© 1991 Meredith J. Sprunger
© 1991 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
Some thirty-five years ago a group of United Church of Christ ministers discovered The Urantia Book. After several years of critical study we recognized the exceptional quality and far-reaching potential of its teachings. It was also apparent that its expanded spiritual cosmology and claim to revelatory status — even though its approach is not authoritarian — would cause many to summarily reject it without seriously examining its content.
Dr. Robert Moss, professor of New Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary and at that time President of the United Church of Christ, was asked to examine the book. He met with our group of pastors in South Bend and stated that it appeared to him that The Urantia Book’s view of Biblical material was in essential agreement with Biblical scholarship. Dr. Moss suggested, however, that the book might disturb some laypersons. We had already discussed this possibility and decided to thoroughly evaluate the book ourselves before recommending it to anyone. Even after an extended period of evaluation in which we verified for ourselves the high quality of The Urantia Book’s spiritual insights, we have exercised discriminatory judgment in introducing it to parishioners and friends.
During the past quarter century most of us have used the book as a resource in teaching and preaching. We have attempted to quietly share The Urantia Book with colleagues. In 1979 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book was organized and over the years a Clergy Network has been established. We think it is now time to initiate a Journal to interface with mainline clergy in the study of The Urantia Book.
We are sending the first two issues of The Spiritual Fellowship Journal to the ministers in the United Methodist and United Church of Christ in Indiana and other mainline clergy in Fort Wayne, many of whom know both the Editor (U.C.C.) and the Associate Editor (U. M. C.) of the Journal.
We realize that it may be decades before some of our colleagues will feel comfortable in reading The Urantia Book and that some may never do so. This is natural and the expected response to a book of this scope. We believe the evolutionary process and group wisdom will eventually establish the worth of The Urantia Book in the church.