HISTORY

The Foundation for Superannuation of the Canadian Reformed Churches was established in 1959 with the object and purpose of assisting its members in meeting their financial obligations with respect to retired ministers and towards the minister’s family in cases where the minister was disabled or had passed away.  On May 18, 2019 the Foundation changed its name to Retirement Assistance Fund of the Canadian Reformed Churches.

The financial obligation arises from Article 13 of the Church Order which states that the church that a minister last serves is responsible for him and his family upon retirement or death.  Since a minister typically serves more than one congregation at different times during his career the churches decided to establish a pooled fund to which each member church would contribute and against which a member church responsible for the minister could draw when he retired.

Initially the member churches each contributed equally to the fund but this was changed in 1977 when they decided on what was considered to be a more equitable contribution arrangement based on each church’s number of communicant members as well as whether or not the church had an active minister.

From 1959 to 1976 the fund was overseen by the churches at Carman and Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Since then the churches at Cloverdale and Langley, British Columbia have fulfilled this task.

GOVERNANCE

The Fund is governed by a Board of Governors, consisting of the elders and deacons of the churches at Cloverdale and Langley, British Columbia.  The board receives an annual report from the Management Committee, whose members are appointed by the board to operate the Fund

The Management Committee is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of the Fund with the Treasurer of the committee charged with carrying out these operations, which include invoicing, collections, banking, bookkeeping, accounting, and monitoring the Fund’s investment activity.

Every year the Management Committee meets with the members of the Fund to report on its activities and to deal with any matters put before it by the membership.

GENERAL OPERATIONS

The Fund functions somewhat as a bank, holding and investing the pooled funds contributed by its members through annual assessments.  Benefits are paid to member churches on a monthly basis whenever an accepted claim is made based on retirement or death and continue as long as the circumstances that gave rise to the benefit claim exist.  As described in the Benefits section, below, benefit payments are made according to an established schedule and are not based on amounts previously contributed by a member church.

All of the Fund’s assets are invested by professional money managers based on an approved Investment Policy that can be found elsewhere on this website.  These investment activities are monitored by the treasurer, on behalf of the Management Committee, and also by Wade vanBostelen of Investment Planning Counsel, located in Burlington, Ontario.

Both benefits and assessments are indexed to the Canadian consumer price index based on the change from October of one year to October of the next.

ASSESSMENTS

In order to determine the annual assessments made by the Fund we follow the instruction that is detailed in the Fund’s bylaws.  We take into account the benefit and expenses expected to be paid for the next year, the anticipated investment earnings for the next year, the change in the Canadian consumer price index from October to October, as well as an evaluation of the Fund’s long-term funding requirements.

The formula then requires us to split the annual assessments between the number of communicant members and the number of ministerial positions, including ministers, missionaries and professors.  In the recent past the increase in assessments has been set at 10% per annum due the increasing benefit payments and a need to maintain a sound investment base. This rate of increase was reviewed by the board of governors prior to the setting of assessment rates for 2017 and the increase was returned to being determined based on the change in the Canadian cost of living.

Annual assessments are collected in four equal instalments at the beginning of each quarter of the calendar year.

BENEFITS

The entitlement to benefits is determined by reference to the Constitution and Bylaws.  Generally, an entitlement begins upon the retirement or death of a minister, missionary, or professor.

In the case of a retirement, the church responsible to the minister will obtain approval of Classis for the retirement and then submits a written application for benefits by way of a letter, advising us of the date of retirement and that approval of Classis has been obtained.  In addition, the application letter should advise us if there are dependent children under the age of 18 because additional benefits may be payable.  Benefit payments are paid monthly to the member church, which makes its own financial arrangements with the retiree.  The benefit amount is not in any way based on length of service or income levels but entirely on an approved schedule that applies to all retirees.

When a retired minister passes away, benefits are continued at a reduced rate for as long as the minister’s wife survives him.  If a widow of a minister remarries then benefits are terminated.

If a minister passes away, the church responsible submits a written application for benefits by way of a letter, advising of the date of death, whether or not there is a surviving spouse, and whether or not there are any dependents under the age of 18.  Similar to a case of retirement, benefits are continued while the widow, if any, survives and does not remarry and, in the case of children, until they attain the age of 18.

Benefits are generally increased at the beginning of each calendar year based on the change in Canadian consumer price index from October of one year to October of the next.