Title: Brethren receive record-breaking insurance dividend Subject: Church of the Brethren Newsline Date: May 25, 2006 From: Church of the Brethren News Services Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, _cobnews@brethren.org_ (mailto:cobnews@brethren.org)
CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN RECEIVES RECORD-BREAKING INSURANCE DIVIDEND FROM BROTHERHOOD MUTUAL
May 25, 2006 (Elgin, IL) -- A dividend check of $126,290 for the year 2005 has been received by the Church of the Brethren denomination from Brotherho od Mutual Insurance Company, through its Partnership Group Program.
Mutual Aid Association (MAA) is the sponsoring Church of the Brethren agenc y for the program, which has rewarded the churchâs more than 400 churc hes, camps, and districts comprising the group (_www.maabrethren.com_ (http://www.maabrethren.com) ).
The dividend check was symbolically delivered to executives of the agencies related to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference on May 16 by Dan Boo k of Brotherhood Mutual.
The dividend was the largest ever paid in the history of Brotherhood Mutual , a ârecord-breakingâ amount figured upon the Brethren group âs favorable loss experience last year, said MAA president Jean Hendricks. The Church of the Brethren dividend for 2004 of $109,835 also broke a record for Brotherhood Mutual, Hendricks added. âIn essence, we broke our own record a seco nd time,â she said.
Decisions about the use of the dividend were made by the agency executives. A part of the dividend will support special denominational ministries, with $43,000 given for the work of the 300th Anniversary Committee of Annual Conference; $15,000 to the Germantown Trust to help prepare the property in Philadelphia--the âmother churchâ of the denomination as the first congregation established in America--for 300th anniversary activities beginning in 2007 through 2008; and $10,000 to Elizabethtown (Pa.) College for the Church Memb er Profile Study through the Young Center for the Study of Anabaptist and Pieti st Groups.
The sum of $50,400 has gone to the Mutual Aid Association Share Fund Inc., which provides matching funds to congregations for meeting human needs following a natural disaster, health crisis, or other emergency (congregati ons insured through MAA may apply for such grants to aid the congregation, cong regation members, or the local community). In support of MAA and Brotherhood Mutual, the executives designated $6,500 to support their promotion in the denomination. For expenses incurred in the handling of the money the Genera l Board received $1,000, less than one percent of the total, leaving a small balanc e remaining.
This is the third year in a row that the Church of the Brethren has receive d a dividend from Brotherhood Mutual. In 2003, MAA used the dividend to bolster its operations including the Share Fund. In 2004, $50,000 of the di vidend was returned directly to Brethren congregations and agencies insured throug h MAA, with the rest allocated by the agency executives to help fund the 300t h Anniversary Committee and Together: Conversations on Being the Church; some 400 congregations received amounts ranging from $25 to $3,000 depending on their insurance premiums.
Brotherhood Mutual returns excess premiums not needed to pay losses, up to a certain level, said a purpose statement for the Partnership Group Program. The company grants the dividend if the denominational group âcollec tively enjoys a better-than-average claims experience,â the document expla ined. âWe will share our profit with you in the form of a dividend.... We are not a stock insurance company operating in the best interest of our stockholders. We ar e a mutual insurance company, operating in the best interest of our policyholders.â Since the mid-1980s, Brotherhood Mutual has paid mo re than $11.5 million in dividends.
Hendricks warned the denomination not to expect such windfalls every year. The dividend âis never guaranteed,â she said. âWe do nât know that weâll get it next year.â
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its fa ith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates it s 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 _cobnews@brethren.org_ (mailto:cobnews@brethren.org)
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