Submitted by Tammy Smecker-Hane, UTO Coordinator, Diocese of Los Angeles
Each year every penny donated to United Thank Offering (UTO) goes out as grants for mission and ministry to Episcopal groups in the USA or Anglican Communion groups in the wider world to address vexing community problems. Every year there is a specific theme for the grants, and 25 to 30 grants are made totaling roughly $1 million dollars. The 2026 UTO grants were focused on bridging divides in communities and bringing justice. Three illustrative examples were: 1) the Diocese of Burundi in southern central Africa received a $48,000 grant to change cultural mindsets and bridge the gender gap by training women as catechists and supporting their work by establishing microloans, 2) The Episcopal Church’s Province VI was awarded a $43,575 grant to create a faith-based Suicide Prevention Program led by Indigenous leaders, and 3) the Diocese of Lexington (Kentucky) was awarded a $20,191 grant to establish a neighborhood-based violence prevention program. To learn more, download the 2026 UTO Grants brochure from UTO’s website, or to read about prior grant projects, like the clean water project in Lesotho pictured here, see the “United Thank Offering” Facebook page.
When we celebrate the Eucharist, the priest proclaims that the bread and wine are “the gifts of God for the people of God”. Inspired by that, 2027 UTO grants will go to groups seeking to bring the unique gifts of their parish, diocese or province to bear on the pressing needs of their local community. UTO is looking for proposals that are tailored to the proposer’s specific geographic location, as well as projects that generate something that lasts after the grant ends and allows participants to “pay it forward” and become gifts to their community.
If you are interested in applying, here are some basics facts to consider. Your UTO proposal should be focused on mission and ministry and be a proposal that can be accomplished in one year for a maximum request of $55,000. Note that UTO grants are not meant for typical church renovations that normally would be funded by a parish’s capital campaign. The project you are proposing must be a new ministry or must take an existing ministry in a significantly new direction. Note that UTO grants are not meant to simply expand what you are currently doing to serve more people. Also, UTO cannot fund projects that could be funded elsewhere in The Episcopal Church’s budget. For more specific information, please see the Focus and Criteria document on the UTO Grant webpage.
The UTO Grant website is very comprehensive and contains all the information and documents that a proposer needs to apply. If you are considering applying, please email our UTO Diocesan Coordinator, Tammy Smecker-Hane (tsmecker@cox.net), as soon as possible so she can help you navigate this non-trivial process. There is an internal diocesan deadline for UTO grant proposal ideas because each diocesan bishop can endorse only one UTO grant each year, and the Bishop’s Endorsement Form is a requirement for applying. To propose your idea to the Diocese of Los Angeles, go to the UTO website listed above and download the Grant Project Proposal form, shown under the “First Deadline” section. In order to enter your proposal to the diocese, fill out the first and last pages (note that you won’t need to filled it out in its entirety and submit an audit until UTO’s first deadline of Dec 4) and email it to Tammy Smecker-Hane (tsmecker@cox.net) and Bishop Antonio José Gallardo Lucena (agallardo@ladiocese.org) by the deadline of Friday, Oct 23. If more than one idea is submitted then we will convene a subcommittee to evaluate them and pick one to go forward. Subsequently, there would be three UTO deadlines you must meet in Dec, Jan and Feb. In addition, you should plan to attend at least one of the on-line Office Hours that the UTO director, Rev. Heather Melton, offers to help you design and prepare your proposal. See the website for details. The process of applying initially may seem complex, but Heather and Tammy will support you throughout the entire process so even first-time proposal writers can successfully navigate it.