preachers allowed to waste away without financial support in their senior years after all that they have contributed?

Why do preacher's wives and children have to go without insurance because their husband don't have "company" health insurance?

I'm sure the old timers knew the sacrifice they were making. I never heard them say they would have done otherwise.

[Dora]

Rev. V.A. Guidroz, C. G. Weeks, Bro. C.L. Dees, etc. etc. All these men died without any kind of retirement plan or health care in their senior years. Even when Headquarters was made aware of Bro. Dees's situation, little or no support was offered. Is that okay?

[ReformedDave]

Originally Posted by Dora

Rev. V.A. Guidroz, C. G. Weeks, Bro. C.L. Dees, etc. etc. All these men died without any kind of retirement plan or health care in their senior years. Even when Headquarters was made aware of Bro. Dees's situation, little or no support was offered. Is that okay?

My father never expected to get anything from the UPC....and planned accordingly.

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Dora

Rev. V.A. Guidroz, C. G. Weeks, Bro. C.L. Dees, etc. etc. All these men died without any kind of retirement plan or health care in their senior years. Even when Headquarters was made aware of Bro. Dees's situation, little or no support was offered. Is that okay?

Those and a thousand more just like them. Is it OK. No, not really.

[Apprehended]

Originally Posted by Dora

Rev. V.A. Guidroz, C. G. Weeks, Bro. C.L. Dees, etc. etc. All these men died without any kind of retirement plan or health care in their senior years. Even when Headquarters was made aware of Bro. Dees's situation, little or no support was offered. Is that okay?

C.G. Weeks received a house just North of Tioga on the highway from the District and a stiphend also. It is my impression that Viley Guidroz did too...not sure about the house. It was a very nice, though modest home in Houston area. I was honored to have visited with him there a number of times, enjoying great fellowship.

C.L. Dees...well, that's another case. Don't want to open up THAT closet.

But, yes. There should be a collective effort to provide a much better benefit package for all contributing ministers.

[Dora]

Originally Posted by Apprehended

C.G. Weeks received a house just North of Tioga on the highway from the District and a stiphend also. It is my impression that Viley Guidroz did too...not sure about the house. It was a very nice, though modest home in Houston area. I was honored to have visited with him there a number of times, enjoying great fellowship.

C.L. Dees...well, that's another case. Don't want to open up THAT closet.

But, yes. There should be a collective effort to provide a much better benefit package for all contributing ministers.

Paw Paw Guidroz was supplied a certain amount, but not enough for him and Maw Maw to live on. Paw Paw was an astute man regarding finances. His savings got him through retirement.

I'm not saying the district didn't do nice things for him. But he had to make it on his own resources in the end. Which is fine.

But I'm thinking it would be nice for the org to step in (to a certain extent) when things go south for one of their elders.

[ForeverBlessed]

Originally Posted by Dora

Rev. V.A. Guidroz, C. G. Weeks, Bro. C.L. Dees, etc. etc. All these men died without any kind of retirement plan or health care in their senior years. Even when Headquarters was made aware of Bro. Dees's situation, little or no support was offered. Is that okay?

I look at the ministry as being self-employed and it is their responsibility to obtain insurance and save for retirement benefits…not the organization. If a pastor is paid a salary through a board in a church, then they should offer some type of insurance/retirement as well.

I understand that younger ministers can’t afford to save much, but usually those in the ministry for a while have been successful enough in most cases to save more. Personally, as a single mom, I am considered low income, and I save 4% of my income for retirement….so even in cases where they don’t make much, money should be saved… it is good stewardship.

I know that it can be done as my parents who were in the ministry for over 40 years prepared for their future. My mother is currently in an assisted living facility (Alzheimers) where she is self pay. She has my father’s SS and his retirement from the church he pastored for 36 years. In addition, she has lived the last 9 years on IRAs and other savings that they chose to save and invest of the finances God blessed them with when they were younger.

As far as Health Insurance.. as a kid, we had health insurance through the UPC… it was J.F. Malloy… because I remember presenting the card to the Dr. office as a teenager. I think that they can’t afford the insurance plans now, and I totally understand.

That isn’t unusual.. many companies today can’t afford health plans and have had to go with very high deductible plans to even insure their employees. My own company which is in the medical field has a high deductible plan and we are encouraged to pay into a health savings plan to help. We are also counseled every year on weight management and healthy lifestyles. They also strongly encourage us to participate in the wellness center so that they qualify for a discount on our insurance.

Medical costs are through the roof and it is affecting many companies and some companies are not offering it as a benefit all together… so, UPCI not even being an employer shouldn’t be put down for not offering insurance anymore.

[Dora]

When a pastor founds a church and works to take it from fledgling stage to fully operating and thriving work then a younger preacher comes and takes over the operations of the church, shouldn't the younger paster ensure that the founding pastor is taken care of in their waning years? Wouldn't that be the appropriate and right thing to do?

(Especially when the promise is made publicly to support the founding pastor until death.)

[ReformedDave]

Originally Posted by Dora

When a pastor founds a church and works to take it from fledgling stage to fully operating and thriving work then a younger preacher comes and takes over the operations of the church, shouldn't the younger paster ensure that the founding pastor is taken care of in their waning years? Wouldn't that be the appropriate and right thing to do?

Yes it would.......but