The Clergy Act Passed the House. Here Is What It Means If You Opted Out.
Can I ask you something?
Do you know where your Form 4361 is?
If you’re like most pastors who opted out of Social Security, it’s in a file cabinet somewhere, or a shoebox, or you honestly have no idea. You signed it a long time ago. Maybe a mentor told you to. Maybe a tax guy said it was the smart play. You were probably in your twenties.
And here’s the thing about that form. Under current law, it’s permanent. No do-overs. No “I’ve changed my mind.” Once you’re out, you’re out.
That might be about to change. And I want to walk you through it, because I think this matters whether you’d ever opt back in or not.
So What Actually Happened
On April 27, the House passed H.R. 227, the Clergy Act. The vote was 350 to 5.
Stop and think about that for a second. Congress can barely agree on what day it is. And 350 members of both parties just voted to give pastors a way back into Social Security.
I first wrote about this bill back when it was introduced, and at the time it was one of those proposals you hope survives but expect to die quietly in committee. It didn’t die. It picked up support from both parties, and now it has cleared the full House by one of the most lopsided votes you’ll see this Congress.
The bill would open a two-year window. If you opted out years ago, you’d get one chance to revoke that decision and opt back in. Congress has done this before, by the way. The last window closed back in the early 2000s, and if you missed that one, you’ve been living with the consequences ever since. If this passes, it’s probably the last chance for a generation.
Now, before you get excited or worried, here’s the part you need to hear: this is not law yet. The House passed it. The Senate hasn’t touched it. The Senate’s version of the bill, S. 639, has been sitting in the Finance Committee since February of last year. Bills stall there all the time. So there’s nothing to file, nothing to sign, nothing to do yet. This is a “pay attention” moment, not a “take action” moment.
What the Bill Would Do
In plain terms, the version the House passed would:
Let ministers who previously opted out revoke that exemption and get back in
Give you a limited window to do it, with the deadline tied to your tax filing for the second taxable year after December 31, 2027
Require the IRS to actually tell clergy the window exists, instead of hoping word gets around
The Senate could still change any of that, so hold the details loosely. The big idea is the one that counts. A decision that’s been irreversible for decades would, for a little while, be reversible.
Why This Bill Exists
Let me tell you how the opt-out usually went, because I’ve heard this story more times than I can count.
A young pastor, fresh into ministry, sits down with someone who frames it as simple math. Keep your 15.3 percent. Invest the difference. You’ll come out way ahead of Social Security.
And on a spreadsheet, that’s true. Here’s what the spreadsheet leaves out: life.
Ministry salaries are tight. Kids come along. The church can’t always contribute to a retirement plan. The car breaks down the same month the water heater goes. That 15.3 percent that was supposed to be faithfully invested every year? For a lot of pastors, it got absorbed into just keeping the household running.
So now there are pastors in their fifties and sixties with no Social Security credits from ministry, not much saved, and a big question mark hanging over Medicare at 65. The opt-out was sold as a strategy. For a lot of pastors, it quietly became a hole.
That’s who this bill is for. And if that’s where you find yourself today, I’ve written before about what opting out means for your plan and what to do next.
Okay, But Should You Opt Back In?
Honest answer? Maybe. Maybe not. Let me give you the things I’d want you thinking about over this cup of coffee, because the right answer looks different for every pastor at the table.
What it costs you. Opting back in means paying SECA again, 15.3 percent on your ministerial income, on top of your income taxes. If you’re making $60,000 in ministry income, that’s about $9,000 a year. Real money. It has to come from somewhere.
What you’d get. Social Security retirement benefits generally take 40 credits, which works out to about ten years of paying in. And here’s something a lot of pastors forget: credits from secular jobs count. That summer job, those years before ministry, the bivocational seasons. If you’re 48, you’ve probably got time to get there. If you’re 64 and starting from zero, the math gets a lot harder. And if you do end up with benefits coming, when to start taking them is its own decision.
Medicare. Don’t skip this one. For older pastors, this might matter more than the retirement check. Hit 40 credits and Medicare Part A is generally premium-free at 65. Miss it, and Part A comes with a monthly premium most people never even know exists. Stretch that over a twenty-year retirement and it’s a serious number.
What you built instead. Some of you actually did it. You opted out and you invested the difference, faithfully, for decades. If that’s you, staying out might genuinely be the better move. The window wouldn’t force anyone back in. It just opens the door.
The part nobody mentions. Social Security isn’t just a retirement check. It’s disability coverage if you can’t work. It’s survivor benefits for your spouse and kids if something happens to you. Pastors who opted out gave all of that up too, and most never replaced it.
So no, there’s no universal answer. A 50-year-old with thin savings and 25 credits from a secular career is looking at a very different decision than a 63-year-old with a healthy 403(b)(9) and a paid-off house. The point of the window isn’t that everyone should walk through it.
The point is that the door would finally exist.
Here’s Where I Want to Push You a Little
You might run your numbers and decide opting back in isn’t for you. Fair enough. That’s a perfectly good outcome.
But think about your network for a minute. Somewhere in it, there’s a pastor for whom this bill is the difference between a stable retirement and a fragile one. Somebody who signed that form at 24 on bad advice, never closed the gap, and has been quietly carrying that weight for thirty years. You probably know exactly who I’m picturing. For that pastor, this isn’t a policy footnote. It’s a second chance.
And here’s what I love about this bill. Supporting it costs you nothing, even if you never use it. It doesn’t force anyone back in. It just makes a permanent mistake fixable for the people who need it fixed.
The House did its part. Now it needs the Senate, and the Senate version has been parked in committee for over a year. If you think pastors deserve the option, say so. A short, respectful note to your two senators asking them to take up S. 639, the Clergy Act, takes five minutes. You can look up both of your senators and their contact forms at senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm. And if you would rather just call, the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 will connect you straight to either office.
Paul put it this way: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10). Speaking up for a colleague’s second chance, even one you’ll never need yourself, is a pretty concrete way to do that.
While You Wait
There’s nothing to file yet. But if the window opens, you’ll want to be ready instead of scrambling. Three quiet things you can do now:
Find your Form 4361. Confirm you actually have the exemption and when it took effect.
Pull your earnings record at ssa.gov and count the credits you already have from secular work. You might be closer to 40 than you think.
Rough out the math both ways. What would SECA cost you each year? What would the benefits and Medicare coverage be worth by the time you retire?
While you’re at it, map where your retirement income will actually come from, with or without Social Security in the mix. This guide walks through the pieces.
One more thing. There’s no rush on any of this. Even if the Clergy Act becomes law, the window wouldn’t open until around 2029, so there’s nothing to file today. But if you want to stay in the loop as it moves, here’s the easiest way in.
Stay in the loop, and grab the free checklist.
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Wondering how the Clergy Act could affect your retirement picture if it becomes law? The Pastor Retirement Checkup is a focused, one-time review for pastors who want to look at Social Security, Medicare, housing allowance, retirement income, and next-step planning in context.
Pastoral Finance is educational content for pastors and ministry leaders. It is not individualized financial, tax, or legal advice, and it is published independently of Legacy Path Advisors LLC. H.R. 227 is proposed legislation and has not been enacted; its provisions may change or it may not become law. Before acting on anything here, confirm your exemption status, your Social Security earnings record, and the current status of the legislation with a qualified tax professional who understands clergy taxation and your specific situation.
