Presbyterian Ministers' Fund

5451 The Presbyterian Ministers' Fund can trace its roots to the founding of the Synod of Philadelphia around 1716. This council of Presbyterian officials, led by the Reverend Jedediah Andrews and faced with a growing community of religious followers, decided to create the "Fund for Pious Uses," a charitable venture to help finance and protect the work of Presbyterian ministers and their families. Andrews was appointed the first treasurer of the new fund. Throughout the 1720s, as Presbyterianism grew in Philadelphia and throughout the colonies, so too did the fund. The Synodical Company was subsequently formed, which oversaw two funds: the "Widows Fund" and the "Fund for Pious Uses". Cross and Allison sought a charter for these funds from Governors Thomas and Richard Penn, which was granted in 1759 under the name "The Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers." By the early 1760s, the corporation had forty-three contributors and has issued twenty-one policies to ministers, and its assets grew steadily over the next several years. One major issue the corporation faced in the late 1700s and early 1800s was the general lack of interest from the local and regional masses in life insurance. Conservative management helped the Corporation through the 1850s and 1860s since new subscriptions waned. In 1870, only one hundred and twenty-six out of over four thousand ministers were insured with the corporation. The corporation began 1881 by renewing its sales efforts to Presbyterian ministers and their congregations. In 1888, the board approved another name change, to that of the Presbyterian Minister's Fund (PMF). Growth occurred steadily in the early to mid 1900s, despite war and depression. In 1941, PMF acquired the Ministers Mutual Life Insurance Company (formerly called the Methodists Ministers Relief Insurance and Trust Association) of Boston, Massachusetts. By 1950, PMF, which had always been based in Philadelphia, had created satellite offices in Boston, St. Louis, Missouri, and Atlanta, Georgia. By 1950, PMF, which had always been based in Philadelphia, had created satellite offices in Boston, St. Louis, Missouri, and Atlanta, Georgia. The next forty years proved challenging as the cautious, small insurance firm with the limited customer base, tried to maintain its low rates and financial integrity in spite of increased costs and competition. PMF endured its final name change in 1990 when it became the Convent Life Insurance Company. This firm was taken over by Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1994; which itself was acquired by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in 2002.