About Us

Launched in the year 2000, the Regional Conference Retirement Plan (RCRP) is an innovation of the nine Regional Conferences of the North American Division and a testimony of God’s faithfulness to the workers who sacrificially serve His kingdom. Below is a brief history of Regional Conferences and why RCRP is here to serve you.

Regional Conferences were created by the General Conference of Seventh-Adventists in 1944 as a response to racial injustice in the United States and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Since their inception with 17,000 Black members, Regional Conference have welcomed any person or group that desires to join, regardless of race or ethnicity. Today, Regional Conferences continue to be an integral part of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church with a membership approaching 300,000 people who represent a broad spectrum of racial groups.

Origin of Regional Conference Retirement Plan (RCRP)

In the year 2000, the North American Division / General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist changed the way it managed retirement for its employees. This new plan, a defined contribution plan, required employees to make regular contributions to their own retirement with the retirement payout depending on how the employee invested the money.

The leadership of the nine (9) Regional Conferences shared a heartfelt belief that the Church should be responsible for paying the retirement of the teachers, pastors, and administrators who served sacrificially throughout their employment. They advocated for a retirement plan which guaranteed a benefit and allowed employees to retire with dignity and maintain a comfortable lifestyle. With absolute faith in God and with the well-being of their employees in mind, Regional Conferences opted out of the NAD’s defined contribution plan and formed their own defined benefit plan.

Regional Conferences successfully created The Regional Conference Retirement Plan (RCRP) which holds the nine Regional Conferences as employers responsible for their employees’ retirement and guarantees a specific amount to be paid at retirement. Regional Conferences are the only local conferences operating a full service retirement plan for their employees without NAD or GC oversight.

The RCRP Board of Directors is comprised of the twenty-seven (27) officers of the nine (9) sponsoring conferences, the RCRP Executive Director, Assistant Director, Chief Financial Officer, and the Executive Director of the Office for Regional Conference Ministries. RCRP serves more than 2,000 active employees, terminated vested employees, retirees, and their beneficiaries. RCRP is housed on the beautiful and historic campus of Oakwood University.