Evaluation of United Methodist Church Consumption Levels for a Pension Program in Angola

The United Methodist Church (UMC) has collected over $10 million dollars to support the expansion of pension programs for United Methodist Church Conferences in the 37 countries in which it functions around the world. The Central Conference Pension Initiative (CCPI) assists each of the UMC Conferences to build the best pension program for their community. In order to equitably and efficiently distribute funds around the world, CCPI asked the team to evaluate international poverty measurement tools, tailor a tool specifically for CCPI, and test this tool in Angola. The team went to Angola with the goal of interviewing 60 pastors and pensioners using a consumption questionnaire to determine a common standard of living before and after retirement. The results will assist CCPI in making informed decisions on how to distribute funds. Ultimately, based on field research, the Capstone team will produce an enhanced survey that CCPI can implement in all 37 countries in the future.