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ASSESSMENTS

Does the Fund receive enough in assessments from its members to cover the benefits paid out?

The amount of the benefits that we pay requires that we draw on our investment account from time to time in order to meet our benefit payment obligations. This means that it is important for the Fund members to pay their assessments on time so that there are enough funds on hand to allow us to release our benefit cheques when they are due.

Who is responsible for notifying you when our church receives a new minister?

You should advise us in writing, preferably by way of email, as soon as you know the date of financial responsibility so that we can take steps to invoice you appropriately and, if necessary, to discontinue billing the ministerial assessment to the church that the minister has come from. We cannot rely on Clarion or other sources to determine when a new minister enters service or transfers from one congregation to the other.  The date that is important to us is not the date of installation but the date on which financial responsibility for the minister is assumed.

The number of communicant members in our congregation has decreased since the beginning of the year.  Can we change our second, third, or fourth quarter assessment billings based on this lower number?

No.  In common with other church federation bodies, our assessment is based on the number of communicant members as of the end of the previous year.  To do otherwise would increase our administrative workload and would make forecasting more difficult, both for you and for us.  In addition, remember that it will have been so in the past that the number of members has increased, rather than decreased, and in those cases your assessments did not increase throughout the year.

A new church has been formed by splitting off from our church.  Should we notify you?

Yes.  It is important for you to tell us when such a split occurs since our assessments for the balance of the year may need to be reduced.  You should advise us how many
communicant members have transferred to the new congregation and the date on which that became effective.  Note that the new church does not automatically become a member of the Fund but must submit a request for membership to the Board of Governors. New members are usually enrolled as of the date of institution.

In some cases the original church and the new church make a private arrangement where the original church continues to pay the full assessment for the remainder of the calendar year and recovers a portion of it from the new church.  In those cases it is not necessary to notify us.  It is expected that the new church would apply for membership as soon as it is instituted but our assessments, in these particular cases only, would not commence until the beginning of the next calendar year.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Our church has some suggestions for changes to the Fund that we would like to have considered.  Do we have to wait until the annual meeting of the members to submit them?

No.  If you have anything that you want the Management Committee to consider please submit them to the administrator.  If you wish to have a dialog about your suggestions before they are formally considered by the committee you should contact the administrator.

Our church has a matter that it wishes to have brought up at the next annual meeting and will propose a motion for consideration by the members.  What procedure should we follow?

It is recommended that you provide the administrator with a draft copy of the motion that you will propose, together with any background information that would help to explain the purpose of the motion, in sufficient time that it can be mailed out by the Management Committee prior to the annual meeting.  Bylaw 4.4 requires that such materials be distributed at least 90 days prior to the meeting and we therefore recommend that your submission be in the administrator's hands at least 110 days prior to the scheduled meeting date.

Any motion presented at an annual meeting which has not been previously circulated as described above will only be accepted at the discretion of the chair.

BENEFITS

When do benefit payments start?

Benefit payments start at the beginning of the month following the point of eligibility.  For example, a retirement as of May 15 means that benefit payments will start on June 01, provided that a letter of application has been received and has been approved by the Board of Governors.

When do benefit payments end?

Benefit payments end immediately after eligibility ends.  For example, if a widow or a widower passes away on June 27 there will not be a benefit payment on July 01.  The Fund does not prorate benefits.

When are benefit cheques issued?

Benefits are paid monthly and cheques are usually issued on or shortly after the first day of the month.  If you find that your cheque has been delayed it may be that the Fund is experiencing a delay in collecting assessments from its members and is therefore temporarily behind in its benefit remittances.  If your benefit cheque is delayed by a month or more you should check and ensure that your assessment payments are up to date since benefit cheques may be held if you are behind in your payments.

Will the Fund pay the benefit amount directly to the retired minister on our behalf?

No.  The Fund’s commitment is to its member churches and not to the retired minister.  Besides, the support amount that a church will pay to its retired minister will, more often than not, exceed the amount of the retirement benefit.  It is preferable that a retired minister be provided with one retirement stipend cheque from his supporting church.

Will the Fund provide us with an annual series of post-dated cheques for the benefits that we are entitled to?

