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Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. -Luke 17:33 (NRSV) I was raised by a wonderful woman of faith: my mother. Over the past 24 hours I … Continue reading
What an eventful morning at General Conference. From guaranteed appointments being eliminated via the consent calendar to then being asked to reconsider and that being voted down. What an up and down morning. What we do know is this: guaranteed … Continue reading
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And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.” The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is … Continue reading
What do you all do about health care?We are challenged by our vision and Gospel mandate to “love our neighbors as ourselves”, especially when millions of people in the US don’t have adequate healthcare (48 million to be exact), one of them was a five-year-old on our block that died of asthma a few years back. And while we are grateful for the tireless labor of folks working toward health care for all, we are not willing to wait for the government to do what the Church is meant to BE. We are excited by the creative initiatives to create structures of mutual care, ways of bearing each others burdens like the early Church…. One of those is called Christian Healthcare Ministries. Each month folks contribute money to a common fund of which over 90% goes directly to meet needs. Members receive newsletters that tell who is in the hospital and how to be praying for one another. CHM now has over 20,000 members who have collectively paid over 400 million dollars in medical bills over the past 20 years. Check them out: www.chministries.org. And this is not an ad for CHM, but more for the idea of CHM and so many others… see it as an invitation to join a Christian medical collective that is already out there, or to start one… 48 million folks are waiting.
What they use is just one example, but what if we as United Methodists created a collective that extended not just to “clergy” but to laity also? Part of the “benefits” of our clergy could be reduced monthly cost compared to the larger collective participant.
For instance in Christian Healthcare Ministries the Gold package is $150 per participant (family would only have to pay for 3 participants max), Silver package is $85 per, and Bronze is $45 per. So say clergy get 50% off the level they would select. That’s it.
I know this would be very complicated to set up (more complicated then I want to delve into), but doesn’t this seem like something that could be extremely valuable for a focus of one of our General Boards as a possibility?
Agree? Disagree? Other ideas on health insurance?
