To Commend Efforts to Serve Worker Wellness and Encourage Participation in Concordia Plan Services

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1. 1To Commend Efforts to Serve Worker Wellness and Encourage Participation
2. 2in Concordia Plan Services
3. 3RESOLUTION 3-05A
4. 4Overture 3-06 (CW, 301)
5. 5WHEREAS, It is a mission priority of the Synod to promote and nurture the spiritual, emotional, and physical
6. 6well-being of pastors and professional church workers; and
7. 7WHEREAS, The Council of Presidents (COP), LCMS Worker Wellness, and Concordia Plan Services (CPS) have
8. 8collaborated to create a strategic plan that has been disseminated to district s pursuant to 2023 Resolution 1 -06A, “To
9. 9Direct Districts and Council of Presidents to Provide Strategic Plan for Addressing Wellness of Church Workers”; and
10. 10WHEREAS, The strategies involve the efforts of both professional church workers and the congregational lay leaders
11. 11and ministry leaders; and
12. 12WHEREAS, Soldiers of the Cross has provided $241,705 of financial assistance to 98 rostered church workers this
13. 13past triennium, and Veterans of the Cross has provided $717,751 to 30 recipients in the same period, demonstrating both
14. 14the generosity of the church and the real and ongoing burdens borne by its servants; and
15. 15WHEREAS, Approximately 20 percent of rostered church workers are not covered by the CPS health plans; and
16. 16WHEREAS, The Soldiers of the Cross and Veterans of the Cross crisis financial grants offered to church workers
17. 17demonstrate that workers who are not covered by CPS health plans are vulnerable to significant adverse financial impact
18. 18when there are serious health and medical needs of the workers and their family members; and
19. 19WHEREAS, The CPS mission statement is to “Serve ministries … Care for workers … So that the Word of God
20. 20spreads” (“Purpose and Values,” concordiaplans.org/who-we-are/careers, accessed May 30, 2026); and
21. 21WHEREAS, CPS’s ability to fulfill its mission and hold down the rising costs of health insurance for workers is
22. 22enhanced by its worker wellness programs and by increasing the number of workers enrolled in CPS; and
23. 23WHEREAS, The business practices, ethical posture, and church- worker wellness programs of CPS are governed by
24. 24the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions; and
25. 25WHEREAS, CPS health plans are customized for the needs of church workers, the assets of the health plans are
26. 26designed to bear the health burdens of the members (Gal. 6:2), and the health plans have varied financial options for
27. 27Synod ministries; therefore be it
28. 28Resolved, That the COP, LCMS Worker Wellness, and CPS be commended and thanked for their work to provide
29. 29leadership and a strategic plan, and for their collaboration on Soldiers of the Cross and Veterans of the Cross grant
30. 30programs; and be it further
31. 31Resolved, That districts, congregations, schools, and ministries not enrolled in a CPS health plan be encouraged to
32. 32annually consider and compare their current health plan with those available through CPS; and be it finally
33. 33Resolved, That the lay leaders of Synod congregations, schools, and recognized service organizations be advised
34. 34and encouraged to make use of resources, programs, and plans created by the districts, CPS, and LCMS Worker
35. 35Wellness, and endeavor to form the local culture to be supportive of and caring for the holistic well -being of church
36. 36workers, members, and visitors.