Meetings Move Online During the Pandemic
As the pandemic continues to restrict travel and in-person gatherings, Central Conference benefits personnel are using virtual meetings to continue their work.
Philippines—In October, the Philippines central conference (PCC) Board of Pensions met via Zoom, allowing them to conduct an opening worship and address business matters. The Board learned that as a result of limited access to technology and internet, many congregations in the Philippines have been unable to worship virtually, resulting in pension plan contributions dropping off dramatically. This underscores the financial damage caused by the pandemic, and further highlights the importance of the Board’s additional fund-raising efforts.
East Africa—Benefits officers from each of the four conferences in the East Africa Episcopal Area met by videoconference in August. Highlights of the discussion included:
- QuickBooks training progress and working through challenges for pension plan recordkeeping
- Updates regarding the transition of pension distributions from a third-party administrator to the UMC benefits officers
- Added administrative costs related to assuming responsibility for pension payment distributions
- Adverse impacts of COVID-19 on contributions to the pension program
Wespath’s CCP team—We continue to use videoconferencing to connect with central conference benefits officers and expect this to continue well into 2021.
