© 2005 The Urantia Book Fellowship
¶ Golden Anniversary Celebration
The Urantia Book burst on the scene on Columbus Day, 1955. The lives of those who picked it up and perceived the truth contained between its covers were changed forever.
This summer of 2005, from July 30-August 4, The Urantia Book Fellowship will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Urantia Book as it holds its International Conference (IC’ 05), “Making Spirit Matter – The Next 50 Years”, at Villanova University near Philadelphia. The Fellowship’s International Conferences are held every three years at various locations and tend to draw between 700 and 1,000 attendees. The conference planners are anticipating high numbers this year, given the celebratory nature of the event.
Villanova University’s beautiful campus is easily accessible by commuter rail from the Philadelphia airport. The campus residential suites and registration area are a short walk from the train station. All campus facilities, including the residential suites, are air-conditioned and handicapped accessible. A large, user-friendly student center will accommodate most of our large sessions and social activities. While all activities will be located within a reasonable walking distance, a volunteer-run shuttle service between the residential facilities and the student center will be available to those who need this extra help.
The program consists of presentations, panel discussions and a variety of workshops in the areas of experiential spirituality, philosophy/theology and science. There will be two concurrent pre-conference retreats, one, a “Music Retreat”, led by Gary Deinstadt and the other, “Experiencing Spirit in Everyday Life”, sponsored by The Retreat Network.
The Experiential Spirituality track will include topics such as Jesus as Pattern, Forgiveness, Parables, Service, Religious Practices, Living the Revelation, Outreach, Relationships, Parenting, Teamwork, Personal Development, Self Mastery, Cosmic Citizenship, Developing Spiritual Habits, Prayer and Worship.
The Philosophy/Theology track will include, among many other topics, Pattern in The Urantia Book, The Urantia Book Reader and Institutionalized Religion, Source Authors for The Urantia Book’s Biblical Material, The Interfaith Movement and Beyond, Studying the Foreword to The Urantia Book, Introduction to The Urantia Book for new readers and spouses/teens, Building a Bridge Between the Bible and The Urantia Book, God the Supreme, History of Epochal Revelation, Spiritual Unity and Community.
The science track will feature, among others, presentations by Dr. Phil Calabrese on the scientific credibility of The Urantia Book, by Dr. Patricia Rife on the Universal Mother Spirit and parallels in physics, by Gard Jameson about The Urantia Book and contemporary thought on evolution, by Suzanne Kelly-Ward on the correlation of mind and spirit in the brain, by John Causland on astronomy (He will bring his large telescope to the conference.), and by Captain Robert (“Bob”) Bates on the Atlantis expedition off the coast of Cyprus.
Beyond all this, there will be ample opportunities for group worship, social reversion at Club UB, as well as various programs for children and teens. There will also be a bookshop with all sorts of Urantia Book-related materials and gifts as well as an art gallery with many kinds of Urantia Book-related artwork.
A fun fundraising auction will be held (time and place to be announced) during the conference. Attendees are invited to donate Urantia Book-related relics (e.g. 1st & 2nd editions Urantia Books, books by Dr. Sadler, poems & study aids, Urantia Book inspired art objects, and other nice things you may no longer need). For more information, contact Lenny Cowles at lighting@indra.com.
A free day is scheduled during which attendees can visit Philadelphia and surrounding areas either on their own or by signing up for pre-arranged tours.
A gala dinner-dance celebration, planned for Wednesday evening, August 3rd, will feature great food and an eightpiece band. Attendees are encouraged to “dress up” for this event.
Don’t miss being part of this Golden Anniversary celebration. If you have not already done so, send in your registration today. (Remember, the registration fee goes up from $100 to $130 after May 15). For more information or to register, go to http://www.urantiabook.org and click on the IC ’05 icon. If you have no access to the Internet, call toll free at 1-877-288-3772 and ask for a registration form.
¶ General Council in Atlanta Iced In …
The General Council of The Urantia Book Fellowship held its mid-year meeting in Atlanta, GA, on January 28-29, following a meeting of the Executive Committee on January 27- 28. Local readers had been invited to a social gathering at the Crown Plaza Hotel where the meetings took place, but were unable to arrive because of a severe ice storm that paralyzed the region on Saturday. However, Council members made the best of the bad weather and enjoyed each other’s company over refreshments that evening.
