© 2003 Carolyn Kendall, Dorothy Elder
© 2003 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.
¶ Three Translations Ready to Go!
A Need for Funding
It is our pleasure to announce that the Portuguese, German, and Lithuanian translations are all complete and ready to be printed — except for one minor hitch. We need to raise enough money to print them!!
The Portuguese translation has already been published on CD ROM and distributed to readers in the U. S. and Brazil, with worldwide distribution efforts continuing. The Lithuanian and German are being prepared for CD.
For people who speak these languages, the times are very similar to the time leading up to the original 1955 publication of The Urantia Book. The text was ready, but time was needed to format and proofread the book and money was needed to pay for the initial printing.
Urantia Foundation cannot print these translations until the funds have been raised. Financial assistance is urgently needed, so if you would like to help please contact the office with your pledge or contribution. For your convenience, pledges and contributions can now be made on Urantia Foundation’s website using a debit or credit card. Visit http://www.urantia.org/contributions.html.
¶ Thank You - Indian Printing Accomplished!
Our sincere gratitude goes to those of you who contributed to the recent printing of the English Urantia Book in India for seminary students and bookstores. The printing was successfully accomplished and the books are now in distribution. We thank you for your support of this project!
¶ Associate Trustees: Nancy Shaffer, Kathleen Swadling, Carolyn Kendall
The Trustees recently decided to provide for a potential expansion of wisdom in their decisionmaking process by inviting several individuals to serve as Associate Trustees. The Trustees have found that as international activities and responsibilities surrounding the revelation expand, additional advice and counsel from trusted and loyal supporters is needed to assist them in setting policies and direction. Associate Trustees participate in the Trustee meetings as advisors but are not entitled to vote.
We extend a warm welcome to Nancy Shaffer, Kathleen Swadling, and Carolyn Kendall, who will be the first team members to serve the Foundation in this way. Nancy is the President of PURE (Pacific Urantia Readers Engagement), a local association of IUA in northern California.
Kathleen is a long-time office volunteer and a member of IUA since 1993 who has served in numerous capacities throughout the years. Carolyn was a member of the original Forum and the First Society for Readers of The Urantia Book whose husband, Thomas Kendall, served as Urantia Foundation’s President for over twenty years.
These women have been trusted advisors and consultants to the Trustees over the past several years, and the Trustees are pleased to formally recognize their contributions and invite their active participation. We look forward to drawing on their experience and wisdom to help Urantia Foundation find the best ways to bring the enlightened message of The Urantia Book to the world.
¶ Rosendo De Aguilera Reference Library Fund
Long-time financial supporter and friend of Urantia Foundation, Rosendo De Aguilera, was a great lover of books. During his lifetime he assembled a large collection of scholarly journals, periodicals, and books on a wide variety of subjects. Rosendo made a gift to Urantia Foundation of over 20,000 works from this collection. The vast array of material included works on religion, theology, history, science, mysticism, metaphysics, anthropology, astronomy, astrology, evolution, archaeology, ancient Egyptian and Hebraic literature, comparative religion, philosophy, ontology, ancient American Indian history and religion, cosmology, and many other subjects.
Earlier this year, Rosendo’s wife, Maria, made a donation to the Foundation to create a fund for the future establishment of the “Rosendo y Maria de Aguilera Urantia Foundation Library.” It was their vision to create a reference library for inaividuals interested in researching the many subject areas encompassed by the Urantia Papers. Anyone interested in contributing toward this research library may contact Jay Peregrine or Tonia Baney. This project could perform a valuable service to truth seekers in many fields of inquiry.
We are confident that Maria’s generous act represents the beginning of a visionary effort that will bring to life the dream of two devoted souls. Their names and life work symbolize all of our aspirations and efforts to expand comprehension and understanding of religion, cosmology, and philosophy, and to encourage the realization and appreciation of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. Thank you, Maria and Rosendo, for the many years of devoted service and support.
¶ Matthew Project Meeting in New York City — July 2003
Excerpts of an Email from Polly Friedman (an independent voice representing no organization)
On Sunday, July 27, I had the privilege of attending a Matthew Project meeting held in New York City with sponsors of that Committee, three of the Urantia Foundation Trustees, Tonia Baney, Executive Director, and readers from the East Coast.
