DALLAS, Texas (Special) – O.S. Hawkins, the longest-serving president and chief executive officer of Dallas-based GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, has announced his intention to retire and requested the entity’s board of trustees begin the search for his replacement.
“The time has come for us to prayerfully consider who the eighth president of GuideStone might be,” Hawkins told trustees. “We are as confident in God’s call and as energized to lead as we have ever been; however, we believe the time has come to begin the process of a permanent transition. We intend to take steps proactively and methodically to ensure a smooth, seamless transition in God’s timing and with His leading.”
Board Chair Renee Trewick, a vice president at Marsh USA in New York City, indicated Hawkins will continue providing leadership to GuideStone for 2021 and perhaps longer if needed. “O.S. Hawkins was charged to ‘take something great and make it greater.’ By every imaginable measure, O.S. has done exactly that,” Trewick said.
Hawkins was serving as senior pastor of First Church, Jacksonville, Fla., when he was called to GuideStone in 1997. During his tenure, GuideStone has grown into the sponsor of the largest faith-based mutual fund family in the U.S. Including those mutual funds, GuideStone has more than $18 billion in assets under management as of August 31, 2020. Mission:Dignity,a ministry to assist destitute pastors, church staffers, and their spouses as they age, has raised more than $150 million during his time at Guidestone.
Trustees formed the search committee during a regularly scheduled meeting of the board, which met in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The search committee includes:
— Steve Dighton of the Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Convention (chair). Pastor emeritus of Lenexa Church in Lenexa, Okla.
— Randall Blackmon of the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network, also known as the Baptist Convention of Maryland-Delaware. Pastor of Faith Church in Cambridge, Md.
— David Cox of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Businessman and lay minister.
— Jim Scrivner of Oklahoma Baptists, also known as the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Attorney.
— David Rainwater of the Arkansas Baptist Convention. Dentist.
The committee also includes ex officio members Trewick and board vice chairman Johnny Hoychick of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
The search committee was not given a timeline to finalize a recommendation. Southern Baptists interested in forwarding recommendations may do so through January 1, via e-mail to Tim.Head@GuideStone.org or through the first-class mail to Tim Head, c/o GuideStone, 5005 LBJ Freeway, Ste. 2200, Dallas, TX 75244.
In other reports, Chief Operating Officer John R. Jones told trustees that despite market volatility, total assets are up almost $1 billion, or 5%, since the end of 2019. “Since reaching a low in March shortly after the pandemic began, assets have grown by $2.7 billion, or almost 18%,” he said.
Trustees plan to resume in-person trustee meetings in 2021, if it is considered safe to do so.