Barbara Newsom was elected to a temporary vacancy on the Council created by the recent resignation of Lee Smith. She will occupy the position until the next Triennial Delegate Assembly (TDA) in the summer of 2006 when the next Council elections will be held.
Gene Narducy and Charlene Morrow were elected to the Interfaith Committee, and Don Green was elected to the Finance Committee.
The Executive Committee has formed a website management team to ascertain current and future needs and make recommendations. Despite the superb work done by our webmaster, David Kantor, the continued management and development of our website systems will require a higher level of coordination and technical inputs than are currently utilized. Steve Dreier will chair the group and will be drawing on talents among the readership for assistance.
After months of preliminary work on a logo design for the Fellowship, Robert Burns has been appointed to head a team that will bring the process to a successful conclusion. The logo team solicitated design entries from a number of artists and will culminate in a vote by the membership on five design finalists. The winning artist will receive an award of $2,500.
Uversa Press reports that the printing of 5,000 hardback copies of The Urantia Book is proceeding apace and is expected to be completed in time for IC’05. As reported earlier, this printing was made possible through a generous donation from one of our friends and fellow readers. John Hay has proposed an ambitious marketing plan for the book which we hope will increase the book’s distribution.
¶ Fellowship Visit to Latin America
Old friendships were strengthened and new ones made during a two-week trip to Latin America by several members of the Fellowship’s International Committee last February. General Councilors David Kantor, Augustin Arellano, and Susan Ransbottom were among the participants.
The first stop was San Jose, Costa Rica, for a 3-day conference. About 40 people attended, and this was the first time many of them had met with other readers. Enthusiasm was high, and commitments were made to form seven new study groups to be located in different places throughout the country. Local readers gave the American visitors a delightful tour of the Costa Rican countryside, including a trip to the top of one of the volcanoes.
The group’s arrival in Guayaquil, Ecuador found a number of readers waiting to greet them, eager to ask questions about the book. The following day, David, Augustin, and Susan did their first of several radio programs. These programs have proved to be successful at inspiring new study group formation. Newspaper articles appeared about the conference as well as a large paid ad the local readers took out.
Many hours were spent in planning for the Conference of the Three Americas to be held in Guayaquil in 2006. (This year it will be held in Mazatlan, Mexico.) About 100 people attended two different conference sessions, many of them new readers who came because of the promotional efforts, and again, new study groups are in the process of formation.
For more information on the Mazatlan conference in May, check the “What’s New” page on the Fellowship website: www.urantiabook.org.
¶ Cultivating the Spirit of Religion
by Disseminating The Urantia Book
The Executive Committee at its meeting on September 17, 2004 in Unity Village charged a sub-committee to develop a logo for The Urantia Book Fellowship. The subcommittee selected was John Hay, David Kantor, Paula Thompson, Lenny Cowles, and Robert Burns. The subcommittee also worked on developing an identifying statement or a defining slogan, then expanded on the identifier and came up with a stump statement to further clarify what The Urantia Book Fellowship is about and accomplishes.
The General Council was polled in January ‘05 for their top choices using a new and unique voting system on the Fellowship website. Over 35 logos were submitted by 6 graphic artists, Ben Venosa, Kara Blake, Sarah Tomer, Katie Metzler, Terry Kruger and one unnamed artist. We are thankful for all their tremendous heart-felt effort and work.
The subcommittee each picked their top 5, reducing the logos to 15. The General Council then chose from these 15 logos, picking their top three. A presentation was made to the General Council on January 29, ‘05 in Atlanta, showing the final 5 choices. These finalists will be voted on by the members of Fellowship in April of ‘05. The subcommittee felt strongly that any logo we come up with should be tested in the community, therefore, each member of the Fellowship will receive a package in the mail with details.
The subcommittee worked equally as hard on the qualifier to be used to describe the essence of what the Fellowship is about. For now we decided on “Cultivating the Spirit of Religion by Disseminating The Urantia Book”. We also worked on the stump statement. A stump statement is an expanded explanation of what we do and at the same time not overly verbose or lengthy.
THE URANTIA BOOK FELLOWSHIP :
- Cultivating the Spirit of Religion by Disseminating The Urantia Book
- The Urantia Book Fellowship is the original social fraternal organization of believers in The Urantia Book.