Carolyn Kendall read a paper on the history of the Urantia movement. Her father was a member of the Forum. She joined as a young woman, worked as Dr. Sadler’s secretary for two years, and married Tom Kendall who later became a Foundation Trustee.
She emphasized that the cost of the book printing from the beginning was subsidized by members of the Forum and a fund established for the ongoing printing of the Papers.
After this history there followed a panel discussion with questions and answers.
Later in a panel discussion, Richard Keeler mentioned that the printing and distribution has always cost more than the income from sales, and that every book ever printed has been subsidized by someone.
The cost of legal fees has been kept separate and has been paid for privately by a few who care deeply about the protection of the text of The Urantia Book.
It was also brought out that with the lifting of the copyright and freedom to publish, there is competition in price, especially if the book is sold at low cost by other publishers, which makes the need for donated funds even greater.
There are volunteers working at the 533 office, and more are always needed. The jobs couldn’t get done without this help.
The international offices are staffed 100% by volunteer help according to Seppo.
Jay mentioned that if the 20,000 people on the Foundation mailing list all gave $110 a year, it would cover all the costs of the Foundation budget.
In reality there continues to be the need for some large contributions and individuals who are willing to commit to this special service that guarantees the continuous dissemination of the official, original version of The Urantia Book!
It was a well-organized, informative, not-toolong meeting with a very positive feel of warmth and congeniality.
After personal exchanges with Seppo, Georges, Richard, and Tonia I feel more positive about the future, for I picked up on the unity of spirit and purpose.
As the leaders are open to criticism, they get a lot of it. The nature of some of the attacks is not pretty.
They have a most difficult task and need support. Sincerity, honesty and unselfish motivation were most evident, and I especially noted lots of humility and dedication.
¶ Carolyn Kendall Speaks on History — Part I
New York City, July 27, 2003
¶ Timing - It’s All in the Timing Rising Leaders, Lifting Spirits, and Raising Money
BACKSTAGE - FEBRUARY 1924
Greetings: First, I would like to engage in a little role-playing.
The year is 1924. The month is early February. The Great War ended just a few years earlier. New nations are forming from the ashes of defeated countries. The world is at relative peace. The post-war population is beginning to search for meaning. Scientific and technological achievement is accelerating. The American economy is growing at a high pitch. Exploration of the planet has never been greater. The speaker is one who is in authority. He is addressing his associates:
“My dear friends, I have a momentous announcement to make. I am pleased to inform you that our mission is about to enter a new phase. I am gratified with the progress that the core group has made so far. We have subjected these personalities to every possible test over the past twenty years, and they have certainly employed every effort to ascertain by what authority we engage their cooperation! We are now satisfied that all of them are committed to working with us. They may not be perfect, but they are better qualified than any other group we could select! We are confident that this is the group who can carry forward our great experiment.”
“Although the leader still has a few reservations, we are sure he will eventually come around to fully believing in us. He is a brilliant man of great versatility. He has devoted his life to cleansing society of charlatans and frauds, those who prey upon the weaknesses and gullibility of common people. All of the humans—contact commissioners—are loyal, disciplined, and diligent.”
“Today I am authorizing the termination of contacts with both back-up groups. We won’t need them any longer. We will go forward with the Chicago group. They have followed our suggestion and have gathered about themselves a group, known as the Forum, which will serve our purposes quite well. Their responsibility will be to ask questions, lots of questions, and then to review the material as we send it through. In time, others will join their group.”
“The 400 years of planning the content of our message are almost over. We have been contemplating what we will reveal to them since the Middle Ages. That was the time of-the invention of the printing press, the Reformation, and the discovery of America.”
“As for the sleeping human subject, he is the perfect individual to participate in this project. He has no curiosity about what is transpiring; his mind and his body are not affected in the least. He is content to remain in the background and he seeks no notoriety. We are setting all manner of safeguards into effect to ensure that there will be no relics to complicate the legacy of the revelation. No one will know his name nor what he looks like. He will leave no papers, no writing, and no fingerprints, just as was the case with our Master when he walked the earth. The techniques employed by the midwayers and the Thought Adjuster will remain secret, and there will be no magic tricks.”
