The Presbyterian camp and conference center provides robust benefits and a 500-acre ‘office’ in beautiful Texas Hill Country
March 11, 2021
Picturesque Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly sits in the heart of Texas Hill Country. (Photo courtesy of Mo-Ranch)
When the Rev. Dick Powell was tapped as a candidate for the job of president and CEO at Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, he had one demand: “If I can’t stay in the Board of Pensions plan, I’m not coming.” More than a decade later, Powell and every other full-time employee at the camp and conference center in the Texas Hill Country is a member of the Benefits Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
“We’ve got a staff in place, you can’t run them off with a stick,” Powell said. In addition to robust benefits, they have a workplace on 500 acres at the north fork of the Guadalupe River, in Hunt. Pecan and bald cypress trees shade the limestone banks of the clear, turquoise-tinted river, and bald cypress, mesquite and grasses cover limestone bluffs. A variety of lodging and dining choices, water fun, hiking and an extensive ropes course even now are drawing visitors, who have room to social distance. Asked about the weather, Powell, a native of coastal North Carolina, said: “It’s Texas. It’s hot.”
Powell joined Mo-Ranch from Forest Hills Presbyterian Church in Helotes, Texas, where he was pastor and head of staff. He knew firsthand the value of membership in the church Benefits Plan, administered by the Board of Pensions. Before being ordained as a minister, he was a manufacturing executive with plenty of value-adds to his coverage, such as health club memberships. “Even with all of those, our plan is better,” Powell said.
Plan members have access to Board of Pensions programs designed to foster spiritual, health, financial and vocational well-being. Board University provides educational programs for active and retired plan members and their spouses and surviving spouses. There are assistance grants for members in need and housing and income supplements for retired plan members.
PC(USA) congregations, agencies and affiliated organizations are eligible to provide benefits to their employees through the plan. The affiliated employers include educational institutions, retirement and senior housing communities, human services organizations — and camps and conference centers. Mo-Ranch is related by covenant to the Synod of the Sun.
Fred Gamble, chief financial officer at Mo-Ranch, said that “the best compliment I can give the Board of Pensions is that I seldom think about you. No employee complaint has reached me in three years.” The Board crosses his mind once a month, when benefits payments are due, “because I approve all the checks.”
In 2015, before the Benefits Plan was redesigned to provide more choice, Mo-Ranch was poised to switch providers. “We weren’t unhappy whatsoever with service. It was strictly pricing,” Gamble said.
Board leaders acted quickly and, effective Jan. 1, 2016, Mo-Ranch was piloting the forerunner of the exclusive provider organization (EPO). The EPO became a coverage option, along with the preferred provider organization (PPO), in 2017, with a redesign of the Benefits Plan. In 2019, a third medical option was added, the high-deductible health plan (HDHP).
“The EPO was perfect for us and probably perfect for most rural places,” Gamble said of the option, which does not cover care received from out-of-network providers except for emergency services. “Virtually all the providers are going to be part of the network.”
Mo-Ranch pays 100 percent of the cost of participating in the EPO for its approximately 60 employees and 60 percent for family coverage. This year, it also began to offer the PPO; employees who choose it pay the difference in cost between it and the EPO.
Both options include Call to Health, the Board’s well-being program. Mo-Ranch urges employees to participate in the program, which can qualify them for lower deductibles.
This year, Mo-Ranch began providing dental coverage through the Board, and in April 2019, it moved its employees from a 401(k) plan to the Retirement Savings Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (RSP).
Gamble also appreciates the stability of plan coverage — the predictability in rates and coverage.
“Too often, when you go and try to price shop, they take coverage away you don’t know you need until you need it,” Gamble said. Board employees “understand and preach preventive maintenance for the body and soul,” Gamble said. “It’s those kinds of things that are going to help keep my staff healthy.”
Lea Sitton, Agency Writer at the Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Daily Readings
Morning Psalms 27; 147:12-20
First Reading Jeremiah 10:11-24
Second Reading Romans 5:12-21
Gospel Reading John 8:21-32
Evening Psalms 126; 102
Today’s Focus: Mo-Ranch
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
John Etheredge, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Jennifer Evans, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Let us pray:
May the power of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our heart and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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