Advisory: Series examines church's pension initiative
Mar. 18, 2008
The Rev. Karmah Early spent most of her life bringing the light of Jesus Christ to the poor in rural Liberia.
Now blind and alone, Early is a captive of the darkness. She isn't sure how old she is or how many years she served as a United Methodist pastor in a rural area outside of Monrovia, Liberia.
She knows she has been blind for the past five years and that the pension she receives from the United Methodist Liberia Annual Conference isn't enough to guarantee "daily bread." She often sits alone in her hut if a relative or friend can't come to her aid.
Early's story is not unusual. Most of the retired pastors and surviving spouses of pastors live in poverty in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Philippines after serving the church for 20, 30 or 40 years or more.
The United Methodist Church, directed by its 2000 and 2004 General Conferences, has been working to develop pension models so that pastors and church lay workers in annual conferences outside of the United States can retire with dignity, hope and an adequate pension.
Starting March 20, United Methodist News Service will feature a four-week series on clergy retirees and surviving spouses of pastors from Mozambique, Liberia, Zimbabwe and Estonia. Each week's stories will profile one country's pension needs, along with personal and video stories about pastors such as Early. An interactive map will give a geographic snapshot into the lives of these servants of the church. The package can be viewed at www.UMC.org.
The Central Conference Pension Initiative is a campaign to fully fund the pension needs of the church outside of the United States by raising a minimum of $20 million in gifts and pledges over the next five years.
The Central Conference Pension Initiative Committee consists of members from the denomination's Board of Pension and Health Benefits, General Council on Finance and Administration, Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Publishing House and United Methodist Communications.
For additional information about the initiative, visit www.ccpi.umc.org or write to ccpi@gbophb.org.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org
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