© 2006 Mark Kulieke
© 2006 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
It was only a few years after the Urantia Papers started arriving and the Forum was studying them together that serious thought was given as to a group or groups that would be formed to sponsor the new revelation of truth to the world and bring people of like-minded interests together. This initial period of rumination occurred in the 1930s and early 1940s. It is evident that some were of an idealistic bent and didn’t favor organizations at all, or only the most minimal form of organization. From reading the Sherman Diaries, it is evident that Harold Sherman was one of these. Even a member of the Contact Commission, Bill Sadler, admitted to originally being of this persuasion — until a series of communications came which were to change his mind.
Even if all the text of these doesn’t survive, it is fairly evident from some sections in The Urantia Book what the nature of these communications might have been. Paper 99, Section 6 is thorough in listing “the dangers of formalized religion” but likewise states, “there is a real purpose in the socialization of religion” and lists a great many of these purposes. The book talks about the difference between Moses and Iknaton: that Moses was a great organizer and succeeded, that Iknaton was, in essence, an idealist who failed. (Papers 95 and 96) A similar comparison is drawn between Paul and Abner. (Papers 195 and 95) Abner was an idealist but too rigid and was not successful in Arabia. One statement made by the revelators was to the effect that they “…loved Abner, but worked with Paul.” It was also mentioned that their hope for the Urantia Revelation was to have a real blending of ideist and idealist. But other key points for having an organization were summed up in these statements:
“Not since the Gospel of Jesus has there appeared on earth such a dynamic nucleus about which could be built so many organizations and which would attract so many differently motivated men — good, bad, and indifferent.”
“There has not in 1900 years been anything about which there could be so much confusion and competition for control as your organization, and you cannot spike organization guns except by organization in this present age.”
“…many strange isms and queer groups … will seek to attach themselves to The Urantia Book and its far-flung influence. Your most trying experiences will be with such groups who so loudly acclaim their belief in the teachings of the book and who will so persistently seek to attach themselves to the movement. Great wisdom will be required to guard against the distracting and distorting influence of these multifarious groups and from equally distracting and disturbing individuals, some well-intentioned and some sinister, who will strive to become part of the authentic constituency of the Urantia movement." (1940s Communications) So besides the positive purposes of the socialization of religion, the effective organization also provides protection, blocking out distracting influences. (Bill Sadler once likened the Urantia Foundation to the position of offensive tackle and that of the Urantia Brotherhood as quarterback.)
Abner was an idealist but too rigid and was not successful in Arabia. One statement made by the revelators was to the effect that they “…loved Abner, but worked with Paul.”
The Forum absorbed all this information and thus concluded that some organization was essential, ultimately determining that they needed two: the Urantia Foundation to handle the text and sales of The Urantia Book, including translations, and the Urantia Brotherhood to be the membership and outreach group. The nature of the Brotherhood was rooted in the group paradigm of the era, essentially that of a protestant church group. While these early followers of the Urantia Papers attempted to make forward steps with the formulation of a new organization, it is only to be expected that these steps forward were evolutionary and not revolutionary nor revelatory.
Nor was there universal harmony in all this decisionmaking. The Sherman episode seemed largely connected to the organizations-to-be. It would have been unusual not to have various contentions — the apostles of Jesus wrangled and argued amongst themselves over every matter, even while Jesus was yet with them.
Comparisons have been drawn between the organizational birth of the revelation and the birth of the American nation. Both were approached through spiritual eyes, but neither group was forming a new religion. Regional representation was addressed by both, a balance of society/state rights and federal control being considered desirable. Both were trying to plan for long range growth though only vouched a glimpse of the direction that growth might take. Neither can be regarded as a finished work but as a work in process.
