EDSD: » Benefits

The Benefits-o-Matic!

Discover our innovative Benefits-o-matic, a step-by-step guide designed to help you easily understand the benefits available based on specific roles within the organization. Whether a new hire, a long-term employee, or part-time staff, the Benefits-o-matic walks you through the options tailored to each employment type, ensuring you have all the information you need to make informed decisions about benefits. Dive in and let the Benefits-o-matic simplify the process for you!

Health and Dental Benefits-O-Matic

Pension Benefits-O-Matic

Benefits Presentation

General Info/Planning Resources

Welcome to EDSD’s Benefits Resources page, your go-to hub for all the information and tools you need to understand the benefits packages. Whether you’re looking for details on health coverage, retirement plans, wellness programs, or other perks, we’ve gathered everything here to help you navigate the options with ease.

Overview of Benefits Program
Employee Enrollment & Change Form

This is the form to use when you want EDSD’s help to report changes to employment or benefits. Note that if the employee is working 1500+ hours/year and is opting out of medical, you must also submit the “Waiver of Medical Coverage” form.
Employee Enrollment and Change Form 2024 [form remains valid in 2026]
Waiver of Medical Coverage
Semi-annual Benefits Audit for Congregations
Know Your Congregation’s Policies
There are some important policies that vary by congregation, and you’ll need to know what yours are. Parishes have discretion on:
The definition of full-time – the congregation decides how they define this term. One situation where this matters is defining exactly what percentage of medical/dental premiums the congregation must pay.
Preschool policies – for all kinds of benefits, employees of your preschool may have policies than those employed directly by your congregation. However, the policies must be uniform for all preschool employees.
Lay disability/life/unemployment — your parish sets its own policies on whether to offer disability, life, and/or unemployment benefits for its lay employees.
If you are not sure what your parish’s policies are or whether they’ve ever been defined, feel free to contact EDSD for help.
If your congregation is a mission, its policies are the same as those at EDSD. Please contact EDSD with any questions.

Medical and Dental

Eligibility
Note: employees of preschools have different eligibility for benefits. If your institution has a preschool, consult your policies for the eligibility of the preschool’s employees. Contact the diocese for help if needed.
The primary factor that determines eligibility for medical benefits is their hours worked per year:
0-999 hours per year: not eligible for medical or dental.
1000-1499 hours per year: eligible for medical and/or dental benefits, but only if the employee pays the full premium. The employer does not contribute to the premium.
1500+ hours per year: Generally speaking, the employee must enroll in the Episcopal Health Plan. They may also enroll in a dental plan.
There are valid opt-out reasons for those working at least 1500 hours per year. These reasons include: coverage on their spouse’s/partner’s plan; coverage through a government plan (e.g., Medicare, Tricare): coverage through a previous
If an employee with a valid opt-out reason chooses not to enroll, they must submit this form.
Note that finding cheaper insurance elsewhere does not count as a valid opt-out reason.
An eligible employee may elect to sign up for only medical or only dental benefits; they are not obligated to sign up for both.
Details on Benefits

We are currently planning informational presentations with our updated guidance for 2026. These will include details on some currently available plans that will not be available for next year.
To sign up to the zoom meetings for administrators and employees, please see our “Human Resources” page.
For information on 2025 plans, please contact khendrickson@edsd.org.
Costs for Employer and Employee
The tables of premiums can be found here: 2024-Plan-Rates.pdf (edsd.org)
Employees working 1000-1499 hours per year pay the full premium for the plan they select.
For employees working full time (as defined by the congregation’s policies), the employer and employee’s portions of the premium are as listed in the plan rates sheet.
For employees working at least 1500 hours per year but less than what the institution’s policies consider full-time:
Find their Full Time Equivalent (FTE) by dividing their normal hours per week by the congregation’s number of full-time hours per week.
If the FTE is less than or equal to .9, the employer pays 90% of the employer portion of the premium listed in the term sheet. The employee makes up the difference.
If the FTE is above .9, multiply the FTE by the figure listed on the term sheet to find the employer portion. The employee makes up the difference.
Deadlines for Changes
New employee: 30 days
Newly eligible: 30 days
Life event: usually 30 days, but some events give 60 days; for more details, see pages 26-29 of this document
Annual enrollment: within each year’s fall annual enrollment period
If you do not register the changes within the specified time frame, the employee may lose eligibility for that period.
Steps to Take

