Assisting Needy Retired Ministers

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO 

A few years ago a retired Baptist pastor and his wife inquired about how they might assist in meeting the financial needs of other Kentucky Baptist retired ministers and their wives who needed more income to cover the essentials of daily living.

Although their retirement income was modest, they were debt free, had accumulated some savings and wanted to leave a legacy of their gratitude to the Lord for His provisions throughout their ministry by helping other needy retired ministers. With interest rates on their savings at such lows, they also were seeking a way to increase their retirement income for as long as they lived.

We informed them about the benefits of a charitable gift annuity (CGA) and the KBF’s Minister’s Aid Society Fund (MASF) as a solution to both their charitable interests as well as their income needs.

The CGA payout rate was substantially higher than any CD rate, a portion of it was not considered taxable income to them and they would receive an income tax deduction on a portion of the CGA gift amount.

The perpetual earnings of the MASF are used to supplement the provisions by GuideStone Financial Resources, formerly the Annuity Board, to assist needy retired ministers and their wives, or their widows with extra money for housing, food and medications while seeking to ensure a well deserved dignity and independence. This GuideStone ministry is called Mission:Dignity and provides $6.2M annually to approximately 2,000 recipients per year ranging from $200 to $530 per month. The KBF provides $300,000 annually from the MASF to 91 Kentucky recipients.

You can participate in this important “relief” ministry by sending a designated gift directly to GuideStone and/or the KBF. Your gift can be a check, appreciated assets like stock or real estate, a beneficiary designation of life insurance or retirement account and/or a bequest in your will. For more information about how you can support this ministry, click on www.missiondignitysbc.org, call toll free 1.888.984.8433 or call me toll free (KY only) at 1.866.49.3421.

What an opportunity to assist a generation of God-called servants, who loved their churches, and their churches loved them, but for whom planning for the future was not emphasized when they began serving. They trusted the Lord to provide, and they put the needs of their churches first. Now they need and deserve help. Let Mission:Dignity Sunday, June 22 be the day you decide to help.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1(866) 489-3533.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Back to Basics

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

September is the beginning of the fiscal year of the KBF. It’s also the beginning of the church year for many churches and the beginning of the school year for many schools. So, it’s a normal time to get back to the basics and start a new process with a new focus and with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

The first basics upon which the KBF board and staff has focused in this new fiscal year are the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 and the Acts 1:8 challenge. A few days after our Lord gave His disciples the Great Commission, and as He was about to depart from them and to return to the Father, He left to His disciples then, and to us His disciples today, the challenge to be His witnesses not only at home but also to the ends of the earth.

I like how GuideStone Financial Resources president O.S. Hawkins summed up the Lord’s explicit commission to us His disciples. We are “to make” new disciples by leading people to Jesus Christ; we are “to mark” these new disciples through baptism; and we are “to mature” them by “teaching them to observe” all those things Christ commanded.

Inherent in the mission of the KBF is discipleship, and specifically, “to mature” Jesus’ disciples. And, at the heart of discipleship is financial stewardship. And, that aspect of financial stewardship to which the KBF is committed to facilitate the maturation process is estate stewardship. Since we believe for most Christians estate planning is the single most important act of stewardship one will ever perform, our mission is “to mature” Kentucky Baptists, who are disciples of Jesus Christ, in the Christian discipline of estate stewardship.

The most effective way to mature Kentucky Baptists is to equip Kentucky Baptist churches in how to encourage, educate, enable and engage their adult members in estate stewardship. So, as we enter this new year together, let’s get back to the basics of discipleship, which includes stewarding from one’s estate a portion of that which the Lord has entrusted to us. And, please give your KBF the privilege of assisting you and your church.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Mission Dignity Sunday

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

You may not realize how many men and women there are, who served God’s people faithfully across the years, and now find themselves struggling to meet even their basic needs of food, medicine and electricity. Most of these ministers served in small, rural churches that paid them very modest salaries and could not afford to contribute toward their retirement. In many instances they had to work extra jobs just to make ends meet.

