United Thank Offering Leadership
Our Board
Sherri Dietrich (Diocese of Maine) serves as the Board President of UTO. Sherri lives gratefully in Maine with her wife, cats, chickens, and gardens. Her “day job” is indexing and editing books, so she basically gets paid to read books every day. She is a firm believer in the power of gratitude to change lives and the world, and is dedicated to spreading the ministry of gratitude throughout the church.
Contact: sdietrich@episcopalnetworks.org
Joyce Landers (Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast) serves as the Vice President of UTO. Joyce lives in Troy, Alabama with her husband, Stephen, of 34 years. She has two boys. She is a Medical Technologist and works in a non-profit pediatric office. Her husband, Stephen, is a Professor of Marine Biology and Environmental Science at Troy University. Joyce has served in many roles at her home parish of St. Marks’ in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast including the vestry, licensed lay reader, Lay Eucharistic Visitor and the choir. She has served on the Diocesan Cursillo Commission and is currently serving on the Diocesan ECW Commission. Joyce has been serving as the Diocesan UTO coordinator since 2012 and joined the UTO Board in 2015 and served as the Province IV UTO Representative. She was elected Vice-President in 2018, and she is incredibly grateful for her time with UTO.
The Rev. Rowan Larson (they/them) (Diocese of Massachusetts) serves as the Province I Representative of UTO. Rowan is the Minister for Christian Formation for Children and Youth and Parish Administrator at Grace Episcopal Church in Newton, Massachusetts. They are a transitional deacon and anticipate being priested in late 2021/early 2022. Rowan graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City with their M.Div. in May 2018 and soon after moved to the Boston area with their wife, Kelsey, who is a PhD candidate in the Economics department at MIT. Rowan has a particular interest in formation of children, youth, and young adults (though they firmly maintain that formation doesn’t end after graduating from high school!) and theology of and for LGBTQ+ people of all ages. When not at Grace, Rowan can be found riding horses, volunteering at a therapeutic riding barn for children with disabilities, knitting, quilting, or otherwise crafting, or playing Dungeons and Dragons with some of their colleagues in ministry
Contact: rlarson@episcopalnetworks.org
The Rev. Caroline Carson (Diocese of New Jersey) serves as the Province II Representative of UTO. Caroline is honored to be the Province II Representative to the UTO Board. She is the rector of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal in Beach Haven, NJ in the Diocese of New Jersey where she is active in several committees. She previously hails from New Orleans. She is a professional conductor and a former university professor in music. Caroline is passionate about photography and cooking and is grateful for the opportunities that both nature and deliciousness afford for meditative time with the Holy Spirit. She loves coffee, travel, space, and puns. Caroline lives with her mischievous, but sweet cat Bluebell.
Mathy Milling Downing (Diocese of Washington, DC) serves as the Province III Representative of UTO. Mathy resides in Laytonsville, Maryland with her husband, Andy to whom she’s been married for 33 years. They are the parents of two daughters, Candace, aged 30, and Caroline, 32. She is a nonpublic Title One teacher., with more than 40 years of experience working with children. Mathy has been an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olney, Maryland for 26 years, serving on the vestry, as Lay Eucharistic minister, lector, Monday Mission Society (women’s group), Parish Life Committee, and a board member of St. John’s Episcopal School and African Palms, USA. Mathy has been active as a board member of ECW, Diocese of Washington, DC., serving as the Northern Montgomery County regional representative before becoming the UTO coordinator in 2017. She became the Province III representative in 2020 and looks forward to continuing to serve the Episcopal community on a provincial and national levels.
Maggie Noland (Diocese of Alabama) serves as the Province IV Representative of UTO. Maggie is from Livingston, Alabama. She has been an active Episcopalian all my life and is excited to have been appointed to the United Thank Offering Board to represent Province IV. Through the years, she has attended Sunday School, was a member of EYC, has been a long-standing member of ECW, and is a Daughter of the King. She has participated in Kairos weekends at the Aliceville Federal Prison for Women and now serve on that Kairos Advisory Board. In addition, she has attended Cursillo and Triennial. In other words, she is all into sharing love through the Episcopal Church. Her tenure with UTO began with regular participation in Ingathering Sundays and moved on to being on the Diocese of Alabama’s UTO committee. Eventually, she became the UTO Coordinator for the Diocese of Alabama. From there, she was appointed to the National UTO Board for Province VII and made many new friends and learned a lot about a province with which I was not familiar. It is exciting for her to now be working with the dioceses in the province of which she is a member! She has one daughter, two granddaughters, and two great-grandsons who are the joys of my life. She is filled with gratitude for this opportunity to serve God and the Episcopal Church
Gail Donovan (Diocese of Western Michigan) serves as the Province V Representative of UTO. Gail is a retired State of Michigan bank examiner. She enjoys spending Monday’s with Edie and Josie, her grandchildren. Her daughter & son-in-law too. Other favorite pastimes are taking road trips – especially to National Parks and any coastline with a beach to walk or lighthouse to climb. Gail got started with UTO when she was about 7 helping her Mom count the coins from their Blue Box. Her Mom always had high expectations about the amount of money that should be in it and her Dad liked that some of his coins helped buy “The Blue Box” for the Bishop of Alaska. Gail is currently the UTO rep for St. David’s, Lansing, coordinator for the Diocese of Western Michigan, and is honored to have been elected to serve as the Province V representative.
