Joint Agency Efforts Fund Liberia Central Conference Pension

For Immediate Release
January 19, 2007

Contact: Colette Nies, Managing Director—Communications
(847) 866-4296 or cnies@gbophb.org

Marsha R. Base, GCFA Communications Officer
(615) 369-2323 or mbase@gcfa.org

Evanston, IL and Nashville, TN—The General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (General Board) in cooperation with the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) announced a joint funding effort on behalf of Central Conference Pensions in Liberia.

The funding arrangement was made public at the Council of Bishops' meeting in Maputo, Mozambique on November 3, 2006. The bishops recommended establishing a Liberian pension fund by contributing a portion of the annual earnings on their retirement fund for 2006-07. The recommendation became official when GCFA approved the funding that will result in $100,000 over a two-year period, helping to create an annual pension benefit for 228 retired Liberian clergy and 220 surviving spouses.

GCFA quickly acted upon the bishops' recommendation and transferred the funding on December 27, 2006. "This cooperative work is a manifestation of GCFA's commitment to live out our vision of servant ministry and is a small step toward partnering with our Brothers and Sisters in the central conferences in developing a long-term system to fund pensions for those who have faithfully served the church," said Sandra K. Lackore, GCFA chief executive, located in Nashville, TN.

In the coming months, General Board Managing Director Dan O'Neill will work directly with Liberian Bishop Innis and the local pension office to establish the pension plan structure to efficiently and effectively distribute the funds to those retired clergy and surviving spouses.

"Our partnership efforts, this season of giving, have brought a special gift to sustain clergy and their families in a country we have come to know well. It is a successful first step in creating pensions for those who serve the central conferences," commented Barbara Boigegrain, general secretary of the General Board, located in Evanston IL.

This year, many annual conferences also participated in the Central Conference Pension funding initiative by contributing distributions they received from United Methodist Publishing House. A portion of those contributions will also be used to help fund this Liberian pension effort.