Stephen Maginas is no stranger to the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA). His familiarity with the unique challenges faced by pastors and ministry workers is one of the many reasons he’s perfectly suited for his new role as Financial Planning Advisor at PCA Retirement & Benefits (RBI).
When it comes to stewardship and charitable giving, most churches only think about cash donations. But most of the wealth in congregations is tied up in non-cash assets, many of which can be given as charitable donations. These non-cash assets are often called...
I used to think of Ministerial Relief as a ministry that only provided for widows requiring critical assistance. Every year, I encouraged our congregation to give enthusiastically to it, never imagining my wife and I would one day be beneficiaries of the generosity of God’s people in the PCA.
RBI believes that when you invest in women in ministry, you invest in the health of the church. Cherish is one such program through which RBI’s Ministerial Relief Fund provides free and discounted counseling services to PCA pastors’ wives. Megan Hill is no stranger to...
PCA Retirement and Benefits (RBI), in partnership with the Center for Transformational Churches at Trinity International University, today announced the release of a report, “Pastoral Wellbeing: PCA Pastors Reflect on the Tensions of Ministry.”
Mental health, in all its various forms, can be a scary, difficult issue to tackle. It can feel shameful and embarrassing to admit that we need help, let alone discuss with another person. It’s not uncommon for church servants to feel as though they must “have it all together” for the sake of the congregation, while struggling with the unique difficulties of ministry. This makes discussing mental health issues and seeking care even harder.
Everybody was a beginner when it came to managing church life in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, in what experts are calling the post-pandemic phase of the virus, church leaders have learned some lessons. We asked church leaders across the PCA to share their insights and have compiled their responses in three quick take-aways.
“It’s surprising that a person in the spotlight can be invisible. That’s how I felt as a pastor’s wife, under constant scrutiny, but unknown. After being married to my husband and serving alongside him for almost 20 years, this past year felt like I had finally hit a stone wall. I could no longer cope with the stress and disappointments of ministry on my own.”