This Guide is a summary of The Episcopal Church Lay Employees’ Retirement Plan (the Plan), which covers all lay employees who are enrolled in the Plan by their participating employer.

This Guide is intended to help you better understand your benefits and clarify what you need to do to ensure eligibility for the benefits provided by The Church Pension Fund (CPF) to members in the Plan. We encourage you to contact our Client Services group to establish a working relationship with us that begins at enrollment and continues through the retirement planning process and beyond.

You will note that certain terms are capitalized throughout this Guide, which means they are proper names or are defined in our Glossary of Terms. Other more commonly used terms, such as employer-provided housing or participating employer, also appear in our Glossary of Terms because they have a specific meaning for purposes of the Plan.

This Guide uses “you” and “your” when referencing a lay employee who works (or worked) for an Episcopal employer located in the US and is eligible to participate in and is enrolled in the Plan. Although the primary audience of this Guide is lay employees, your eligible spouse and other eligible beneficiaries may also use it as a reference.

The Plan is only for lay employees of Episcopal employers that have adopted the Plan. In other words, an Episcopal employer must be a participating employer in the Plan. Episcopal clergy cannot participate in the Plan (unless they were a member of the Plan prior to being ordained).

The official plan documents will govern the Plan and all the benefits provided by CPF. In the event of a conflict between this Guide and the official plan documents, the terms of the official plan documents will apply.

Individual situations may differ from those described in this Guide. If you would like to discuss your specific circumstances, please contact our Client Services group.