by Keith Harder
The Corinthian Plan, the new health insurance plan of Mennonite Church USA, went into effect Jan. 1. A total of 453 congregations and conferences, including 503 credentialed employees and 75 non-credentialed employees, are participating. Also included are employees of MMA, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership and Mission Network.
“The dream of delegates at the Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly in San Jose has become reality,” says Keith Harder. He has given leadership to creating, on behalf of the denomination’s Executive Board, a health plan that makes coverage available to all pastors and church workers. Congregations that cannot afford the full cost of providing coverage are assisted through a mutual aid component that all participating congregations support. It’s called the Fair Balance Fund.
Congregations have pledged approximately $480,000 for the Fair Balance Fund, and so far $414,203 has been committed to assist 57 congregations with the cost of providing health coverage for their pastors.
“We are grateful to the participating Mennonite Church USA congregations and for the way they care for their employees. We are grateful that they also care for those in congregations that cannot afford the full cost of providing health coverage for their pastors,” Harder says.
The new Benefits Board, which will oversee The Corinthian Plan, will meet in Goshen in mid-February. Board members are chair Hal Loewen of Phoenix, Ariz., Steve Garboden of Goshen, Ind., Marlin Groff of Lancaster, Pa., Marco Guete of Tampa, Fla., Larry Miller of Goshen, Ind., Ron Piper of Harrisonburg, Va., Yvonne Sieber of Hesston, Kan., and Dave Weaver of Goshen, Ind.
Harder will continue to serve as director of The Corinthian Plan for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership.
For more information, contact Keith Harder at 866-866-2872 Ext 34255 (toll-free) or keithh@mennoniteusa.org.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.