“The twenty years of testing will soon end. Next week, on February 11, we will make the announcement to our human associates, the members of the contact group. We anticipate that the development period will require just over ten years, until about 1935. We are still awaiting word from higher authority about the inclusion of the full story of our Master Son’s bestowal on Urantia. Ifwe receive permission, the finishing touches will take another five or six years, and then publication will occur in the early 1940s. However, in case of war or unforeseen political crisis on the planet, publication can be delayed a few more years. The science might become a little out of date, but the basic spiritual revelation will be good for at least a thousand years. Nevertheless, we, and we alone, will tell them when it is time to publish the book!”
“Any delay could work in our favor, however, to develop the leadership base of the eventual Urantia movement. Once the book is published, they will begin establishing thousands of study groups, training additional leaders and teachers around the world, and raising money for translations into many languages.”
“Looking ahead, I anticipate that the most difficult thing for these humans will be to work together once they establish their organizations. And they must have organization, even a minimal structure. There could be a tendency to overorganize. Unfortunately, not in nineteen hundred years will there be anything about which there will be so much confusion and competition for control as there will be about The Urantia Book. Eventually, we hope they will learn that duplication of function merely confuses people and reduces the resources necessary to carry out their important work.”
“Let us hope that the human believers never lose sight of the high purpose of this revelation, which is first and foremost, to save souls; second, to prepare the planet for the termination and adjudication of the Bestowal Son Age, and lastly, to foster evolutionary growth in anticipation of the arrival of the next order of Sonship.”
“And we, as overseers of this great mission, must remember to honor the divine plan for this revelation. Many of our predecessors fell into default and betrayal because they became blind to the dangers of impatience and sophistry. The divine plan follows a consistent pattern:”
“Evolution is up-stepped by revelation that is imparted by evolutionary techniques that are built upon existing foundations and allowed to develop naturally.”
“We estimate that the Urantia Revelation will be ready to blend with evolutionary culture some time in the Twenty-first Century, when the world tires of war and chaos and is ready to settle down to a search for righteousness. This will come when the vast majority of the world’s population desires peace.”
¶ Leadership
One of the great treasures of the early Urantia movement was its leadership. Persons of outstanding character took initiative, made decisions and assumed amazing responsibilities.
Dr. William S Sadler was the leader of the contact commission, the group chosen to receive the fifth epochal revelation. My late husband, Tom Kendall once remarked, not disparagingly, that Dr. Sadler had a “great-man complex.” He was not a small-minded personality; he had originated great ideas and accomplished great things. Sadler started out as a cereal salesman in Battle Creek, Michigan. He went on to become an ordained minister, a Bible scholar, a detective, a physician, a surgeon, a great orator on the Chautauqua circuit, a psychiatrist, a professor of pastoral psychology at a theological seminary, a popularizer of health issues in periodicals, and an author of 42 books. He didn’t waste time on small talk, except for one thing: he was a Chicago Cubs baseball fan, and he never missed listening to a game on the radio.
He was the best storyteller I ever knew. When he spoke to a group in the Forum or addressed a summer workshop, he could take the roof off the buildingwhen his engines were going full steam. Unfortunately, the only known collection of tape recordings of Doctor Sadler deliver ing a series of lectures burned up in a fire in Phoenix in 2002.
I had the privilege of knowing him during the last 17 years of his life, from 1951 until his death in 1969. I worked for him for two and a half years in the early 1950s. Many patients suffering from depression came into the office with their chins on their chests, and after spending an hour listening to his inspirational counselling, left the office walking on air. He lifted their spirits just by doing as Jesus had done when delivering the rousers to the young man who was afraid, on the island of Crete.
Lena Celestia Kellogg was a registered nurse when she married William Sadler in 1897. After the death of their infant son, she announced to her husband that she was going to study medicine. He decided to join her, and he got a job with the Pinkerton Detective Agency to finance their way through medical school. He was so successful as a detective that Pinkerton’s offered him a piece of the business if he would stay on with the agency after he graduated. He declined the offer, and put his wife in charge of their new medical office while he went off to England to study surgery. Dr. Sadler claimed to have performed the first operation using a foreign object to knit two broken bones together. When he heard about Sigmund Freud, he went to Vienna, and with Alfred Adler and Carl Jung, became one of Freud’s early disciples. Sadler was the first to reject many of Freud’s theories, however, which didn’t endear him to his former mentor. I used to see letters in the files from Jung and Anna Freud—but none from her father.