Report all changes to employees’ medical or dental coverage using this form, CPG’s Admin Assist line, or My Access Portal (MAP). See the FAQs for more information on how to use these tools.
If your employee who works 1500+ hours/year wants to opt out of medical coverage, they must submit this form.
Resources to Learn More

Pension and Retirement

Eligibility
Details on Benefits
Note that the Clergy Pension Plan also includes life and disability benefits at no added cost. See the “Life, Disability, Unemployment” section for more details.
Clergy pension plan – This is a Defined Benefit (DB) plan, meaning that provides fixed payments after retirement. (The benefit amount is calculated using various figures, including Total Assessable Compensation, Highest Average Compensation, and Credited Service.)
Clergy members are always eligible for the pension plan, whether they are active and receiving employer contributions or retired and receiving disbursements.
The only situation where clergy enrollment is optional is when the employee is “regularly employed” for less than five months. If the congregation initially hires a clergyperson for less than five months and later extends the employment, enrollment will become mandatory retroactive to the date of hire.
A clergyperson is “regularly employed” if any one or more of the following conditions are met:
You have a letter of agreement (or other contract of employment) with your employer.
You are duly called to your position by your bishop, vestry, or rector.
Your position has a formal title (for example, rector or priest-in-charge) indicating an ongoing substantial relationship with your employer.
Your employer issues you a Form W-2 (or equivalent).
You are scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week.
Lay retirement plan – This is a Defined Contribution (DC) plan, meaning the employee decides what percent of their pay to contribute.
The employee can choose either a traditional 403(b) account or a Roth 403(b) account. In general, a 403(b) is similar to a 401(k), except that 403(b) accounts are limited to employees of tax-exempt organizations.
One primary difference between a traditional 403(b) and a Roth 403(b) has to do with when taxes are assessed on the money. For a traditional 403(b), the employee will not pay taxes now on money put into the account. However, they will pay taxes when they withdraw the funds.
For a Roth 403(b), the employee pays taxes now on money put into the Roth account. However, they will not pay taxes when they withdraw the funds.
Other differences also exist.
The pros and cons of these accounts are complex. The Church Pension Group (CPG) can give complimentary advice. For more complex inquiries, contact the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Costs for Employer and Employee

Clergy pension plan — The clergyperson is eligible for contributions if they are either under 65 years old, or under 72 with “active” status. Costs are borne by the employer, who will pay 18% of “Total Assessable Compensation.” For more information on how to calculate this figure, see CPG’s “A Guide to Clergy Benefits,” pages 4-5. Clergy will already be receiving benefits and will not be eligible for further contributions if they are 65+ and retired, or when they reach 72.
Lay pension plan – Lay employees are eligible for employer contributions if they work 1000 or more hours per year. If they work less than 1000 hours, they may still pursue deductions for a retirement account, but the employer does not contribute.
For each eligible employee, the employer contributes a base 5% of the employee’s pay to a traditional 403(b). The employee may choose an additional percentage to be deducted from their pay; this will go into either the same traditional 403(b) or a separate Roth 403(b) depending on the employee’s choice. The employer will match up to an additional 4% of the employee’s contributions, again in the traditional 403(b) account.
The annual total of all contributions must be less than the IRS limits on contributions. For more information on these limits, click here.
Deadlines for Changes

Clergy must be enrolled in their DB plan within 30 days of hire or eligibility. Lay employees should also be enrolled in their plan of choice within the same time period. However, employees may also request to enroll or change their elections later.
Pro tip: congregations should carefully inspect their CPG bill each month. This failsafe will avoid delaying contributions for current employees, as well as continuing to pay contributions for previous employees.
Steps to Take
Resources to Learn More

Life, Disability, and Unemployment Benefits

Eligibility
Note: employees of preschools have different eligibility for benefits. If your institution has a preschool, consult your policies for the eligibility of the preschool’s employees. Contact the diocese for help if needed.
The primary factors in life, disability, and unemployment benefits are:
Clergy or lay employee: Clergy are automatically enrolled in life and disability insurance as part of their pension plan. There is no extra cost to the employer or employee.
Institution’s policies for lay employees: Some institutions within EDSD offer life, disability, and/or unemployment benefits to lay employees, but many institutions do not. Consult your institution’s policies.
Details on Benefits

