By UTO Workshop Team

As the UTO Board and staff continue to plan for our time together this July, we want to share with you as many updates as we can with the understanding that, given the ongoing pandemic, we might need to accommodate changes from the General Convention Office and Executive Council.  Each month in the e-newsletter, you’ll find an update on UTO plans for convention. In the meantime, the most up-to-date information will be posted on our website here.

Registration Now Open!

We’ve created a registration form for all UTO events that will also update your information in the UTO database. Please be sure to fill out the form by Monday, May 23, at 9 a.m. Eastern time so we can be prepared to welcome everyone in whatever way works best for you (at home, in person, or later). Beginning in June, we will email those who are registered regarding ways to participate in fun events based on how you’ll be joining us.

Workshop Topics Now Available

This year, UTO will offer seven workshops in Baltimore for anyone interested in attending. You need only be registered for convention to attend (so all deputies, alternates, bishops, visitors, triennial delegates, etc., are welcome) in person, and anyone can join from home. Regardless of how you plan to attend, please use the registration form above to let us know which workshops you plan on attending. This is especially important for those joining from home, as we will send you the Zoom links in June for how to join the presentations. The workshop descriptions and their presenters are available at https://unitedthankoffering.com/convention/. 

Beyond the Box with UTO

Members of the UTO Board will present on new ways to teach gratitude in your community. This workshop will be offered in English and Spanish. 

The beloved Blue Box is synonymous with UTO around the world and is still an integral part of UTO gratitude practice, but there is so much more to UTO and gratitude. This workshop, led by UTO Board members, will explore how to connect gratitude in new ways, UTO technology, gratitude practices, and more.

Out of the Box and Into the World with UTO Grants

Joyce Landers and Caroline Carson will present this workshop on the grant process in English. Join Lorraine Candelario and Carmen Alverez for our Spanish presentation. 

Applying for grants or supporting applicants can be daunting, so this workshop will help prepare you to apply for, support others, or simply help better connect the grant process with your diocese. In this workshop, members of the UTO Grants Committee will explore best practices when applying for grant funding, debut and discuss the 2023 UTO grant application, ideas for supporting applicants, and how to connect the Ingathering to the grants awarded within local contexts.

Gratitude + LGTBQ+

This workshop, led by the Rev. Rowan Larson and other members of TransEpiscopal, will focus on the role of gratitude in fostering joy, hope, and strength in the face of oppression. Participants will hear testimony and engage in a discussion of how gratitude can also help foster more welcoming spaces for LGBTQ+ people. 

Gratitude + Difference

The Rev. Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg will present a webinar looking at how difference is a gift. 

What if we understood that unity doesn’t mean uniformity? What if we saw each other’s uniqueness as valuable, as something to be grateful for? What would it feel like to be welcomed as you are without folks trying to change you? What would it feel like to be received in a congregation as a gift? Join us as we explore Lakota concepts of difference, ability, and community. We will discuss how our differences are what protect us and the dangers of uniformity.

Gratitude + Welcoming the Stranger

The Rev. Christopher McNabb will present about the Neighbor to Neighbor program, a community sponsorship effort of Episcopal Migration Ministries where faith communities are invited to welcome and support asylum seekers and newly arriving Afghans. Come learn more about ways you can support this mission.

Gratitude + Christian Formation

Join Bexley-Seabury President Micah Jackson to discuss how vocation and gratitude are connected. 

By virtue of our baptism, every Christian has a vocation. It could be as a mom, a monk, a firefighter, and sure, maybe (but probably not) ordination. And to live that vocation well requires formation. That’s where the church comes in. How can congregations, dioceses, and the denomination be supporting every person in deepening their response to God’s call on their life? Come hear about how discernment of vocation and gratitude are related, and learn about some resources the church has for responding to your call, whatever it may be.

Gratitude + Young Adults

Please join Katelyn Kenney and Stephanie Townes, as they debut the new Young Adult Formation program: The Radical Gratitude Project. In this workshop, we’ll explore the landscape of young adult formation ministry today and how a committed gratitude practice grounded in theology can bridge the gap between mainstream mindfulness thinking and a deeper spiritual life for young people. We’ll also present exciting new formation resources that seek to bring this concept to life through individual and group practice, art, and online community.