© 1999 Seppo Kanerva, Bhagavan Buritz, Dorothy Elder, Meredith Van Woert, Michael MacIsaac
© 1999 Urantia Association International (IUA)
| Journal — December 1999 — Index | What does The Urantia Book Instruct Concerning the Dissemination of its Teachings? |
¶ In This Issue
- Three New IUA Associations Formed: Estonia, Canada, Southern Cone
- IUA News from Around the World
- News from Russia
- News from the Council of National Presidents
- News from Norway: The Urmia Lectures, World Federalism
- News from Colombia
- What does The Urantia Book Instruct Concerning the Dissemination of its Teachings? — Seppo Kanerva, Finland
- The Delhi Book Fair — Bhagavan Buritz, USA
- A Few Parables
- A Report on The Urantia Book Internet School — Dorothy Elder, USA
- IUA Outreach — Meredith Van Woert, USA
- A Report on Young Readers — Michael MacIsaac, Sweden
¶ IUA 2000 International Conference
In the year 2000 the IUA International Conference will be held at Wagner College in New York City on August 4-7. The conference site overlooks the beautiful New York Harbor and is only a 20minute car ride from Newark International Airport or 45 minutes from JFK Airport.
August 3, Thursday, will be a pre-conference day that will focus on issues related to the Urantia movement, the IUA, translations, and the Foundation. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the conference will focus on its spiritual theme, “Living the Father’s Will,” featuring speakers and workshops. Children will be able to participate in a special program that will mirror the adult program. Monday will provide a summation of the conference and will provide time for a planned tour of Manhattan. Participants may stay an extra night at the campus for an additional fee.
The program planners are looking for volunteers for speakers and workshop moderators, as well as volunteers for the children’s program.
For more information or to volunteer, you may contact Nick Scalzo at tel/fax 1-860-669-4900 or email NICHOLASWS@aol.com.
¶ Three New IUA Associations Formed
Excerpts From Reports By Cathy Jones
¶ Estonia
In August 20, 1999, eleven Urantia Book believers from Finland, Belgium, Holland and the United States gathered in Karepa, Estonia, to celebrate with our Estonian brothers and sisters the licensing of the Estonian Urantia Association, and join with them in their third annual conference. Of the 36 Estonians present, 22 became charter members of the EUA.
Karapa is a small village about 110 km from Tallinn. The camp where the conference was held is located on the Gulf of Finland, part of the Baltic Sea. As one walks along the beach viewing the dark green color of the sea, a giant guard-tower overlooking the water is visible—a reminder of Soviet occupation. Before the Estonians won their freedom during the Singing Rebellion in 1988, this camp was used by the Soviets as a summer retreat for boys and girls. Veikko Raagmets, the present director, was introduced to the book by Peep Sõber. Through Veikko’s efforts, the camp has been made available for Urantia conferences.
On Friday, August 20, officers were elected: Peep Sõber, president; Ruth Kask, vice president; Jüri Vatter, secretary; and Arvi Pikner, treasurer. For the signing of the licensing agreement, Seppo Kanerva, President of the Council of National Presidents and Vice Presidents acted as a special Trustee Representative. He read a very inspiring welcome-congratulatory message from Trustee President, Richard Keeler.
The next day began three days of conference on the theme of Paper 100, “Religion in Human Experience.” Discourses were given by Peep Sõber, Vello Reeben, Seppo Kanerva, Cathy Jones, Ralph Zehr, and Veikko Raagmets. There were special musical presentations also.
Congratulations and love to all our Estonian brothers and sisters, with a special thanks to Peep Sõber for the many hours of organizing the Association and producing the Conference.
¶ Canada
The new association in Canada was licensed on Saturday, October 23, 1999, at the Silver Springs Retreat Centre, Flesherton, Ontario, Canada, about 100 miles north of Ontario in an area of beautiful green rolling meadows.
Attending the weekend meeting/retreat were the presidents and vice presidents of the three Canadian local associations, their spouses, plus Urantia Foundation Trustee president, Richard Keeler, and IUA administrator, Cathy Jones. The purpose of the meeting was to get acquainted, approve the bylaws, and elect a governing board for the newly formed national association. The new officers include: Gaétan Charland, president; Nathen Jansen, vice president; Sue Tennant, secretary; and Brian King, treasurer.
From the time the participants started arriving Friday afternoon until the Sunday noon departure, there was a sense of oneness of spirit and commitment. Woven into the light-hearted fellowship one could feel a sincere devotion to a personal manifestation of the commonly shared principles of The Urantia Book.