Clergy life – Included with clergy pension plan; automatic enrollment. See page 31 of CPG’s “A Guide to Clergy Benefits” for more information on life insurance, and pages 28-30 for information on benefits for your survivors if you die before you retire. The formulas for these benefits can be confusing, but the guide does a good job of defining the terms.
Clergy disability – Included with clergy pension plan; automatic enrollment. Pages 21-24 of CPG’s “A Guide to Clergy Benefits” give more details on short-term and long-term plans. Though some of the terms and calculations can be confusing, the document does give guidance on how the terms will be defined for you. Clergy may also be enrolled in state disability if their congregation has opted in; consult your institution’s policies.
Clergy unemployment – Not included in clergy pension plan. May be enrolled in state disability if their congregation has opted in; consult your institution’s policies.
Lay employees – May be enrolled in state disability/unemployment if their congregation has opted in; consult your institution’s policies.
Costs for Employer and Employee
Deadlines for Changes
Steps to Take
Understand your institution’s policies on lay eligibility for these benefits, and follow the steps to enroll lay employees within the necessary time frame.
Ensure clergy are enrolled in the clergy pension plan within 30 days of hire.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What kinds of benefits exist within the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego?

On this page, we focus mainly on health/pharmacy/dental, pension/retirement, and unemployment/life/disability.
The Episcopal Church also offers other benefits, such as Behavioral Health (mental health and substance abuse), Employee Assistance Program, Vision, Hearing, Hinge Health, Health Advocate, and UnitedHealthcare Global Assistance.
You can access more information about other benefits in the “Medical/Dental” section of this page under “Details on Benefits.”
Q: How do I report changes to an employee’s benefits?
You have three primary ways to report changes to an employee’s benefits:
Use this form to report the new information to EDSD, and we will enter it into the Church Pension Group system.
Call the Admin Assist line at Church Pension Group — (855) 215-5990, 8:30am-8:00pm ET. They can also enter the changes for you.
Use the My Access Portal (MAP) on the CPG website. Access to MAP allows your congregation’s administrator to enter information for employees. For some kinds of benefits, the congregational administrator can even set permissions for an individual employee to enter their own selections.
Ensure you provide the employee with a Summary of Benefits and Coverage within 90 days of coverage.
Note: Getting diocesan help for an employment change (e.g., calling a new rector) does not mean your changes will be reported to CPG. You must specifically ensure that your information is reported using one of the three methods above.
Q: I’m the person at my congregation in charge of benefits, and I’m interested in using My Access Portal (MAP) -- how do I get started?
MAP is a powerful tool. CPG has done a great job putting together a curriculum that walks you through it in bite-sized chunks.
Role of Benefits Administrator – Overview (cpg.org)
About CPG – Overview
My Admin Portal Overview – Overview (cpg.org)
Pension & Retirement Benefits – Overview (cpg.org)
Healthcare Benefits – Overview (cpg.org)
Life Insurance Benefits – Overview (cpg.org)
Disability Benefits – Overview (cpg.org)
New Hire Process – Overview (cpg.org)
Termination of Employment and Benefits – Overview (cpg.org)
Mid-year Enrollment – Overview (cpg.org)
Compensation Changes – Overview (cpg.org)
Managing Institution Information – Overview (cpg.org)
Annual Enrollment – Overview (cpg.org)
Termination of Select Benefits – Overview (cpg.org)
There are also some training videos from when CPG rolled out updates to the MAP system. These recordings are longer than the earlier learning modules. However, they’re very good at laying out the mechanics of how the administrator enrollment/self-enrollment process works:
You can find these videos by clicking on some of the updates on this page: “Church Pension Group | About MAP (cpg.org)“
Learning the MAP system involves some level of time investment. The more comfortable you are with computers, and the more employees your congregation has, the more likely you are to benefit from using MAP vs getting help from EDSD or the Admin Assist line.
Q: Who is CPG, anyway?
Church Pension Group (CPG) is a nonprofit that was originally started to alleviate the problem of retired Episcopal clergy living in poverty. It’s over 100 years old.
Now, CPG is an umbrella organization that serves the Episcopal Church through various constituent parts:
Church Pension Fund handles pension/retirement benefits.
The Episcopal Church Medical Trust handles health and dental plans.
Church Life Insurance Corporation handles life insurance policies.
Church Insurance provides property and casualty policy options.
Church Publishing Incorporated publishes books and worship materials.