© 2017 Chris Wood, Karen Huigsloot, Steve Sycamore, David Fabe, Kaija Lindström, Line St-Pierre, Pato Banton, Antoinette Rootsdawtah Hall
© 2017 International Urantia Association (IUA)
¶ In This Issue
- President’s Message – December 2017 – Chris Wood
- International Goals for 2021 – Chris Wood, President
- International Conference 2018 Update – Karen Huigsloot, The Netherlands
- Financial Aid – 2018 International Conference
- Online Workshops “Teaching and Leadership According to The Urantia Book” – Education Committee
- Gothenburg Book Fair – Sweden – Steve Sycamore and David Fabe
- Finnish Prison Program – Kaija Lindström, Finland
- Dancing with God: Emerging in Sacredness – A Retreat for Women – Line St-Pierre
- First National Meeting – Urantia Association of Peru
- African Urantia Conference – Ghana – Pato Banton and Antoinette Rootsdawtah Hall
- Items of Interest from the Website
- Global Member Survey 2018 – Luis Garcia-Bory, Membership Committee Chair
- Upcoming Events
¶ President’s Message – December 2017
Chris Wood
When we are tempted to magnify our self-importance, if we stop to contemplate the infinity of the greatness and grandeur of our Makers, our own self-glorification becomes sublimely ridiculous, even verging on the humorous. One of the functions of humor is to help all of us take ourselves less seriously. Humor is the divine antidote for exaltation of ego. [UB 48:4.15]
In the United States, the end of the year is the time for charitable giving. The holiday season combines with income tax season leading to a great call for support from those dedicated to “good deeds.” We exalt the fine work of the past while promising more good work in the future. We make it seem like this is the most important work on the entire planet.
In this and other editions of Tidings you can read about the many grand achievements from these last few years, you will read about our wonderful ongoing programs, and you will read about our plans for the next three years.
But as The Urantia Book points out above, we must not take ourselves too seriously. Yes, we are charged with coordinating the spreading of these Urantia teachings, an epochal revelation to the world, but we are not alone. Light and Life is not only a spiritual achievement, but a cultural and physical one as well. All of those working to bring food and clean water, shelter and infrastructure, education and harmony and, yes, spiritual awakening; all of those efforts are made by people on the same team, pulling together to lift our entire planet out of darkness.
¶ International Goals for 2021
Chris Wood, President
Urantia Association International is a bottom-up organization. The Local and National Associations do the work which shapes the future of the Urantia community and the integration of the Urantia teachings into the cultures of the world.
The role of the International Association is to help coordinate individuals and local groups to achieve global goals. With that in mind, the International Service Board has adopted five goals for 2021 as guideposts to help keep us all pulling in the same direction.
¶ Goal #1: A United Theme
For the last three years the Association has united around the theme “Jesus as a Teacher.” The upcoming Amsterdam conference will see the culmination of this theme as well as the shift to our next three-year theme, “Living the Teachings.”
How do we incorporate worship/study/living the teachings into everyday life? How do we talk about Urantia teachings with your spouse/children/relatives, etc. without boring or alienating them? How do we introduce Urantia Book concepts/teachings while in service to others? How do we talk about Urantia Book concepts in different cultures across the globe (secular, Muslim, communist, European, Asian, Christian?) How do we serve others without introducing The Urantia Book?
¶ International Conference 2018 Update
Karen Huigsloot, The Netherlands
¶ Urantia Association’s International Conference in The Netherlands 12—15 April 2018
Jesus as a Teacher: Are You Ready to Live His Teachings in the 21st Century?
How did Jesus develop as a true teacher? What methods did he apply, both then and now? And what are the most important lessons he wanted to teach us so that we, as we can read in Paper 195, can develop ourselves as new leaders? That is as spiritual men and women, fully trusting in the teaching of Jesus.
But paganized and socialized Christianity stands in need of new contact with the uncompromised teachings of Jesus; it languishes for lack of a new vision of the Master’s life on earth. A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment. [UB 195:9.2]
Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world. [UB 195:9.4]
The program will provide space for seven plenary speakers, readers of The Urantia Book who have studied the book for many years and who can help us to better understand this Fifth Revelation. The emphasis of the program will be based on learning through experience and exchanges in small groups.
The language spoken during the conference will be English, but we are offering simultaneous translations for Spanish (by Serapis Murillo) and French (by Christopher Moseley.)
¶ Financial Aid – 2018 International Conference
Urantia Association’s Financial Aid Committee recently met with the organizers of next year’s 2018 International Conference (The Netherlands 12 to 15 April). Among other things, the important subject of financial aid to students requiring sponsorship was discussed. Following is some information on sponsorships.
European Sponsorships:
The committee has decided to give priority to European Urantia Book students/leaders for financial assistance to attend the conference. All the usual conditions for granting sponsorship will apply and applications will be reviewed by the collective Boards of the European National Associations. It was agreed that two sponsorships, each worth €325, would be made available to each of our European Urantia Associations.
