A letter to the diocese from the 2012 UTO Diocesan Coordinator

Greetings!  My name is Elizabeth Welch.  I am from Nativity, Dothan, and I am your Diocesan United Thank Offering (UTO) Representative for the next two years.  I would like to thank Jane Birscione for the fabulous job she has done with UTO for the past SIX years.  She has been a wonderful mentor to me and a great advocate for UTO.

Over the years, there have been many Diocesan UTO Coordinators who have inspired me to “catch the UTO bug!”  I pray that I can fill their shoes.  God has given me a heart for outreach and world missions.  I currently serve on the outreach committee at Nativity and am the parish ERD contact person.  I have also been a member of mission teams to Honduras, Guatemala, and The Dominican Republic.   I am very excited to be your new UTO Representative.

Three years ago, I was blessed to attend the 2009 Trienniel as the alternate UTO Representative.   Two highlights that stand out for me from Trienniel/General Convention were the UTO In-Gathering Service and the booth from Haiti—two very different but moving experiences.  The UTO In-Gathering Communion Service was attended by about 10,000 people—the clergy were vested—bishops, priests, and deacons abounded.  Liturgical dancers let the procession with a flourish of flame colored silken banners.  Women dressed in UTO blue processed in and presented UTO checks from their respective dioceses.  It was spectacular to see all the offerings being presented in such a way.  Praise God.  By contrast, but just as moving, was the sight I came across when I was strolling through the exhibit hall while some of the booths were being packed away.   The women from the Diocese of Haiti had “raided” the UTO booth and were excitedly packing up their UTO supplies to get ready for their own in-gatherings—Haiti is the poorest country on this side of the world, and those women had beams on their faces about having such a quantity of UTO supplies to take back to their parishes in Haiti—wow!

As you probably know, UTO begins with a little blue box, a coin and a prayer.  The box is placed in a prominent place in your home.  Family members regularly drop in a coin and say a prayer of thanksgiving.   Twice a year these little blue boxes are in-gathered at parish churches and the proceeds sent to the diocesan office.  These offerings are then combined with offerings from throughout The Episcopal Church and used to fund permanent outreach ministries both at home and throughout the world—thus giving others something for which to be thankful.  It is a cycle of thanksgiving which generates not only thousands of dollars, but tens of thousands of prayers.

UTO Coordinators from each parish assist with UTO by writing articles for their church newsletters, making sure that UTO supplies are on-hand, and coordinating the bi-annual in-gatherings.  Supplies may be ordered on line at episcopalmarketplace.org free of charge, and a UTO coordinators handbook may be downloaded. This handbook is full of wonderful prayers, information, and ideas for the parish coordinator.  United Thank Offering on line also has some fabulous information.  Check it out.

I look forward to meeting all of you at this year’s diocesan convention at the UTO Booth.  Please feel free to contact me at elizawelch51@hotmail.com for any questions or concerns about United Thank Offering.  If you are a parish coordinator, please send me your contact information.

Blessings!

Elizabeth Welch

UTO Representative