Beginning in October, the United Thank Offering Board and staff are excited to offer two new ways to support UTO members and congregations. We hope that these will help support you in your faith walk and encourage gratitude in your community. Both of these new offerings came from UTO leaders, so if you’ve ever got an idea, please let us know!

Monthly Sermons: Beginning this month, we are going to offer a sermon sample for the following month. Many of you have expressed a desire to have a brief sermon that can be adapted based on the lectionary, or that can simply be read in smaller congregations that utilize the Sermons That Work offerings on the weeks when gathering for Morning Prayer instead of the Eucharist. The sermons will always be for the second Sunday of the month so congregations can plan ahead, and we’ll keep them archived on the blog by the lectionary reference, date, and author. You can find all of the sermons here,including some generic ones that can be adapted to any week of the lectionary. (Please note: Because our webmaster will be in Spain for the UTO Pilgrims on the Camino, the November 10 sermon will appear after this e-newsletter is published. If you need it sooner, please email Heather for a copy. Going forward, the sermon will be available at the time of the publication of the e-news.) If you’d like to write a sermon for others to use, please email Heather and she’ll help get you started.

Thankful Thursdays: You might have noticed that many clergy are now holding prayers each week on Facebook Live. I find these offerings a wonderful addition to my own daily meditations and prayers, even when I’m not able to join, because just knowing they are there praying is comforting. I then began to think about offering a space to pray and to give thanks on our UTO Facebook page. So, beginning on Thursday, October 10, we’ll gather on the UTO Facebook page for a quick prayer and a litany of thanksgiving, as well as time for you to share your prayers with the group. We’ll gather live at noon Eastern time each Thursday, but if you can’t make it, the video will remain up so you can join in at a time that works for you.

Good Book Club: Back by popular demand, the Good Book Club will take place during Epiphany again, but this year will focus on the Gospel of John. UTO will have resources available on November 1. Once again, the reflections are from last year’s UTO Grant sites, so we hope you’ll follow along to hear the stories of those your blessings went on to bless.