Supporting Missions

Teachers and students from the School of Social Work in Delhi, India on their way to demonstrate social work techniques in remote villages, c.1955.

With each subsequent year, the amount collected by the United Thank Offering, built through small donations by the women of the church, combined together to become a generous blessing to share. In 1919, the Triennial Meeting voted to codify the use of UTO funds for “work by women among women." Though this had always been a driving spirit behind the offering, the formalization underscored the vital role that women played in mission work, and the concern they felt for their sisters around the world.

The mission work of the UTO was designed to develop a rich and enthusiastic network of women missionaries, each of whom was energized by the missionary who came before, and who would then inspire the service of those to follow. A woman trained in nursing might be sent to train nurses in Arkansas or Japan, and those nurses would then teach the next generation of nurses themselves. In this way, the work of the UTO created a ripple effect both domestically and abroad.

UTO funding grants, made available on a needs-based system for fulfilling the mission work of the church, made it possible for women to acquire training and then to find vocational work in schools and hospitals supported by the UTO. Over the decades, this sense of individual vocational opportunity became an explicit strength for the program and emphasized the contributions of women within the wider Episcopal Church. As a UTO pamphlet urged, women were encouraged to be generous in giving aid to young women who were "making an adventure of their lives in the extension of Christ's kingdom."

Outdoor classes for adults expanded to remote regions as result of increased access provided by new roads funded by UTO grants in Liberia, c.1955.

Students at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan gather for a Bible study, c. 1955.