The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (the “Agency”) takes no position on the advisability of the approval, disapproval, or referral of this item of business. As an agency in service to the church, Agency management and its Board of Directors (the “Board”) do not advise on the Constitution. Decisions about the Book of Order are properly made by presbyters, not by agencies. However, we do want to ensure informed decision making by those presbyters and are providing this comment for that purpose.
The current Congregational Pastors Package, in which installed pastors are enrolled and in which other ministers and commissioned pastors serving PC(USA) congregations may be enrolled, charges member-only medical dues as a percentage of that congregational leader’s effective salary (17.5% for 2026). The congregation pays this amount. This structure purposefully charges more to churches that pay larger salaries and permits congregations that are only able to pay modest salaries to secure benefits for their pastor at a price lower than the value of the coverage – for precisely the same benefits. Optional dependent tiers are available in this package for:
- one or more children,
- a spouse, or
- both one or more children and a spouse (referred to as “Family”).
Pricing for these tiers is set at flat, national prices that the congregation, the member, or a combination of the two may pay.
The Agency believes that the amendment to the Book of Order sought in this item of business will effectively end the percent of salary medical system and the subsidies it contains. Such a system cannot coexist with enrollment choice at the employer level. Historically, when the Agency used a similar pricing methodology for all the members of the medical plan before 2017, many employers who paid higher salaries opted to move staff not subject to the Book of Order provision under consideration to other plans. These employers would have been asked to be net subsidizers in the percentage of salary system and, instead, exited for lower costs. We expect that same phenomenon would result in the Congregational Pastors Package, with subsidizers opting for other coverage, leaving only those congregations whose salaries calculated a price that was break-even or subsidy seeking. As a point of reference and for the assembly’s information, the number of installed pastors in the Benefits Plan decreased from 5,019 in January 2017 to 3,411 in December 2025, a loss of 1,608 positions.
