© 2008 Marilynn Kulieke
© 2008 Urantia Foundation
| Seppo Kanerva announces his Retirement | Volume 2, Issue 3, Sept. 2008 — Index | Newsworthy Decisions Made By Urantia Foundation's Board Of Trustees |
By Marilynn Kulieke, Trustee, Urantia Foundation, Illinois, USA
The room was packed. The audience was responsive, interested, and concerned about the future of the Urantia Movement.
The presenters on the panel were Robert Burns (President of the Urantia Book Fellowship), Gaétan Charland (President of the Urantia Association International [UAI]), Marvin Gawryn (the moderator of the panel), Seppo Kanerva (Trustee and President of Urantia Foundation), Mo Siegel (Trustee and Secretary of Urantia Foundation), Paula Thompson (Executive Director of the Urantia Book Fellowship), and James Woodward (former Executive Administrator of the UAI).
The meeting was one of the afternoon sessions at IC’08, the Los Angeles conference sponsored by the Fellowship.
The meeting was about ways that Urantia Foundation, the Urantia Book Fellowship, and the UAI could co-operate to disseminate The Urantia Book and its teachings.
Each member of the panel made a presentation about their vision for the future of the Urantia Revelation. Following these presentations, members of the audience were asked to submit questions on index cards.
The questions reflected concerns about duplication of efforts, such as: “Why do we need multiple publishers and more than one outreach organization?”
Paula Thompson gave an emotional description of the split between the Fellowship and the Foundation, comparing it to a family which has suffered a divorce.
Seppo Kanerva said that Urantia Foundation focuses on the publication, translation, and dissemination of the book and has a policy of noninterference in the internal affairs of social organizations.
Gaétan Charland highlighted the need to understand the origins and purpose of the UAI. The opportunity for leaders of the Fellowship, the Foundation, and the UAI to speak to each other in an open forum about their hopes and dreams for the Urantia Revelation continues a healing process that began years ago. Clearly, those who attended the workshop revere the book and its teachings. They want love and service to dominate our efforts.
“Christ Michael presented for the fourth time to Urantia the concept of God as the Universal Father, and this teaching has generally persisted ever since. The essence of his teaching was love and service, the loving worship which a creature son voluntarily gives in recognition of, and response to, the loving ministry of God his Father; the freewill service which such creature sons bestow upon their brethren in the joyous realization that in this service they are likewise serving God the Father.” UB 92:4.8
¶ References
| Seppo Kanerva announces his Retirement | Volume 2, Issue 3, Sept. 2008 — Index | Newsworthy Decisions Made By Urantia Foundation's Board Of Trustees |