$7.3 Billion Southern Baptist Retirement Fund Offers Services to Other Churches, Organizations.

DALLAS -- One of Nation's 125 Largest Retirement Funds Markets Retirement and Financial Services Outside Denomination, After Serving Only Southern Baptists for 85 Years

The nation's largest Protestant denomination will now begin providing retirement and financial services to churches and Christian organizations outside of the Southern Baptist Convention; a move that will greatly expand its market beyond the 140,000 employees of the denomination's organizations currently participating.

The move to offer financial services to organizations outside the Southern Baptist Convention is expected to increase the $7.3 billion fund's asset base (Pensions & Investments magazine ranks it as one of the nation's 125 largest); provide greater buying power; and enhance its ability to provide more competitive products and services. Now operating under a new name, GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, the organization offers a broad range of financial services including retirement, group life and health plans, individual investment products, and institutional investment products with Christian-based social screening.

"This expansion of our market will prove to be a great benefit to thousands of churches which are unaffiliated with a denomination and don't have access to competitive retirement and group life and health plans," said GuideStone's President O.S. Hawkins. "It will also be attractive to countless Christian organizations who want to do business with someone who shares their values and reflects those values in an investment policy without sacrificing financial performance."

John Jones, GuideStone's chief financial officer, commented that "organizations of all sizes will be attracted to our 17 proprietary registered mutual funds, access to best-of-class, top-tier investment firms and strategies, and our rigorous evaluation, selection, and monitoring process."(a)

GuideStone's $7.3 million asset base (December 2003) is up from $6.1 billion in December 2002 with assets climbing 7.5 percent in the 4th quarter of 2003.

(a) A subsidiary of GuideStone Financial Services serves as investment adviser to the registered mutual funds. Shares of the funds are distributed by PFPC Distributors, Inc., a registered broker-dealer, 760 Moore Rd., King of Prussia, PA 19406.

An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the mutual funds carefully before investing. A prospectus with this and other information about the funds may be obtained by calling 1-800-262-0511. It should be read carefully before investing.