Submitted by Tammy Smecker-Hane, UTO Coordinator, Diocese of Los Angeles
Now is the time to order resources for your parish’s United Thank Offering (UTO) In-Gathering this Fall. You can order a parish kit which includes the traditional blue UTO donation boxes and/or color-your-own boxes, envelopes, brochures, stickers, and resources for practicing gratitude (more on the later below). You also can order specific items individually. Orders should be placed on the UTO on-line shop by September 18 and will ship via USPS by September 29. Note that all materials are free of charge. Remember that every penny donated to 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 pressing community problems. 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, UTO grants in 2027 will go to groups seeking to bring the unique gifts of their parish, diocese or province to bear on the needs of their local community. However this all relies on parishes like yours holding UTO In-Gatherings each year to raise the funds and donate to UTO! Note that it only takes one person to run a UTO In-gathering, which can be done at any time of the year, and step-by-step instructions can be found here.
At last year’s Diocesan Convention, our diocese began giving out “Church of Faithful Service” plaques to churches in our diocese who have given to UTO in any 3 of the last 5 years, and we plan to continue doing this every year. There is space on the plaque for add-ons that will specify each year a parish has donated. The plaques and yearly add-ons will be given out during Diocesan Convention so parishes can be recognized for their work. Our aim is to give parishes a visible reminder of the fact that they can make positive change in this world by practicing gratitude and funding grants to fellow Episcopalians and Anglicans who are on the ground doing the work that Jesus began. We congratulate these parishes who received the Church of Faithful Service awards last year: Church of the Transfiguration (Arcadia), Prince of Peace (Woodland Hills), Saint Andrew’s (Irvine), Saint Clement’s by the Sea (San Clemente), Saint Gregory’s (Long Beach), Saint John the Divine (Costa Mesa), Saint John the Evangelist (Needles), Saint Luke’s (Long Beach), Saint Mary’s (Laguna Beach), Saint Michael & All Angeles (Corona del Mar), and Trinity (Redlands). Thank you for making gratitude a core practice in your parish!
UTO is providing two formation resources for parishes to use this Fall to deepen their commitment to practicing gratitude. The first is a Five Minute Gratitude Journal for adults, which you might remember from Diocesan Convention last year, that is an excellent addition to, for example, a vestry meeting, bible study or book club meeting. The second is a 5-week Sunday School program for children that highlights one thing we are grateful for each week and illustrates it with photos and information from a past UTO grant site. These gratitude resources as well as popular ones from previous years can be found on the UTO website. You can download and print/use these for free as well past resources such as An Invitation to a Holy Autumn, the children’s Gratitude Coloring Pages, Thanksgiving Gratitude Dice and crafts, Thanksgiving/Gratitude liturgies and a whole lot more. We encourage you to take a look and see what might work might best to spark a sense of gratitude in your congregation.
If you have any questions about United Thank Offering, please contact our UTO diocesan coordinator, Tammy Smecker-Hane (tsmecker@cox.net) and she will be happy to help.