Adapted from the Diocese of Missouri
Think of it as a little blue box that lives on your phone. The United Thank Offering has encouraged generations of Episcopalians to mark gratitude in daily life by adding spare change to small paper boxes.
Months of work with Cheii’s Web Development in the Diocese of Navajoland yielded an app that’s meant to be a gratitude log that also accepts donations. (The paper blue boxes are now printed in Navajoland.)
But you can’t just download it and add your virtual coins, and that’s intentional. “Counting your blessings is a spiritual discipline,” said Jeanne King, the diocesan UTO coordinator and member of the ECW board at the Triennial and launch of this gratitude app. “When UTO worked with the coders they were specific that this is not a fundraiser, and wanted people to express at least one word of gratitude before making a donation.”
App testing showed that with a blank screen, users were not inclined to write words or sentences about gratitude. But with a question, suddenly users got it.
You’ll find that first screen with a rotating question (365 possibilities). You can reopen the app if the question doesn’t feel right for you. After you type in the text box, you have options to share, see stories of UTO grant recipients, read your gratitude log, or contribute (in whole dollars).
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
