Thank you for the financial assistance you provide for me. I am still able to do part-time work, which is not always steady. Some weeks go by without any. If it were not for the Adopt An Annuitant program, we would have a hard time making it in retirement,” Hubert Couch told GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
Couch began his first pastorate at Blue Lake Baptist Church, Chipley, Fla., Aug. 14, 1955. His weekly salary was $19. After three years, the church increased his pay to $21 a week. There was no insurance provided and no retirement contribution.
Blue Lake was one of seven churches — most of them small and rural — that Couch and his wife, Mildred, served during more than 40 years of ministry.
Only three of these churches ever contributed toward Couch’s retirement. But the Couches did not serve a church because of a pay package; they served because God called them, and they trusted Him to provide.
When the Couches retired in 1993, his denominational retirement benefit was less than $100. With their modest Social Security checks, the couple’s income was still not enough to cover basic expenses.
Couch found part-time work driving an escort vehicle for mobile home relocations. Occasionally a church would ask him to do supply preaching or serve as an interim. But as he noted, “When you are in your 70s, jobs are scarce.”
Today, through GuideStone’s Adopt An Annuitant ministry, the Couches — who are members of Calvary Baptist Church, Dothan, in Columbia Baptist Association — are getting critical help to meet their needs.
Nearly 2,500 retired ministers or their widows benefit from the Adopt An Annuitant program. In Alabama, there are 146 recipients. Individuals who meet the guidelines for income, assets and years of SBC service are eligible for a $200 monthly benefit. Couples can receive $265 monthly.
The Cooperative Program provides about $1.5 million of the $6 million paid out annually through the Adopt An Annuitant program. The remainder comes from the direct gifts of individuals, groups and churches. Gifts of any size are accepted, and every dollar is used to assist retirees in need. Nothing is taken out for administrative costs.
All contributions are tax-deductible to the maximum allowed by law.
For information, call 1-888-98-GUIDE, visit www.GuideStone.org or e-mail Adopt@GuideStone.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE — John Ambra is director of development for the Adopt An Annuitant ministry of the SBC’s GuideStone Financial Resources.
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