Mission:Dignity™ is the name GuideStone Financial Resources, formerly the Annuity Board, SBC, has given that part of its mission which provides critical financial assistance to thousands of retired ministers and their widows across the nation for housing, food and medications, while seeking to ensure a well-deserved dignity and independence. And 100% of your gifts go to help someone in need with nothing taken out for administrative expenses.

You will be pleased to know your Kentucky Baptist Foundation partners with GuideStone in supplementing those Mission:Dignity recipients living in Kentucky. This supplement is provided from the earnings of the Baptist Minister’s Aid Endowment Fund, which was established 122 years ago.

You can participate in this important “relief” ministry by sending a designated gift directly to GuideStone and/or to the KBF. Your gift can be in the form of a check, appreciated assets like stocks or real estate, a beneficiary designation of life insurance or retirement account and/or a bequest in your will.

For more information about this ministry and how you can support it click on www.missiondignitysbc.org, call toll free 1.888.984.8433 or call me toll free at 1.866.489.3421.

What an opportunity to assist a generation of God called servants, who loved their churches, and their churches loved them, but for whom planning for the future was not emphasized when they began serving. They went into the ministry with no turning back. They trusted the Lord to provide, and they put the needs of their churches first. Now they need and deserve our help. Let Mission:Dignity Sunday, June 24, be the day you decide to help.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Partner Profile- Mission Dignity

By: Barry G. Allen- President and CEO

What an opportunity you have to assist a generation of God called servants, who loved their churches, and their churches loved them, but for whom planning for the future was not emphasized when they began serving. They went into the ministry with no turning back. They trusted the Lord to provide, and they put the needs of their churches first. Now they need and deserve our help.

Most people do not realize how many men and women there are, who served God’s people faithfully across the years, and now find themselves struggling to meet even their basic needs. Most of these served as pastors and pastors’ wives in small, rural churches that paid them very modest salaries and could not afford to contribute toward their retirement. In many instances these men and women had to work extra jobs just to make ends meet.

Mission:Dignity™ is the name GuideStone Financial Resources, formerly the Annuity Board, SBC, has given that part of its mission which provides “relief” assistance to these needy retired ministers and their widows. This ministry was previously called the Adopt-An-Annuitant program. Although the name is new, the need is greater than ever.

Currently GuideStone pays out $6M per year to assist 2,000 retired ministers and spouses across the nation with money for housing, food and medications while seeking to ensure a well-deserved dignity and independence for these faithful servants of the Lord.

You will be pleased to know the Kentucky Baptist Foundation partners with GuideStone in supplementing those Mission:Dignity recipients living in Kentucky. This supplement is provided from the earnings of the Baptist Minister’s Aid Endowment Fund, which was established 122 years ago. Currently we are providing $275,000 per year to 91 Kentucky recipients ranging from $200 to $530 per month.

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting by telephone with several of the Kentucky recipients. These are some of the comments they shared with me about the impact of this financial assistance on their lives. The widow of a pastor said “I don’t know what I would have done without this blessing from the Lord.” Another widow shared, “It helps to pay for the supplement insurance so I can see the special doctor I need for my health condition. I thank God for those who make this possible.” A retired pastor stated “When I accepted the call to preach I lost my teacher’s retirement, did not have any social security and the churches I served only contributed the minimum toward my retirement. I guess I could have made it without this help, but it would have been difficult.”

Don Spencer, Director of the KBC Church Financial Benefits Department, affirmed this ministry like this: “For the folks receiving this assistance each month it often means the difference in having basic necessities like food on the table or paying the utility bills, and they get quite emotional when they express appreciation for the difference these dollars make in their lives.”

When you think about the ministry of the KBF you would not think it included financial assistance to needy retired pastors and their widows. And yet, across the years there have been those who have demonstrated their admiration, appreciation and affection for these soldiers of the cross by making gifts into endowment funds administered by the KBF that provide “relief funds” for their well-being.

You, too, can participate in this important ministry by sending a designated gift directly to GuideStone and/or to the KBF. Your gift can be in the form of a check, appreciated assets, a beneficiary designation of life insurance or retirement account and/or a bequest in your will.

For more information about this ministry and how you can support it click on www.missiondignitysbc.org, call toll free 1.888.984.8433 or call me toll free at 1.866.489.3421.