AME Church Clergy Set to Receive Additional $44M in Retirement Scandal Settlement
- Apr 26
- 2 min read
A federal judge has given preliminary approval to a settlement that could return tens of millions of dollars to clergy and staff of the African Methodist Episcopal Church who lost retirement funds due to alleged mismanagement.
On April 17, Judge S. Thomas Anderson approved a proposed $44M settlement with Symetra Life Insurance Co. If finalized at an August 19 hearing, the agreement would bring total recoveries to about $106.2 million. This follows a previously approved $60 million settlement in 2024, though roughly one-third of that amount went toward legal fees.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of approximately 4,500 clergy and staff—alleges that Symetra worked with the late Rev. Jerome V. Harris, former head of the church’s Department of Retirement Services, in the mishandling of retirement funds. Plaintiffs initially estimated losses at $88.4 million but later argued the plan should have held as much as $227 million more than reported in 2021.
Rev. Jerome V. Harris, a retired general officer of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, died in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 8, 2024.
Church officials have previously stated that Harris provided misleading financial reports before his retirement in 2021.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs described the settlement as a significant step toward restoring lost funds, though litigation against other parties is ongoing. Leaders within the AME community say the outcome offers hope for impacted retirees—some of whom faced severe financial hardship after discovering their accounts were depleted.
Reverend Wilfred Jacobus Messiah is the Senior Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. He was installed in August 2024.
So far, the church reports that hundreds of retirement distributions have been made. According to current estimates, affected participants have had about 61.5% of their expected June 2021 account balances restored, with additional recovery dependent on future settlements.
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