Congregational Methodist Church Solutions

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Congregational Methodist 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 the Congregational Methodist Church (CMC) have teamed up to support your calling and offer faith-based retirement solutions, health plans and other coverages uniquely designed for your ministry.

Learn More

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

Retirement
Health Plans and Other Coverages
Property & Casualty
Why GuideStone Retirement?

Alongside CMC, GuideStone® is excited to offer a unique retirement plan for church staff members. The plan is offered as part of CMC’s commitment to a secure retirement investment platform for churches, pastors, staff and missionaries and is now available to all churches in the CMC network.

GuideStone is one of the nation’s largest providers of employee benefits and financial services, working with 36,000 churches and nearly 600 ministries 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.
  • Advisory Services: GuideStone's team of financial advisors is available to deliver customized advice to members for an additional fee. Plus, our customer solutions specialists are 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.

 

Benefits of the CMC Associational Plan
Who is eligible?
  • All CMC churches 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.
  • Plan participants are subject to an annual administrative fee of 0.43%. Please see the Associational Plan Solutions document for a list of the fees.
Associational Plan Solutions
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
  • Unlimited hardship withdrawal per plan year for participants less than age 59½ (must meet IRS requirements as a hardship)
  • Unlimited in-service withdrawals per plan year for participants who are at least age 59½
  • Distribution options of a single sum or systematic withdrawal payments after termination from service
  • Two outstanding plan loans
How do I get started?
  1. Complete the plan documents by contacting Kent Gayle. (Please include the church name-CMC in the email.)
  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)
Talk With our Team
Why GuideStone Health Plans and Other Coverages?

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, your CMC church has access to a variety of Christian health plans, life insurance options and other insurance solutions designed for ministries like yours.

Get Started with Health Plans and Other Coverages
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 coverages. With GuideStone, dental, life, accident and disability coverage may be more cost-effective than you think!

Who is Eligible?

All CMC churches are eligible to participate in GuideStone coverage.

  • 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 medical 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 CMC church and works 20 or more hours per week.
Why GuideStone Property & Casualty?

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

We team up with insurance carriers to provide eligible churches in the CMC network 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
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 CMC churches qualify to receive a quote, subject to underwriting eligibility.

 

 

 

 

 

Get Started

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

Retirement & Investing

Email Curtis.Farmer@GuideStone.org
Health Plans and Other Coverages

For Individuals & Organizations

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Property & Casualty

For Organizations Only

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1 As of March 31, 2025, GuideStone Funds has $19.8 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.

Advisory services offered through GuideStone Advisors®, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. GuideStone Advisors is a controlled affiliate of GuideStone Financial Resources®. For more information about the firm, products and services, please review the GuideStone Affiliate Form CRS.