The celestial overseers of the revelation did not offer specifics on organization but suggested that:
“You will do well to diligently study the order, plan, and methods of progression as they were enacted in the earth life of Michael when the word was made flesh.” “[M]any are the lessons which can be learned from a study of the former age.” (1940s Communication)
While the text of The Urantia Book was completed by 1942 , it was to be 13 more years before publication. Typesetting and platemaking took eight years after adequate funds were raised. At this point, in 1950, Urantia Foundation was formed and slowly started making plans for publication. A provisional go ahead was given by the revelators on February 11, 1952. They would decide when The Urantia Book would be published, but if not heard from in three years time, the Urantia Foundation was free to proceed. The three years passed and the Foundation published the book on October 12, 1955. This 13-year period dragged on for many Forum members. They were eager to have their own copies of The Urantia Book and share its teachings with the world.
The Urantia Brotherhood was formed the same year as publication, on January 2, 1955, when 36 members were elected to form a General Council from which were drawn the Executive Committee officers and chairs of nine standing committees. Committee members were also selected at that time. It was another year and a half, June 17, 1956 before the first society, the initial building block of the Brotherhood-to-be, formed. The major portion of active Forum members, 156 in number, all became members of First Urantia Society, Chicago, Illinois. Some few elected not to join this or any other group. But the vast majority of dedicated Forum members involved themselves with Urantia societies and the Urantia Brotherhood.
These Forum members all bought multiple copies of The Urantia Book and attempted to give them to family members, friends, associates, politicians, ministers and priests, and libraries. They expected dramatic results in many cases but were to experience a different reality. The book was indeed spread abroad, but quietly and gradually. Some Forum members were surprised and disappointed at the progress made. Perhaps a few were relieved. It took 12 years to distribute the first printing of 10,000 copies. Meanwhile, the organizational machinery of the Urantia Brotherhood began to turn. Within a few years, there were six Urantia societies formed and functioning, most of them started and peopled by Forum members. It was these six societies which sent delegates to the first Triennial Delegate Assembly in 1964 to elect new General Council members and pass resolutions. They performed their voting functions and the organizational pump was primed. There has been a Triennial Delegate Assembly every three years since, and now about a score of societies send delegates.
These Forum members all bought multiple copies of The Urantia Book and attempted to give them to family members, friends, associates, politicians, ministers and priests, and libraries. They expected dramatic results in many cases but were to experience a different reality.
The first major conference was the 1963 Summer Study Session held at 533 with about 100 people in attendance. There were several more of these Summer Sessions held in the 1960s, but it was not until the 1970s that conferences grew dramatically in number held and in numbers attending. There was a shift of gears between the late 60s and early 70s. By 1974, about 10,000 Urantia Books were being sold per year-as many as the entire first printing of 10,000 which required 12 years to distribute. They were going to all 50 states and various foreign countries as well. Study groups formed rapidly, increasing from a few dozen to several hundred in just a few years. Two out-of-Chicago conferences were held-in Los Angeles (1973) and Oklahoma (1976) with hundreds in attendance. The Chicago-based conferences grew to 400 participants in 1974 and 1975. By 1978, participation was 600 (Lake Geneva, WI); by 1981, about 1000 (Snowmass, CO), where it seems to have plateaued.
With all the additional manpower, the standing committees of the Brotherhood were peopled by individuals with drive and new ideas, and more activities of many kinds were taking place. Educational workshops were held annually; newsletters, both regional and movement-wide, were issued regularly; new fundraising and extension projects were undertaken. The Brotherhood mailing list was many thousands by this point.
To counterbalance the focus on the federal level of functioning, regular attempts were made to refocus on grassroots-level functioning. A conclave of Urantia societies was held in 1981 and several more were held in the 1980s. Other attempts at downward focus were made with zip code organization for study group referrals, the publication of a study group directory, and the development of an area coordinators program. Many would still regard the growth of the 1970s and 1980s as modest, but at the time, it seemed to be dependable and steady growth.
We might characterize 1955 to 1981 as the Growth Phase when Urantia Book adherents dealt with the mechanics of ever-increasing numbers. 1982 to 2005 might be regarded as the Transition Difficulties Phase. It is in this period when we are oft reminded of the challenge: “Are you ready for your baptism of joys and sorrows which will certainly attend upon the early distribution of the Urantia Revelation?” (1940s Communication)
Within a couple of years, the movement was in an uproar over alleged celestial messages being received by several individuals concerning probable global war. Just a few years after that, there was a virtual explosion of readers claiming to receive channeled messages from celestials.