On Sunday morning the concentric-circles flag was raised as we stood shoulder-to-shoulder, holding hands in a circle. The newly elected president Gaétan led the group in a prayer of thanksgiving, with a pledge to loyal service.
¶ Southern Cone
On November 14, in Santiago, Chile, Asociación Urantia del Cono Sur was bom. In English that is Urantia Association of the Southern Cone (S.A.) This group currently is composed of members from Chile and Argentina, but with the name “Southern Cone,” it could expand to include the adjoining South American countries.
It is early spring in Chile and the nearby Jesuit Retreat Center, with its profusion of roses and early blooming flowers, made a perfect setting for readers from Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Finland, and USA to spend two days of study and fellowship. Language is never a barrier when spirits meet one-on-one. There are many new enthusiastic readers of The Urantia Book who are eagerly embracing its enlightened, revealed message. The total membership is 31 , eleven of whom are full voting members. The other 20 are in process of completing their first reading of the entire book. All understand the mission of IUA—that of study, service, and disseminating the teachings of The Urantia Book. They consider it a privilege to work as partners with the Foundation through a licensing agreement.
The officers are: president, Mario Casassus Bulnes (Chile); vice president, Carlos Rubinsky (Argentina); secretary/treasurer, Nadine Loubet (Chile).
Congratulations to all of the new members of our IUA family.
¶ IUA News from Around the World
¶ News from Russia:
Here are some excerpts from an article by Viktor Paaso that appeared in “Karelian News” (Karjalan Sanomat-a Finnish-language newspaper from Petrozavodsk, Russia) dated October 13, 1999:
Activities of the Urantia Movement
The Urantia Book with 2097 pages appeared in English in the year 1955. The first Urantia Society was established in June 1956. In 1986 the first International Readers Conference outside the USA was held in France. The first non-American Brotherhood was ratified in Pieksamaki, Finland, in 1989. The fifth Intemational Urantia Conference will be held in New York City, August 5-7, 2000.
The Urantia Book in Russia
I got my first typed strips, which told me about an enormous cosmological Urantia Book, in Finland in 1984. At that time, the translation into Finnish was in progress, and it was ready in 1993. I was interested in ufos and paranormalities, and I read the strips that said: “Urantia is the name that the rulers of the Universe gave to our planet.”
Four years ago the friends in the Finland Urantia Association wrote me that the book would be translated into Russian in Helsinki. A man who moved from Petrozavodsk to Finland at the beginning of the 80s and his brother here in Petrozavodsk had received an affirmative answer to their request for a Russian translation from Urantia Foundation, Chicago, in 1992. They started working on the translation immediately. By the end of the winter in 1997 the Russian translation was ready. The first 5000 copies of the book were printed outside Russia. Now the second edition is under preparation. It differs to some extent from the first edition, for many improvements and corrections to the translation are being made.
A month ago Catherine Jones from the IUA visited St. Petersburg. A retired doctor, Vitali Kondratjev, who is becoming the representative for Urantia Foundation in Russia, succeeded in registering a firm he has founded—Irena, Inc. The firm is active in importing books and as a distribution channel. After ever so many hindrances and difficulties, about 900 Russian translations of The Urantia Book have traveled from the Helsinki office to St. Petersburg. The next delivery will be from Paris, where almost 3000 books are stored.
Cathy Jones, our guest from the IUA, promised to the readers in St. Petersburg that Russia will be a member of the IUA in May 2000. At the end, Cathy Jones said: “Lenin tried to conquer the world without God. The people of Russia will conquer the world for God through love.”
¶ News from the Council of National Presidents:
When the Council of National Presidents convened in June 1999, one of their first orders of business concerned the IUA Journal: to officially appoint an editor-in-chief, to approve the mission statement and to appoint a board of editors. The reasons for these actions were: (1) to provide direction and continuity for the Journal in the future, and (2) to promote international participation in the Journal. The CNP also approved translating the Journal into Spanish, which could double its present distribution.
On September 22, 1999, the Council unanimously appointed the following persons to the Board of Editors of the IUA Journal: Mr. Pascal Coulombe, France; Ms. Catherine Jones, USA; Mr. Kari Kuosmanen, Finland; Ms. Janet Nilsen, USA; Ms. Maggie Pyle, USA; Mr. Andés Rodríguez, Colombia; Mr. Trevor Swadling, Australia.
These are the duties of the board of editors:
- Promote the Journal around the world. Encourage people to subscribe to and read the Journal.
- Solicit articles for the Journal, including papers presented at conferences.
- Report on IUA news.
- Review and approve articles submitted for publication.
- Recruit and develop future editors.
Writers worldwide are encouraged to submit articles to any member of the Board of Editors or to any Urantia Foundation Office.
