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Pension board honors two for church benefits work

1/22/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.

By United Methodist News Service

The United Methodist pension and benefits agency has recognized two people for their work in caring for the benefits needs of church employees.

Karen J. Crutchfield of New Mexico has been named the 2002 Charles L. Calkins Award winner, and Harry Piper of Michigan has been named recipient of the Clay F. Lee Award. The United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits, with offices in Evanston, Ill., presents the awards each year.

Established in 1988, the Calkins Award recognizes an annual conference pension and health benefit administrator who has provided exceptional service in administering pension and health benefits within the United Methodist Church.

Crutchfield served on the New Mexico Annual Conference Board of Pensions from 1984 to 2000. She became the vice chairperson in 1988 and the chairperson in 1990. She worked successfully for the merger of the conference board of pensions with the conference insurance commission, and she returned in 2001 to serve as chairperson of the newly constituted conference board of pensions and health benefits.

A longtime advocate for pension and health insurance issues, she was instrumental in helping the New Mexico Conference fund, in full, its pre-1982 pension liabilities. She worked for consistent increases in the conference's annuity rate, and she raised the conference's awareness of the importance of funding retiree medical expenses.

"To me, Karen has been most impressive in creating and nurturing her own board members and keeping them informed on important benefit issues," said Woody Bedell, chief strategic relations officer of the churchwide board in Evanston. "Because of Karen, the New Mexico Board of Pensions and Health Benefits is one of the most informed and dedicated boards throughout the entire church."

The Clay F. Lee Award, established in 1999, recognizes former directors of the Board of Pension and Health Benefits for exemplary service.

Piper, of the Detroit Annual Conference, served as a full member of the board from 1988 to 1996 and continued until 2000 as an at-large member of the board's Asset/Liability Committee. During his tenure, he served on a variety of committees, including the Investment Committee, the Disability Committee, the Rules and Regulations Committee and the Subcommittee on Actuarial Matters.

In announcing the award, the general board noted that Piper held the agency to the highest business standards, was sensitive to the needs and the concerns of the entire denomination and always kept the details of pension and benefit work in view.

Barbara A. Boigegrain, top staff executive, praised Piper's "capacity to balance strategy and detail."

"He is an informed visionary, yet he never forgets about the details," she said. "He has a passion for serving the participant, yet he also has unique clarity about our fiduciary responsibility. He is dedicated to the Social Principles that drive our investing. And he understands the need for us to be a bellwether for the church - to think about the future, learn together and communicate clearly."

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