What is the GCU?

     That is the first question many ask when they initially are introduced to the GCU. The GCU’s legal name is the Greek Catholic Union of the U.S.A.--A fraternal insurance company that is in the business of marketing life insurance and annuities. We have assets of over 800 million dollars and 40,000 members across the United States. On the surface that is what the GCU is, but there is more to our story.
    The GCU was founded by 14 independent lodges associated with Greek Catholic Churches (today they are called Byzantine Catholic and are members of the Eastern Catholic Church). The lodges were originally formed at each church as a means to offer some type of protection to the Rusyn immigrants that had founded these churches. Many of them worked in dangerous professions in the coal mines and early steel mills, where commercial life insurance companies would not provide life insurance to them due to their dangerous occupations. When a member was seriously injured or killed, the lodge would assess the members of the lodge a fee that was collected and then passed on to the family that suffered the loss.
   At a meeting of the Greek Catholic clergy in late 1891, it was decided to unite the independent lodges to form a stronger bond between the Rusyn people spread out in various towns of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey. The organizational meeting took place on February 14, 1892 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Since all of the lodges were associated with Greek Catholic churches, it only made sense to call the new organization the Greek Catholic Union. The GCU began humbly with 743 members and $600 in assets.
We may have grown to a multi-million dollar company, but our goals today are still the same as the vision of our founders. GCU actively protects families by offering insurance products that insure the lives of our members, but also annuity products that protects a family’s financial future as well. Today our life and annuity products are available to all Christians. We continue to be active in the Byzantine Catholic churches, especially those where are lodges are based. GCU offers fraternal programs that give our members the chance to collaborate in social, athletic and fundraising activities. Many of the fundraising efforts are aimed at improving services in the lodge’s local communities.
   Many things have changed since our founding in 1892, but our fundamental goals remain the same. As our mission statement reads, “Protecting Families, Promoting Faith and Fraternalism, Strengthening Communities.”