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Hegg Awards return online - submit your honorees now!

Photo: David P. Hegg II, after whom the award is named.
By: 
Senior Ministries
Photo: David P. Hegg II, after whom the award is named.

After a hiatus last year members of our parishes will be honored again with David P. Hegg III Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The award is given to Episcopalians 60 years old and older whose parish feels they should be recognized for what they have done – and continue to do – throughout our diocese and beyond. Congregations submit names and all are honored. This is not a nomination, and it is not a mark of retirement. Most Hegg Award honorees continue to serve long after receiving this honor.

This year’s Hegg Award Ceremony

Since we are in this time of pandemic, the Hegg Awards Ceremony will be virtual, but no less celebratory. On June 13 at 3 PM the service will be streamed and later available for viewing via the diocesan web site. Bishop Hughes will preach and we will have a worship service as well as the reading of the names of the honorees. Honorees will receive their certificates by mail.

The online form for submitting the names of honorees can be found on the Senior Ministries page, along with a list of past honorees and additional information about the award, all in the right sidebar.

About the Rev. David P. Hegg III

The awards are named in memory of a man who was a tireless advocate and innovator in matters of retirement and aging. In his 34 years as a parish minister, the Rev. David P. Hegg III served churches in upstate New York, Missouri, and New Jersey, serving as rector at St. Peter’s, Morristown from 1982 to 1996. In March, 1996 Hegg joined the Church Pension Fund staff as Senior Vice President of the Church Pension Fund and Director of Pastoral Care and Education.

Throughout his career, Hegg was deeply involved in issues involving aging and advocacy for the elderly. During his six-year ministry with the Church Pension Fund, Hegg traveled extensively, working with Episcopal clergy who were planning their retirement. He promoted educational conferences on financial planning and long term care issues for clergy and their spouses. In addition, he was an advocate for the needs of surviving spouses and also an advocate for organized ministry to retired clergy.

Hegg’s commitment to matters of retirement, aging, and the role of seniors in the congregation made him the natural selection in 1991 to chair Bishop Spong’s Task Force on Aging, which was subsequently called the Commission on Aging. That Commission is now named Senior Ministries.

In 2002 at the age of 64, Hegg died unexpectedly of complications from heart surgery. Hegg’s legacy of advocacy continues to be a guiding force in the work of Senior Ministries. Inspired by his commitment and leadership, Senior Ministries continues Hegg’s legacy by honoring seniors for their contributions of time and talent to their churches’ ministries and to their congregations.

Questions?

For additional information or answers to any questions about the Hegg Awards, contact Scott Bennett, Senior Ministries Chair, at seniors@dioceseofnewark.org, or Randy Johnson, Administrator for Diocesan Ministries, at rjohnson@dioceseofnewark.org or 973-430-9906.