¶ Online Workshops “Teaching and Leadership According to The Urantia Book”
Education Committee
Since September 16th, 2017, the Urantia Association International Education Committee has been organizing a weekly online Zoom Worksop series about “Leadership and Teaching According to The Urantia Book,” with the purpose of studying the guiding principles that allow us to fulfill Jesus’ and the revelator’s instructions to serve the revelation. We are told in The Urantia Book that
Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings.
and that …
…these new teachers of Jesus’ religion … will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. [UB 195:9.4]
The sessions have been instructive and thought-provoking, with the active participation of Urantia Book students from different countries like Canada, USA, France, Switzerland, Israel, Mexico, Guatemala, Germany, Peru, and Belgium.
Here we share with you some of the themes and teachings presented by long-term students and experienced leaders of the Urantia Community:
¶ Gothenburg Book Fair – Sweden
Steve Sycamore and David Fabe
Over the course of four days starting September 28th we manned a booth at the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden. The event was really much more than a book fair. It is essentially Scandinavia’s largest cultural gathering of the year with roughly 100,000 visitors. The floor space was mind-bogglingly large with many rooms and levels. It was quite easy to get temporarily lost as we explored the various other presentations and seminars.
Our booth was situated in probably the least visited alley although it was next to a food court with a stage where authors, even among the most well known in Sweden, gave talks. Our near neighbors also had sound systems and gave audio presentations at times during the day.
¶ Finnish Prison Program
Kaija Lindström, Finland
The Finnish Urantia Association donated Urantia Books and Audio Books to Finnish prisons. There are 26 prisons in Finland and each of them received one book in Finnish and four prisons also received books in English. We placed a plastic coating on the covers of the books and posted them to the prisons in the hope that as many prisoners as possible would get to know The Urantia Book. In the picture you can see the team: Sini, Eija, Risto and Osmo.
¶ Dancing with God: Emerging in Sacredness – A Retreat for Women
Line St-Pierre
September 21-25, 2017
What can be expected when thirteen women gather for a retreat called, Dancing with God: Emerging in Sacredness? From the very moment of arrival at Urantia Foundation, the atmosphere of welcome, appreciation, and joyful anticipation was palpable. Thank you for the feminine touches, Joanne, Jen, and Tamara at 533!
It was in a milieu of trust created on the second floor of the Foundation that thirteen women, all students of The Urantia Book, gathered for this special time. The retreat facilitators used the Fishbowl method of conversation, in which leaders sit in the middle of the circle and begin a conversation that the outer circle later joins into. We contemplated and delved into two questions: How do I become aware of the sacred in the drudgery of everyday life? And how do we as women emerge in sacredness?
¶ First National Meeting – Urantia Association of Peru
8th to 10th December 2017
The first National Conference for the Urantia Association of Peru will be held in the town of Pachacamac which is in beautiful countryside region of Lima just 30 minutes away from the city.
The Urantia Association of Peru has recently been incorporated and its Governing Board members are working very hard to promote the study of The Urantia Book and the spreading of its teachings by fostering study groups in their region of the world. The aim of this National Conference is to get to know, relate, interpret, be inspired and act upon the legacy of Jesus teachings, as well as to promote spiritual brotherhood. The conference will be in Spanish and will be utilizing plenary presentations as well as experiential workshops throughout the weekend.
¶ African Urantia Conference – Ghana
Pato Banton and Antoinette Rootsdawtah Hall
20th to 22nd April 2017
Minister Pato Banton is joining forces with The Urantia Book Readership in Accra, Ghana and across Africa for a beautiful international spiritual gathering—a visionary conference with fraternal fellowship with live musical performances, refreshments and dinner for everyone in attendance.
This event will be sponsored by Urantia Association International.
If you would like to travel to Accra Ghana and join us on this amazing adventure to Africa, please contact Antoinette Hall at [gwarntravel @ gmail.com] for information on flight costs, hotel fees and visa requirements.
For further information on the program and registrations visit: https://urantia-association.org/2017/african-urantia-conference-ghana
¶ Items of Interest from the Website
Have you seen Urantia Association International’s Study Aids & Resources section of the website?
Many students of The Urantia Book produce study aids and derivative works—creative tools that can help others understand the complexity of The Urantia Book. *
The Association has developed a resource library where many of these works are available. The full index of subjects can be viewed at the Topical Index of Articles section of the website. Here are a few specific links that may be of interest:
¶ Global Member Survey 2018
Luis Garcia-Bory, Membership Committee Chair
Our Membership Committee at Urantia Association International gladly invites you to participate in our “Global Member Survey” which will be launched during the first quarter of 2018.
Following is a sample of the questions that will be part of the survey, which will be tailored country by country to better respond to your specific needs:
¶ Upcoming Events
Check out Urantia Association International’s Events Calendar at http://urantia-association.org/events-list. Upcoming events can be viewed in a List or Calendar view.
Urantia Book reader events provide opportunities for students to gain a deeper understanding of the ideas and concepts presented in The Urantia Book and help to facilitate a personal commitment to the ideals of spiritual living. We hope you can make it to some of these events and experience the joys of meeting and studying with fellow readers.
If you’re planning a Urantia Book reader event in your region and would like help in promoting it, please send us your information and we’ll consider it for our Events Calendar.