Doctor Lena was a firebrand, a lecturer and writer on causes dear to her heart. She was an activist in women’s health issues. She advocated birth control and promoted eugenics. Lena Sadler was the earliest believer in the reality of the phenomenon that eventually produced the Urantia Papers. Her husband was suspicious—he felt he had been burned by Ellen White and her so-called messages. He had gained a reputation as an investigator and debunker of fake mediums and of psychic phenomena. He held out until the paper on the Twelve Apostles came in 1935. By that time he was a practicing psychiatrist, and concluded that no human writer could get inside the minds of those twelve men, so he capitulated and believed ever after.
Through all the years, between the early 1900s and 1935, the Sadlers faithfully fostered the growth and development of the human phase of the revelation-Lena, who was a believer, and William who was a doubter. Before she died in 1939, Lena Sadler collected $20,000 for a fund to set type and manufacture plates that eventually printed The Urantia Book.
The Sadlers had other associates who served as contact commissioners. Lena’s sister, Anna Bell Kellogg, was a spunky, decisive, determined individual, with twinkling eyes. She was also a registered nurse, and was crisp, professional and the cutest little woman one could ever imagine. Anna remained faithful to her pledge of secrecy, never divulging any information surrounding the origin of the Urantia Papers. She worked on the Index to The Urantia Book for the last 15 years of her life.
Anna’s husband, Wilfred Custer Kellogg, was the business manager for Dr. Sadler’s medical practice, doing the bookkeeping and billing. He was a timid, nervous little man who never thought outside the box. He was not an imaginative, nor a creative person. At first I wondered what qualities he had brought to the contact group. But as I came to know and love him, I realized how loyal and dependable he was. He was the “hands and feet” of the contact commission. The Sadlers could not have gotten along withouthis long and faithful service.
Dr. Sadler told me, not long after Anna Kellogg died, that she had received a small inheritance from a Kellogg trust in Battle Creek. Mr. Kellogg had very little money to leave his wife. Her will stipulated that after her last expenses were paid, the “residue” was to go to Urantia Foundation. The Doctor said they were amazed to learn that the so-called “residue” amounted to $20,000. This was enough to pay the balance of the printing of the French translation, La Cosmogonie d’Urantia. She never suspected she had that much money, he said.
When the original contact group needed a secretary in 1922, the revelators found and brought to them a tall, imperious, no-nonsense woman named Emma Louise Christensen. Christy would eventually type the entire book from three to five times on an upright manual typewriter while holding a full time job as manager at the Chicago Federal Reserve. When I worked at 533 Diversey, in Chicago, I was 19 to 22 years old, and frankly, I felt intimidated by Christy. She was firm, decisive and singleminded. Christy had not only been a contact commissioner, she would later become a Trustee of Urantia Foundation and vice president and president of Urantia Brotherhood. She lived for 13 years after the death of Dr. Sadler, the leader of the original contact commission. Christy exercised a firm hand upon the organizations over which she presided. She remembered the instructions that she and her one-time associates had heard, and carried out their wishes to the best of her ability until her death in1982.
There is another important person in the early leadership roster: William S. Sadler, Jr. Bill Sadler was Lena’s and William’s only surviving offspring. He was the great scholar of the Urantia Papers. It was Bill who asked the questions that brought forth the complex papers on the Supreme and Absolutes. The revelators put great effort into selecting what to include in The Urantia Book. Every word, every nuance was carefully thought out, and intended to be deeply probed. The true meanings may not emerge for years, he predicted. Bill Sadler goaded his mother, Lena, who once despaired of ever understanding the “difficult stuff” in the book.“You dig; you’ll get it” Bill ordered. She dug, and eventually, she got it. In a 1951 communication, the revelators chided the Forum, saying that they were “shocked by your lack of enthusiasm and your relative indifference to the importance of the mission which has been entrusted to your hands.” Bill had no patience with people who only read the papers superficially; they weren’t worthy of assuming leadership roles if they didn’t know the papers. He was arrogant, but he was probably the greatest teacher of the papers who ever lived!
Bill Sadler was the primary architect of both Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood. Although he served as vice president of the Foundation and president of the Brotherhood, he remained largely in the background until his death in 1963. Bill’s period of stardom occurred mainly during the last 20 years of the Forum, and in the few years after publication when he presented seminars in California and Oklahoma.
