Clergy Act Would Give Pastors Second Chance to Join Social Security

The only way a pastor can opt out of social security is to claim paying into SS is a violation of one's conscience and religious beliefs. The guys I know who opted out weren't conscientious objectors; they just didn't want to pay into SS.

Funny how one's conscientious objections fade the closer one gets to retirement age.

Funny how one’s conscientious objections fade the closer one gets to retirement age.

Or perhaps they didn’t understand. Or perhaps they changed their views.

I didn’t opt out because I didn’t have a religious objection. And it is likely some opted out because of how bad SS is as a system. But I would be slower to sit in judgment on those who opted out and those who might opt back in.

I increasingly don’t understand the need to pile on people who do certain things.

The agreement to forego Social Security is based on both a moral objection to the program, which few have as Tom notes, but also a commitment by the church for the support of those pastors. So what we have is not only a confession by many that their moral qualms against Social Security are not real, but also that pledges to support their pastors into retirement were in name only as well.

Back in the old days it was like that Bert, until reality hit. I have been involved in a number of churches where the pastor labors for 50 years, the church pays for a parsonage and other activities. As the church pastor ages, so does the congregation. When retirement comes they need to call a new pastor, most likely one that is younger, they now need to pay for the new pastor, his parsonage and continue to pay retirement for the older pastors. It became a loosing battle for many to sustain that spending. It was worse when you had two or three retired pastors, with medical bills and a new pastor coming in.

But I would be slower to sit in judgment on those who opted out and those who might opt back in.

I increasingly don’t understand the need to pile on people who do certain things.

I'm not speaking about every pastor who opted out of SS but only about those guys I know. They were adamant about opting out of SS not because of some religious conviction or issue of conscience but because they viewed it as a government-run Ponzi scheme. However, like many COVID vaccine objectors, they claimed their objection was due to their religious convictions. IOW, they were using Christ's name to deceive the government.

For those who willingly do this, I have no empathy.

There are, of course, those who did so in ignorance. When my dad was in Bible school, they taught the guys not to worry about saving for retirement because the anti-Christ would get their retirement savings after the rapture.

The agreement to forego Social Security is based on both a moral objection to the program, which few have as Tom notes, but also a commitment by the church for the support of those pastors.

The only legal way to opt out of SS was a religious objection to paying into public insurance program. The commitment of the church to support, or the bad investment idea, or objection to receiving SS funds … these were not legal reasons to opt out.

Contrary to the statement, "The only way a pastor can opt out of social security is to claim paying into SS is a violation of one's conscience and religious beliefs", IRS Form 4361 says the criterion is: "I am conscientiously opposed to, or because of my religious principles I am opposed to, the acceptance (for services I perform as a minister [emphasis mine], member of a religious order not under a vow of poverty, or Christian Science practitioner) of any public insurance that makes payments in the event of death, disability, old age, or retirement; or that makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services for, medical care. (Public insurance includes insurance systems established by the Social Security Act.)." It's not "paying into SS". In fact, a minister may have had secular employment through which he "payed into SS" and later in fact receives SS benefits as a result. The exemption is specifically about "public insurance" for "services I perform as a minister." Now, that doesn't answer whether one should or should not opt out, but it does clarify that the exemption is specifically about the connection between public insurance and services performed as a minister.