By Kathy Mank, UTO Board financial secretary
Thank you, diocesan and parish coordinators who have held Ingatherings and have worked together in partnership. We give special thanks for our faithful individual UTO supporters who practice gratitude daily. We also give thanks for the bishops and priests who share the UTO practice of gratitude with their churches.
In the past couple of months, UTO has initiated the equivalent of the football two-minute drill. We have engaged in a fast-paced situational strategy focusing on the calendar, in maximizing the opportunities for giving to the Ingathering and in mobilizing our coordinators and cheerleaders. We have learned to be unabashed in asking for money to fund innovative grants in the U.S. and all over the world. We have navigated COVID-19, which requires pause and resetting of the clock frequently. We are stronger for it, and the Ingathering continues to benefit missions and ministries that the church needs and has not yet funded.
Without gratitude and thankfulness, UTO cannot exist. In turn, for meeting grant requests, that gratitude and thankfulness must translate into tangible offerings. Thank you for your gifts that sustain UTO and propel it forward in innovative ministry for the entire Episcopal Church and our partners in the Anglican Communion.