The death of the last member of the Contact Commission in 1982, E. L. Christensen (Christy), seemed to result in the opening of a Pandora’s Box of new and trying situations to grapple with. Within a couple of years, the movement was in an uproar over alleged celestial messages being received by several individuals concerning probable global war. Just a few years after that, there was a virtual explosion of readers claiming to receive channeled messages from celestials. By the 1990s, it seemed there was a channeler in almost every study group. The Teaching Mission of channelers became a major phenomenon, while a large group positioned themselves in opposition and rejected all such material. Learning to live together and to grow became a long-term challenge for opposing groups.
Within the Foundation Board, a power shift resulting in the removal of its president occurred almost simultaneously with the global war messages mentioned above. This action was soon to culminate in ever more power grasp by the Foundation core. The Foundation increased the price of The Urantia Book to unsustainable levels and brought criticism upon its head. The Foundation also sought to exert ever more authority to the point that, by 1989 , a major rift in the Urantia Movement tore it apart-the separation of Urantia Foundation from the Urantia Brotherhood, the loss of trademark privileges and name change of the Brotherhood, and a fierce competitive struggle. By this time, the movement was reeling.
The Foundation formed a new membership organization, the International Urantia Association, and tried to drive the Brotherhood, to be henceforth called the Fellowship, out of existence. The Foundation had millions in funding all through the 1990s; it opened offices, started translations, and poured resources into the IUA effectively to eclipse the Fellowship. Obviously, the Foundation was now tackle and quarterback, in fact the whole team. The Foundation also spent large sums on legal expenses to hold on to the copyright to The Urantia Book and sue alleged infringers.
With first a temporary, and then a permanent loss of the Foundation’s copyright to The Urantia Book, the Fellowship attempted to survive by issuing its own printing of the Fifth Epochal Revelation to develop new readers and keep study group activity vigorous and growing. These few paragraphs cannot hope to summarize adequately the vast amount of time, money, and effort expended by thousands of people on opposing sides to avert confusion, recover from these events, advance their particular causes, and try to keep the Urantia Revelation on course as they have perceived it.
The Urantia Brotherhood is now The Urantia Book Fellowship and has held itself together, though growing only slightly in the last 15 years. With the final loss of the copyright to The Urantia Book, the Fellowship once again is distributing its own edition of the revelation. The main points of contention with the Urantia Foundation seem to be passing, and cooperation between the two organizations has been occurring and is expected to be augmented in the future. About one half million English edition copies of The Urantia Book are now abroad in the world. Translations are at last being issued at a rapid pace and finding thousands of interested readers worldwide. It would seem the stage is set to pass into a new major phase.
Translations are at last being issued at a rapid pace and finding thousands of interested readers worldwide. It would seem the stage is set to pass into a new major phase.
There are some who are critical of the organizations, of many steps they have taken, and the progress of the Movement — that is to be expected. It is to be hoped that we can keep learning from corrective criticism as well as the school of experience. I believe it is wise and good to remember that we live on an experimental world and that we are in the middle of an experiment. Even the high celestial revelators do not know fully what to anticipate — this kind of project has apparently never been attempted before in Nebadon. It is OK to try things, to err and stumble, and to try anew and learn from the errors. Let us not be dismayed by any events of the past but continue undaunted. We need to keep doing our best as ambassadors from the future to strive arduously, to make decisions and to make them sincerely. Just that one thing — making sincere decisions — will get us where we are going. If the bulk of Urantia Book soldiers of the circles continues striving to make sincere and wise decisions, our destiny is assured. As always, "The act is ours; the consequences God’s.” (UB 48:7.13)
Mark Kulieke is president of the Morning Star Foundation, which holds a library of over 200 secondary works associated with The Urantia Book. His father and uncle were Forum members (along with several other family members) and past presidents of the Urantia Brotherhood, and Mark is past president of the First Urantia Society, and was a full time worker for the Foundation from 1974-1978.