© 1998 Bob Solone, Kathleen Swadling, Cathy Jones, Travis Binion
© 1998 Urantia Foundation
A monthly News Bulletin from Urantia Foundation to IUA Officers, Foundation Office Managers, Coordinating Committee members, Foundation Representatives, Translators, and other readers for the purpose of disseminating this information to readers in local areas.
Report by Bob Solone
This month the Trustees continued their outreach to readers by visiting groups in New York and Boston. Joining them were the Foundation’s Executive Director, Tonia Baney; the IUA Administrator, Cathy Jones; and myself.
Members of both the IUA and the Fellowship attended open meetings and dinners that were hosted by the Urantia Association of New York and The Urantia Association of New England.
The Trustees presented their goals and plans and then answered questions.
In New York, about 50 readers attended including the Fellowship’s fonner President, Steve Dreier who, with many others, contributed positively to the discussion. During the question & answer segment, however, there were also some difficult issues broached.
One of these issues was the duplication of translations. Those who are doing this work from a Fellowship Society and who head up a Russian translation project, did not seem pleased with the Foundation’s regained copyright in the book and its translations, and vowed to continue the work as long as sponsors, (the Fellowship Society), continued their support.
Also, some Fellowship members were under the impression that the Foundation has not and does not give any referrals to any Fellowship study groups. Some were glad to hear that our referral system is nonpolitical and in fact, many Fellowship members and groups have been given as referrals. I pointed out that I, as a staff member of the Foundation, have personally given out Fellowship members and groups as referrals. The Trustees stressed that we do not look at study groups as IUA or Fellowship groups, but instead, we refer readers to groups that focus on the study of The Urantia Book and are not political or focused on other teachings. This news was well received.
In Boston, about 30 readers attended the meeting, including a former Trustee of the Foundation, Helena Sprague. Helena contributed positively to the discussions and she and the others were very pleased to hear the Trustees goals and plans. There were several old friendships reestablished and new ones begun, and the consensus for working all together for the revelation seemed to be the prevailing desire.
Report by Kathleen Swadling
The Foundation attended the Seoul International Bookfair in Korea this month, which was a great success. The interest in The URANTIA Book shown by the Koreans was impressive. They seem to be ready for and receptive to this message.
Foundation representatives who attended were Choi and his wife, Kathy, Richard Keeler, and myself. This was a new experience for the two Trustees who have never spent days manning a book booth before. It was a delight to See Kwan and Kathy enthusiastically talking to their fellow countrymen and women about this remarkable book. Kwan, being a professor (which we made sure was indicated on his name badge), received instant respect and quickly captured the interest of inquisitive passers by. Kathy has a particular talent for striking up conversations with people wherever she goes — be it standing in a bathroom queue or riding in a taxi. While I could not understand the language, I could tell by the expressions and body language that Kathy managed to capture their attention, and by the end of the conversation they were exchanging names and phone numbers and she was writing down the name of The URANTIA Book with a phone number of readers in Korea to contact!
A draft copy of the Korean translation was on display and as many Koreans speak English, the English editions were browsed through at length. Over 8,000 brochures were handed out over the six days. The brochures gave a brief description of the book, with information about the soon to be published Korean translation, as well as ordering details and information about a 40% discount book fair sales special.
Several contacts were made with book distributors and large book stores, and we left books with them for their assessment. Unfortunately the recent Asian financial crisis has hit the book industry quite hard. The two major book distributors, who distributed 85% of books in Korea, went bankrupt so consequently the industry is undergoing a major reorganization. Trade representation at the fair was also a disappointment with only half the amount of space utilized as last year. However our objective for this year was to plant the seeds and make people aware that the translation would be ready for next year. Hopefully the industry will have picked up and well have outlets for distribution.
The highlight of the visit was the contact we made with Korean readers. There is already a group in Seoul with readers eager to serve, while chaffing at the bit for the entire book in their language. Unfortunately they have only had access to an unauthorized translation of Parts 3 and 4 that the Fellowship delivered to them last year. Part 4 was being published and sold by local readers under the direction of the Fellowship. The Fellowship directed them to cease publication when the Foundation won appeals but seeds for confusion have already been sown. However, we were able to discuss the situation with them and we hope that once they have the new translation they will be able to assist us in the ongoing revision process. They seem eager to work with the Foundation so we hope for a spirit of cooperation with them despite the fact that the Fellowship are continuing to work on their alternate Korean translation.
Greetings Friends,
May has been very interesting and eventful. It was great to work with the staff at 533 for three weeks. Thank you Jay, Kathleen, Trevor, Connie, Bob, Sheila, and Sarah for your welcome and help in so many ways. The Tuesday night study goup proved to be stimulating and lively. The group gets down to some major studying.
Travis Binion and I accompanied the Trustees and Tonia on their visit to New York and Boston. The Trustees were warmly received by President Rosendo de Aguilera and the URANTIA Association of Greater New York on the 14th. It was an evening of good food and URANTIA conversation, highlighted by a spontaneous “serenade” outside the restaurant by Rich Keeler, George Michelson-Dupont and company. The joint Fellowship/Association meeting was held at the Elks Club on the 15th. Many friendships were renewed and the Trustees and Tonia fielded questions and comments.
On Sunday the 16th, Travis and I attended the annual meeting of the URANTIA Association of New England, President Nick Scalzo. Officers were elected and positive plans for the future were made. The Association hosted a joint IUA/FeIIowship meeting to the Trustees and Tonia. They gave an inspiring explanation of where we are and where we are going with the Revelation. Questions were asked, a friendly atmosphere prevailed. A delicious lunch was prepared by the New England Association.
A new association is being formed in Missouri-Kansas. Invitation letters have been out and we are getting good response. Carrie and Jerry Prentice (Missouri) and Michael Wood (Kansas) are heading up the leadership. The licensing date is set for July 12.
Hope you in the US are planning to attend the National Conference at Glen Ivy in June. The setting is certainly beautiful. Yotr local president can supply you with details for registration. In 1997 “Fruits of the Spirit” was the theme. “Unity Without Uniformity” this year is bound to be equally inspirational.
It isn’t too late to sign up for the International IUA Conference to be held in Finland August 7-10. ñis is an opportunity to meet our brothers and sisters from many countries, and the first IUA intemational conference outside the USA. Flight should be made right away.
Hoping everyone is enjoying a good summer! See you at conference.
In loving service,
Cathy Jones
Another weekend event to bring readers will be held in Chicago over weekend of November 6,7, and 8. There will be an open house on the Friday night and the Dewes Mansion has been booked for the day time seminar activities and evening social event for Saturday. Please reserve this date in your schedules and plan to attend. This is a preliminary notice; more details will be forthcoming. The Dewes Mansion is an ideal venue for this kind of activity as it is close to 533, has the space needed for a gathering of a large group of people, and gives special rates to non-profits.
Our original listing for the Library of Congress was 299 — Other Religions. In 1975 the listing was changed to 230 — Theology, but in the front of books we only stated that the listing had been revised in 1975 — we never said what it had been revised to. We will publish the correct information in future editions and a notice has gone to bookstores in the USA announcing the correct classification.
All office managers: would you please make sure you change the listing on any documentation or correspondence.
The price Of the Hard Cover, English edition has been changed from US$54 to US$29.95 until December 31, 1998. The main reason for the change is that we would like to stimulate the market and sell old stock as another print run is in process. Would all office managers alter their prices accordingly and notify all the relevant book trade publications?