Church Association Plan

[Guest kredlin]

I have a group of a couple hundred churches who would like to form an association for the purpose of having the association offer a self-funded health plan to the employees of the member churches. The goal is to have the plan qualify as a church plan. It is my understanding that the association would have to qualify under 501© in order for the plan to be a church plan. Is this correct? If so, how can I get the association to qualify under 501© if its sole purpose is to offer insurance to member churches?