Vermont/New England Transition: FAQs

In July 2010, Vermont churches will officially be a part of the New England Conference! While this is definitely exciting, it is also a lot of work, and there are already plenty of questions about the "nuts and bolts" of this transition.

 

While at this stage in the process, the answer to many questions is necessarily going to be "we're working on that", we hope this material will provide some basic information about where we are and what is happening.  As you scroll to the bottom of the page, there is also a place for you to ask a question if you have one!

The "new" New England Conference will vote to determine the number of districts in the conference. The Bishop decides what the boundaries of each district will be.  Earlier this spring, Bishop Weaver convened a process involving persons from Vermont and the rest of New England, district lay leaders, members of district superintending committees, current district superintendents and others.  This group established a process that invited all clergy and laypersons in VT to offer thoughts and suggestions for this process.

From the process outlined above, the input from VT pastors and laity was gathered and the group called together by Bishop Weaver reviewed and discussed all the possibilities.  At this point, the recommendation appears to be that the churches in VT will constitute a single district following July 1, 2010.

Covenant Hills Christian Camp is located in Cabot, VT, and has been a ministry of the Troy Annual Conference together with the Vermont Conference of the UCC for 20 years (the big anniversary celebration was in August 2009).  This mostly summer camp will continue to grow in ministry with the direction of Todd Marlow, its active Site Committee, and the dozens of staff and volunteers who are part of this program each year.

 

Good question!  First, invite each other to events, particularly when they are geographically accessible. To communicate a district or conference event, send the information to the communications director in your current conference, and they will provide the information to those you wish to invite.  We have already had Vermont folks join in NEAC events such as Pastors Assembly and the School of Congregational Development. There has also been UM Foundation events held in Vermont.

 

In addition, visit www.neumc.org/vermont for information on events and activities, church and people profiles in the "Getting to Know You" section, and how to establish a sister church relationship.

                                         

As noted above, there have already been connections made at Pastors Assembly, UMFNE seminars, and the School of Congregational Development. In addition, United Methodist Women have been meeting and discussing together, New England and Vermont will each have presence at each others' upcoming Annual Conferences, and the list continues to grow. Share a story of connections you've made at www.neumc.org/vermont. 

 

Also, after this summer the New England Conference Leadership Committee and Vision Table will be adding members from VT to begin participating in these important conversations.

All charges with at least a 3/4-time pastor must participate.  Their plan is with HealthFlex (as is Troy's).  Their premium is blended (as is Troy's).  No dental coverage is included.  

 

The premiums are paid partially by the church and partially by the pastor.  For 2009 the church portion is $1,096 per month ($13,152 for the year), with a 5% discount offered if automatically paid each month via "ACH" (automated clearing house) -- a potential savings to the church of $657.60 for the year.  

 

The premium for the pastor is $175 plus $38 ("benefit stabilization") per month less $50 if BOTH pastor and spouse (if there is one) complete the health assessment.  This adds up to $2556 (or $1,956 if health assessments are done) from the pastor.  If these premiums aren't paid for 3 months, letters are sent; if not paid for 6 months THE INSURANCE IS CANCELED.  The church is continued to be billed for its portion, and before insurance can be reinstated for the pastor of that church all arrears must be paid.  

 

Retiree premiums are slightly higher than Troy's (again, no dental coverage), at $615 per month for someone under 65 and $354 per person ($705 per couple) for those over 65.  These are subsidized IF the pastor served at least 10 years and was in HealthFlex for 5 consecitive years immediately preceeding retirement; the subsidy is 3.3% per year of qualified service.

Is there a Property Insurance plan in New England?  

There is a mandatory conference plan for all local churches.

What about Federated churches?  

Federated churches are handled the same in New England as they are currently in Troy.  All finances to the conference are based on percentage of members that are United Methodist.  Non-UM pastors are expected to be covered by their own denomination for pension and health insurance.

 

Preachers' Aid Society does a lot for folks in New England, has some housing for conference retired clergy; they have invited those in Vermont to apply for this housing. Visit www.preachersaid.org  

 

United Methodist Foundation of New England. Providing churches and ministries with professional funds management as well as endowment development and stewardship education, For an information package about the United Methodist Foundation of New England prepared specifically for Vermont Churches, click here. To learn more about socially responsible investing, loans, grants and stewardship resources, please visit the United Methodist Foundation at www.umfne.org.

District Councils on Finance. New England doesn't currently have District Councils on Finance, however, both New England and Vermont folks feel that district programming will be important in the larger conference. This may be one of those exciting ideas and functions that New England learns from Vermont.

 

The conversations continues. The Joint Distributing Committee is continuing to meet and plan for a smooth transition as we seek to integrate the complexities of the realities and expectations of church and conference finance and benefits. There is also an Asset Allocation Task Force as well as the VT/New England Team that is meeting regularly to make sure that the many details of this process are being attended to. More information on the work of these teams will be available soon, so please visit www.neumc.org/vermont often!

 

If you have a question that you don't see addressed here, please ask it below. We will have the appropriate person or committee respond.