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The History and Mission of the United Thank Offering The United Offering (now the United Thank Offering) began at the General Convention of 1889. There is a legend about the offering's origin. At the Women's Auxiliary meeting during the General Convention of 1886, about five hundred women were present for the worship service. And yet, when Mrs. Ida Soule, then serving as a delegate from Pittsburgh, helped to count the offering, she found the women had only given a total of eighty-seven dollars. Dismayed at the meager amount, she suggested to Julia Emery that perhaps if the women knew where their money was going, they might be inspired to contribute more generously. Emery agreed and urged her to write a letter suggesting that, just before the next Triennial Meeting, the offering be earmarked for a specific project. Emery would publish the letter in The Spirit of Missions and announce the designated recipient of that year's offering. In the early years the Women's Auxiliary collected the money at the General Convention and their focus was on expanding the mission of the church. Grants supported training women in the church, supporting and sending women missionaries domestically and overseas and funding the building of schools, hospitals and church buildings all over the USA. The United Offering became the United Thank Offering (UTO) in the year 1919. That triennium the offering totaled $1,371,537. In 1952, Bishop Gordon of Alaska was awarded UTO money for an airplane in order to reach the parishes. He coined the phrase "Blue Box," and the plane in its honor. In 1970, the Executive Council gave permission to the General Division of Women's Work to allocate the offering on an annual basis. At the 1970 triennial meeting, an independent National United Thank Offering Committee was established. Its responsibilities were to promote, interpret, and allocate the offerings annually. UTO celebrated its Centennial Anniversary, and funds available for granting topped three million for the first time. The Mission of the United Thank Offering is to invite people to offer daily prayers of thanksgiving to God and to offer outward and visible signs of those prayers which will benefit others. God calls each of us to grow in awareness of God, our own relationship with God, and our relationship in community with all whom God has created. As habits of daily thankful prayer mature, our personal relationship with God grows. Daily prayers of thanksgiving strengthen our being and doing. The blue box can be a reminder of our many blessings. Uniting our own gifts of thanks with those of others keeps us in thankful relationship with them and with all of creation. In sharing our thank offerings with those throughout the Communion who seek to address compelling human need and extend the mission of the Church, we deepen our sense of participation in the lives of others. The shared prayer and money offerings help others to respond to God's call and to grow in their own deepened sense of living within the greater Christian community. Through our shared stories, God calls us to continue to grow into the fullness of the Kingdom.
Copyright © 2003 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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