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UTO Presented At Convention Eucharist

Episcopal News Service. July 21, 1976 [76238]

Eugene Niednagel

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The presentation of the United Thank Offering (UTO) at the General Convention Eucharist, allocation of the 1976 offering, approving the procedural guidelines for the UTO committee, and a workshop for diocesan UTO chairpersons will be the essential portions of UTO business to be conducted at the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Episcopal Church when they meet in Minnesota in September.

The UTO will be presented at the Eucharist, Sunday, September 19 at 11 a.m. in the Minneapolis Auditorium during the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. The Most Rev. and Rt. Honorable Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, will be the preacher. The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will be the chief celebrant. The diocesan UTO chairpersons representing the 93 U.S.A. dioceses and 20 dioceses outside the U.S.A., will make a symbolic presentation of their diocesan offerings, and the offerings of the congregation will be presented as a thank offering.

The United Thank Offering began as a special offering in 1889 at the Triennial Meeting of the Women's Auxiliary to the Board of Missions. It has been an important piece of the agenda of all the Triennial Meetings since then. In many places, participation in the devotional program and subsequent giving is growing to become a family experience, but the women of the Church have continued to be responsible for inspiring participation and for carrying out the on-going tasks necessary to provide information, interpretive materials, supplies, etc. As someone said recently, "The offering is truly a gift from God to the Church." The hard work necessary to keep the program alive is a gift of the women of the whole Church.

In the year of General Convention, the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Episcopal Church allocates the offering for that year. A proposed list of grants is prepared from grant requests which are submitted through the diocesan offices, regional/ national/international agencies, or other churches of the Anglican Communion. The list of proposed grants is prepared by the UTO committee, an elected committee which has been given the responsibility of carrying out the UTO business and allocating the offering between Triennial Meetings.

Mrs. Paul Roca, chairperson of the UTO committee for 1976, will preside during the portion of the business devoted to discussion of the UTO proposed grant list. The members of the committee will answer Triennial participants' questions concerning projects which are proposed for funding.

The UTO committee has the monumental task of selecting grant proposals from requests which total four to five times as much money as can be expected. This year the committee has received about 225 requests totaling over $7.25 million. For this reason, many excellent projects will not be funded.

UTO grants provide seed money for new programs which can be models for new ministry. In addition they are used for capital and program needs which are aimed at providing greater autonomy for the churches now dependent on outside funding. The offering has become the most important extra budgetary resource available to overseas dioceses of the Church. Grants are also made to Anglican Churches in the less developed areas of the world. Frequently these are newly independent churches in newly independent countries.

All diocesan UTO chairpersons will meet for a workshop on the "Fair Day" of the Triennial Meeting, Sept. 17. They will have an opportunity to ask questions about their responsibilities and to share ideas with each other.

At the close of the Triennial Meeting the UTO committee guidelines for 1976-1979 will have been approved and the new members elected by their provinces will be introduced.