wfn.org | Bishop Lee receives pension board award named in his honor

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Oct. 25, 1999 News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-71BP{564}

NOTE: A photograph is available. This report is a sidebar to UMNS story
#563.

PHILADELPHIA (UMNS) - For Bishop Clay F. Lee Jr., the experience of guiding
the United Methodist pension agency during a challenging period was akin in
some respects to Moses leading the Israelites out of bondage and into the
wilderness.

Tongue in cheek, Lee drew parallels between Exodus and his tenure as
president of the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits.
Speaking to the board's governing members Oct. 22, Lee noted that the agency
had gone through a Red Sea of its own, marching into the Sinai wilderness
and finally confronting "the Mount of Unfunded Liability."

Some weren't sure that the agency could climb that slope, but today that
mountain has somehow been leveled out, Lee said.

Despite the parallels, Moses probably never received a plaque for all of his
hard work. Lee, on the other hand, received just that during the board
dinner at which he spoke. He became the first recipient of the Clay Lee
Award, which will be given each year to a former board member for exemplary
service.

The dinner was a high point of the Oct. 22-23 meeting of the agency's
governing members and executive staff. The board's current president, Bishop
Bruce Blake of Oklahoma City, presented the award to Lee and wife Dot.

"For so many reasons, the Nominating Committee didn't consider anyone else,"
Blake said.

Lee was a member of the board from 1980 to 1988. He was elected president in
1992 and served a four-year term. Now retired, he lives in Jackson, Miss.

"He led the board in the first quadrennium (in which) we were called the
General Board of Pension and Health Benefits," Blake said.

In 1992, the General Conference adopted UMCare, a health plan for church
employees and laity. However, as Lee was taking over as president of the
agency, the denomination's Judicial Council ruled that the plan was
unconstitutional. That development led to the creation of the board's
HealthFlex program.

Lee also led the board when the Personal Investment Plan was introduced,
giving participants more control over directing how their retirement money
was invested. 

Blake praised Lee's guidance in creating a complementary relationship
between excellence in fiscal management and the values of the church.
"Clay's humor is only exceeded by his compassion for the church of Jesus
Christ called United Methodist," Blake said.

After retiring and leaving the board, Lee served as chairman of the agency's
Benefits 2000 Task Force, which evaluated how effectively the board was
meeting the benefits needs of its constituents.

"Thank you not only for your graciousness, but thank you for who you are and
what you're doing," Lee told the board members. The agency "is on the brink
of a better day," he said.

"This has been a wonderful journey, and I really envy you as you continue
the journey."

The board members received an update on the journey the following day from
top staff executive Barbara Boigegrain. Since the board's July meeting, the
agency has continued to complete and refine its computer conversion and data
flow processes, she said. Board members and staff have met with 38 bishops,
in addition to conference benefits officers, in an effort to share
information about data quality issues. 

The agency also has been preparing its systems for changes related to the
year 2000. "We believe we are as ready as we can possibly be for the year
2000 date change," Boigegrain said.

Tests have been run with the board's vendors, and the agency is satisfied
that those business partners are on target, said Mary Miller of
Indianapolis, chairwoman of the board's Computer Resources Task Force. The
agency also is offering software support to conference benefits officers who
are trying to get ready for the year 2000, she said.

In other business, the board:

·	Acted on a dozen items from its Pension Benefits Committee. One of
those dealt with a resolution for General Conference from the United
Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, proposing that deacons in
full connection be given the same benefits as elders in the denomination.
The board referred that item to its executive committee.
·	Approved a 2000 operating budget of $36.4 million, up 6 percent from
$34.2 million in 1999, and a capital expenditures budget of $1.68 million,
up slightly from $1.67 million.
·	Heard from the Computer Resources Task Force that the agency plans
to have a fully developed World Wide Web site possibly within three years.
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