Bishop Stacy Sauls, Chief Operating Officer of The Episcopal Church, has announced that Kayla Massey of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina has been named the first Julia Chester Emery United Thank Offering/Young Adult Service Corps intern.

Massey currently serves as a Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) volunteer in the Diocese of Santiago in the Philippines.

“Kayla was selected for her dedication to mission and ministry in the example of the principles of United Thank Offering,” Bishop Sauls said. 

The United Thank Offering is a ministry to promote thankfulness and mission in the whole Church. Known worldwide as UTO, the United Thank Offering awards grants for projects that address human needs and help alleviate poverty, both domestically and internationally in The Episcopal Church.

This new internship is an innovative collaborative effort among the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society and General Theological Seminary. Massey will be based in New York City and will reside at General Seminary.  Her focus will be two-way: with the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers in the Mission and Reconciliation Program at General  Theological Seminary; and with the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society supporting the work of the Global Partnerships team and United Thank Offering.  Massey will serve as a Young Adult Ambassador for the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society supporting the ministry of the United Thank Offering at specific events, including General Convention, during her internship year.

“The fact that this collaboration has resulted in the creation of an internship for a young adult is a fine model for partnership throughout the Church,” Bishop Sauls noted.  

YASC is a ministry for Episcopal young adults, ages 21 – 30, who are interested in exploring their faith in new ways by living and serving in communities around the Anglican Communion. Previously the United Thank Offering awarded grants to support the YASC program.

“In 2014, the Board decided to use this tradition as an opportunity to include young adults in the ministry of the United Thank Offering and give a returning YASC volunteer an opportunity to continue their ministry among us by naming a specific volunteer as the Julia Chester Emery United Thank Offering/Young Adult Service Corps volunteer,” explained the Rev. Heather Melton, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society’s Missioner for the United Thank Offering.  “Kayla was chosen for this position because she embodies what Julia Chester Emery exemplified: outgoing; prayerful; hardworking; innovative and dedicated to mission.”

Julia Chester Emery, honored on January 9 in The Episcopal Church’s Holy Women Holy Men, is credited with creating the United Thank Offering in 1916.
 

For more information contact Melton.

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