Most of the money required to pay monthly benefits comes from our assessment income and, although assessments are due at the beginning of each quarter, few Fund members pay their assessments exactly at that time.  While more than half of our assessment income is received at various times during the first month of each quarter, the rest is received throughout the balance of the quarter.  Accordingly, we cannot be assured of the amount of money that we will have in the bank at the beginning of each month, when the benefits are due to be paid.  For that reason we are unable to issue post-dated cheques for the whole year.

Can we report the amount of the benefit that our church receives from the Fund as pension income to the minister on tax form T4A?

No.  There is no connection between the benefit paid to you by the Fund and whatever amount you may pay to your retired minister.  In addition, the benefits paid by the Fund are not a pension but are merely cash distributions from pooled funds originally contributed by the churches in common.

Can we report the amount of the retirement stipend that we pay to our retired minister as pension income on tax form T4A?

Probably not.  You will want to check with your church’s financial adviser but it is likely that it does not qualify as pension income for T4A reporting purposes.  In order to so qualify it is necessary that the amount be paid out of a formal, registered pension arrangement and, to the best of our knowledge, none of the Fund’s members have such an arrangement in place.

How do we make application for benefits?

In the case of a retirement, you will first obtain the approval of your Classis for the retirement of your minister.  Once you have that, forward a letter to the administrator requesting benefits.  Your letter should state the date on which the minister will retire and a copy of the Classis approval should be attached.  It is presumed that the retiree is married and that there are no dependent children under the age of 18.  If that is not the case then this should be stated in the application letter.

In the case of a death of a minister who had not yet retired, all of the same information should be contained in your letter of application.  Classis approval will not be required in those circumstances.

In the case of the death of a minister’s widow, the remarriage of a minister’s widow, or the attaining of 18 years of age by a child who was previously the subject of a benefit claim, we request an email or a letter from you advising of those changes.

Our minister or missionary has accepted a call to a sister church in Australia.  How much in benefits will he or his new church receive from the Fund if he retires there?

There is no accrual or vesting of benefits in respect of a minister, missionary, or professor serving our member churches.  Consequently there is no provision for paying benefits of any kind to an individual or to a church that is not a member of the Fund.  While we have had some discussions with our Australian and Dutch counterparts on this subject in the past, there are no reciprocal arrangements in place at the present time and none are currently in discussion.

INVESTMENTS

How does the Fund monitor its investments?

We receive a monthly statement listing all of the investments owned by the Fund and this listing is reviewed by the treasurer when it is received.  Recognizing that buying and selling investments requires expertise that we do not have, we use the services of an investment adviser and we also use a portfolio manager who invests our funds in accordance with our long-term investment policy.  Our investment adviser is Wade vanBostelen of Investment Planning Counsel located in Burlington, Ontario.  Our portfolio manager is Scotiatrust located in Toronto, Ontario.  The administrator generally meets with Wade 1 to 2 times per year and with the portfolio manager when warranted.

Has the Fund ever considered loans to member churches or to their associated Christian schools?

This question was considered at length in 1975 when there was an extensive study made of all aspects of the Fund and its operations and it has also been reviewed at least once since then.  There are several potential problems that may present themselves if the Fund were to consider such loans.  Among them are the questions of to whom do you grant the loans if there are more requests for funds than we have available to lend; what recourse is there if there is a default, either because of financial distress or because of a withdrawal from the federation; and, will the payments by the borrowers be sufficient to cover the Fund’s cash flow needs from time to time?  In addition to these concerns is the size of our asset base.  Given the cost of constructing a church or a school, the current size of our asset base would only allow 2 or 3 loans to be made.

MEMBERSHIP

Can mission boards be members of the Fund?

No.  Missionaries are the responsibility of the sending church and therefore it is not necessary for mission boards to be members of the Fund.  While the sending church is ultimately responsible for paying the fund's assessments, we will, upon request, bill a mission board separately and in the case of a retirement we will remit the benefit cheques to a mission board.

Why does the Fund not automatically change its records whenever a church address change is published in Clarion?

In a number of cases the address to which our assessment invoices are sent is an address other than the church’s mailing address.  Accordingly, we ask that you advise us of a change in billing address, either by email or by attaching a note to your remittance cheque.

We are a new church.  At what point must we request membership in the Fund?

It is expected that you apply for membership as soon as possible so that the principle of sharing in the responsibility of providing for our retired ministers is preserved.  Note that applications for membership in the Fund are considered by the Board of Governors and, if you have applied later than the Board deems appropriate, an entrance fee may be assessed to you.