DALLAS (BP) — Helping ministers achieve financial security and resilience so they can focus on their ministry calling remained the focus of GuideStone’s ministry activities in 2024 and will remain the focus in the months and years to come, noted President Hance Dilbeck.
“We know deep in our being that the work we do on behalf of our members and ministry partners is Kingdom work that is helping ministers, pastors and other church and ministry workers to become more financially secure, and thus resilient, and they are able to stay in the work to which they have been called,” Dilbeck said. “We know we have work to do, and even as our teams look back with thanksgiving for 2024 —including a record year for Retirement savings — they also look forward to new opportunities in 2025 and beyond.”
GuideStone named 2024 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winner
GuideStone has received the 2024 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award (GEWA). This award recognizes the most engaged workplace cultures in the world.
Gallup found that GuideStone continued to engage and develop its team in innovative ways.
The GEWA winners’ ratio of engaged employees to actively disengaged employees is 11 times higher than the global average. Worldwide, only 23 percent of employees are engaged — that is, committed to their work and connected to their workplace — and just 33 percent of employees in the U.S. workforce are engaged. Seventy percent of employees at winning GEWA organizations are engaged.
“We are thankful for Gallup’s recognition of what we have been doing at GuideStone for many years,” Dilbeck said. “Our team members, in many cases, come from some of the largest names in insurance and finance, yet they are drawn here for our commitment to our mission to enhance financial security and resilience for those who serve the Lord. We do that in a Christian environment that exemplifies integrity, heart and skill, and in an environment of mutual respect, accountability and excellence.”
New GuideStone research shows pastors struggle with financial, physical and mental stresses
Commissioned by GuideStone Financial Resources and conducted by Grey Matter Research & Consulting, a 2024 Pastoral Wellness Study found that over 80 percent of pastors surveyed sometimes sacrifice their own well-being in their ministerial capacity, with over half saying they sometimes sacrifice their family’s well-being while doing ministry.
The survey audience included GuideStone members under the age of 55 who are ministers working at churches and have less than $50,000 in assets under management at GuideStone. The survey respondents were asked about financial, physical, mental, spiritual, and relational wellness.
When asked which is the hardest area for them to be healthy and well, 32 percent of responding ministers identified financial (citing rising costs and insufficient income), 28 percent said physical (not exercising enough and not eating healthy), and 21 percent said mental (including stress and anxiety, often brought on by the burdens of ministry).
On the financial front, responses indicated many pastors aren’t prepared for emergencies or retirement. Almost half (48 percent) said they have less than $5,000 in non-retirement savings, one-third said they have stopped or reduced retirement savings to cover emergencies, and nearly half (49 percent) said they have taken on debt to pay for emergencies.
“The findings about pastors’ financial wellness are especially pivotal because financial wellness impacts other areas of wellness,” Dilbeck said. “Helping pastors get to a better place financially has so many positive effects on their families and their ability to do the vital ministry work to which they are called and for which so many others rely on them.”
GuideStone recently launched GuideStone.org/pastor on its website, offering free compensation, mental health, financial support, and other resources for pastors and other church leaders to address some of the most common challenges.
New Start Well initiatives
Additionally, GuideStone is developing new resources as part of its ongoing commitment to help pastors start, stay and finish well.
“As part of our commitment to being an effective ministry partner that supports pastors in these areas and frees them up to do the ministry that they have been called to, we are particularly excited to share the new Start Well resources that include an assessment, guided learning modules, and access to a call with a financial educator,” Dilbeck said. “We are piloting a new education format to walk them through how to start well financially, physically, and mentally. We believe GuideStone has a lead role as a champion of pastor wellness, and we are committed to your financial security and resilience in every stage of life and ministry.”
More details on these initiatives will be announced throughout 2025.
Cox provides leadership to the Board
David Cox (Michigan) presided over his first meeting as trustee board chair in 2024. A bivocational pastor of Temple of Faith Baptist Church in Detroit, Cox has a unique understanding of the experiences of pastors of small churches. Additionally, he has spent more than 20 years with Penske Logistics in supply chain management. A 1994 graduate of Florida A&M University, Cox has served various roles with the Greater Detroit Baptist Association and the Michigan African American Fellowship.
Mission:Dignity 13th checks
Mission:Dignity recipients in 19 states received an extra blessing to start the year thanks to the efforts of state convention ministry partners and Mission:Dignity. The “13th Check” or similar benefits help recipients — retirement-aged Southern Baptist ministers, workers and widows struggling to meet basic needs — afford housing, food and vital medications while ensuring a well-deserved dignity, independence and often the ability to continue serving the Lord.
To learn more about Mission:Dignity, to apply for assistance, or to refer someone in need, visit MissionDignity.org.
Related posts:
GuideStone to provide employee benefits for newly formed Global Methodist Church 
SBC DIGEST: Changes in key GuideStone leadership roles 
SBC DIGEST: GuideStone releases pastoral wellness survey, Kingdom Impact Report 
GuideStone, NAMB partner to provide retirement, insurance for new church planters 
In new book, Hawkins redefines ‘VIP’ 
Market volatility addressed at GuideStone summit 
GuideStone awarded Best Overall Small Fund Family 
GuideStone restructures to become more efficient
