Virginia Pangle summed up what Mission:Dignity means to a pastor’s widow like herself.
“I don’t have to worry about being cold, hungry or going without my medicine,” she said.
Mission:Dignity, a ministry of GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), ensures that Pangle, along with nearly 2,000 other retired Southern Baptist pastors, their spouses or widows, are able to have a sense of financial dignity in retirement.
In Alabama, 117 people are currently served by Mission:Dignity, with about 60 percent being widows and 1 in 4 being a pastor’s widow age 85 or older.
The ministry, which is fully supported by gifts from individuals, Sunday School classes and churches, provides monthly grants to retired Southern Baptist workers in critical financial need. The neediest couples can receive up to $600 each month in assistance.
Mission:Dignity Sunday, held the fourth Sunday of every June on SBC’s calendar, is set aside for churches to make a special offering for support of the ministry.
GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins said, “GuideStone was founded to serve those who gave sacrificially to spread the Word of God. The very DNA of GuideStone, part of the fabric that our founder, William Lunsford, laid for us, is to care for pastors and their widows in old age. We’re privileged to carry on this ministry through Mission:Dignity.”
To help churches mark Mission:Dignity Sunday, GuideStone has created videos, bulletin inserts, posters, a PowerPoint slide and sermons for use June 28 or any Sunday. Materials are undated so churches can use the materials at any time. Churches can order materials through June 22 for delivery in time for Mission:Dignity at mdsunday.org. Churches also can request information by calling 1-888-984-8433.
John Ambra, Mission:Dignity director, said, “Some of our participants tell us that Mission:Dignity is the difference between having food or not, having medication or not or having to choose between heat or eating.”
June 28 is Mission:Dignity Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention.
For more information on Mission:Dignity, visit missiondignitysbc.org.
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