¶ News from Norway: The Urmia Lectures: World Federalism
In Oslo, Norway, we’ve had a Urantia study group going more or less since 1988, and continuously since Jesus’ 2000th birthday in 1994 . The group is a small but committed group, even though we live far apart and only manage to meet about nine times a year.Early this year 1999 the Oslo UBSG was, in connection with a visit from a lone reader in Denmark who brought along a friend, honoured by the presence of an unusual guest named Harold S. Bidmead. He is English but lives near Oslo, where he keeps his office; he’s 85 years old but is still going strong. He has been a prominent figure in the World Federalist movement for nearly sixty years, almost since its inception. Our guest had never before heard of The Urantia Book, and for this special occasion the group decided to study the Urmia teachings in paper 134 (pp. 1485-91). As far as the content of the Urmia teachings goes, hardly any of it was new to Mr. Bidmead, except for the claim of Jesus sponsoring the ideas that he himself had devoted the work of a lifetime advocating. He agreed with everything we read and was pleasantly surprised, although he feels too old now to get involved in the study of the whole Urantia Book. But he soon started preparing to spread the word about Jesus’ Urmia lectures to his fellow world federalists.
As concerns the several movements scattered around the planet and more or less calling themselves world federalist, Mr. Bidmead warns that the majority of them merely dedicate themselves to strengthening the United Nations (UN), which has written into its Charter that each member state is sovereign. In other words, most professed world federalists are only ostensibly so, since the UN is merely a league of nations constitutionally inhibited from becoming a bona fide world government. Mr. Bidmead also stresses the importance of having the representatives in the future world parliament democratically elected directly by the people of each member state, and not, as in the UN, selected by their respective governments. He further emphasizes that the supra-national government must be empowered to enforce international law directly on its individual citizens, and not, as the UN is designed for, through the intermediary of national governments; it should be invested with full governmental power in a limited sphere.
In order to preclude the possibility of a world government becoming a world tyranny, somewhat strict laws regarding fair and free elections and respect for human rights and ethnic minorities will have to be implemented in every member state, under federal supervision. So, Mr. Bidmead does not recommend us to invest our hopes in an adequately radical transformation of the UN, where many of the member states yet don’t have legitimately elected governments, which are not likely to agree to surrender their sovereign power to a supra-national entity. Instead he envisages a nucleus of adequately democratic states forming a world-wide federation “so powerful that nobody will dare to threaten it, so just that none will wish to challenge it, and so successful that all who had at first stayed outside will clamour to join.” And it’s a paying proposition: Enormous burdens can be lifted from the taxpayers’ shoulders by greatly reducing the need for an armaments industry. So: Maybe the preliminary stages of a genuine world govenment are to appear sooner than we tend to think, once the advantages become clear to the electorates of the already democratic nations?
Still there seems to be no large, efficient and wellorganized world federalist movement worthy of the name in operation, but two newsletters serving as independent forums for discussing how to acheive a world government are available.
¶ News from Colombia:
On Saturday, August 21, 1999, we had our Christmas celebration with a session of discourses and a glass of wine in an atmosphere of spirituality and brotherhood. Forty believers accepted our invitation to this event.
Carlos Zapata, our president, spoke on various diferent topics concerning our organization.
One of the presenters, Juan David Monotoya, psychologist, anthropologist, university professor and expert in comparative religions, spoke about different points of view in Christian theology, about bible interpretation, and about some historical mistakes in the New Testament.
We took advantage of this event to distribute our joumal that contained interesting themes related to The Urantia Book.
¶ What Does The Urantia Book Instruct Concerning the Dissemination of Its Teachings?
Seppo Kanerva, Heisinki, Findand
We may note that The Urantia Book does not come up with any explicit instructions concerning the dissemination of the revelation. We can, of course, study the methods employed in the dissemination of the four earlier revelations and then endeavour to apply the same methods in the dissemination of the fifth epochal revelation.
The first revelation, the Dalamatia teachings, was propagated through a method which involved inviting individuals from various tribes and peoples to Dalamatia where they received education, later to be sent back to their tribes as emissaries of a new and better life.
As concerns the second epochal revelation, the Edenic teachings, the method of dissemination was partly identical with that of the first revelation, but there was also the new feature of Adam and Eve organising about one hundred centres of culture and progress in various parts of the world. After the death of Adam and Eve the teachings were, through thousands of years, disseminated by a priesthood trained by Seth, the eldest surviving son born in the second garden. Seth’s grandson, Kenan, instituted a missionary service which spread the new teachings among the surrounding tribes, near and far (UB 76:3.4). The impact of the teachings of the Sethite priesthood began to wane only around 2500 BC.
