Note: This article was written and published by Wespath in a December 2021. View the online version here. 

Photo illustrations from Wespath.

As a district superintendent and then executive director of the Methodist Foundation in South Dakota, the Reverend Lloyd Grinager often conducted one-on-one meetings with his fellow pastors over coffee. Grinager also would buy a donut. Then, Grinager would split the donut in two and give half to the pastor sitting on the other side of the table.

Lloyd Grinager, who died in 1987, is still remembered fondly for sharing his donuts and that simple gesture may have had an outsized impact. One donut at a time, Grinager helped establish a spirit of generosity within the Dakotas Conference, according to retired Rev. Peary Wilson, who served alongside Grinager on the Board of Pensions and Health Benefits (BOPHB).

Grinager’s philosophy also influenced his son, the retired Rev. Howard Grinager. When BOPHB found itself in a state of “overfundedness,” according to board chair Elaine Roberts, Howard Grinager saw an opportunity. He suggested the BOPHB tithe a portion of the surplus funds that resulted from strong investment returns and give to the Central Conference Pensions (CCP). The board agreed and the Dakotas Conference BOPHB has been a generous donor to CCP for the past several years.

“My wife and I had been giving independently to the Central Conference Pensions funds, partially because I think of my dad,” Howard Grinager said. “My dad worked long and hard. He talked about building up resources for tired, (worn) out preachers. When I looked at the report coming out of the central conferences … and the number of people that needed to be supported, I just thought about his concern.”

Howard Grinager serves as ex officio on the BOPHB as a representative from the Board of Ordained Ministry. After he introduced the idea of giving to CCP at a board meeting, Wilson testified to the importance of CCP to his fellow board members.

Wilson served on the Central Conference Pension Initiative task force in the early 2000s. During that time, he heard from many individuals about the needs of clergy in other countries. In particular, the bishop of Russia had shared a story that still sparks a visceral reaction within Wilson.

“One morning he came in and he said he’d just had a phone call early that morning from a pastor of his who lived in a log cabin, far away,” Wilson said. “I had the feeling that it was in the Siberian section of Russia. She was in her cabin, and there was a high window on her door. There was a wolf that was so big it was leaning against the outside of the door and its head was looking in the window at her. Its head filled that window. And he said, ‘This is what it’s like. And I’m here in part because I want to see that those pastors have something to sustain them in later years for these kinds of years of service.’”

Wilson’s actions as he recounted this story over Zoom lent a heightened meaning to his words. When he spoke of the wolf leaning against the door, Wilson bent forward at the waist and leaned closer to the camera. A few seconds later as he repeated the bishop’s words, Wilson paused after he said “pastors” and raised his right hand to his mouth as he appeared to choke up. With his voice quivering, Wilson excused himself and then after a moment he finished his story.

In 1996, Wilson was an alternate delegate to General Conference and that experience also shaped his views on CCP. He recalled walking into the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and seeing interpreters for several languages and delegates dressed in a variety of clothing styles.

“I realized both the challenge and the opportunity of what the United Methodist Church had,” Wilson said. “It made a deep, deep impression on me.”

The Dakotas Conference BOPHB has been a generous donor to CPP for the past several years. He added: “We are an international body, and we need to respect that and to do what we could.”

In addition to supporting CCP, the BOPHB also has donated to the pension fund for the Alaska United Methodist Conference, which is a missionary conference.

The BOPHB’s primary objective when it tithes is to support clergy wellness throughout their lives, Roberts said.

“As a lay person, I have a commitment to the health and well-being of my pastor and other pastors,” Roberts said. “They are the persons who influence our lives, who bring us to the Christian faith, who bring us to Jesus. And their health and well-being and leadership really points to where the church is headed. And so I’ve always had a passion for making sure that pastors are supported wherever they are and wherever they are serving.”

Roberts said she learned about generosity and the blessings that flow from generosity from Lloyd Grinager, who was the pastor at her church for a time.

“We’ve talked about how, in some ways, my father impacted the lives of the three of us,” said Howard Grinager, referencing himself, Roberts and Wilson. “I just think about every pastor that we support through the Central Conference Pensions. How many peoples’ lives have they in their ministry impacted and blessed? And not only blessed, but then challenged them to then move into places of leadership either as new clergy or as laity within the life of the church? What we’re doing is we’re helping to support people who have impacted the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world.”