In the early days, our leaders tended to be spectacular; they were orators, inspirational, and great scholars. They led through pure intellectual or moral force. Later on, leadership became more diffused; the age of stardom diminished. We learned not to trust some of our leaders. Now days, it almost seems that all leaders are suspect. When someone becomes a leader, it is an opportunity to take pot shots, to undermine what they say and write. We live in an atmosphere that discourages people from stepping forward to assume leadership roles.
Last year, Paul Snider, former president of Urantia Brotherhood, expressed concern about what he perceived to be the main problem with our movement-lack of great leadership. “How can we find the visionary leadership we need to move us forward?” he wrote.“Should we do a better job of scouting? Should we solicit suggestions from members? Should we define the characteristics needed for such leadership? Is there a visionary leader among us who has not yet come forward?”
The revelators promised that some day a great religious leader would arise to espouse the teachings of The Urantia Book. Will we recognize him when he comes? Or, when she comes?
¶ Urantia Foundation
Take the time to peruse the Declaration of Trust and you’ll find that the Trustees have the responsibility to print the book forever, “to keep The Urantia Book in print in perpetuity.” Article III, 3.3 says, “It shall be the duty of the Trustees to retain absolute and unconditional control of all plates and other media for the printing and reproduction of The Urantia Book and any translations thereof.” All 27 of the men and women who have served as Trustees since 1950 have believed that this is their duty.
The Trustees can claim to publish an “inviolate text” even though there have been corrections of spelling errors, capitalization, punctuation, as well as of small inconsistencies. The plan was to find all of the“gremlins” and to correct them in the early printings of the first edition. All changes made in the text were authorized by the revelators up until the death of the last contact commissioner. These printings were intended to comprise just the first edition. The first printing was a work of art in many ways, but there is unnecessary reverence for it because it was flawed and laced with errors. The dictionary meaning of “inviolate” is: “free from injury, desecration, infringement or corruption,” and “unbroken.”
Urantia Foundation was intentionally designed to be an autocratic group. Trustees appoint their own successors. It was anticipated that unpopular decisions would be necessary from time to time and Trustees needed to be exempt from political pressure. Their Trust document does not directly specify the number of Trustees, or their length of service. They may serve for life, or not. Over the past 53 years, only two Trustees have died in office: Wilfred Kellogg and Arthur Burch. Longest serving were Edith Cook, 36 years; William Hales, 33 years; and Emma Christensen, Thomas Kendall, and Martin Myers, 21, 20 and 20 years respectively. Three Trustees were removed. The rest averaged 6.5 years—hardly life sentences.
The Foundation is pursuing an appeal of the decision in the copyright case, Michael Foundation vs Urantia Foundation in the United States Supreme Court. Readers ask: Why bother to appeal since the copyright would expire in 2005 anyway? Not true. If the copyright is regained it would be valid for 47 more years, until 2050. A copyright is an important tool to maintaining the integrity of the original text.
People ask: What’s wrong with having more than one publisher of the original text? Of course, if it turns out that the copyright on the English book is lost, there will probably continue to be more than one publisher. There are many advantages to having a consistent text in both the original English version and in all subsequent translations. The main benefit is that when pagination, indexes and secondary works are formatted, based upon the original Foundation English book, it reduces confusion.
If the copyright is finally lost, it would not preclude some outside publishers from swooping down and publishing other versions of The Urantia Book. Place yourself behind the scenes with the revelators again, and ask whether you think they would approve of a version that changed the meanings of what they intended to reveal to humankind. Or, how would they look upon a dumbed down version of the book? How would they feel about seeing the market flooded with a comic book version of the book? Without a copyright, there is no legal means of fighting such indignities. Eventually, an adulterated version of The Urantia Book may become more popular than the original, and so bookstores may carry only the “popular” edition. Would they want market forces to determine whether an inviolate revelation is available to the world?
The Declaration of Trust states that it is the duty of the Trustees to “disseminate the teachings and doctrines of The Urantia Book”. Since the Foundation is not a membership organization and has no structure to carry out this task, dissemination was delegated to Urantia Brotherhood in 1955. Since the mid-1990s, the Foundation has delegated dissemination activities to the International Urantia Association (IUA). The Urantia Book Fellowship carries on with the same Constitution and structure as it did when it was called Urantia Brotherhood.
