DALLAS
GuideStone Financial Resources® President O.S. Hawkins told trustees that 2018 — the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ministry — was a year that GuideStone® employees would take a glance to the past but would remain focused on the future of the ministry. Each year Hawkins frames the following 12 months with a verse of Scripture and a theme, declaring 2018 as the Year of New Beginnings and basing it off of Ruth 1:16–17.
In addition to the annual theme, trustees heard reports from ministry areas, elected a new board chair and vice chair and marked the retirements of six trustees. Trustees also toured the location of GuideStone’s new offices, which the ministry will relocate to in late summer.
Trustees met in regular session February 26–27 in Dallas.
New officers
John R. Morris (North Carolina), a retired banking president who has served as his church’s chairman of the deacons, was elected chairman of the board during the meeting February 27. He recently completed his term as vice chair of GuideStone’s trustees. Morris has served on the trustee board’s Budget Sub-Committee, Administrative Policy Committee and Executive Committee. He has been a trustee since 2012. He has a graduate degree from, and has served as an instructor with, the American Institute of Banking.
Renée A. Trewick (New York), a vice president at Marsh USA in New York City, was elected vice chair of the trustee board. In her role at Marsh she has responsibility for risk management; she is active in her Southern Baptist church, serving as stewardship director and treasurer. She has served on the trustee board’s Administrative Policy Committee and has served as a trustee since 2014. She holds degrees in finance/accounting and information systems.
“We have been blessed throughout our history with trustee boards that have sought to come alongside us with the right mix of churchmanship and business and fiduciary knowledge,” Hawkins said. “I believe John and Renée continue that tradition. I cannot imagine two better people to lead our board at this point in our history.”
Centennial anniversary
Hawkins told trustees that he believes that part of his stewardship of GuideStone is remaining true to founder William Lunsford’s clarion call in 1918.
“We are stewards of this ministry for a small snapshot in time until we pass it on,” Hawkins said. “As we enter this second century of service, we choose to give a fleeting glance to the past and a focused gaze on the future. We are reminded, as Paul notes in Colossians, that we have received this ministry from the Lord. We are stewards of this important ministry.”
Hawkins reminded trustees of what Lunsford had to say at the Southern Baptist Convention in 1918: “Give yourselves wholeheartedly to the work. We will stand back of you. If you fall in the work, we will care for you; if you die, we will not allow your family to suffer. If you grow old in the work, we will comfort you in your declining years.”
“If William Lunsford could see the ministry we are today, we believe he would be pleased with our stewardship in this time,” Hawkins said.
Retirement and Investments
Chief Operating Officer John R. Jones offered a report on the organization’s work throughout 2017. Organizational assets exceeded $15 billion for the first time in 2017, growing 14.2 percent during the year. Jones commented that GuideStone Funds® performed well against their peers in 2017 and praised the work of the Investments team on behalf of retirement plan participants.
Total active retirement plan accounts continued to grow in 2017, totaling 186,000 participant accounts, up 2.2 percent year-over-year.
Additionally, total retirement and investment contributions exceeded $1 billion, an increase of 11.1 percent over 2016.
“For the first time in history, we garnered more than $1 billion in new assets under management,” Jones said, emphasizing this number was based on contributions, not market gains. GuideStone investments, including institutional and intermediary platforms, accounted for a little over one-third of that gain.
Insurance
Insurance continued to be a focus for GuideStone in 2017. Medical plans enrollment declined slightly in 2017 due to the continued impacts of the Affordable Care Act and uncertainty in the medical coverage marketplace. Jones said that the No. 1 goal for GuideStone in health care in 2018 includes offering an additional health care option that will provide lower premiums. An announcement on specifics regarding that option will come later in 2018.
For the Property and Casualty ministry area, the alliance with Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company continues to benefit GuideStone and Southern Baptist churches. At the end of 2017, GuideStone had 1,146 accounts with total bound premiums of $23.9 million. Sales efforts resulted in $3.9 million in new coverage. GuideStone was able to retain 97 percent of its insured churches and ministries from 2016 to 2017.
Mission:Dignity
Mission:Dignity had its best year ever, raising almost $7.7 million in gifts to the GuideStone ministry that provides financial assistance to retired Southern Baptist pastors, workers and, in most cases, their widows. The gifts reflect a 2.3 percent increase over 2016. Almost 2,100 new donors gave first-time gifts to the ministry during 2017, which saw a record $1.1 million in gifts in December alone, as well as more than $125,000 given during the “Giving Tuesday” emphasis in November. That amount was propelled by $64,000 in matching funds provided by five generous donors.
“Mission:Dignity is truly the heart of GuideStone,” Jones told trustees.
GuideStone continues to seek people eligible to receive assistance from the ministry. Pastors, directors of missions and others who know a retired Southern Baptist minister or his widow in need can refer them to Mission:Dignity by calling 1-877-888-9409 or by visiting MissionDignity.org and choosing the “Refer Someone in Need” link on the right-hand side of the page.
Budget
Trustees approved an operating budget for 2018 that reflects a 1.1 percent increase over 2017’s budget, which itself was reduced approximately 10 percent from 2016’s budget. Jones emphasized that a core goal at GuideStone is to aggressively manage costs, which employees at all levels of the organization are working diligently to achieve.
Jones said the move later this summer from GuideStone’s long-time headquarters in Dallas’ Uptown neighborhood to new rented space in North Dallas’ Pinnacle Tower should yield more than $3 million annually in budget savings.
Farewells
GuideStone trustees thanked six trustees for their service to the board. Staff and other trustees expressed their thankfulness for the tenures of Tom Evans (Oklahoma), Jim Law (Georgia), Pete Livingston (Missouri), David McMillan (Tennessee), O’Neal Miller (South Carolina) and Michael Rochelle (Nevada). New trustees to replace these six will be elected at the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas in June.
Trustees will meet again in July in New York City.
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GuideStone Funds and retail investment products are made available through GuideStone Financial Services®, member FINRA. Shares of GuideStone Funds are distributed by Foreside Funds Distributors LLC. GuideStone Funds and GuideStone Financial Services are controlled-affiliates of GuideStone Financial Resources.
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Roy Hayhurst is director of denominational and public relations services for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention®.
Media Contact
Roy Hayhurst
Director of Denominational and Public Relations Services
GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention
Roy.Hayhurst@GuideStone.org | (214) 720-2141
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