wfn.org | Board of Pensions Bids Farewell to President

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22-July-1998 
98240 
 
    Board of Pensions Bids Farewell to President; 
    Gears up Successor Search 
 
    by Jose A. Villarreal and Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
PHILADELPHIA-Moving quickly at its July 9-11 meeting to fill its leadership 
void, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Board of Pensions (BOP) said 
good-bye to its president, John J. Detterick, appointed an interim 
president and elected a search committee to find a new CEO. 
 
    Detterick was unanimously confirmed as the new executive director of 
the General Assembly Council by the 210th General Assembly (1998) in 
Charlotte, N.C., and will assume his new position in Louisville on August 
12. 
 
    The Board elected David B. Johnson of Wildwood, Mo., to serve as 
interim president.  Johnson is vice chair of the board's Healthcare 
Committee and a member of its Audit Committee.  Johnson resigned from the 
board, to which he was elected in 1993, and will assume his new 
responsibilities August 1.  He will serve without pay. 
 
    BOP chair Gloria Wilson appointed a committee to carry out the search 
for a new president.  Named to the committee were William E. Rauh, Yardley, 
Pa., chair; the Rev. William F. Henning Jr., Tulsa, Okla.; the Rev. Adele 
K. Langworthy, Long Beach, Calif.; Conrad M. Rocha, Albuquerque, 
N.M.; Christopher W. Smith, Wilton, Conn.; Gloria N. Wilson, Phoenix, 
Ariz., ex-officio; and Fred Denson, representing the General Assembly 
Council. 
 
    The search committee's goal is to present a candidate for confirmation 
to the 211th General Assembly (1999) in Fort Worth. 
 
                 Benefits Plan changes approved 
 
    Beginning April 1, 1999, the Board will offer a new optional benefit of 
long-term-care insurance to active and retired plan members, their spouses, 
parents and stepparents, and divorced and surviving spouses. 
 
    "Long-term coverage is about caring for people and protecting families 
at a difficult time in life," stated the Rev. K. Edward Brandt, a member of 
the Board's Healthcare Committee and pastor of the Cedar Grove Presbyterian 
Church in East Earl, Pa., where the overture on long-term care originated. 
"This is indeed a joyful moment." 
 
    In response to numerous requests, the Board will provide members with 
access to discounted vision-care services and discounted fees for hearing 
aid services. The discount-only vision-care option, offered by Cole Managed 
Vision, will be available to active and Medicare Supplement members and 
will provide access to discounts at just over 7,000 locations. 
 
    The discount hearing aid program, through Beltone Managed Care, Inc., 
will provide access to a network of approximately 2,600 retail providers of 
hearing aid equipment.  It will be available to active and Medicare 
Supplement members.  According to Board officials, approximately 92 percent 
of plan members live within 20 miles of a Beltone provider. 
 
               Both programs will be effective October 1, 1998. 
 
    After receiving proposals from eight other dental program vendors, the 
Board approved the retention of its current vendor - Prudential Insurance 
Company of America - effective January 1, 1999, with a 2 percent increase 
in the premium rates for the existing program of benefits. 
 
    The Board declared a "subscription holiday" for members participating 
in the Optional Death Benefit Program for the fourth quarter of 1998 and 
the first quarter of 1999 for those members continuing to be enrolled in 
the program as of Dec. 31, 1998.  The Board also approved new subscription 
rates for 1999 that are 20 percent below the 1998 rates. 
 
           Detterick urges Board to complete "unfinished business" 
 
    In his final report to the Board, Detterick identified several areas of 
"unfinished business" that he hoped the BOP would continue to address.  He 
affirmed the Board's current priorities of quality service, operational 
efficiency and employee development, and challenged the Board to "move 
beyond a good service level to a higher standard of excellence." 
 
    Reaffirming the "community nature" of the Board's benefits plans, 
Detterick told the Board it must "be a prophetic voice for the church."  He 
said, "We need to be proactive in continuing to fine-tune what it means to 
be in community and in interpreting community to members and employing 
organizations." 
 
    He also championed the growing ecumenical nature of denominational 
benefits plans. "We must continue to explore ways to work together with 
benefits organizations from other denominations, as well as with groups 
from within the Presbyterian family." 
 
    And he urged the Board to continue a long-range "visioning" process 
that it began with a special meeting in St. Louis in May.  "The world is 
changing so rapidly that the traditional strategic planning process by 
itself is no longer responsive enough to keep up.  The visioning work begun 
in St. Louis must continue," he said. 
 
                     Mission statement approved 
 
    As a result of work begun at the May meeting, the Board approved a 
revised mission statement: 
 
    "The mission of the Board of Pensions is to support the ministry of the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by faithfully carrying out the 
responsibilities assigned to it by the General Assembly:  the design and 
administration of a comprehensive program of retirement, death, disability, 
medical, and optional benefits for church employees, both ministers and 
laity, and their families, while being guided by the biblical principles of 
community and stewardship." 
 
          Outgoing Board members honored, new members welcomed 
 
    At a dinner in their honor, outgoing members of the Board were 
recognized for their service.  They included the Rev. John M. Buchanan of 
Chicago; the Rev. Clifford A. McKay Jr., of  Clearwater, Fla.; the Rev. 
Heidi A. Peterson of Overland Park, Kan.; and Mary Ann Rollins of 
Columbus, Ohio. 
 
    Four of the five incoming members were also introduced: Russell B. 
Faucett of Santa Monica, Calif., a partner in a private investment 
partnership and an elder in the Brentwood (Calif.) Presbyterian Church; the 
Rev. Gradye M. Parsons of Kingsport, Tenn., executive presbyter/stated 
clerk of the Presbytery of Holston; Earldean V. S. Robbins, a retired judge 
from San Francisco and an elder at St. John's Presbyterian Church there; 
and the Rev. Richard E. Young, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in 
Conroe, Texas. 
 
    The fifth new member of the Board is David J. Kaasa of Columbus, Ohio, 
who is president/CEO of Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, a company 
that provides service to retired persons in retirement communities and 
through home- and community-based services. 
 
(Jose A. Villarreal is director of communication services for the Board of 
Pensions.) 

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