The Board of Directors at PCA Retirement & Benefits, Inc. (RBI) has elected Ed Dunnington to serve as RBI’s next president. Dunnington is a teaching elder who has served as a financial planning advisor at RBI since 2015. Prior to joining RBI, Dunnington served as church planter, pastor, and RUF campus minister. Dunnington will officially transition into the position on July 1, 2020, and will succeed Gary Campbell who announced his retirement in the fall of 2018.
“After a thorough search process, the board is pleased to have found the best individual to serve as the next president of RBI,” said Jim Wert, chairman of RBI’s board of directors and moderator of the PCA’s 43rd General Assembly. “I had the honor of chairing the president search committee. We interviewed a number of capable finance professionals who love the PCA. It became apparent to us Ed’s background as a pastor as well as his expertise in financial planning is exactly what RBI needs at this moment.”
Ed Dunnington first felt the call to Christian ministry while attending Virginia Military Institute (VMI) where he received a B.S. in Mathematics. Dunnington subsequently went on active duty for the U.S. Army to fulfill his military service obligation. In 1994, he enrolled at Covenant Theological Seminary, graduating with a M.Div. in 1998. That same year he accepted a call to start an RUF ministry at the University of Washington. In 2006, Ed’s family moved to Roanoke, VA to be a part of a church planting effort where he established Christ the King Presbyterian Church. He continued to serve Christ the King from 2006 until 2015 when he was called to join the RBI staff. Since then, he has received both the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) certification and the Certified Financial Planning (CFP®) designation. While working on those technical certifications, Ed also completed his Doctor of Ministry at Covenant Theological Seminary where he concentrated on organizational health with an emphasis on systems and change theory.
“I have a passion for the PCA and those who serve the church. As a denomination, we will only be as healthy as those who lead us,” Dunnington said. “I want to make sure our pastors, church staff, and ministry employees get the advice and services they need to fulfill their callings today while also preparing for their financial future. I believe RBI is uniquely positioned to help lead our denomination to greater denominational health. With the expansion of our benefits to include affordable and anonymous counseling, I believe we have an opportunity to improve the ways we serve the denomination.”
Dunnington’s selection follows 13 years of healthy growth under the leadership of Gary Campbell. Under Campbell’s leadership, the net retirement assets that RBI administers has grown by more than 100% to $650 million. At the same time, RBI has sustained healthy operating reserves, as well as retirement plan operating expense ratios below the average of traditionally managed mutual fund retirement plans. Additionally, RBI has substantially grown its financial planning advisory capabilities during Campbell’s tenure.
“I’ve been honored to serve in this position and could not be more excited to see Ed follow me in it,” Campbell said. “We exist to serve those who serve the local church. Ed knows what it is like to serve in the congregational context while also knowing what it takes to plan for your financial future. I’m confident RBI will continue to improve and expand under his leadership.”
Ed and his wife, Stefanie, have been married since 1992, and are parents to four children. They make their home outside Atlanta, Georgia, and Ed serves as a member of the Georgia Foothills Presbytery.