Benefit Improvements for Ministers

BY KEVIN P. GILMORE

My Summer Quarterly article focused on how God has blessed our journey to improve benefits for Nazarene ministers in the U.S. over the past several years. It ended by saying “stay tuned” because we were already exploring some new things. Thanks to the great work of my team here at NBUSA, and the faithful support of our Benefits Board, I’m pleased to share important new benefit enhancements for active Local Church Ministers (LCM’s) to become effective on January 1, 2026.

Enhanced 403(b) Match

We’re increasing the NBUSA match to 100% of the first $250 contributed to the LCM’s retirement account by the LCM and/or local church. This means every dollar contributed up to the first $250 will double in value.

While participation in our 403(b) Ministers Match program continues to grow, only 34% of eligible LCM’s received a match so far in 2025. The remaining 66% serve in churches which support our NBUSA Fund sufficient to qualify them, but there were no local effort retirement contributions for us to match.

We know many LCM’s serve small congregations with modest budgets and consider this an unaffordable impediment to participate and save for retirement. Let’s say an LCM contributes $125, their local church contributes $125, and NBUSA matches with $250 under this new policy. If a 25-year-old LCM were to start this way and repeat these actions every year until age 67 (normal retirement for Social Security benefits today), the funds will grow to nearly $140,000 at a 7% long-term earnings rate. By itself that is not enough for a minister to retire well, but if the annual contribution was increased by 5% per year the value would grow to over $280,000.

We hope this enhancement creates a greater incentive for the 66% to begin to contribute and provides momentum for even higher contribution levels from them in the future. Taking these positive steps will yield even greater matching benefits and growth to help ministers retire well.

Emergency Savings Match Program

When an LCM or their church contributes $750 to an emergency savings account, NBUSA will now provide an additional $750 to create a $1,500 fund to help them better respond to sudden financial needs.

Dr. Larry McKain, director of the COMPASS Initiative, and I have been in constant conversation over the past two years about keeping the momentum of COMPASS working toward ministers’ well-being long after the Lilly grant funds have been exhausted. Partnering on this new program is the first of what we hope will be multiple steps in that direction.

To receive the NBUSA match, the LCM must complete a short COMPASS financial wellness course, meet the same benefit eligibility requirements as the 403(b) match program, and the local church support of the NBUSA Fund must be at least 50%.

As the first action towards developing a sound financial plan, this new initiative to establish emergency savings accounts will help to protect ministers and their families from unexpected expenses and reduce their vulnerability to financial hardship. Participation is limited to 400 ministers per year on a first-come, first-served basis.

Increased Survivor Benefit Coverage

NBUSA will also implement a 20% increase in the base level of survivor benefits (life insurance) for qualified active ministers, effective January 1, 2026.

This enhancement increases the amount available to the surviving family members of an active minister, helping ensure greater financial support in the event of a minister’s death. The increase will be implemented, with no change to participant eligibility or contribution requirements, and if you are covered today, there’s no action needed on your part.

Remember, these are base levels of life insurance benefits. Ministers and their families need more than this, so be sure to explore what’s available through our supplemental insurance program.

Continuing Our Commitment

These three initiatives—the enhanced 403(b) match, new emergency savings match, and increased survivor benefits—reflect NBUSA’s ongoing commitment to improve benefits for ministers and their financial wellbeing.

By addressing retirement readiness, emergency preparedness, and family protection, NBUSA continues to promote strong stewardship practices for those we serve and provide the critical financial resources that fund our work.

For more information about eligibility and participation, visit www.nbusa.org or contact our office (888) 888-4656.

Kevin P. Gilmore serves as executive director of Nazarene Benefits USA for the Church of the Nazarene.