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Having served para-church organizations Compassion International and American Bible Society, among others, and having owned his own financial planning firm, Mac Vaughan comes to the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation team equipped and passionate about helping Texas churches. While Vaughan had decided to retire, SBTF Executive Director Bart McDonald asked the financial planner and licensed minister if he would consider serving Texas churches through the foundation. Vaughan said he would, seeing the opportunity to use his skills to help others further the gospel and the kingdom.
“I’m here to help them maximize the impact of the resources God has given them for the church and the kingdom,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan, who has vast experience in private sector financial planning ranging from a 12-year stint with Compassion International as the national director of planned giving and major donor relations to his service of the International Bible Society as group vice president, says he envisions the great strides churches can make when they begin to bring legacy giving strategies into their discussions. When sitting down to meet with a church, he often asks the leadership, “If money were no object, what ministries would you be doing?” Those larger and long-range goals can cast a vision about which church members can get excited, he says. When they see that the church and the Lord’s work could benefit from decisions they make in estate planning, Vaughan explained, they will likely include the church in their plans.
Often, churches simply haven’t been asked or haven’t thought of how the church could use the funds. Para-church organizations, Vaughan said, hire people like him to help churches think through these issues. Because financial planning for large organizations or for individuals can be expensive, churches often find themselves the loser in the equation, missing out on potential gifts and endowments that could be made to further ministry.
Because of Baptists’ faithful giving through the Cooperative Program, the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation offers these services at no charge to churches and church members—something that inspires Vaughan’s passion even more.
Before going to work for Compassion International, Vaughan ran his own financial planning firm. After some time, the work began to feel “empty,” he said. After a few months, he felt drawn toward serving in Christian ministry and decided to meet with his pastor about it. The pastor encouraged Vaughan, who did not feel led to preach or pastor, to see how the Lord might use his skill sets for his glory. A short time later, the opportunity to work for Compassion International arose and gave Vaughan the perfect combination of using his financial acumen for Christ’s kingdom.
Vaughan sees this new opportunity to serve the SBTF and Texas churches as the perfect continuation of merging his skills and passion for Christian service.
For more information on the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation, call 817-552-2500 or visit sbtexasfoundation.com.
