© 1993 David Glass
© 1993 The Fellowship for readers of The Urantia Book
David Glass, Fort Worth, Texas, editor
ED.NOTE: The Florida study groups are of particular interest to me because I was a resident of Florida for many years and I witnessed the early growth of this movement which has led to the formation and maintenance of some thirteen study groups in the state.
¶ Meet The Study Groups
In the early 70s there was one study group in Florida, in Melboume, led by Larry Jones. Readers assembled from two or three neighboring towns along the Atlantic shore. As is not uncommon among study groups, this first one “went to seed” being scattered to Califomia, Germany, and elsewhere.
In 1975 I attended a Urantia Book reader’s conference in Evanston, Illinois. It seemed amazing and amusing at that time that several of us Florida readers met for the first time in Illinois since many of us lived within driving distance to each other’s homes in the Tampa-St. PetersburgSarasota area. Soon thereafter, several study groups were formed and Florida readers began holding annual conferences which attracted readers from all over the state.
Study groups took shape in St. Petersburg in the home of Richard Bain, in Tampa, where I met Kevin Goodman and Steve Law, and another in Sarasota. The proximity of these groups to each other has contributed to their maintaining a spiritual-social “super-group” which continues to function vibrantly. Quarterly gatherings are held at which study programs and pot luck dinners are shared in joyful comradery. A larger association of readers known as “Florida Students of The Urantia Book” has been developing which includes the active study groups throughout the state.
¶ Tampa Bay Area Readers
Reported by Chris Johnston, Temple Terrace
Readers in the Tampa Bay area, including the Beasleys and Maryanne Uranowski of Brandon, Jim and Chris Johnston of Temple Terrace, Kevin Goodman and Susan Fox of Tampa have been taken up in prayer and support for the Amyx family whose mother, Pat, died of cancer.
This has been one of the very active groups in the Florida Students of The Urantia Book movement and its members have also been active in the Fellowship and as volunteers on The Study Group Herald.
As many study groups have discovered, meetings wax and wane in attendance and regularity, they experiment with various modes of study, hosting practices, ritual approaches to the sharing of the spiritual experience, and sometimes even wonder if the group itself will survive. Over the years the membership can change; yet every step along the way is a profound experience in human association and eternal friendship and is never forgotten. Such is the experience of the Tampa Bay Readers.
¶ Clearwater, Florida Study Group
Michael Bartolo reporting
Our group in Clearwater has been meeting since December of 1991 at Joycee Henrion’s house. For most of the past 15 months, our sessions were every two weeks on the first and third Thursday. Recently we switched to every Thursday.
We decided at our first get-together to pick topics for our meetings and have so far employed that plan. While some meetings go off into various subjects (especially when new readers are present, with questions) we’ve found the subjectfocused technique to be advantageous. One possible modification we’re considering is to set aside time each week to read from the Life of Jesus.
During the past year-plus we’ve read and discussed the following: Seraphim, Personality Survival (Paper 112), Lucifer Rebellion (53-54), The Planetary Rebellion (67), aspects of universe reality (2 weeks), Thought Adjusters, personal transformation, the Rodan papers (160,161), Celestial Artisans (44), The Melchizedeks, the Urmia Lectures, Bestowals of Christ Michael (119), The Bestowal of Michael on Urantia (120), The Times of the Bestowal (121), Birth and Infancy of Jesus (122), Selecticom’s excerpts on Life and Teachings of Jesus (3 weeks), worship (2 weeks), prayer and Selecticom’s excerpts from The History of Urantia section (2 weeks).
About three years ago, The Urantia Book study group members revived the practice of having quarterly meetings. These are also held at Joycee’s house which has a suitably large ‘family room’ to accommodate the people who show up for a pot-luck meal, socializing, and a presentation/discussion. The topics for the last six quarterlies have been: Thought Adjusters, Handling Modem Stress, The Transition Years, The Mansion Worlds, Purpose in Life, and Worship.
On March 7th there was a special meeting for the area Urantia Book community on the subject of prayer and healing dedicated to the Amyx family. Pat is battling liver cancer.
