What You Need to Do Today: Lay Employee Pension System
March 27, 2012
Dear Friends in Christ,
As you may know, Resolution A138 passed at the General Convention in 2009 requires that each diocese determine which congregation, school or organization within the diocese is "subject to the authority of the Church." We have made the determination that congregation /school /organization you represent falls into this classification and will need to adhere to the requirements of Resolution A138 in regard to lay employee pensions. Unlike the Denominational Health Plan, parish schools and thrift shops are subject to these guidelines.
Here is what you need to do now:
Resolution A138 and the related canon passed by the 76th General Convention established a Church-wide Lay Employee Pension System to be administered by the Church Pension Fund (CPF). The resolution states that employers who are subject to the authority of the Church and who have eligible lay employees (employees scheduled for at least 1,000 hours of compensated work annually) must provide those lay employees with a pension. Doing so is a matter of canon law.
Please click this link below to complete a brief questionnaire. It takes less than three minutes and, depending on your answers, may be all you need to do in order to comply with the resolution.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/A138EmployerData5
The first question - Do you have eligible lay employees? - will help determine whether the resolution applies to you at this time. The rest of the questionnaire will help our diocese move along the path to full implementation. This is critical for our diocese, and for all the dioceses of the Church.
The deadline for compliance with the resolution is January 1, 2013, but the only way we're going to be able to meet that deadline is to act now - to collect the information we need from you so CPF can help you plan for and meet your obligations under the Lay Employee Pension System.
Please email CPF at layplans@cpg.org, or contact Canon Julie Young if you have questions.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes
Bishop
P.S. To learn more about the resolution and the lay employee pension plans offered by CPF, visit the Lay Pensions Resource Center at www.cpg.org/laypensions and click "Administrator." You can sign up for webinars hosted by CPF, or take an interactive tutorial. You can use a simple pension contribution calculator to determine the possible cost of implementing the resolution for your congregation or organization - in total, per pledging unit, or per student in the case of a school - so you can share that information with your vestry or board. | 
