The Pension Boards’ Faith and Finance Advisory Group gathered for a two-day meeting October 24-25 in New York to discuss ways the Faith and Finance Initiative can be interpreted and embodied to impact the work and life of the Church and those who serve it.
March 15, 2019 - The Seventh Circuit issued its decision in Gaylor v. Mnuchin today and upheld the constitutionality of the housing allowance under section 107(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Updated April 30, 2018
The status of the clergy housing allowance continues to generate much discussion in the media and among clergy in all denominations.
On April 26, the Church Alliance – a coalition of the chief executive officers of 38 denominational benefit programs, including The Pension Boards-United Church of Christ – filed an amicus curiae brief in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Chicago), in the case challenging the constitutionality of the cash housing allowance exclusion for clergy.
The Church Alliance brief focuses on the jurisprudential history of permitted legislative accommodations of religion and brings to the court’s attention the particularly strong reliance interests that would render a change in the law on this point inappropriate and unjust.
The full text of the brief may be found here. Please also see the links below for additional information.
The Rev. Richard L. Floyd, Pastor Emeritus of First Church of Christ (UCC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is in his third year serving as an Annuitant Visitor on behalf of the Pension Boards. He shares his personal experience as both the recipient and giver of this compassionate ministry of visitation. Rev. Floyd is a member of First Congregational UCC in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and resides in Pittsfield. An author and blogger, he is also a contributing writer to the United Church of Christ’s StillSpeaking Writers’ Group.
The Rev. Dr. Richard W. Brandon of Wildwood, Missouri, a member of St. John’s United Church of Christ in Chesterfield, Missouri, has served as an Annuitant Visitor for four years on behalf of the Pension Boards. He shares about one special visit with a widow named “Emma” (not her real name).
As she listened to an update Sunday on a resolution passed four years ago urging all settings of the church to divest from fossil fuel companies, Laura Keating texted her pastor, asking if their church had divested.
The answer: no. And not likely to happen due to "oil barons" serving as trustees.
Dismayed, Keating, a Member in Discernment from the Montana Conference, stood up at the hearing and asked: "How can we make changes in churches when the culture is very pro-fossil fuel?"
Dr. John D. Ordway, who served as Executive Vice President of the Pension Boards from 1975 until his retirement in 1994, died April 3, 2017 in Naples, Florida, at the age of 89.
The 16th GSAM Symposium took place on April 4-5 and convened a distinguished group of investors and thought leaders who discussed inflection points they believe would shape global markets and trends. PBUCC Chief Investment Officer David A. Klassen was among the participants in a panel discussion on the topic, "The Future of ESG and Impact Investing."
Taylor Jordan, Head of AIMS Imprint, Goldman Sachs
David Klassen, Chief Investment Officer, Pension Boards United Church of Christ
Elizabeth Lewis, Head of Sustainable Investing, World Resources Institute
Moderated by: Hugh Lawson, Global Head of GSAM Institutional Client Strategy, Goldman Sachs