During the April 10 livestream event, Wespath staff addressed its relationship with the Global Methodist Church that broke away from The United Methodist Church in May 2022.
Since then, the new theologically conservative denomination has recruited its membership largely from churches disaffiliating from the United Methodist fold.
Wespath Benefits and Investments initially provided a separate defined-contribution retirement plan as well as death, disability and health benefits for Global Methodist Church clergy and lay staff.
However, in December last year, Global Methodist leaders informed Wespath of their decision to end benefits services with the United Methodist agency on June 30 this year. Instead, the new denomination plans to use GuideStone Financial Resources, a Southern Baptist agency, as its retirement and insurance provider starting July 1.
Former United Methodist clergy who are now part of the new denomination still will receive whatever benefits they already have accrued through Wespath.
“We’re sorry to see them go,” Dale Jones, Wespath’s managing director of church relations, said during the livestream. “But we realized that probably their administrative model will fit better with GuideStone than it does with us. And for some of them — not all but some of them — perhaps their values are better aligned with GuideStone values than they are with ours.”
Keith Boyette, the top executive of the Global Methodist Church, did not respond to UM News inquiries about the decision.
Jones assured those on the livestream that the Global Methodist Church’s departure from Wespath would not affect any current United Methodist participants’ retirement or benefits,
Andrew Hendren, Wespath’s top executive, told United Methodist News the development “will have minimal impact on Wespath or our scale and capacity to support our customers.”
“Benefits from and accounts with Wespath are secure, regardless of disaffiliations across the connection or the recent GMC decision,” he added. “We expect The United Methodist Church will continue to evolve in the wake of disruption, and Wespath is well prepared to support the church for the long-term future.”
Wespath continues to provide retirement services for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a full-communion partner with The United Methodist Church.
Return to main story Big changes proposed for clergy retirement