A Benefits Plan to serve more in 2025

What’s updated for 2025

Benefits Plan enhancements

The 2025 Benefits Plan includes benefits enhancements that better serve employers and their employees:

• Death and disability benefits and pension credit accruals will be calculated using one median effective salary, improving benefits for some employees and supporting parity among all plan members.
• Death benefits through the Death and Disability Plan have increased:
• minimum benefit for beneficiaries of retired members has been increased from $10,000 to $12,500
• maximum salary has been increased from $110,000 to the IRS compensation limit ($345,000 in 2024)
• value of the benefit has been increased for survivors of members ages 50 to 64
• Supplemental death benefits dues have been reduced by 10%.
• The waiting period for temporary disability benefits has been reduced from 14 to seven days.
• The benefit provided by the Death and Disability Plan has been increased from 60% to 70% of the member’s salary or the median salary (whichever is greater).
• The benefit provided by the Long-Term Disability Plan and the Temporary Disability Plan has been increased from 60% to 70% of the member’s salary.
• Term life coverage will be available at higher amounts, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage is now included with that coverage.


Learn more about these enhancements.

Introducing the Covenant Package: Income protection with added value

For 2025, employers can offer the Covenant Package — a new, bundled set of income protection benefits — at an exceptional value.

• Defined Benefit Pension Plan
  
• Death and Disability Plan
  
• Temporary Disability Plan
  
• Employee Assistance Plan


Members of the Benefits Plan also receive access to assistance and education programs that support their holistic well-being.

Any employee working 20 hours or more per week is eligible to participate.


Learn more about the Covenant Package.

Do you have a minister in Pastor’s Participation?

Employers who have a minister in Pastor’s Participation as of Dec. 31, 2024, can choose to offer them Transitional Pastor's Participation for 2025. Transitional Pastor’s Participation continues the noncontributory dues structure of Pastor’s Participation as a percentage of effective salary through Dec. 31, 2027, subject to cost increases.

Why update the Benefits Plan? With the goal of updating the dues structure to serve employers’ needs better and support the holistic well-being of a broader range of members, we developed plan updates to enable employers to include more people in our high-value benefits offerings. The updated plan is effective Jan. 1, 2025.