Regional Cost-of-Living Increase Provided to Low-Income Pension Plan Members

Jan. 8, 2019 (INDIANAPOLIS) – At their Nov. 2018 meeting, Pension Fund’s Board of Directors approved a geographic cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for retired recipients of the Supplemental Gift program — the first such adjustment in the 69-year history of the Supplemental Gift program. On Jan. 2, Pension Fund distributed this additional income to 26 current Supplemental Gift recipients; the adjustment will be applied automatically for future qualified recipients.

Pension Fund’s Supplemental Gift provides additional monthly support to active Pension Plan members who retire with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and qualify under the program’s guidelines. With the new adjustment, recipients serving and retiring in high cost-of-living areas will receive additional money to assist with their basic living expenses. Those living in communities where the cost-of-living is equal to or less than the program benchmark will not see a change in their Supplemental Gift amounts. Pension Fund President, Rev. Dr. Todd A. Adams, stated, "When I called to share the good news with the financial caretaker for one of our members, she burst into tears of joy and expressed that this gift was what was needed to keep this 94-year-old servant of the Church in her small one-room apartment. With this increase, made possible through the generosity of our donors, she can remain in safe housing." Adams added, "This is the first of several new programs we will launch in 2019 and 2020, as we prepare to celebrate our 125-year legacy of Ministerial Relief and Assistance.”

For additional information, or to support Pension Fund’s Ministerial Relief and Assistance programs with an online gift, please visit pensionfund.org/MRA.

Pension Fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) provides pension and retirement savings accounts for clergy and lay employees of congregations, regions, general ministries and church-related colleges and seminaries of the Stone-Campbell (Restoration) Movement. Pension Fund manages over $3 billion in net assets on behalf of those serving in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and related international ministries.