# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1965_S240
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

240 UNPUBLISHED REPORTS AND OVERTURES

in the Pension Plan. These benefits are characterized
as “free subsidy,” or subsidized benefits, because they
are not provided from the contributions of the worker
or his employer. Now that the Concordia Retirement
Plan and the Concordia Welfare Plan are in operation,
it is appropriate that it be made clear that the partici-
pants in the Concordia Retirement Plan who transferred
from the Pension Plan are entitled to receive the mini-
mum benefits provided by Section 10.47 if the benefits
for a worker under such plan do not at least equal such
minimum benefits. It is appropriate that it also be made
clear that the subsidized minimum benefits of Section
10.47 are to be provided only to the extent that such
minimum benefits are not available to a worker through
participation in all synodically sponsored benefit plans
for which he is eligible, whether the Pension Plan, the
Concordia Retirement Plan, or the Concordia Welfare
Plan. Therefore the following recommendation for an
amendment to Section 10.47 is made:

Resolved, That Section 10.47 be amended by striking
subparagraph d and the balance of the provisions of
said section and by inserting instead thereof three sub-
paragraphs as follows:

d. Reductions

The amount from time to time determined by the
Board for Support and Pensions to be payable under
the provisions of a, b, or c above shall be reduced in
accordance with the following provisions: The “death
benefit” under a shall be reduced by the amount of the
lump-sum death benefit payable under the Concordia
Welfare Plan, or if the worker was not participating in
said plan but was eligible to participate in said plan,
by the lump-sum death benefit which would have been
payable under said plan had the worker been partici-
pating therein; and if the member was retired at the
time of his death and was a participant in the Concordia
Retirement Plan, the death benefit shall be reduced by
the amount of the lump-sum death benefit payable under
said plan. The free subsidy under b and c shall be
reduced by the amount of the monthly benefit, if any,
payable under the provisions of the Concordia Retire-
ment Plan and/or the Concordia Welfare Plan; and if
the worker was eligible to participate in the Concordia
Welfare Plan but was not participating therein, such
free subsidy shall be reduced by the amount which
would have been payable had such worker in fact been
participating in the Concordia Welfare Plan.

e. Disqualification

A worker not participating in the Pension Plan shall
not be entitled to any of the special benefits provided by
synodical subsidy under a, b, or c above; provided, how-
ever, a worker who formerly participated in the Pension
Plan and terminated his participation upon becoming
a member of the Concordia Retirement Plan shall con-
continue to be eligible for such special benefits. For the
purpose of determining, in the case of a member of the
Pension Plan who has transferred to the Concordia Re-
tirement Plan, whether the worker or his widow shall
receive the full or a reduced special benefit, the period
of his creditable service under the Concordia Retire-
ment Plan shall be treated as years of participation
under the Pension Plan.

f. Appropriations
The Budget Review Committee, together with the
Board of Directors, is authorized and instructed to make
the necessary appropriations for such special benefits.
8. Resolution 5 of “Supplementary Report Number
One” (p.350) is herewith being withdrawn because
the payment of a lump-sum death benefit is embodied

in the preceding resolution in a more equitable and
concise manner. Cancellation of that resolution is there-
fore in order (see Convention Workbook, p. 350).

9. The Board of Managers of the Concordia Benefit
Plans has as one of its items for early consideration the
coordination or integration of the Pension Plan with
the Concordia Retirement Plan. In studying this matter,
it is hoped that it will be found desirable and advanta-
geous for the workers who have transferred their
membership from the Pension Plan to the Concordia
Retirement Plan to request transfer of .funds from their
accumulation under the Pension Plan to the Concordia
Retirement Plan. To make possible such a transfer of
funds if it becomes permissible, the following recom-
mendation is in order:

Resolved, That a new Section 10.58 be added to the
Handbook, providing as follows:

10.58 Transfers to Concordia Retirement Plan

If the Concordia Retirement Plan shall at any time
permit the transfer to it from the Pension Fund of all or
any part of a worker’s individual account in exchange
for creditable service or other benefits under said Con-
cordia Retirement Plan, then in such event, and at the
written request of the worker, there shall be transferred,
paid over, and delivered to the Board of Managers of
the Concordia Retirement Plan from the Pension Fund,
assets in an amount equal to all, or any part, of the
amount credited to such worker’s account plus an
amount equal to the board’s estimate of the interest
attributable to such portion of the worker’s individual
account so transferred which has accumulated since the
last crediting of interest. After such transfer shall have
been accomplished, the worker shall have no further
rights or claims of any kind whatsoever against the
board or the Pension Fund with respect to the amount
so transferred, and such worker shall thereafter look
solely to the Concordia Retirement Plan for his retire-
ment, pension, or other benefits attributable to the assets
so transferred.

10. Certain provisions of the Income Tax Act of
the Dominion of Canada apply to the Pension Plan.
In addition, certain of the provinces of Canada have
adopted, are in the process of adopting, or have under
consideration the adoption of legislation affecting the
provisions and operations of private pension plans
operating in Canada. Under the governmental scheme
in Canada, each province has the power to pass its own
laws governing private pension plans operating within
the province, and such laws do not need to be uniform
among the various provinces. The Pension Plan is and
will be subject to the laws of all of the provinces in
which the Synod has, or from time to time may have,
workers participating in the Pension Plan. The Province
of Ontario at one time had under consideration exclud-
ing church-operated plans from the class of privately
operated plans subject to the Ontario Pensions Benefit
Act of 1962—1963, as amended. However, this approach
was not ultimately taken, and the Pension Commission
of Ontario has specifically notified the Board for Sup-
port and Pensions of the applicability of the Ontario
Act to the Pension Plan. The Synod’s legal counsel has
advised that the Pension Plan does not meet the re-
quirements of Ontario law. An extension until August 1,

1965, was obtained from the Pension Commission of

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