¶ The Brandon Study Group
Bill and Sharon Beasley are the two remaining members of what was once a study group that rotated meetings in the different homes of its members. Sharon and Bill attend the quarterly meetings in Clearwater at the home of Joycee Henrion. Bill recently presented a study of “angels” at one of the quarterly meetings. The Beasley children, now grown up and gone from their parental home, were raised with the benefit of a “Urantian” home and, with some other children of readers, made presentations to the assembled groups of the Tampa Bay area. One of their presentations was of the colored races of Urantia and they traced each race’s migrations on a world map with pins whose pinheads were the colors of the various races.
¶ Wings Of Eagles Study Group
Jupiter, Florida
Meetings are held at the home of Paul and Francine Herrick on the first and third Mondays at 7:30 P.M. We range from two to sixteen attendees and we read and discuss The Urantia Book. The only ground rule is that whatever we talk about must be U.B. related, and since the U.B. covers about everything, we have some very diverse and interesting discussions. Our study group members come from as far north as Stuart and as far south as Fort Lauderdale. We currently don’t include worship as part of our meeting because of the feelings of some toward “organized religion,” but some of the study group members have recently expressed a desire to change that. We do include music and worship at our annual Florida Students of The Urantia Book (FSUB) meeting, however.
ED. NOTE: Paul and Francine are very active in Urantia Book outreach. They operate Urantia Book booths at the Miami Bookfair International and The West Palm Beach Boolfest annually, and are very conscientious about library placement of Urantia Books especially in their travels abroad. They have placed books in libraries in Hong Kong, Bankock, and Prague. Paul and Francine are involved in publishing “The Sonshine Messenger,” a quarterly for FSUB.
¶ First United Sons Of Englewood — FUSE
Lee and Connie Lester and their friend Norma who drives up to Englewood from Venice, Florida, a neighboring town on the Gulf coast, comprise this study group. For ten years all three had been attending a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall together and had been good friends even prior to having discovered the revelation. Through this activity all three had become wellversed in the Bible. Lee and Connie had made a strong appeal in prayer for more truth and they soon encountered The Urantia Book. The Lesters said that they had employed the universal injunction, “Seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened to you.” They sought, asked, and found. When Lee and Connie discovered the book, they were immediately and greatly impressed by it and shared their enthusiasm with Norma, who proved initially skeptical, but who shortly became interested. The three have been meeting at the Lester home for a decade, and for much of this time they did not know of any other readers or study groups. The Lesters report having taken some time to “disindoctrinate themselves” from some of the belief systems of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They used to meet twice a week and now get together every three weeks or so.
This study group has discovered “the higher concepts of the book and how they form a belief structure into which other subjects covered in The Urantia Book can be fit in.” They say that with subsequent readings, more of the “overall picture” comes into view and the book as a whole becomes more comprehensible. Connie and Lee read together frequently and the revelation is an essential part of their lives together. They have been the personal conduit through which many copies of The Urantia Book have passed into the hands of new readers.
The First United Sons of Englewood also call themselves “The Salt Shakers” as they strive to be the “salt of the earth, salt with a saving savor.” (UB 140:4.2) With regards to the disapproval of their former associates, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lee states that loyalty to a higher teaching requires “stick-to-it-iveness, true dedication, a nonwhimsical attitude, and personal commitment.”
¶ The Tropical Ascenders
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
This group meets at the home of Sheryl Bellman. Sheryl requested of the former Urantia Brotherhood the part of their mailing list that included readers in her area. She contacted these individuals and invited them to a get-together to discuss the desirability of forming a new study group. The decision was affirmative and the group was formed.
The meetings begin with prayer and meditation. Leadership of the meeting rotates among the members. Readings from The Urantia Book are sometimes supplemented with readings from other sources. Sheryl describes the study group as “quiet, dignified, and orderly.” Discússion is encouraged and can often become lively. When contrary ideas or divergent interpretations arise, the parties are encouraged to “agree to disagree agreeably” rather than to argue. All the readers listen to one another as they speak. Reading the papers sequentially, the group shares personal cultural interests and views on ethical mores which are frequently subjects for discussion.