¶ The Delhi Book Fair
Bhagavan S. Buritz, Hawaii, USA
A few years ago I turned 50 and asked myself, “How will I spend the next half of my life. What is important to me? What have I learned? Who or what are my teachers?” The Urantia Book is in the top of the tier. I made a decision to get involved in the “Urantia Movement,” to be a friend to all and to be useful. When I heard about the Delhi Book Fair, I was intuitively drawn to attend. I had been to India many times. India is a spiritual home to me where it is easy to remember and to constantly worship the Beloved.
I flew from Moscow to India to represent Urantia Foundation at the Delhi Book Fair, which took place from August 12-24, 1999. When I got off the plane at the New Delhi airport, tropical heat and moisture embraced me. I am back in India. I am in Mother India who constantly opens my heart to the Friend. I cleared customs, changed money—43 rupees to the dollar. This is good for exports and tourists. However, how do the common people fare? Can they still buy their daal and chaapatis?
¶ A Few Parables
At a study symposium in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, in May 1999, participants were asked to write original parables illustrating some aspect of the kingdom of heaven. Here is a sampling of some of the shorter parables:
How like an orange is the kingdom of heaven: the sweetness of the juice under its peel cannot be seen, once opened cannot be contained.
The kingdom of heaven is like a wise mother and her child who is just learning to walk. Sometimes she lends a hand. Other times, she leaves the child alone but watches from a distance.
The kingdom of heaven is like the separate individual pixels of the television screen that come together and become a whole picture—ever growing and changing.
The kingdom of heaven is like a Urantia conference. While it is the most exciting and “real” thing going on—and open to all—at this point in time it appears to hold little or no interest for the majority of the population.
Look at the automobile with its shiny new body and powerful engine. Without the spark that ignites it, the car is useless.
The kingdom of heaven is like a wise physician who prescribed a cure for his patients. One patient followed the cure program completely, and he was completely cured. Another patient followed part of the program, and he was partially cured. A third patient followed none of the program, and had none of the results.
The kingdom of heaven is like a rooster that crows at midnight.
¶ A Report on The Urantia Book Internet School
The first semester of the Urantia Book Internet School (UBIS), ended on December 6, 1999, having presented eight classes, to readers speaking or understanding English, many countries around the world. My first assessment of the first semester of the UBIS program is that it was a great success. We had 100% registered in all classes. Careful planning and a lot of attention to technical details were beneficial for registrations. An efficient operating system has been developed, and this is the cornerstone of the program’s success. From the beginning, readers have attached great interest to it. I received inquiries almost every day. Our courses have been given to students from South America, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain and in particular a young Moscow reader in Russia.
Comments from two of the teachers
Comments from Al Lockett from the UBIS Thought Adjuster course.
“The Urantia Book Internet School (UBIS) provides a real opportunity to study a given Urantia Book topic in depth, beyond the usual study group framework. It presents new readers, as well as those with greater experience, with a more comprehensive means of gaining a deeper understanding of a variety of subjects. With the guidance of an experienced teacher-facilitator, the thought-provoking questions and collaborative classroom atmosphere allow UBIS to provide highly valued resources and means of expression for all. the readers.
¶ IUA Outreach
Meredith Van Woert
California, United States
In the cover of each new Urantia Book there is a fact sheet that can be sent to Urantia Foundation, by post or email, for further information. An individual may request to be placed on our mailing list to receive news about the Foundation or its related companies. This person can also use the “permission box” to indicate that they would like to connect with other readers who live nearby.
As membership president of SURF (Southwest Urantia Book Readers’ Family) I receive copies of these information sheets from people who live in California. I am only sent the files of those who have given permission to contact them.
Cathy Jones, UAI Administrator, coordinates the outreach activity which involves all UAI groups around the world. California is just a small piece of the pie. The following summarizes my experience with propagation.
¶ A Report on Young Readers
Michael MacIsaac, Stockholm, Sweden
This is a report on the recent progress of the work I’ve been doing to assist the younger generation of readers around the globe. I hope to not be focusing too much attention on myself, but rather the work.
You can do important work if you do not become selfimportant; you can do several things as easily as one if you leave yourself out. UB 48:6.37
Background
I am a 24 -year old reader of The Urantia Book. My parents were readers, and I started reading the book when I was 16. At that time I could find almost no other people under the age of 40 interested in the revelation. Four years later, when I began attending medium-sized conferences (150-200 attendees), I found that there were often only one or two other readers in their 20 s. Actually, there were just as few in their 30s! I still had a great time and made conference going high on my list of priorities, but I felt that others in my generation were missing out on such wonderful conferences.
