The United Thank Offering
Mission: Put gifts into the Blue Box with thanksgiving, prayer and generosity. Take blessings out of the box for grants to expand the church's faithfulness to God's mission.
Fall is Full of Opportunities for Gratitude
By Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer
For those of you who have met me, you know that fall is my favorite season. It is filled with so many things that I love and am thankful for. From cooler air to crunchy leaves, you can’t go wrong with fall. My family joins me in this love of all things fall and the traditions that mark the season; from apple picking in September to pumpkin patches in October and Thanksgiving in November, it is three months of activity, joy, and gratitude.
Our love of fall has guided the materials we’ve created for families, children (and faith formation groups), and individuals. This year, our fall materials focus on big areas we’re all likely engaging with in the fall: nature, community, home, others, and ourselves. The goal is to not make gratitude one more thing to do each day, but to have gratitude become a reflex…a natural response to something good happening.
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Member Surveys, Please
By Sherri Dietrich, UTO Board President
We all get surveys from time to time, and we often ignore them, but I encourage you to complete the newly released UTO Member Survey via this link because your answers are important in shaping UTO’s programs in the next few years. Because we have no membership fees or required registration processes, we can only guess who participates in UTO based on their participation in webinars, grant applications, and to some extent, parish Ingathering information.
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Grant Application How-To Videos Now Available
By Joyce Landers, UTO Board Vice President
The UTO Board is creating a series of short videos to assist people interested in applying for a UTO grant. We recommend these videos for both grant writers as well as those providing support to the writer. We will still be offering webinars in October, November, December, and January. However, they will be an open Q&A format rather than the more formal format we used in the past.
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9/21 Webinar with Episcopal Church Funding Sources
By Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer
Sept. 21 at 12:30 p.m. ET: Finding Funding for Your Ministry Idea with UTO, CPC, EWHP
Register here
Finding funding for ministry projects or churches can feel like a daunting project. Join the United Thank Offering on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time for a 90-minute panel discussion (with time for questions) on grant opportunities from UTO, the Church Periodical Club (CPC), and the Episcopal Women's History Project (EWHP). Please note: The first portion of the event will be recorded; however, when we open up the Q&A, folks will be invited to come on screen and share their questions with the panel, so that portion will not be recorded. Notes will be taken, however, and available with the recording about a week after the event on both the UTO website and as an email sent to everyone who registered.
November Gratitude Materials
By Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer
As our sights turn toward fall, we are so ready to help you add a gratitude this autumn with all new materials. All of the materials for fall can be found here. One of the biggest changes is that while our materials are designed and intended to be used in November, they can be used for any 30-day period that works for you.
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The Great EpisGOpal Race! November Race Information
From Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer
As fall starts to unfold around us in the Northern Hemisphere, the cooler weather invites us to head outside to exercise or simply explore nature. Many of us love to join a Turkey Trot in November to walk or run as part of our Thanksgiving tradition. Maybe you want to commit to walking more now that the weather is nicer, or start taking a class at a local gym. Whatever physical activity you are looking forward to this fall, we hope you’ll pair it with The Great EpisGOpal Race.
Read more >>
Grant Site Update: A Cup of Cold Water, Maui
From Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer
Often when we share a grant site update it is from a current grant site working on their project. However, this month we want to highlight the incredible work of a UTO grant site from 2013: A Cup of Cold Water in Maui, Hawaii.
UTO Chair of the Diocese of Virginia Connie Brady ladysecurity8@gmail.com for more information.
2023 Ingathering click here 2023_UTO_Ingathering.docx
UTO Remittance form UTO_2022_Remittance_Form.docx
All donations are needed by December 31, 2023.
If you can support other ECW ministries, please see the ECW Remittance Form at 2022_Remittance_Form.docx
September, 2017 THE BLUE BOXES ARE AT WORK To UTO Parish Coordinators: Thank you for all the support that I have received as I begin this special ministry as Diocesan Coordinator for the UNITED THANK OFFERING. As Rev. Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer, reported in her June 2017 newsletter, The United Thank Offering of the Episcopal Church awarded 34 grants for a total of $1,214,447.51 for the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. In the Diocese of Virginia, St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Region 9 received a $32,000.00 grant for accessibility improvements and an elevator. Thanks to the support of the ECW Board, the UTO Parish Coordinators, clergy, and participants in the pews throughout the diocese, the 2017 UTO Spring In-gathering totals $39,679.58.
