Episcopal Church Women Looking Ahead

This year’s ECW Province VIII Annual Meeting theme was “Rooted in Love, Leading with Heart, Promises Hope.” During the meeting, The Rev. Rachel Tabor Hamilton installed the
2022-2024 elected and appointed officers, commissioning us to work to support our Province VIII Episcopal Women.

As your Province VIII ECW President, I am committed to continuing the outgoing board’s “envisioning the NEW” work.
Following the Circular Leadership Model from our Leading with Heart program, the Board members will work together as a “Core Circle,” incorporating each other’s gifts. 

Work will continue on the Leading with Heart program modules based on the Circle leadership model. Monthly Practice Circles are available to all leaders to allow everyone to discuss challenges in our ministries and share ideas and solutions. Please visit this page for more information and to register to receive a link to the First Saturday Practice Circles. Our Leading with Heart team will also present several workshops at The Parliament of World Religions gathering in Chicago in October 2023.

Preliminary discussion is underway for our 2023 ECW Province VIII Annual Meeting. Watch for updates as the plans develop further.

We are also looking ahead to the 2024 National Episcopal Church Women Triennial Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.  This meeting is held concurrently with the General Convention of The Episcopal Church. REMEMBER, SERVE, IMAGINE is the National Episcopal Church Women Triennial Theme, Celebrating 150 years strong! Mark your calendars and plan to send delegates June 30 – July 9, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky…see you there!

When you have Episcopal Church Women walking together serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in fellowship, there is JOY full of Love, Heart, and Hope. More than ever, this fellowship of women needs to exist, especially for those marginalized, lonely, and of all ages, to need to know the Love of God.

We would love to visit your diocese or church. Please reach out to me with any questions or to arrange a visit.
We want to stay connected and continue to build relationships.

All the best, with God’s love,

Canon Martha K. Estes
marthakestes53@gmail.com 

I am the new UTO Board Member from Province VIII, having just completed the first year of my three-year term. I was also on the Grants subcommittee of UTO, which is responsible for designing the call for proposals and checking the grant applications for completeness, analyzing their budgets, and judging whether or not they meet the stated criteria. I am also the UTO Diocesan Coordinator for the Diocese of Los Angeles, and the parish UTO Coordinator for Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Irvine, CA. Thus I welcome questions about all aspects of UTO and am very happy to help anyone in Province VIII. Simply email me at tsmecker@cox.net.

UTO grants in 2025 will have the theme of tackling water problems, for example, providing safe and reliable drinking water, building bathing and washing facilities in underserved communities, promoting water conservation and education, etc. The board recently selected the grants to be awarded, and they will be announced in June once approved by the Executive Council. The total amount to be awarded will be $1.08 million.

UTO grants in 2026 will have a focus that moves two different groups beyond dialogue across lines of difference into action that is undertaken together. UTO seeks to fund projects focused on justice and bridging divides. Applications must demonstrate how two formerly disconnected groups will come together to work on a project that produces meaningful change within a local community. The success of these projects may not solely be measured on the expected or hoped for outcomes, but also on the learning and growth that happens as a part of the collective work.

To apply for a UTO grant, see https://unitedthankoffering.com/apply for all the important information and contact your UTO diocesan coordinator to get their help and advice early in the process. Remember that each diocesan bishop can recommend only one UTO grant proposal each year, and a signed bishop’s approval form is a mandatory part of the grant application.
Thus your proposal idea may have to compete at the diocesan level before submission to UTO. Again, contact your diocese early to learn about their specific internal process and to get advice that might greatly improve your chance of success.

In 2024, UTO collected $1.08 million to award as grants, an increase of 8.0% compared to 2023. In 2024, UTO donations from dioceses in Prov VIII totaled $65,027, a decrease of 6.0% compared to 2023. Note that as a Province, we are midrange in giving with Provinces II, III and IV giving more than us, and the other Provinces giving less. Below is a chart showing UTO
donations from Prov VIII dioceses over the last 10 years. Notice that donations are slowly coming back to pre-covid19 levels, but have not quite fully recovered yet. Also following is a map showing the dioceses that increased their contributions from 2023 to 2024 colored in blue, and a table showing the amounts donated by Prov VIII dioceses in 2024 and the change (in percent) from 2023. We want to especially thank and congratulate the Dioceses of Spokane, Los Angeles and Olympia for giving the largest amounts, and the Dioceses of California, San Joaquin, Hawaii and Northern California for more than doubling their 2023 donations! Please keep up the excellent work because every penny of your donations quickly goes out to Episcopalians and Anglicans in the USA and the wider world to make much-needed improvements in their communities! We anticipate that this coming year we will see even more requests from overseas dioceses due to the cessation of funding from USAID.

 

Submitted by: UTO Board Member from Prov VIII – Tammy Smecker-Hane (tsmecker@cox.net)