Standing Committee has approved two documents related to Eder Financial’s transition of services to Everence Association Inc. The decision endorses Everence as the Church of the Brethren’s preferred provider for a number of services that are being transferred by Eder to Everence. These services include employee retirement, organizational investing, and possibly other financial or insurance services. (See a press release from Eder Financial about its transition of services to Everence at https://ederfinancial.org/Transition.)
Eder Financial is an agency of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. Formerly known as Brethren Benefit Trust, Eder has been in existence for 83 years.
Everence Association Inc. is a financial services nonprofit that is a ministry partner to the Mennonite Church USA and that also relates to other Anabaptist bodies.
The two documents that Standing Committee approved were:
— an Interim Memo of Understanding (MOU) for a Resource Partnership between the Church of the Brethren and Everence (see www.brethren.org/ac/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2026/04/Interim-Resource-Partnershp-MOU-Updated-260413.pdf)
— a “Certificate of Secretary” document that serves as legal foundation for the interim MOU (see www.brethren.org/ac/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2026/04/Standing-Committee-Resolutions-Updated-v4-040926.pdf)
The Standing Committee of district delegates to Annual Conference approved the documents at a special Zoom meeting on the evening of Monday, April 13. The committee was acting on behalf of Annual Conference in between meetings of the Conference. The meeting was led by Annual Conference moderator Don Fitzkee.
Interim MOU and ‘Certificate of Secretary’
The interim MOU was brought to Standing Committee after the board of Eder Financial made the decision to transfer key services to Everence, in a process to take place over the next several months. The two documents outline how Everence proposes to serve the Church of the Brethren, its members, and institutions pending development of a final agreement with Annual Conference, and allows Everence to begin working with Eder to carry out the transfer of services.
The interim MOU will guide the relationship between the Church of the Brethren and Everence until a Resource Partnership Agreement is brought to the 2027 Annual Conference for approval.
With the interim MOU, the Church of the Brethren through Standing Committee:
— Authorizes the transfer of the Eder Retirement Plan, its assets, and existing participants to the Mennonite Retirement Trust.
— Shifts institutional investment management to Everence, which will provide those services with screening that is “aligned significantly” with Eder Values Investing guidelines.
— Grants Everence access to gatherings of Church of the Brethren members at the denominational and district levels.
Information shared during the meeting
Standing Committee heard presentations from Eder leaders Nevin Dulabaum, president, and Donna Rhodes, board chair; and from Everence leaders Ken Hochstetler, president and CEO, and Chad Horning, senior vice president, chief strategy officer, and chief investment officer. The committee also heard comments from the Church of the Brethren Leadership Team, brought by general secretary David Steele.
The Eder leaders outlined the reasons for the need to transition services to Everence, focused on losses that began to be incurred during the COVID pandemic and that have continued in more recent years as the pastoral leadership of the Church of the Brethren has shifted primarily to part-time ministry and other client bases for Eder—such as the church-related retirement communities—also have shrunk.
After Eder sold its annuities in 2024, the board began to seek a new option to lower fees and increase services for its clientele in the Church of the Brethren. It found the right partner in Everence, which has “economies of scale,” holding much larger assets and having a much larger staff than Eder. Because of how it is structured, Everence also is able to serve all Church of the Brethren members, not just the church employees that Eder has been serving.
Eder leaders also spoke about the painful nature of the decision for its board and staff, and requested prayer. Eder layoffs already have begun, and most of its employees are expected to be let go by the end of the year. Rhodes announced that the Eder board is giving its staff generous severance packages and professional help with job placement.
Dulabaum shared about the hope that Eder can become a “charitable ministry” using funds left over from previous medical reserves dating back to the 1990s, and that it can continue to administer the Church Workers Assistance Plan. To become a charitable ministry, Eder will need to create a new structure, and it will need to request a new agency status from Annual Conference.
The Everence leaders presented a PowerPoint slide show with detailed information about their organization, its history and values, and its range of clientele and services (see the Everence website at www.everence.com).
Steele shared the Leadership Team’s affirmation of the transition of services to Everence, saying that Eder has acted with the best interests of its members and the church in mind, and that these are the right decisions to make. There are “many moving parts,” he added, and church leaders will continue to work with Eder and Everence to refine and finalize an agreement in the months ahead.
Standing Committee members asked a number of questions during discussion of the documents.
A question about the ability of pastors to choose other organizations than Everence for their pensions received responses from representatives of both Eder and Everence. Standing Committee learned it is at the employer level that the agreement will be signed. Since each Church of the Brethren congregation has had an agreement with Eder regarding pensions, Everence will need to reach out to each congregation to put an agreement in place. A crucial element for pastoral pensions is to continue with a church plan that offers the IRS approved housing allowance, which Everence does.
In response to a question about how Everence will report to Annual Conference, Standing Committee learned that Everence does not want agency status with Annual Conference and so will not report formally. Instead, it will be known as a “resource partnership.” Everence leaders said they want to be invited to be present at Annual Conference and district conferences. They also responded to questions about more Church of the Brethren members on the Everence board with the information that they already are exploring that possibility.
A question about the process for defining and putting in place the “resource partnership” status for Everence referred to the many months of “heavy” work that Standing Committee recently carried out to finalize agency covenants for Eder, Bethany Seminary, and On Earth Peace. Moderator Fitzkee responded that the question was noted.
When votes on the two documents were taken, the interim MOU was adopted unanimously by the 28 Standing Committee members present. The “Certificate of Secretary” was adopted with 25 “yes” votes and 1 abstention.
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