Sample Newsletter Article for Julia Chester Emery Celebration
Note:This newsletter article (and the bulletin announcements)use a gratitude challenge to lead up to the Birthday Celebration. The idea is to help inspire people to specifically tackle different areas of their life where they can find new things to give thanks to God for to deepen their spiritual discipline of gratitude. We recommend passing out new Blue Boxes decorated with birthday stickers for folks to use during the month of September.
Growing in Gratitude: Julia Chester Emery Birthday Celebration
During the month of September, we’ll join with congregations across the Episcopal Church in celebrating the life and ministry of Julia Chester Emery, credited with founding the United Thank Offering, for what would have been her 165th birthday. Ms. Emery was the second National Secretary of the Women’s Auxiliary (her sister was the first, who envisioned creating a network of women to support missionaries and the expansion of the Episcopal Church) and is credited as the founder of the United Thank Offering. Julia led the Women’s Auxiliary and the United Thank Offering for forty years, from 1876 until 1916. She was a modest and self-effacing woman; careful to stay out of the limelight, so not much is know about her life.She traveled around the world to visit mission outposts supported by UTO and visited extensively throughout the church, visiting every diocese and missionary district at least once by train. Julia gave up much in order to continue her work, she turned down a proposal of marriage, which would have caused her to lose her job, and she fought for the canonical status of the deaconess program, which some believe helped build the foundation for the ordination of women. Julia Chester Emery reminds us that we all possess the resources we need to be effective missionaries, through the two most important qualities exemplified in her life, a willingness to try new things and the tenacity to see through difficult tasks and ideas to their culmination.
The United Thank Offering was founded as a personal spiritual discipline of gratitude. UTO asks that all Episcopalians notice the good things that God is doing each day and then make a small thank offering in their UTO Blue Box. These offerings are then collected each year and 100% of what is donated is given away to support innovative mission and ministry in the Episcopal Church. Since the founding of UTO, $135,760,167.33 has been awarded. Out of 5,215 grants awarded since 1883, our diocese has received # grants to support ministries such as EXAMPLE THAT WOULD APPEAL TO YOUR READER.
In honor of Julia Chester Emery’s 165ht birthday, we’re taking up an additional thank offering during the month of September. Each week we’re inviting you to spend some time reflecting on specific blessings in your life in conjunction with the blessings in Julia Chester Emery’s life. The theme for each week is: September 3: blessings around your house, September 10: Blessings of travel/adventures, September 17: blessings of friends and family, and September 24: small blessings that make a big difference.
Then on Sunday, September 24th, we hope you’ll join us for a special birthday party at coffee hour to honor Julia Chester Emery, her life and legacy. In addition to these themes, we hope you’ll check out the special videos being released by UTO in honor of Julia Chester Emery via their webpage and Facebook page. The goal is to raise the Ingathering in order to support more eligible mission organizations each year, we hope you’ll join us in supporting these important ministries through deepening your own practice of gratitude.
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