© 1996 The Fellowship for readers of The Urantia Book
The mid-winter meeting of the General Council in San Francisco, February 2nd and 3rd, offered a chance to finetune details of the new soft-cover publication of The Urantia Book. In addition, the Council approved the establishment of a subsidiary of the Fellowship, Uversa Press, to oversee details of the publishing business. The issue of ongoing discounts was also discussed, and it was agreed that some form of volume discounts will be offered to everyone, details of which will be set later.
In other business, Fellowship societies are close to having the option to elect individuals from their group directly to the General Council. At present, societies, through their delegates at the Triennial Delegate Assembly, elect all 36 Council members. Councilors are elected in groups of twelve at each of three successive assemblies. A delegate may be elected to the Council if voted upon by the other delegates.
The Council has often not been viewed as a representative body, and this new proposal addresses the issue of representation. In response to a 1991 TDA resolution, the Judicial Committee undertook the task of developing enabling procedures for approval by the General Council.
In February the Council voted to give each Fellowship society the right to elect one member directly to the General Council. This could expand the Council to 54 members if all societies participate. A group of constitutional amendments and bylaw changes will be necessary to bring the constitution into conformance with this proposed procedure. Societies must first approve the steps taken by the General Council to that point. Societies are being surveyed by the Judicial Committee, according to Chairman Marilynn Kulieke. If they indicate in survey responses that the Council’s action, as well as the proposed amendments to the constitution, violate their autonomy, then the changes must be ratified at the next Triennial Delegate Assembly in 1997, followed by another General Council vote.
Undoubtedly, the most controversial issue debated by the Council was the question of whether to file an amicus brief (friend of the court) with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which will consider Urantia Foundation’s request to have the U.S. District Court’s 1995 decision nullified.
In February 1995 Judge Warren H. Urbom granted Kristen Maaherra’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that the renewal of copyright of The Urantia Book was invalid, and placing the book into the public domain.
After a lengthy and searching debate, the Council voted 18 to 15 to file the brief.
“This filing is a one-time event,” says Fellowship President Steve Dreier. “There are no plans for further legal involvement on the part of the Fellowship. The brief makes the court aware of the existence of the Fellowship and of the interests of the Fellowship in the outcome of the appeal.”
Due to the resignation of John Hay, Boulder, Colorado, for personal reasons, a vacancy on the General Council was filled with the election of Brian Smith of Encinita, California. Councilor David Kantor, Lafayette, California, was also elected to fill the resulting vacancy of Chairman of the Special Projects Committee. The General Council and Executive Committee both passed resolutions thanking Hay for his years of devoted service to The Urantia Book and the reader community. In other elections, Lila Dogim, Cliffside, New Jersey, resigned from the Education Committee to fill a vacancy on the International Fellowship Committee.
Avi Dogim, chairman of the Charter Committee, reported that the application has been approved for a group in Wisconsin to become chartered as a Fellowship society. The target date for admission of the new society is scheduled for September 14, 1996.
It’s never too soon to begin thinking about where to hold the next International Conference. Councilors offered a wide range of suggestions, including Alaska, Vancouver, British Columbia, the Midwest, Southeast and even a cruise ship.