© 1976 Julia Fenderson
© 1976 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
(The First URANTIA Society of Los Angeles (FUSLA) is the oldest non-Chicago URANTIA Society. For more than 20 years it has fostered study group activities on the West Coast. The following article is based on the FLISLA experience.)
From the beginning the spirit of love, fellowship, joy, and good cheer should prevail — without these, all else will be as “sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.” All of those spiritual qualities so lauded in The URANTIA Book can be cultivated and evidenced in these small fellowship meetings, as well as elsewhere.
As study groups evolve, the host or hostess will set the pattern and, if desirable, appoint a different leader for each meeting. It has been found helpful to start out in a very simple way by each reading one section of a paper. There are approximately 5-12 sections in each paper, the average being 8-9. This is ideal for each reading and discussing a section at a time and it requires about an hour or so to complete a paper in this manner. This simple method enables newcomers to feel at ease and even oldtimers will always benefit. As time goes on and the book becomes more familiar, topics may be assigned and references noted for special presentations. The danger here is that not enough time is left for participation, which is the keynote of learning. However, the leader can carefully plan so that participation by every member is assured.
It is wise for the group to plan together which papers should be read and in what order so that members can study or read the paper ahead of time and be ready with cross-references and other aids for discussion periods. A program could be duplicated for a three-month period.
Remember that The URANTIA Book is the reason for meeting, so keep to this subject. This will be the leader’s responsibility to see that the group does not digress, at least until the social time at the close of the URANTIA Book study session.
It has been found helpful, but not essential, to have a chalkboard where certain notes or special information can be listed, such as the assignment and leader for the day and for the next time. Or, extra research or cross-references on the paper being read can be noted…
One of the purposes of our study groups, besides actually learning The URANTIA Book, is expressed on UB 103:1.3: “While your religion is a matter of personal experience, it is most important that you should be exposed to the knowledge of a vast number of other religious experiences (the diverse interpretations of other and diverse mortals) to the end that you may prevent your religious life from becoming egocentric — circumscribed, selfish, and unsocial.”
—Julia Fenderson