The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, one of the country’s largest Black Protestant denominations, has halted making payments to retired ministers on its pension plan.
According to a news report, the AME Church, which has 2.5 million members, suspended the pension payments of retirees after it found possible financial irregularities in the denomination’s pension fund.
In a news release, the church stated that an outside law firm is handling the case and they are also working with law enforcement to investigate a possible crime.
The release also said the church will have the report available publicly upon its receipt. However, the church has not revealed how much money is in question.
“The AME Church takes this crime seriously,” the church said. “We’re also committed to making every fund participant whole by restoring their full investment plus interest.”
Concerns about the pension fund had been circulating for months. In December, church leaders told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that problems with the pension fund were discovered during a leadership transition in the retirement services department, which serves about 5,000 retired clergy and church workers.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we immediately engaged outside legal counsel and forensics experts to conduct an independent and comprehensive investigation into holdings managed by the Department of Retirement Services,” church leaders told the Atlanta newspaper in August.
The denomination’s Council of Bishops also published a statement in October about problems with the pension fund, saying the pension department had “reported a material loss in the value of one or more of its departmental funds.”
Church pension funds are exempt from federal laws regulating such funds and are not covered by federal insurance, according to the Pension Rights Center. As of 2017, the church had approximately $120 million in retirement assets.
Founded by Black Methodists who were part of the Free African Society in the late 1700s in Philadelphia, the AME Church now has members in 39 countries, organized into Episcopal districts.
According to the denomination’s website, decisions in the denomination are made primarily by the AME’s 21 bishops.
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