As you know, “every penny given to the Ingathering is given away the following year to support innovative mission and ministry throughout the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion.” Our Mission: Put gifts into the Blue Box with thanksgiving, prayer and generosity. Take blessings out of the box for grants to expand the church's faithfulness to God's mission. Please plan to attend the 127th ECW Fall Meeting and UTO Ingathering, Tuesday, October 12 at Christ Church Episcopal, Glen Allen, VA (www.ecw.thediocese.net). Let us pray that the Fall Ingatherings will increase the amount already received and that we will have successful UTO Grant Applications for 2018.
Important dates for the 2018 granting cycle:
1st Friday in September 2017 – Young Adult/Seminarian grant application and materials available
1st Friday in November 2017 – Young Adult/Seminarian application deadline
1st Friday in December 2017 – Annual UTO grant application and materials available (for local and international/partnership grants)
1st Friday in March 2018 – Annual UTO grant application deadline For Fall Ingathering UTO materials and Grant Application Forms, please go to www.episcopalchurch.org/uto.
Fall UTO Ingatherings must be received by December 15
Faithfully Submitted by Constance Brady UTO Chair
2016 End of the Year Report (January 9, 2017)
The United Thank Offering is supported in the Diocese of Virginia by the bishop, the Office of Mission and Outreach, the Trustees of the Funds, the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Church Woman and by local parishes. This ministry is based on the offerings placed in the little UTO Blue Boxes with prayers and thanksgiving, and every penny is forwarded to the UTO Board at the national Church by the diocesan UTO coordinator. Every person in every pew in every church is invited to participate. The money is given in UTO Grants to address compelling human need in the diocese and around the world.
In 2016, the Diocese of Virginia received funding for three UTO grant requests. Grace Aheron received $2,500 for "Sacred Solidarity: Race Justice at the University of Virginia." Taylor Poindexter at the Virginia theological Seminary received $2,459.99 for expansion of the prayer/meditation gardening project on the seminary grounds. Her request was submitted by Virginia Theological Seminary. In addition, St. Philip's church in Richmond was granted $14,315.00 " to level and convert the land of a donated residential home into a garden for food production and education, a safe outdoor play space for children, and a meditation and prayer area near the sixth-oldest historically African American congregation in the Episcopal Church" The consideration of the UTO Board; Joyce Haines, Province III Representative; the Executive Committee; and the Reverend Heather Melton, UTO Missioner is greatly appreciated.
The UTO Ingathering for the Diocese of Virginia totaled $75,809.60 this year. That amount has been forwarded to the UTO Board, where it will accrue interest until it is granted. Offerings continue to be received this month, but they will count toward the next granting cycle, since the cutoff is December 31, 2016.
The new UTO Diocesan Coordinator is Connie Brady, and she has assumed her duties, beginning January 1, 2017. She will be sending her contact information out this month.
Anna Lou Flynn has volunteered to review all the UTO Coordinator's records, and they will be transferred to her this month.
It has been a tremendous privilege to serve as the UTO Diocesan Coordinator for the Diocese of Virginia for the past five years, and I am grateful for all the support I have received throughout my tenure. I have appreciated the opportunity to grow in service and to be a part of the larger Church.
With thanksgiving,
Cindy Helton, UTO Diocesan Coordinator 2012-2016
505 Fauquier Street
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401
540-373-6382
wlhelton@verizon.net
Report to the Episcopal Church Women Board of Directors (AUGUST 20, 2016)
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Coordinator for the United Thank Offering and for the support that I have enjoyed throughout my tenure. It has been a great privilege to learn about and to be involved in the larger Episcopal Church.
With the help of Bishop Shannon, the diocesan Office of Mission and Outreach, and the UTO Grants Review Committee, the Diocese of Virginia received funding for three UTO grant requests for this 2016 granting cycle. Grace Aheron received $2,500 for "Sacred Solidarity: Race Justice at the University of Virginia." This was one of ten Young Adult grants that were awarded. Taylor Poindexter at the Virginia Theological Seminary received $2,459.99 for expansion of the prayer/meditation gardening project on the seminary grounds. Her request was submitted by Virginia Theological Seminary. In addition, St. Philip's Church in Richmond was granted $14,315.00 "to level and convert the land of a donated residential home into a garden for food production and education, a safe outdoor play space for children, and a meditation and prayer area near the sixth-oldest historically African American congregation in the Episcopal Church."
Thanks to the support of the ECW Board, the UTO Parish Coordinators, clergy, and participants in the pews throughout the diocese, the UTO Spring In-gathering for 2016 totals $40,134.08. As you know, "every penny given to the Ingathering is given away the following year to support innovative mission and ministry throughout the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion." Let us pray that the Fall Ingatherings will increase this amount and that we will have successful UTO Grant Applications for 2017.
