wfn.org | Hegg leaves legacy of advocacy to Church Pension Fund

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2002-026

Hegg leaves legacy of advocacy to Church Pension Fund

by Nancy Fisher

     (ENS) The Rev. David P. Hegg II, senior vice president of the Church Pension 
Fund and director of pastoral care and education, died on Thursday evening, 
January 24, during what had been expected to be "routine" heart surgery.

      "He has had a profound influence on the vitality of our church and the 
lives of active and retired Episcopal clergy around the country," said Alan F. 
Blanchard, CPF President. "Our hearts are with his family, especially his dear 
wife, Judith."

     During his six-year ministry with CPF, Hegg redeveloped and expanded the 
fund's Planning For Tomorrow conferences-which educate clergy and their spouses 
about financial and life planning-so that they now reach 20% of active Episcopal 
clergy each year. He was an advocate for the needs of surviving clergy spouses. 
The well-being of the newly-ordained was also important to him, and he was 
instrumental in instituting seminary visits on a regular basis. 

     Hegg was also an advocate for organized ministry to retired clergy, 
encouraging every bishop in the church to appoint a diocesan chaplain to the 
retired. He then recruited six provincial coordinators to support the ministry.

     "Significantly, David was a person who was known to bishops and clergy 
throughout the church as someone they themselves could call on for pastoral care 
and advice," said Blanchard. "Much of his time was spent teaching them about the 
resources available to them through the pension fund, and helping them make 
decisions about their lives and their futures."

     Hegg joined the Church Pension Fund staff on March 1, 1996 after a 
distinguished 34-year parish ministry. He graduated from the University of 
Rochester with a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering. After three years at 
Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he served for six 
years as a curate and vicar in two parishes in upstate New York, and then for 
eight and six years, respectively, as rector of parishes in St. Louis and 
Columbia, Missouri. In 1982, he was called as rector to St. Peter's in 
Morristown, one of the most outstanding parishes in New Jersey, and served there 
until he came to CPF.

     Throughout his career, he was deeply involved in the issues of aging and an 
advocate for the elderly. During his ministry at St. Peter's, he was awarded the 
Procter Fellowship, one of the Episcopal Church's most prestigious grants, which 
he used to further deepen his understanding of the spiritual, psychological and 
temporal aspects of the aging process.

     Funeral services for Hegg will be held on January 29, 2002, at St. Peter's 
Episcopal Church in Morristown, New Jersey. He is survived by his wife, Judith, 
and two sons.

-- Nancy Fisher is director of communications for the Church Pension Fund.