- While our primary focus is the dissemination of the book, we strive to provide opportunities to bring together individuals who read and believe in the book.
- Through dissemination, service, study, and socialization, we have dedicated our efforts to serving the revelation and all who serve it.
- We represent a culture that values group wisdom and strives to evolve.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- Publishers of the most study-friendly Urantia Book in print and numerous effective study aids and supportive works.
- Consistently excellent periodicals sent freely to the Urantia community.
- Outstanding Triennial International Conferences since 1967.
- A website that is a comprehensive resource library of 50 years worth of Urantia Book scholarship.
- Progressive programs in the areas of domestic and international outreach, study groups, interfaith, youth and family life.
While the logo, identifier, and stump statement express only a part of what The Urantia Book Fellowship is, expressing but a small essence of who we are, why we are, and what we do, it is a start. As time/space creatures, everything has a beginning, noble or otherwise.
— Robert Burns
¶ Papparazzi Needed
Do you carry a camera with you everywhere? Is your favorite phrase “Smile, everybody!”? Do you like to make a photographic record of the people and events in your society or study group? Then the Mighty Messenger needs you!
The new format for this newsletter is greatly enhanced by photographs as well as news stories about your Urantia activities. We know there is a great deal going on out there; but unless you tell us about it, and even better, include photographs of it, the readership may never know just how creative, loving, and service oriented you are. Inspire us with the experiences and ideas of your group.
Requirements are very simple. Photographs should be accompanied by a caption or description and a short article describing the event or individuals being featured. Photos may also be of art, nature. Show us what it looks like! Send all information to the Publications Committee in care of The Urantia Book Fellowship, P.O. Box 4583, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163, or by e-mail fellowship@urantiabook.org.
¶ Let There Be Light…
For many years the First Society (Chicago) has planned a program around the Christmas holidays, often jointly with the Chicago area IUA group. On December 11, at their Festival of the World’s Religions, they reviewed “Religions of the 20th Century.” The program, held at 533 Diversey, included presentations on various religious traditions by individuals from both groups.
The program centered about light, as light seems to have special importance in every religion. Thus, candles representing many different religions were lit in turn, and the ceremony included the lighting of a menorah in acknowledgement of Chanukah.
This holiday tradition began many years ago when the revelatory commission suggested to the Forum that they might not wish to discontinue the customary celebration of Christmas within their families, but that they could instead add an observance honoring great religious teachers of the past and present, or presentations about the world’s religions.
About 55 people attended the festivities which included a potluck buffet and a party, and the old Forum room was decorated with generations of collected holiday decorations.
¶ Interfaith Action in Our World
Come join the largest interfaith gathering in North America in 2005, August 12-15, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This will be the first joint gathering of the United Religions Initiative (www.uri.org) and the North American Interfaith Network (www.nain.org). The Urantia community will be taking an active part in this watershed event.
Monday evening. August 15, there will be a banquet hosted by our Urantia community and by the local interfaith group. Susan Cook, Judy Langston, Al Wolf, and others will be in charge of preparing for this auspicious gathering. Also, the Urantia community will be in charge of creating sacred spaces in which to celebrate different faith traditions.
Each day will feature opportunities for spiritual immersion from different faith traditions in the morning and afternoon, including a celebration honoring the Native American presence, and an evening meal featuring Islamic cuisine from all parts of the word and Islamic entertainment and inspiration. There will also be a computer laboratory to explore with facilitation the interfaith web world and exercise opportunities from Tai Chi and Yoga instructors.
UNLV is located five minutes from the infamous Las Vegas Strip. Before or after the conference you may wish to take a tour of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, or visit Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.
This event has been designed to be as inexpensive as possible to draw all to its door. Come join us! The registration will be $145 per person; room and board (all meals) will be $65 per day for a single room and $45 per day for a double room. Look for online registration information either at www.uri.org or www.nain.org.
