It was in the year 1911 that the sustentation plan was inaugurated. Some of our ministers who had been active in the work for many years were aged, and could no longer do aggressive work. During their ministry they had labored on a small salary, and with little opportunity to save money to provide for their old age. The question of how to care for these men and their widows became a serious one for our denominational leaders. It was foreseen that as the denomination grew older and the number of its laborers increased, the question would become more acute and increasingly serious.
As a result of the careful study given to the situation, a plan was inaugurated whereby each conference would set aside a certain percentage of its tithe for the purpose of providing an amount sufficient to keep these aged men and their widows from suffering for the necessities of life. There also arose the question of caring for younger ministers and conference workers who might become incapacitated for service because of failing health. It was decided that they, too, should benefit from the fund created. Next came the question of caring for institutional workers who might become incapacitated for active work because of age or failing health. This group was also included in the plan, with the understanding that institutions would pay a sufficient percentage of their pay rolls into the fund to care for the institutional beneficiaries.
Thus what is known as the Sustentation Fund was created. It was to be held at the General Conference headquarters and administered by the General Conference Committee, in order that all sections of the field might be dealt with uniformly. This would be impossible were each union committee or institutional board to have a separate fund for its territory. It was arranged, however, that all applications for assistance from the fund should be endorsed by local and union conference committees and forwarded to the General Conference Committee. Applications from workers employed in interunion institutions were to be approved by the boards of these institutions and forwarded by them to the General Conference.
The Sustentation Fund was created for the support of sick and aged laborers, and the widows and children of deceased laborers who had been employed upon a missionary basis in our conferences, mission fields, and institutions. The principal considerations which determined whether laborers should receive benefits were length of service, financial condition, and their standing in. relation to this movement. It was made clear to beneficiaries under this arrangement that all allowances from this fund were cheerfully made, and that in no sense was the person receiving such allowance a subject of charity, but that the fund was for the purpose of providing a just and necessary support for those laborers who had given their lives and means for the building up of this cause, and had been unable to make provision for sickness or age.
The general plan of the Sustentation Fund as it is operating today is much the same as it was originally. As demands upon it have increased, it has been necessary to throw about it certain regulations to safeguard its interests and to define more clearly just who may be eligible for its benefits. The percentages to be paid by conferences and institutions have been increased from time to time in order to care for the growing number of beneficiaries. But in its essential features the plan is unchanged.
For several years after the Sustentation Fund was started, the General Conference Committee acted in the capacity of a sustentation committee, but the time came when, because of the volume of the work and the great amount of detail connected with it, it was found necessary to appoint a subcommittee to deal with sustentation matters. This committee has been given power to act in all cases that come within the regulations; but cases which do not, or on which the committee is not clear, are—referred to the General Conference Committee. The sustentation committee is so constituted as to represent the different lines of work directed by the General Conference Minority Committee, as far as the presence of the men at the office makes it possible. It is made up as follows: The treasurer, one or more of the vice-presidents, the assistant treasurers, one or more of the General Conference secretaries, one or more of the field secretaries, and a secretary or an associate secretary from each department.
After the sustentation plan had been operating a few years, it became evident that it would be necessary to fix a minimum service requirement for eligibility to the benefits of the fund, or the number of persons admitted would become so large that the denomination would be unable to bear the financial burden of their support. Since the fund had been originated primarily for the benefit of those whose lives had been spent in service, it seemed reasonable that those who had spent a short time only in the work should not benefit by its provisions. Accordingly, at the Autumn Council of 1922, the minimum period of service for admittance to the fund was fixed at seven years. In 1926 it was raised to ten years, and at the General Conference session of 1930 it was increased to fifteen years for temporary assistance and to twenty years for permanent assistance. Those who have entered the work after reaching the age of thirty-five are required to serve twenty years in order to be eligible for temporary assistance, and twenty-five years for permanent assistance. Exception to these service requirements is made in the case of workers who have lost their health in foreign mission service.
Prior to 1930 the amount paid to beneficiaries had no relation to the length of their service to the cause. As a result, some workers with forty or fifty years of service were receiving no more than others whose service had been of comparatively short duration. It seemed only right that those who had invested most in the cause by their labor and means, should in their old age be better provided for than those in middle life whose service was shorter, and who in many cases, by one way and another, could do something to supplement their allowance. Accordingly, a plan was adopted at the 1930 General Conference session which provided for making the allowances proportional to the service rendered. Because of rapidly falling income in 1930 and 1931, this plan was not made effective until the early part of 1932.
At the present time a worker who is married and has given fifteen years of service, and who may be admitted to the benefits of the fund, may receive a family rate of $34.25 a month; and if he has given forty or more years of service, he may be given $61.25 a month. These are the minimum and maximum rates, and between these extremes are other rates, each one depending upon the beneficiary's length of service. If either husband or wife is under constant medical expense, or requires special foods or medicines, as in cases of tuberculosis or diabetes, a medical allowance not exceeding $12 a month may be given in addition to the base rate. Widows of workers receive three fourths of the rates paid to couples, and single workers receive two thirds. The medical allowance for widows and other single workers does not exceed $8 a month. If a beneficiary has dependent children under the age of sixteen, he may be given a child allowance of $6 a month for each child.
Once each year a list of the beneficiaries residing in each union conference is sent to the respective union offices, and the union committee gives careful consideration to each name on the list, "with a view to ascertaining whether assistance should be continued, and whether the rate being paid in each case is proper in view of all the circumstances and conditions of the beneficiary. A report of such a review, together with complete information as to reasons for such recommendations as may accompany the report," is sent to the General Conference sustentation committee for further consideration and action.
At the present time there are nearly one thousand beneficiaries receiving help each month. Each year the number increases, and by the end of the present year the number will undoubtedly exceed a thousand. To care for so large a number, even though each one receives only a small sum, requires a large amount of money. During the past year the amount sent out each month has averaged more than $36,000.
While there may be defects in the plan, and while it may not work equitably in every case, yet it has proved to be a wonderful blessing to hundreds of men and women who without it would have suffered for the necessities of life. Thousands of letters have come to the General Conference from these brethren and sisters, expressing their heartfelt gratitude to God and to their brethren for making provision for their needs. We believe that our denominational leaders were definitely led by God in the formation of this plan that has helped so many.
Washington, D. C.