Hawkins declares 2009 as Year of Perspective

March 4, 2009

DALLAS — Drawing from an Old Testament passage, GuideStone Financial Resources President O.S. Hawkins told trustees, “The continued volatility in the financial markets reminds all of us that we need to have a proper perspective in times of uncertainty.” Trustees met in regular session March 2–3 in Dallas. Trustees also heard a report from Chief Operating Officer John R. Jones.

Speaking from Habakkuk 2:3, which says, Though the vision tarries, wait for it; it will surely come, Hawkins reminded trustees, “In times of uncertainty we can give up, give in or give out. However, through the power of God’s leadership we must reach up seeking His guidance. We must reach in to fine-tune our processes and make the most of the resources that we have. And we must reach out to our participants in helping them to also gain a proper perspective as they navigate these tumultuous times of financial crisis.”

Jones updated trustees on the program areas of GuideStone (retirement, investments, insurance and financial assistance).

“In a year of significant financial markets volatility, GuideStone Funds continued to perform very well compared to its mutual fund peers. For the five-year period ending Dec. 31, 2008, six of nine Select funds in the GS2 class exceeded their respective mutual fund peer universe median as measured by the Lipper Ranking,” Jones said. Lipper Inc., a Reuters Company, is a nationally recognized organization that compares the total return performance of mutual funds within a universe of funds having similar investment objectives. Please keep in mind that past performance does not guarantee future results. (Two Select Funds that are not part of the GS2 share class are the Global Bond and the Real Estate Securities Funds. They are not part of the Lipper Rankings discussed).

“In addition, GuideStone Funds ranked 92 out of 226 mutual fund families in the most recent Fund Family Fiduciary Rankings prepared by fi360,” Jones said. This report ranks mutual fund families based upon the percentage of their individual funds that pass fi360’s due diligence screens. These screens include the fund's track record, assets, management tenure, style consistency, expense ratio, risk adjusted performance and performance relative to their peer group among other criteria.

“Even during a very difficult period of time, we saw an increase in the number of active retirement plan participants,” Jones said. GuideStone now has more than 97,000 active participants in its various retirement plans. Total retirement plan participants active and inactive now total more than 153,000.

Turning to GuideStone’s medical plans, Jones highlighted that in 2008 the medical plans' net enrollment increased by 3.9%.

“During this difficult time we continued to experience growth in both our personal and group programs,” Jones told trustees.

In the financial assistance area, Jones reported good news concerning generous responses by individuals and churches that supported the financial assistance program, Mission:Dignity. Total gifts for 2008 exceeded $6,120,000; the most ever received in one year.

“This was our first full year of no Cooperative Program distributions,” Jones reminded trustees. “We released our allocation back to the Southern Baptist Convention effective September of 2007 to be used for the mission boards and seminaries.”

“We believe the re-branding of our financial assistance program from Adopt An Annuitant to Mission:Dignity has resulted in heightened awareness of this important program,” Jones said. The Mission:Dignity program provides financial assistance to over 2,050 retired ministers or their widows in crucial financial need.

Information concerning Mission:Dignity may be requested by calling GuideStone at 1-888-98-GUIDE (1-888-984-8433) or by sending an email.

Jones also reported on GuideStone’s initiative to offer property and casualty insurance to churches and ministry organizations.

“This new program, launched in the fall of 2008, offers a competitive property and casualty program that provides risk management programs for churches and may provide the opportunity to reclaim dollars for ministry that have been lost to for-profit insurers,” Jones said.

Information about GuideStone’s Property and Casualty Program may be accessed on the Web site or by calling 1-877-455-GSPC (1-877-455-4772).

The trustees’ Relief Committee affirmed the addition of 34 new applicants in the fourth quarter. Eight applications were approved for grants and one application was approved for a one-time emergency grant.

Trustees accepted the recommendation of their general officers nominating committee and elected Timothy E. Head, South Carolina, as chairman and Harold D. Vick, Florida, as vice-chairman.

At the Monday evening dinner meeting, eight trustees were honored as they reached the end of their terms of service. Those receiving recognition were Oliver Allred, New Mexico; G. Robert Benson, Missouri; Robert W. Boyles, West Virginia; W. Randy Chestnut, Ohio; Ronnie W. Floyd, Arkansas; Phillip D. Koos, Jr., Pennsylvania-South Jersey and Danny E. Watters, Georgia.

The Fund Family Fiduciary Rankings™ is a quarterly report on the major fund families. Fi360 leverages the technology used to determine the Fi360 Fiduciary Score™ for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds to establish a ranking for each family. Only shops with five or more funds with at least a three-year track record are considered in the report. Within each fund family, the percentage of funds that have either a “Passed” (Fi360 Fiduciary Score™ 0) or "Appropriate” (Fi360 Fiduciary Score™ 1-25) classification is calculated. This percentage is then used to rank order the families. In the instances where two or more fund families tie (share the same percentage), preference is given to the shop with the greater number of funds offered. All fund share classes are considered in the rankings.

Lipper Rankings are subject to change monthly. Past rankings are no guarantee of future rankings. Investment return and the value of an investor's shares will fluctuate. Shares may be worth more or less than original cost when redeemed.

GuideStone Funds shares are distributed by PFPC Distributors, Inc., a registered broker-dealer and underwriter of the funds, 760 Moore Rd., King of Prussia, PA 19406. GuideStone Funds is a controlled-affiliate of GuideStone Financial Resources.