UVERSA PRESS announces a beautiful new HARDCOVER EDITION of the only fully indexed version of THE URANTIA BOOK
Special Early Order Discount
Single copy $17.50 + shipping
Full Case (eight copies) $135 + shipping
Limited time only
1-877-2-UVERSA (1-877-288-3772)
www.urantiabook.org
¶ New General Council Member
Barbara Newsom
Study groups are my first love. Raised in Wichita, Kansas, I became active in study groups in 1965 and later in Oklahoma and the Kansas City area. In 1975 I moved to Chicago and was employed by Urantia Brotherhood and Urantia Foundation from 1975-1976. I now serve the First Society on their governing committee and I was their Triennial Delegate in 2003.
Serving again on the General Council comes as both a surprise and a joy to me. From 1976-1985, I served a nine-year term on the Council and also on the Executive Committee as Publications Committee Chair, then on the Special Projects Committee from 1987 to the present, specializing in Urantia organization archives and history. In 2000, I joined the IUA; and I was on the steering committee for the 2004 International IUA Conference in the Chicago area.
I am devoted to enhancing the coordination and cooperation of readers around the word as our beloved revelation spreads. My career as a training and development consultant has allowed me to visit study groups as I travel for business, and I hope my 40 years of experience with Urantia study groups will help in the creation and support of thousands of new study groups worldwide.
¶ Jerusalem Marketplace — Shop Assistants Sought
In the Jerusalem Marketplace at IC ’05, children will experience the sights, sounds, and smells that Jesus might have encountered as he passed by. Maybe he will visit the marketplace at Villanova! If you would like to share your time or talent to make the marketplace come alive, join us in this learning community.
Volunteers are needed to help run the small shops. You can sign up for one hour, one morning, one evening, or more. We provide you with the simple directions on what you are creating; and how it might have been used in Jesus’ times. Sara, Wendy, or staff will always be present to supervise the children, and you simply help with the crafts or activities at your shop.
Leatherwork, pottery, carpentry, jewelry, basket weaving, and rope making are some of the shops we are planning. We also have supplies for felting and hand spinning if you have a skill in those areas.
Another way to help the marketplace come alive is to share your musical or performing talent. We can always use a juggler, belly dancer, or musician to wander through the marketplace, or to entertain at the Welcome Thought Adjuster party for the children ages five to seven.
So, if you want to share your time and participate in this marketplace adventure, contact Wendy Anderson at wintergarden@gci. net or call toll free (888) 456-3440.
¶ Are You Willing to be a UB Contact Person?
From time to time the Fellowship receives calls from people who are interested in meeting with other readers. Often times there is a study group in their area but many times this is not the case. We need people who would be willing to get to know the readers in their area and actively engage in bringing readers together by creating opportunities for study and socialization, as well as just being there for someone to talk to. If you are interested please let us know by sending your personal contact information to:
The Urantia Book Fellowship - UB Contacts
PO Box 4583 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 Or call 1.877.288.3772 or email it to Fellowship@urantiabook.org
¶ Special Worship Planned for IC 05
Worship is a unique, transcendent experience wherein the finite personality-will creature approaches and ultimately attains the presence of the infinite personality of our Father. In worship, we ask for nothing and expect nothing. We choose, voluntarily, to express our love for and devotion to, our Father for everything we are able to comprehend that he is.
Human will creatures appear to approach the worship experience in differing ways in response to learning, temperament, cultural context, religious context, and other factors. At IC 05 we have planned a program that will focus on four pathways to the worship experience. These four pathways were chosen because they are essential, common human capabilities derived directly from the way in which the Father’s plan for will creatures is manifest in us: Sensory Stimulation, Contemplation and Meditation, Unselfish Service, and Progressing Value Levels. These four pathways not only sit at the heart of ascending human life experience, they also are the very faculties we use to seek God, to do his will, and to reach the door to the worship experience.
¶ Online Donations
Make a donation online. Simply go to www.urantiabook.org and left hand side of the home page you will see the donation link. It is easy and convenient. And remember your donations are vital to our efforts, to our ability to disseminate the teaching of The Urantia Book to people around the world. There are billions of people in the world that have not even heard about The Urantia Book or any of its teachings.
There are but thousands of us at the moment. Every dollar you give helps us increase the awareness of the revelation and its teachings. Also, everything we do improves the chances of future generations learning about and living the teachings we have found in The Urantia Book. The consequences are God’s, but the Father does require us to act, to do, to accomplish and to experience!
