Readings:
PRAYER (traditional
language)
O Almighty God,
who hast compassed us about with so great a cloud of
witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of
thy servant Julia, may persevere in running the race that is
set before us, until at length, through thy mercy, we may
with her attain to thine eternal joy; through Jesus Christ,
the author and perfecter of our faith, who liveth and
reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever.
PRAYER (contemporary
language)
O Almighty God,
who have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses:
Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your
servant Julia, may persevere in running the race that is set
before us, until at last we may with her attain to your
eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter
of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
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Last updated: 26 Nov. 2005
JULIA CHESTER EMERY,
UPHOLDER OF MISSIONS (9 JAN 1922)
Julia Emery is a 1994 addition to the Episcopal Calendar.
Her father was a New England sea captain. Two of her
brothers became priests. One sister, Helen, cared for
another sister who was ill, and made a project of providing
hospitality in her New York City home for missionaries on
leave. Another sister, Mary, was National Secretary of the
Women's Auxiliary of the Board of Missions for its first
four years, from 1872 to 1876. At this point, Julia
took over, and was National Secretary of the Auxiliary for
forty years, from 1876 to 1916.
She visited every diocese in the United States, co-ordinating and encouraging work in support of missions. She traveled to London as a delegate to the Pan-AnglicanCongress. She traveled to Japan, inland China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines to advance missionary work there, and to be able to report on it to the Episcopal women in the United States.
It was Julia who invented the United Thank Offering (UTO). This works (or used to work -- my political instincts tell me that not everyone today would be comfortable with the original arrangement) by giving each woman a small box with a slit in the top (a cardboard piggy bank), and encouraging her to drop a small contribution into it whenever she feels thankful about something. Once a year, the women of the parish present these at the Sunday service, and the money is sent to national headquarters to be used for missions.
by James Kiefer