APEX Church Solutions

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APEX Church Solutions

Get Started Learn More

We understand your ministry.
We understand employee benefits.
And we share your passion for the Gospel.

That’s why GuideStone® and APEX Churches have teamed up to support your calling and offer faith-based retirement solutions, insurance and health plans uniquely designed for your ministry.

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GuideStone offers comprehensive solutions designed to provide support, guidance and protection. Explore our offerings below.

Retirement
Insurance and Health Plans
Property and Casualty
Why GuideStone Retirement?

Alongside APEX Churches, GuideStone® is excited to offer a unique retirement plan for church staff members. The plan is offered as part of APEX Churches' commitment to a secure retirement investment platform for churches, pastors, staff and missionaries and is now available to all APEX church planters.

GuideStone is one of the nation’s largest providers of employee benefits and financial services, working with 23,000 ministry partners to offer retirement plans customized to help employees reach their individual financial goals.

  • Faith-based Investments: GuideStone sponsors the nation’s largest1 faith-based mutual fund family — GuideStone Funds® — which provides you with investment options that align with your values.
  • Ministers’ Tax Benefits: GuideStone offers a 403(b)(9) church retirement plan, allowing distributions as housing allowance in retirement for employees who qualify as Ministers for Tax Purposes.
  • Personalized Services: GuideStone's team of personal financial advisors is available to deliver customized advice to members — including asset allocation, contribution planning, gap analysis, Social Security maximization and more. Plus, GuideStone's Customer Solutions department of trained specialists is also available by phone or email Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT to assist you in secure, knowledgeable conversations.
  • Targeted Educational Resources: Access informative and timely employee resources. Employees can find personalized tools in their MyGuideStone® accounts
Who is eligible?
  • All APEX church planters are eligible to participate in the 403(b)(9) plan.
  • Employee eligibility is determined by the church.
What types of costs are associated with the retirement plan?
  • There is no cost to the church to establish the retirement plan.
  • There is a $12 quarterly fee paid by each participant if and only if the average account balance for all participants in the plan as of December 31 of the prior year is less than $15,000. Since the average balance in the plan is over $15,000, this fee is waived. There are no other recurring fees outside the expense ratios of the funds.

     

What kind of contributions can be made?
  • Contributions can be made by the employer, employee or both.
  • Salary-reduced contributions by the employee can be made as tax-sheltered or Roth.
What do standard plan provisions include?
  • 100% vesting on all contributions regardless of years of service
  • One hardship withdrawal per plan year for participants less than age 59½ (must meet IRS requirements as a hardship)
  • Unlimited in-service withdrawals from the plan for participants who are at least age 59½
  • Distribution options of a single sum or systematic withdrawal payments after termination from service
  • One outstanding plan loan
  • Spousal consent is not required for beneficiary designations or distribution transactions (including loans)
How do I get started?

Step 1: Request your church's plan documents by booking an appointment or contacting Curtis Farmer. (Please include "Your Church Name-APEX Churches" in your email.)

Step 2: After plan document completion, you will receive information in order to enroll eligible participants to begin employee contributions via the GuideStone Employee Access® Program (EAP).

Why GuideStone Insurance and Health Plans?

GuideStone believes when the body of Christ is healthy, it’s free to transform the world — and we want to help guide and equip your ministry to do just that. With GuideStone, APEX church planters have access to a variety of health plans and insurance products designed for ministries like yours.

Get Started with Insurance and Health Plans
What We Offer

We offer a variety of both group and personal health plan designs to match your budget to your health care needs. Designed with Christian values in mind, our plans have built-in features — like nationwide networks and nurse navigators — so that you can steward your ministry dollars well.

To round out your benefits package and offer your employees peace of mind, we also offer other essential insurance products.

With GuideStone, dental, vision, life, accident and disability insurance may be more cost-effective than you think!

Who is eligible?

All APEX church planters are eligible to participate in GuideStone insurance and health plans.

  • To qualify for GuideStone Group Plans, employers with two or more covered employees must contribute a minimum of 50% of the employee-only cost of health coverage. Employees may participate in a GuideStone group health plan if they work 20 or more hours per week and are paid, full-time employees of an eligible church, agency, or institution affiliated with, or sharing common religious bonds with, the Southern Baptist Convention.
  • An individual is eligible to participate in GuideStone Personal Plans if he or she is a paid employee of an eligible APEX church plant and works 20 or more hours per week.
How do I get started?

Ready to get started with GuideStone insurance and health plans? Get a quote.

Why GuideStone Property and Casualty?

GuideStone Property and Casualty® and APEX Churches are excited to offer you the unique coverage your ministry needs.

We team up with insurance carriers to provide eligible APEX church planters with tailored property and liability insurance. Our goal is to empower your ministry and people to stay protected so you can focus on fulfilling your calling.

Get Started with Property & Casualty

 

Get Started with Property and Casualty
What We Offer
  • Property Insurance: Cover your buildings, property and belongings. If your ministry is damaged, destroyed or the victim of theft, this policy can help lessen financial burdens resulting from a loss.
  • Liability and Excess Liability Insurance: Guard your ministry, employees, leaders and volunteers from lawsuits, liabilities and losses. Also ensure that what makes your ministry unique is protected with excess liability insurance.
  • Commercial Auto: Provide coverage for people’s injuries and your ministry’s vehicles in the event of an accident. A commercial auto policy can help lessen financial burdens arising from vehicle liabilities, collisions, personal injury and more.
  • Workers’ Compensation:
  • Employee Benefits — Help employees who suffer from a work-related injury or illness by offering workers’ compensation to help pay for medical, disability, rehabilitation and, in rare instances, expenses associated with death on the job.
  • Employer’s Liability — Protect your ministry from financial loss in the event that an employee files a suit for a work-related injury or illness.
  • Mission Travel:
  • Individual Coverage — Through Faith Ventures®, you have a simple way to book, insure and prepare for your mission trip.
  • Organizational Coverage — Protect your mission teams whether they are going a few miles down the road or halfway around the world.


Who is eligible?

All APEX church planters qualify to receive a quote, subject to underwriting eligibility.

How do I get started?

Ready to get started with property and casualty insurance? Get a quote.

 

 

 

 

 

Get Started

See how GuideStone can help enhance the financial security and resilience of your ministry.

Retirement and Investing

Email Curtis.Farmer@GuideStone.org
Insurance and Health Plans

For Individuals & Organizations

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Property and Casualty

For Organizations Only

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1 As of September 30, 2026, GuideStone Funds has $25.0 billion in assets, which makes GuideStone Funds® the nation’s largest faith-based mutual fund family. No other faith-based fund family exceeds GuideStone Funds in asset size.

There can be no guarantee that any strategy (risk management or otherwise) will be successful. All investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.

Funds invested in accordance with the faith-based investment restrictions of GuideStone Financial Resources may not be able to take advantage of certain investment opportunities due to these restrictions, which may adversely affect investment performance.

You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the GuideStone Funds® before investing. A prospectus with this and other information about the Funds may be obtained by calling 1-888-GS-FUNDS (1-888-473-8637) or visit GuideStoneFunds.com/Funds to view or download a prospectus. You should read the prospectus carefully before investing.

GuideStone Funds shares are distributed by Ultimus Fund Distributors, LLC, not an adviser affiliate. Ultimus is not a registered investment adviser and does not provide investment advice.