The first question on the form, "Do you have any full-time lay employees?" elicited "yes" responses from 2,366 congregations (25%). These congregations reported a total of 7,669 full-time lay employees. The mean number of such employees reported by congregations was three. Congregations were then asked if any medical or pension benefits were provided for any of their full-time lay employees. Two-thirds of congregations with full-time lay employees (1,546 congregations or 68%) provided medical benefits, and 1,111 provided pension benefits (52%).
The next section asked congregations to report what health benefits other than through the Benefits Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (administered by the Board of Pensions) were provided for their pastors and for their lay employees. Specifically, they were asked to indicate whether or not they provided help in three areas: deductibles, co-insurance, or the cost of the dental coverage offered through the Board of Pensions. Congregations that reported they did provide such coverage were then asked if those benefits were part of a "Section 125 cafeteria or flexible spending plan" or a "Section 105 self-insured medical reimbursement plan." (These questions resulted in some phone calls to both the Research Services office and the Board of Pensions from individuals unfamiliar with the IRS section numbers cited.) The majority of congregations reported that they did not provide such benefits to either pastors or lay employees, although they were somewhat more likely to provide assistance for pastors than for lay employees (see the table).
Benefits Provided to Pastors and Lay Employees
Provided to:
Assistance with: Pastor(s) Lay Employee(s)
deductibles 25% 3%
co-insurance 7% 2%
costs for dental coverage offered
through the Board of Pensions 17% 2%
For those congregations that provided help for pastors, such benefits were more likely to be part
of a Section 105 plan, with the exception of dental coverage which was most often listed as
being part of a Section 125 plan. For lay employees, all three types of benefits were most likely
to be part of a Section 125 plan. Note, however, that the majority of congregations left these
responses blank. This may mean that they did not understand the question or did not know the
answer. Thus, caution must be used in interpreting the results.
Respondents were also asked to describe any additional health benefits provided to either the pastor (s) or to lay employees. A total of 689 respondents (29%) wrote in a response. Responses included: Medicare, death benefits, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, supplemental insurance, sick leave, clergy family coverage, maternity leave, social security, equity accounts, eye care coverage, annuities, and workers' compensation.
Research Services