Karin Elsen (Diocese of Colorado) serves as the Province VI Representative of UTO. Karin lives in Englewood, Colorado, a Denver suburb, with her husband Ron. She is originally from Seattle and has also lived in Anchorage, Alaska. She recently retired as a senior paralegal at an international labor and employment law firm. She has served in many leadership and ministry roles at her church, Good Shepherd Episcopal in Centennial, and at community nonprofits. Karin has been UTO Diocesan Coordinator in Colorado since 2018. In addition to volunteering, she enjoys travel, art, and reading.
Contact: kelsen@episcopalnetworks.org
Daria Condon (Diocese of Kansas) serves as the Province VII Representative of UTO. Daria Condon is a cradle Episcopalian. She has been an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Parsons, Kansas, for most of her life where she is serving on the altar guild, is a lector and a lay Eucharistic Visitor. She has also served on the Vestry. Daria has been on the Kansas Episcopal Church Women’s Board for many years serving in many capacities. She is currently Secretary and the UTO Representative. Daria has attended four Triennials and is looking forward to serving on the UTO Board.
Sedona Jacobson (Episcopal Church of Navajoland) serves as the Province VIII Representative of the UTO Board. She lives in Fort Defiance, AZ where she attends college for Agroecology in plant emphasis. She works with Shimá of Navajoland soaps and is interested in hiking, fitness, photography, and traveling.
Carmen Alvarez (Diocese of Honduras) serves as the Province IX Representative of the UTO Board. She is a Sunday school coordinator and teacher. She is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras but lives in Siguatepeque. She has a degree in Pedagogy and works as a principal at Saint John´s Episcopal School, Siguatepeque. She has a handsome son. She loves to read, sing, do exercises, and dance zumba. This is her first period at the UTO Board and she feels so grateful to be part of it.
Lorraine Candelario (Diocese of Puerto Rico) serves as an appointed member of the UTO Board. She is a Eucharistic Minister and Sunday school teacher since 2003. Wanting to expand her service to the community, she obtained a Chaplain’s license in 2012. As an active member of the Episcopal Church, she continues to help support the outreach of UTO into Spanish speaking and bilingual communities while furthering her theological education in Puerto Rico. She has served in many capacities in the church both at the parish and diocesan levels including, presently, member of the PR Diocesan Standing Committee, Board of Directors, and Companion Committee. She is also the United Thanks Offering coordinator and has served at all levels in ECW and UTO. She’s married to the Rev. Deacon Luis Reyes and has two beautiful girls. While at home, Lorraine enjoys gardening, recycling, arts & crafts, playing with her Labrador (Bella), and spending time with her two grandsons. She is committed to her family, her church, and spreading gratitude in the church and the world.
Erin Sample (Diocese of Indianapolis) serves as an appointed Young Adult Member of the UTO Board. She hails from the exotic lands of Ohio, but currently resides in Indianapolis. She has three cats, Annebelle, Jerry, & Dave, who have been her entire world during this pandemic. Some of her hobbies include reading, crocheting, sewing, dancing, and board games. She is a recent graduate from Purdue University with a degree in human development and family studies and a minor in religious studies. She believes God has created each and every one of us uniquely, and we are called to love and cherish every individual. She feels so blessed and excited to be able to do good work under the United Thank Offering.
Laura Jackson (Diocese of Chicago) serves as an Appointed Member of the UTO Board. Laura is the Executive Director of The Partner’s Path. A Leadership Coach and D.Min. candidate in Spirituality, Laura studies and writes about the spiritual lives of clergy spouses. She is the founder of Holy Ground Coaching and a coach at Province V’s Leadership Coaching Project. She has been a chaplain, crisis counselor, trauma therapist, and a spiritual director. Laura is fascinated by human flourishing and unlocking joy. She lives in Evanston, Illinois with a small dog, a middle-sized kid, and a seminary president.
Molly Minnerath (Diocese of Massachusetts) serves as an appointed young adult member to the UTO board. Molly is the Chaplain to the MANNA community, a large community of unhoused and unstably housed folks in downtown Boston. Molly loves nothing more than being outside: hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, fishing, walking around her neighborhood, she takes any opportunity to get outdoors, especially with her partner, Maryclare. She is proud to be from lake country in Minnesota and lives by her home state’s motto: “there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation!” Molly is honored to be one of the newest members of UTO’s board.
United Thank Offering Staff
The Rev. Canon Heather Melton
Staff Officer for the United Thank Offering
(917)-771-3366
