Pastors and staff members of Church of the Brethren congregations, districts, and camps will be able to purchase short- and long-term disability, life, vision, dental, critical illness, and accident insurances from Eder Financial for 2027 as they have in 2026 and in the past. The rates will be released in the next couple of weeks.
Eder Financial had big news for the delegates this year as they described the background of the decision and the process for moving employee retirement and organizational investing services to Everence Financial.
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.
A special meeting of the Standing Committee of district representatives to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference will take place on Monday evening, April 13, at 8 p.m. (Eastern time). The meeting will center around Eder Financial’s agency status with Annual Conference and a proposed interim memo of understanding (MOU) between Standing Committee and Everence.
The Church of the Brethren’s Inter-Agency Forum (IAF) met in Florida on Jan. 27 and has issued the following statement. The IAF includes officers of the denomination’s Annual Conference; the general secretary of the Church of the Brethren and the chair of the Mission and Ministry Board; representatives of the Council of District Executives; and executives and chairs of the boards of the three Annual Conference agencies: Bethany Theological Seminary, Eder Financial, and On Earth Peace.
The delegates to the Church of the Brethren 2025 Annual Conference voted to continue the agency status of Eder Financial (formerly Brethren Benefit Trust or BBT). This allows Eder Financial to continue as an agency reportable to Annual Conference and authorized to use the Church of the Brethren name.
The business items to be addressed by the delegate body at the 2025 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference have been announced. There are three items of unfinished business and six items of new business on the agenda, including recommendations for renewal of the agency status of Bethany Theological Seminary, Eder Financial, and On Earth Peace, and two new queries–along with numerous reports and the annual ballot.
The Standing Committee of district delegates to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference met via Zoom on the evening of Sept. 30 to consider and act on covenants with the three agencies of Annual Conference—Bethany Theological Seminary, Eder Financial, and On Earth Peace. Also acted on was a recommendation to Annual Conference to renew their agency status.
The newly revised pastors’ Housing Equity Fund now offers a tax-friendly option for those ministers living in parsonages who wish to build equity toward a future home purchase. Significant revisions to the fund’s structure were approved by the 2024 Annual Conference and have resulted in the creation of this new investment fund option. Whereas the
If I come away with one strong impression of the 2024 Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren in Grand Rapids, Mich., it has to be the hubbub, laughter, and general bonhomie (thank you, Duolingo, for the ability to sprinkle gratuitous French words in my writing) of the attendees gathering at the Exhibit Hall following opening worship.
