Church Pension Group | Report to General Convention

Report to General Convention Webinar


15 Years of Working Together Toward Parity

A Conversation about the Denominational Health Plan and the Lay Employee Pension System

On the 15th anniversary of the Denominational Health Plan and the Lay Employee Pension System, we invite all members of The Episcopal Church into conversation about how the Church Pension Group (CPG) has worked with the General Convention to advance the issue of parity between clergy and lay employees of the Church.

Replay the June 14, 2024 webinar (viewing time 00:58:56)

Agenda

Welcoming Remarks

The Rev. Clayton D. Crawley
Chief Church Relations Officer

Opening Prayer

The Rt. Cn. Arlette Benoit Joseph
Church Relations Officer

Panel Conversation

Frank Armstrong
Chief Operating Officer

Patty Favreau
Chief Communications Officer

Laurie Kazilionis
SVP, Benefits Relationship Management

Mary Kate Wold
Chief Executive Officer and President

Audience Q&A

 

View CPG’s General Convention resource center.

Panelists

Frank Armstrong
Chief Operating Officer
Church Pension Group

Mr. Armstrong is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction for the Church Pension Group's (CPG) three lines of business. Prior to this, he served as Senior Vice President, Benefits Policy, and Chief Actuary of CPG since 2011.

Before joining CPG, he served as a Managing Principal and Practice Leader for the Eastern Region for Hewitt Associates’ Health Management Practice, where he served as lead consultant to CPG. Prior to this, he was an actuarial consultant for Buck Consultants and an actuarial associate for US Life Insurance Company.

He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He holds a BA from Rutgers University.

The Rev. Clayton Crawley
Chief Church Relations Officer
Church Pension Group

The Reverend Clayton Crawley is Executive Vice President and Chief Church Relations Officer of CPG. He is responsible for strengthening CPG’s ties with the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the General Convention, and other groups and stakeholders around The Episcopal Church. He joined CPG in 1999.

Previously, Fr. Crawley led CPG’s technology program and served as Chief Information Officer. Prior to this, he was the Associate Rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, California. He has more than 25 years of ordained ministry experience and currently serves as a non-stipendiary priest at St. Bartholomew’s Parish and Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City. 

He holds an MDiv from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Patty Favreau
Chief Communications Officer
Church Pension Group 

Ms. Favreau is Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer. She is responsible for CPG’s corporate communications, education strategies, event management, client outreach and marketing, and its Research & Data team. She also oversees the Recorder of Ordination functions assigned to CPF by the General Convention. Ms. Favreau joined CPG in 2008.

Prior to joining CPG, she served as president of Redscout, a brand strategy, consulting, and product development firm with clients ranging from not-for-profits to major international companies. Before that, she worked at New York Life, where she managed new market development, product positioning, and customer relationship management as Chief Marketing Officer of its U.S. Life & Annuity business.

She graduated with honors from Amherst College with a BA in English. She later graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law where she was a member of the Virginia Law Review.

The Rev. Canon Arlette Benoit Joseph
Senior Vice President, Church Relations Officer
Church Pension Group

Arlette is responsible for representing the Church Pension Group (CPG) at events and conferences across The Episcopal Church. She works closely with CPG’s Chief Church Relations Officer in strengthening CPG’s ties with the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the General Convention, and other groups and stakeholders around the Church. Before joining CPG in 2023, she served in the Diocese of Pennsylvania as the Canon for Transition Ministry. Before this, she served the Diocese of New York at Trinity Church Wall Street, the Diocese of Atlanta at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and the Absalom Jones Center in Atlanta. Prior to being ordained, she worked at UPS Mail Innovations as a Marketing Analyst. She graduated with honors from Claflin University with a BA in marketing. She holds an MDiv and a certificate in spiritual direction from the General Theological Seminary.

Laurie Kazilionis
Senior Vice President, Benefits Relationship Management (BRM)
Church Pension Group

Laurie leads the BRM team, which supports Church employees who manage CPG benefits for their institutions, as well as strengthens CPG’s relationship with the Church’s dioceses, institutions, and clergy and lay employees to help them maximize their CPG benefits. She also oversees the faculty who deliver CPG’s educational programs. Before joining CPG in 2005, she was the director of finance for the Episcopal Diocese of Maine for 12 years. She began her career in management at Hannaford Brothers, a supermarket chain. Laurie and her family live in Portland, Maine.

Mary Kate Wold
Chief Executive Officer and President
Church Pension Group

Mary Kate Wold serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Church Pension Group (CPG), a $17 billion financial services enterprise that provides retirement, health, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, and other products and services to The Episcopal Church. She also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Church Pension Fund, CPG’s governing body.

She has served in a variety of leadership positions in the corporate, legal, and government sectors. Prior to joining CPG, she was a senior finance executive and principal corporate officer of Wyeth, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Before embarking on her corporate career, she was a partner and chaired the tax practice group of Shearman & Sterling, a leading global law firm. Earlier in her career, she served in the Office of Tax Policy of the United States Department of the Treasury.

Her board participation has included both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. She sits on the board of the Church Benefits Association, a national association of faith-based benefits organizations, and on the steering committee of the Church Alliance, a benefits policy and advocacy group. From 2016 until 2023 she served on the vestry of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City and on its investment committee, which oversees the institution’s multi-billion-dollar real estate and securities portfolio. She also sits on the boards of Nucleus RadioPharma, The Jackson Laboratory, and Burke Neurological Institute. Her professional affiliations include membership in the Women’s Forum of New York and Women Corporate Directors.

Mary Kate spent her childhood in Bottineau, North Dakota, a small rural community on the Canadian border. She graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, summa cum laude with a BA in English and Theater and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She later graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. She holds an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University.

Replay Past Report to General Convention Webinars


A Conversation with CPG Leadership and the CPF Board—Updates and information on CPG's finances, benefits, and governance.
June 16, 2022 (viewing time 00:57:32)