Trustees Move Ministers Pension Plan to Third-party Management

As of Jan. 1, CEB Services, a pension and health benefits third-party administrator based in Grandville, Mich., assumed management of the U.S. and Canadian Christian Reformed Church in North America’s Ministers Pension Plans. The firm was hired by the trustees of the two funds, taking the day-to-day running of the plans out of house.

“Under the management of CEB Services, plan members will continue to experience exceptional care and expertise, provided by the Pension Administration Office Team,” a Dec. 19 news release from CEB Services reads. CRCNA chief administrative officer Shirley De Vries confirmed three former CRC staff members, equivalent to 2.5 full-time positions, have transferred to CEB. The pension fund trustees, appointed by synod, still have ultimate responsibility for the plans.

“The proposal came as the result of hearing the concerns that the trustees had about needing someone with defined benefit experience and my concerns about succession planning related to the day-to-day operations,” De Vries said. Having daily tasks divided among the 2.5 full-time equivalents worked, she said, “but if one of those positions were to be vacant it would not be sustainable for very long.”

Instead, “CEB Services has the staff capacity to cross-train, ensuring smoother transitions in cases of illness, retirements, and general staff turnover,” De Vries said. “This service also includes some additional communications expertise so that we can provide more consistent communication about the plans.”

Communication was an issue raised at Synod 2024 when delegates discussed responses to two overtures (formal requests) related to the plans. One suggested reassessing the pension salary calculation, and the other asked for the pension fund to be closed to new members, creating a new retirement fund instead. Synod did not accede to either overture, but affirmed three values behind the current pension plans—“(1) to enable ministers to serve in Canada and the United States while maintaining consistent retirement benefits, (2) to mitigate the impact of serving a smaller congregation, (3) to honor the covenant of the denomination to care for pastors with long-term disability and life insurance”—and recommended concerted education for pastors and churches about the current, defined pension plan and additional external options.

John Bolt, former chief financial officer for the CRCNA who retired in 2022, is the managing director of CEB Services. The corporation formed in 2024 as a continuation of the work of Christian Education Employee Benefits Team, part of Christian Schools International, which had been administering Canadian and U.S. pension plans since 1943. Bolt joined the Christian Education Employee Benefits Team Jan. 1, 2023, six months after retiring from the CRCNA, as incoming managing director replacing Howard VanMersbergen, who was retiring. He served for two years as a CRCNA pension trustee, stepping down when the trustees decided to hire CEB Services. As managing director, he “will have an active role as a consultant to the trustees,” Bolt said.

Same Plan, Same Rules

De Vries said the change in administration does not affect how plan members communicate with the management team—email addresses and phone numbers are the same—and the plans also remain the same, including rules about who can be in the plan. “In the case of ministers who leave the CRC, their accrued service still exists, and at the time of their future retirement, they will receive a pension based on that service. However, they cannot accrue more service time,” De Vries explained. She noted, “This area is complicated, and we are encouraging any ministers who leave (the denomination) to contact the pension office to find out exactly what it means for them. Each situation is different, so they should not assume or get their information from any source other than the pension office.”

Some number of departing ministers is likely in the next year, as several congregations pursue disaffiliation from the Christian Reformed Church over synodical rulings on confessionally defined unchastity (the implications of which rule out same-sex sexual relationships within the church) and the requirement that deacons, elders, and pastors have no settled differences with a confessional doctrine of the church. De Vries said pension trustees have taken this into consideration, asking over a year ago that actuaries run scenarios to see the potential impact on the health of the plans. Thorough actuarial evaluations are required every three years. The next one is due in a year.

The weekly “For Pastors” email distributed by the denomination on Thursdays noted the funds’ administrative changes Jan. 9, expressing, “the shift should be virtually unnoticeable to plan members.”