¶ International Urantia Association Journal
The Internattonal Urantia Association Journal is a Quarterly News Joumal for Readers of The Urantia Book, produced by International URANTIA Association, 533 Diversey Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA
Board of Editors
Carolyn Prentice, chief editor. Pascal Coulombe, France; Catherine Jones, USA; Kari Kuosmanen, Finland; Janet Nilsen, USA; Maggie Pyle, USA; Andés Rodríguez, Colombia; Trevor Swadling, Australia.
Foreign Language Editions Staff
- Seppo Kanerva, Foreign Language Supervising Editor
- Seppo Kanerva, Finnish Translator
- Chris Ragetly, Nicole Ragetly et Jean Royer, French Translators
- Maria Jose Garcia, Elias Garcia, William Lloyd, Spanish Translators
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscription Rates:
Annual (4 issues), 15$ US, 15$ Australian, or 50 Finnish Marks Single Copies: 4$ US, 4$ Australian, or 15 Finnish Marks.
Other foreign language edition rates will be equal to 15$ US for subscription or 3$ US, for a single issue, in local currency, according to international exchange rates at the time of subscription.
To Subscribe:
Mail check or money order according to subscription rate, payable to International URANTIA Association to:
IUA JOURNAL
533 Diversey Parkway
Chicago, L 60614 USA
When paying by credit card, telephone orders may be placed by phoning: +1 (773) 525-3319 or +1 (888) URANTIA (toll-free in USA)
Submission Policy:
JOURNAL accepts all article submissions for consideration for current or future issues. All submissions become the property of JOURNAL, and none are returned. Any not used are kept on file for potential future use. JOURNAL does not compensate any author through payment or in any other manner for such voluntary submissions. While JOURNAL makes efforts to attempt to contact authors during the editing process, JOURNAL reserves the right to edit materials, as it deems necessary, for publication. While JOURNAL is grateful for and relies upon author submissions, it is unable to personally acknowledge each submission made; however authors may feel free to contact JOURNAL to ensure their submission was received for consideration for inclusion in the JOURNAL.
Send correspondence or article submissions for the International URANTIA Association JOURNAL in care of any Foundation Office listed below. For earliest consideration, direct your correspondence to the Main Office for URANTIA Foundation, or send e-mail messages to: p.carrie@eudoramail.com. International URANTIA Association, and International URANTIA Association JOURNAL are afffliated with URANTIA Foundation, original publisher of The URANTIA Book. For further information about International URANTIA Association, IUA JOURNAL or URANTIA Foundation please contact any URANTIA Foundation office:
MAIN OFFICE - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
URANTIA Foundation
533 Diversey Parkway
Chicago, Illinois, 60614 USA
Tel: +1-773-525-3319
Fax: +1-773-525-7739
E-mail: urantia@www.urantia. org
Website: http://www.urantia.org
AUSTRALIA - NEW ZEALAND - ASIA
URANTIA Foundation 7 Walsh Street
North Narrabeen 2101 NSW AUSTRALIA
Tel/Fax: +61- 2-9970-6200
E-mail: urantia@ozemail.com.au
Website: http://www.ozemail.com.au/ u urantia
FINLAND - SWEDEN - ESTONIA - RUSSIA
URANTIA Foundation
Runeberginkatu 54a A5
00260 Helsinki, FINLAND
Tel: +358-9-496561
Fax: +358-9-496225
E-mail: seppo.kanerva@,kolumbus.fi
FRANCE-BELGIUM
Urantia France S. A.
8, passage de la Bonne Graine
75011 Paris, FRANCE
Tel: +33-1-4021-6043
Fax: +33-1-4806-5909
E-mail: georges.michelson-dupont@wanadoo.fr
Website: http://www.urantia.org
QUEBEC-CANADA
Fondation Urantia
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Cap-Sante PQ G0A 1L0
Quebec, CANADA
Tel.Fax: +1-418-2850546
Any interpretations, opinions, conclusions or artistic representations, whether stated or implied, are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of International URANTIA Association, the national or local URANTIA Associations, the Coordinating Committee, the Trustees of URANTIA Foundation, or the Board of Editors of the International URANTIA Association JOURNAL.
Quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from The URANTIA Book ©1955 URANTIA Foundation. The method of identifying quotations is the method used in The URANTIA Book Concordance ©, 1993 URANTIA Foundation.
© 1999 International Urantia Association
Urantiapedia Note: Portions of this issue were missing in the original PDF that was available when uploading this content. The missing pages were completed using the French version and translating from it.
| Journal — December 1999 — Index | What does The Urantia Book Instruct Concerning the Dissemination of its Teachings? |