Important dates for the 2017 granting cycle:
- 1st Friday in September 2016 -Young Adult/Seminarian grant application and materials available
- 1st Friday in November 2016-Young Adult/Seminarian application deadline
- 1st Friday in December 2016- Annual UTO grant application and materials available (for local and international/partnership grants)
- 1st Friday in March 2017 - Annual UTO grant applications deadline
(To plan for Fall Ingathering and to order materials, please go to www.episcopalchurch.org/uto) I must receive all ingatherings by December 15, 2016 to ensure inclusion in the 2017 granting cycle. A copy of the remittance form is included at the end of this report.
Transition to new United Thank Offering Coordinator:
Beginning January 1, 2017, all UTO Ingatherings will be sent to the new UTO Coordinator for the Diocese of Virginia. Please join me in welcoming Connie Brady, a long-time supporter of UTO and ECW. You will be hearing from her in January.
With thanksgiving,
Cindy Helton
UTO Diocesan Coordinator
540-373-6382
wlhelton@verizon.net
www.ecw.thediocese.net
UTO_Report_to_Board_8_20_2016.pdf
MARCH/APRIL 2016
THE BLUE BOXES ARE AT WORK!!
The Diocese of Virginia has received funding for two grant requests for this 2016 granting cycle. Grace Aheron received $2,500 for " Sacred Solidarity: Race Justice at the University of Virginia." This was one of ten Young Adult grants. In addition, Taylor Poindexter at the Virginia Theological Seminary received funding for expansion of the prayer/meditation gardening project on the seminary grounds.
On March 2, the UTO Grants Review Committee reviewed all the regular UTO grant applications received by Mary Anne Bryant in the Office of Mission and Outreach. One local/domestic request met the UTO Focus and Criteria, and it was recommended to Bishop Shannon for his review. Subsequently, Bishop Shannon approved the application and forwarded it to the UTO Board to request funding. Addressing Mark of Mission Number Five, St. Philip's Church in Richmond requested funding for "St. Philip's Episcopal Church Community Garden and Meditation/Prayer Area," which will help the church reach out to address needs of those who seek a safe place, food, fellowship, a closer relationship with God, and a caring parish. The project will include a planting area, a fenced-in meditation/prayer area, a walking path, and a safe play area for children.
As we begin the new granting cycle, everyone is encouraged to keep their Blue Box close by, and when we thank God for a blessing, to drop a coin into the box. All grants are funded from the donations placed in the Blue Box with prayer and thanksgiving. Every penny placed in the box is granted. The needs are great! The change from the UTO Blue Boxes changes lives!
As you plan your Spring In-gathering, please go to www.episcopalchurch.org/uto to order boxes, envelopes, and other materials for your church. You will also find at the website a history of UTO and other information that may be helpful as you share with your congregation.
CLICK HERE for a copy of the 2016 UTO In-gathering form.
FEBRUARY 2016
Please see the following report submitted by Cindy Helton, Chair of UTO for our February, 2016 Board Meeting
UTO Report to ECW Board, February 6, 2016
United Thank Offering 125th Anniversary Young Adult Grants awarded
Province III: Diocese of Virginia - Charis Community; to create an intentional community on an unused Episcopal Church property (small church building, four bedroom vicarage, and eight acres of land). Four 20-something residents will lead weekly worship, creative relational programming and farming initiatives. Funds will be used for the salary for the young adult leader who is working on setting up the community as well as a tool shed, chicken coop and run, garden fencing, water catchment system, garden tilled and seeded and house repainted and furnished.
The UTO Blue Boxes at work! Hope and Resurrection Secondary School New Vehicle!
This vehicle is the result of last year’s UTO Grant to “Vehicle for Hope and Resurrection School” in Atiaba, South Sudan.
Thanks be to God! The school vehicle has finally arrived and is safely being stored in a partner's secure compound in Rumbek town until our teachers return to South Sudan in March!
We experienced "on the ground" partners to help us along the way, which was a real blessing! In the one photo, Moses (on the left) and a professional driver (on the right) at the "hand off" of the vehicle in Rumbek!
Again, THANK YOU to each of you for all your wonderful help on the grant. This will be an incredible blessing for Hope and Resurrection School and the community at large!
Click here for the United Thank Offering Remittance Form.
PREVIOUS REPORTS:
Please see the following report submitted by Cindy Helton, Chair of UTO for our August Board Meeting:
UTO_Triennial_Report_July_15_2015.docx