You can make a one time donation, or we ask you to consider an automatic monthly donation. Either way, know your contribution is deeply appreciated. AND FOR A LITTLE EXTRA INCENTIVE, EVERY SUPPORTER WHO DONATES $20 OR MORE A MONTH THROUGH AUTO-DEBIT WILL RECEIVE A 50TH ANNIVERSARY LEATHER-BOUND UVERSA PRESS EDITION OF THE URANTIA BOOK. This offer ends July 30, 2005.
More than 99 percent of all the work done for the revelation is done by volunteers, people like you who are committed and have taken the time to apply their abilities to this revelation. They need your financial support. If you prefer to mail in a donation, send it to:
The Urantia Book Fellowship
P.O. Box 4583 Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163
For donation questions or assistance, call us at 1 (877) 288-3772. Or email us at fellowship@urantiabook.org. We are glad to get a chance to talk to you and hear your thoughts and views.
The Urantia Book Fellowship takes the confidentiality of your information very seriously. For this reason, we use the highest level of security technology provides when dealing with your credit card information. To guard against fraud, your information is securely encrypted and automatically passed directly to the financial network for processing. At no time is this information made available to any other party.
Sincerely,
Robert Burns, Finance Chair
¶ Art, Art and More Art!
Beautiful and exciting oil paintings, watercolors, graphic designs, ceramics, sculpture in different media, mobiles and much more will be on display at The Urantia Book Fellowship International Conference Art Gallery to be held at Villanova University near Philadelphia from July 30 through August 4, 2005. Themes related to The Urantia Book are especially encouraged, but all subject matter is welcomed. A special artist exhibit form must be filled out by all artists who wish to display their works. Space is limited and potential exhibitors are asked to apply as soon as possible to Nick Curto, at nicknyny@nyc.rr.com or call (917) 701-9033 from 7 to 9 P.M. EST.
¶ IC05 Auction-Rama
Put those Urantian Relics to good use. Auction proceeds will be used for conference expenses. Contact Lenny Cowles: 303.258.0504 or email lighting@indra.com.
Auction Relics Needed:
- Books: 1st and 2nd edition Urantia Books
- Books by Dr. Sadler
- Books by readers that reference Urantia
- Urantia Art
- Ceramics, stained glass Jewelry, clothing
- Vacation Adventures: Real Airline Tickets, Guest room privileges in home of an actual living Urantian.
¶ Upcoming Events…
- May 23-29, 2005 - Grupo Orvonton Conference at Hotel El Cid in Mazatlan, Mexico. The theme is “The Paradise Trinity”. For further information, see “What’s New” on Fellowship website.
- Pre-IC ’05 Spiritual Retreat, “Experiencing Spirit in Everyday Life”, July 29-30. The retreat will include centering prayer, readings from The Urantia Book, music, silent reflection, group sharing, and worship. For further information, contact Dolores Nice at dlnice@worldnet.att.net.
- Pre-IC ’05 Music Retreat, July 29-30. There will be a sharing of perspectives on the creative process, and a search for new ways of creative musical expression from the paradigm of the soul-consciousness experience. For further information contact Gary Deinstadt at dynstat@optonline.net.
- August 12-15, 2005, the Urantia community will take part in the first joint gathering of the United Religions Initiative and the North American Interfaith Network at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Urantia Book readers will participate in several aspects of this conference. If you would like to join the activities, look for online registration at www.uri.org or at www.nain.org.
¶ You Should Know… —Education Committee Update
Come and check out our new education website http://www.urantia-education.org. With the help of Bill Rocap and the Education Committee, we have taken a step further in training presenters/teachers of the revelation.
We are presently busy designing a curriculum that will not only address the Urantia teachings, but will also give readers the tools and confidence needed to present the teachings publicly. We have volunteers who are professionals in the fields of public speaking, interfaith, psychology, etc. that will teach us how we can more effectively build upon the personal and religious experiences of our fellows.
¶ The Mighty Messenger Staff
Published by Uversa Press for the Publications Committee of The Urantia Book Fellowship.
Members: Linda Buselli, Chair Lynda D’Arcangelo, Laura Hay, Nancy Johnson, Joe Liszka, Sage Waitts
877.288.3772
fellowship@urantiabook.org
www.urantiabook.org
“Humor is the divine antidote for exaltation of ego.” [UB 48:4.15]