¶ The Jacksonville Study Group
Reported by Steve Wallace, Jacksonville
We have our meetings once a week on Mondays. We altemate from house to house on a monthly basis. We decided on this rotation to give everyone a Host Home month. The Host Home idea works out nice because it gives everyone one month in which they don’t have to drive to someone else’s house for the meeting. In addition, it gives everyone the chance to have the honor of being host to the Urantia meeting. Of course, the Host Home is an option. If someone can’t or doesn’t want to have it at their house, that’s all right too. Our meetings begin at six-thirty P.M. and usually last about two hours.
We begin our meetings by asking The Holy Spirit to join with us, minister to us, and guide us in our search for Truth. We let the Spirit lead us as to what we will read and discuss.
Our group currently consists of five members ranging in age from the thirties to the fifties. As in any group of diverse people our interests vary. My dear brother Jim, (he introduced me to The Urantia Book) is a very creative person with an excellent sense of humor. He is a superb musician (guitar) and has played in both country and rock bands. Jim writes songs occasionally and has his own recording studio in his house (he has tapes of his own inspired songs). Maria is a unique personality. She is an inquisitive and energetic person. She came to us from Sarasota, Florida. Betty and Barbara are the newest members of our group. They are wonderful people. Betty’s background is metaphysical and Barbara’s is Pentecostal Holy Spirit.
The papers are read sequentially and topical subjects are sometimes specially chosen and presented. We share an enthusiasm for introducing the book to new readers and engage in library placement of The Urantia Book in libraries that we find in our travels abroad (such as in Japan).
¶ Sarasota
In Sarasota there are two Urantia Book study groups led by Patije Mills: “The Inscenders” who meet Monday evenings from 7:15 to 9:30, and “The Truth Seekers”, Wednesday mornings from 10:00 to 12:00.
“The Inscenders” is basically a topical study group, but one which reads sequentially when no special topic has been chosen. The group reads and discusses that which is of present interest to its members. The subject for discussion might be any Urantia Book relevant topic.
“The Truth Seekers” is a group for beginners which has been meeting for about three years. Often this group shares ideas from their own reading or considers subjects related to noteworthy current events. Some recent topics have been, war, government on a neighboring planet, the celestial administration of the universe, and the seraphic transporters.
Current or recent Part III topics of discussion in Patije’s groups have been: the colored races, biological evolution, the evolution of religion, and papers 100-103, beginning on page 1094 . Popular discussions on teachings from Part II have included the mansion worlds and mansonia life. From Part I the section on the inevitabilities (p.51) has provided topics for many meetings. Patije has cross-referenced the inevitabilities, as well as the 28 human philosophy-morontia mota related statements on pages and specifically selected teachings of Jesus from Part IV.
All meetings begin with prayer and five minutes of silent worship. The study groups also use the Bible, the Paramony, and the Concordex.
¶ Satellite Beach
Reported by Mary Dickinson, Satellite Beach
Ours is a small group — only 5 as a rule: Slade and Rita Ballou, Lauren Ball, Linda Ginish and I. We started about three years ago meeting in each other’s homes but the driving distances are so great that we decided to use my home as a regular meeting place. This way Lauren drives over twenty miles from the south and the Ballous about the same distance from the north. Linda sometimes brings her younger children, and fortunately, my husband shares his TV with them and feeds them ice cream. (He isn’t interested in the U.Book.)
We tried meeting twice a month, but have settled on once a month, on the first Friday, 7:30 P.M. We have tried various ways of selecting our course of study. Sometimes we select certain papers to study, then, let each one report on some aspect that they find particularly interesting. Rita and Lauren have been typing their reports and providing copies for each of us. We have each accumulated a nice file of the topics we have studied.
We thought it would be good to expand our group, so we ran ads in a weekly paper that covers our whole county. We received four calls and one woman came to some of our meetings. She had not actually read the book even though she owned a copy for twenty-five years. She finally dropped out. The others had various reasons for not joining us — but they were all glad to talk with us on the phone, and we sent some of them literature which they enjoyed. They said that at least they felt less alone just knowing that other readers were trying to contact them. We try to get to the Florida state conference at least every other year. We always feel that we come home with expanded outlooks.