© 2020 David Schlundt
© 2020 The Urantia Book Fellowship
By David G. Schlundt, Vice President of the Urantia Book Fellowship
The Problem. The Urantia Book Fellowship (UBF) traces its roots back to the Forum, the group of people who participated in the long process of preparing the Urantia Book. Once published, the Forum became the Urantia Book Brotherhood (later renamed the Urantia Book Fellowship) and was organized to formally represent and support local societies and study groups. In the 65 years since the Urantia Book was published, much has changed.
Many truth seekers discovered the Urantia Book during the 1960’s and 1970’s. This cohort formed much of the core of the Urantia Book community participating in study groups and attending conferences. Some, like me, received the gift of the Urantia Book from parents. Many discovered it on their own. However, time marches on and our community is aging. It is time for the Urantia Book Fellowship (UBF) to take a look at how it both supports current students of the Urantia Book along with how it is reaching out to truth seekers around the planet. An ad hoc committee of the UBF was formed to study how to best serve existing and emerging communities of Urantia Book students. It is my privilege to share with you what we have learned so far.
The Survey. In January 2020 we emailed an invitation to take an online survey to the UBF email list, and repeated the email later that month. We also posted the survey on FaceBook asking people to take 5-10 minutes to complete the survey. The survey asked for background information on participants like age, gender, nationality, and how long they have known about the Urantia Book. We asked how many people you know who have read all or part of the book, and about the use of Urantia Book websites and social media resources. The main part of the survey looked at the needs of those taking the survey. We asked:
I worry that more aggressive efforts to disseminate the Urantia Book will lead to resistance from some religious and/or political groups.
For each item we had a rating scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Agree nor Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree) and a space for collecting written thoughts about each of the eight topics.
Those who completed the survey. There were 777 people who completed the survey with 66% from the United States and 34% international. Of great interest, those completing the survey were older with only 4% being 35 or younger and 73% over 60 years old. Participants were well-educated, with 91% having at least attended college and 29% having a masters degree or higher. More than half of the participants reported more than 20 years of experience with the Urantia Book with another 19% having 5 years or less. Fourteen percent of the participants did now know anyone else who had read the Urantia Book, and 38% said they knew 4 or fewer people. Forty-six percent had attended five or fewer study groups with 36% participating more than 50 times.
We learned that our participants were already aware of many Urantia Book resources on the web or social media. Some websites (Urantia Foundation, Urantia Book Fellowship, Truthbook.com, and Urantia Association International) were known to many of the participants. Altogether, we identified 58 websites and 51 FaceBook groups related to the Urantia Book.
We learned that there were different kinds of readers who responded to our survey request. There were many who are older, have decades of experience, have participated in study groups, and know many other readers. There were also some who were newer to the book, who had never participated in a study group, and who were relatively isolated.
Assessment of needs. Survey participants very much want to meet more people who know about the Urantia Book with 80% agreeing or strongly agreeing. There were many good ideas for how this could be done including in person events, web-based outreach, media promotion, conferences, and subtle approaches like wearing a pin with the three concentric circles. Many would like an app that could connect them with readers who live nearby. More than half of the participants were interested in social activities for Urantia Book students other than study groups. Ideas for how to accomplish this included many specific activities such as hiking, service projects, and potlucks. They suggested that events such as seminars, conferences, or travel opportunities could be organized and offered to members of the community.
While 25% of participants were already participating in a study group, another 46% agreed or strongly agreed that they would like to participate. Younger participants were even more likely to want to take part in a study group. Benefits of study group participation included fellowship, better understanding of the Urantia Book, and personal spiritual growth. There was also strong interest in online study groups, with more than half agreeing or strongly agreeing that they were interested in participating. Participants suggested well-planned online groups with a moderator could be made available using a range of approaches to studying the Urantia Book. A great idea was an app that would match someone’s interests with a compatible virtual study group.
There was considerable interest in the development of new resources, both online and using traditional media. There were many creative ideas including television shows, movies, books, video games, online databases, connections between websites, lectures, YouTube videos, graphic novels, and translation of secondary works into other languages. There was strong interest in the development of new content and new ways to deliver it.
More efforts to disseminate the Urantia Book were endorsed by 59% of the participants, with only 6% disagreeing with this statement. There were many good ideas about dissemination that included online strategies, person to person contact, and creation of new resources to appeal to many people. Thirty-one percent were worried that dissemination efforts might be met with religious or political resistance. The main concerns were the material on race and eugenics, the differences with Christian beliefs, and skepticism about the origin of the book.
Call to Action. At the winter meeting in Austin Texas, the General Council reviewed the survey results and participated in brainstorming and consensus building sessions. Much work needs to be done before the Urantia Book Fellowship has well-developed strategies for strengthening existing communities and creating new communities of Urantia Book students.
Here are my thoughts on making adjustments to how the UBF functions to support the revelation. First, we can think of how our sisters and brothers on this planet are related to the Urantia Book. It is much like a pyramid with a small number devoted and engaged students at the top, a somewhat larger community aware of the Urantia Book but less engaged, another larger group of truth seekers who are ready to find the Urantia Book, an even larger group that may be open if made aware of the ideas and ideals in the Urantia Book, and the majority of the population currently not ready or even never ready for the book.
The UBF should engage in three lines of work:
If you are interested in the full report on the survey and its discussion by the General Council, https://healthbehavior.psy.vanderbilt.edu/Fellowship/UBF_SurveyReport.pdf.