Posted on Mar 11, 2010 | by Jennifer Wesley

DALLAS (BP)--Spurred by a desire to help ministry employers and employees control health care costs and and have a positive effect on participants' health, GuideStone Financial Resources has launched a new wellness website at www.GuideStone.org/Wellness.

While studies show that wellness programs and support can help control medical costs, GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins also noted, "The health of our participants is an issue we take seriously.

"Stress, lack of exercise and poor eating habits affect more than their personal health. It impacts their ability to do the work God has called them to do."

The American Heart Association recently awarded GuideStone, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, "gold-level" recognition for its on-site wellness efforts encompassing physical activity, healthy eating options and a general culture of wellness.

GuideStone's wellness website aims to share some of these resources with Southern Baptist churches and ministry organizations and their employees. The site, designed to equip, inspire and educate, includes quarterly challenges based on GuideStone's internal initiatives, participant success stories, wellness tools, healthy living articles and employer resources.

The first quarterly challenge, "Go for 10 in '10," urges participants to set specific goals for 2010. A University of Scranton study showed that people who make concrete New Year's resolutions/goals are 10 times more likely to achieve them than those who make non-specific goals. The challenge focuses on physical, mental, spiritual or financial goals and includes tips on setting goals and creating an action plan to achieve them.

"In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that our bodies are the 'temple of the Holy Spirit.' We must be good stewards of our health," Hawkins said. "This wellness website is just one more way for GuideStone to help support our participants and employers in their efforts to practice good stewardship."
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Jennifer Wesley is an insurance marketing development writer for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.