The IUA exists and thrives because its members support the Foundation as exclusive publisher of The Urantia Book, as well as its management of the name Urantia and the concentric circles—the registered marks. IUA members prefer not to become part of the Fellowship. Many members of the Fellowship also support the Foundation as exclusive publisher and translator of the book, as well as owner of the marks. These folks do not wish to leave the Fellowship and switch to the IUA. They, their friends and families founded the Brotherhood and the Societies, and are loyal to the purposes for which the Brotherhood was originally created. The publication mandate from the revelators commissioned all of us to establish thousands of study groups, and to train leaders and teachers. By and large, the local Societies are continuing to carry on with these responsibilities.
¶ Where’s the Money?
There has never been enough money to do everything. At first this was a Mom and Pop enterprise. The Sadler family provided the space and general hospitality. Dr. Sadler told me that he was once the second highest paid speaker on the Chautauqua circuit, next to William Jennings Bryant. It isn’t generally known that the Doctor left the building at 533 Diversey in Chicago to the Foundation and not much else. He had needed to sell the Beverly Shores lodge property on Lake Michigan in Indiana to make ends meet. Christy lived on her pension from the Federal Reserve. When she died, Family of God graciously provided the memorial luncheon enjoyed by the many who came to pay their respects. When she and the Doctor needed money for building upkeep, personal travel, or to host social events, a generous donor provided the money. One family in particular paid for more of the niceties than we will ever know.
When it came time to print the first Urantia Books, one wealthy gentleman offered to foot the entire $50,000 cost. The revelators indicated that it was desirable for everyone to participate in paying for publication of the book, rather than having just one or two wealthy individuals pay for it. The fund-solicitation letter netted over $49,000. Forum members pre-paid for their books at $5.00 a copy. There were pledges, subscriber rates, and multiple copy rates. The first contributor of record was the late, great Arctic explorer and adventurer, Sir Hubert Wilkins who sent $1,000, when that was a lot of money.
Of course, we won’t conquer the world if we can’t find enough money to print books. Until now, every Urantia Book ever published has been subsidized. A very few people have contributed disproportionately huge amounts of money to make sure this revelation reaches those who need and want it. Some very rich people, as well as some persons of very modest means, have paid for all of these books. Mrs. Kellogg’s entire inheritance, her “widow’s might” funded the original French translation.
Many of us believe that paying our own transportation costs to attend organizational meetings and claiming them on our income tax forms is sufficient. There is a simple answer to that: Meeting expenses do not translate books; they do not print, bind and warehouse books; they do not buy gift books; and they do not ship books. As we have benefited, so must we become benefactors to the rest of the planet.
¶ Preparing for the Future
As we look forward to the eventual spread of the teachings of The Urantia Book worldwide, we are confident that evolutionary progress will continue to prepare the way. Think of drivers entering the on-ramp of an expressway, blending with the traffic, and gradually picking up speed. Then think about the late 19th and early 20th Century writers that Matthew Block has identified as some of the sources of the Papers. Besides being incorporated into the Papers, these authors also influenced other writers and philosophers, and their ideas trickled downinto classrooms and churches. Perhaps they indirectly prepared the minds of some of our current readers.
Writers of today could well be preparing young minds to accept The Urantia Book. For example, the J.K. Rowling Harry Potter series could stimulate a search for spirituality as well as for satisfying complexity, instead of the mindnumbing triviality so prevalent in today’s culture. The strange names in The Urantia Book shouldn’t pose an obstacle for Potter fans. Many current novels, movies and television shows beg to be used as stepping stones or as introductions to The Urantia Book.
The search for spiritual values is never ending. As Bill Sadler wrote in his Third Triennial President’s Address:
“The Book itself is not an End; it is a most important Means to an End. The Brotherhood is designed to promote the Book and the Book is designed to bring God and man closer to each other. God is the only true End. Our primary spiritual loyalty and dedication is to the Universal Father, and to Him alone. All other things are secondary and subordinate to the acquisition of this one ‘pearl of great price’—the realization of sonship with God.”
[This is the first of two parts, which will conclude in the next issue of _Newsflash!]
¶ Update from The Urantia Book Internet School (UBIS)
By Dorothy Elder
UBIS - An Educational Outreach
The work of the UBIS is on-going and growing. The requests to enroll grow each semester, and there is a great need for more teachers. There is no greater time than now to participate in and help promote the spreading of a spiritual renaissance on our world. The UBIS is an educational outreach service provided on the Urantia Foundation website, and we wel come all who wish to join in this service. The dual purpose of the UBIS is to provide a me dium through which each person may increase his own personal experience with the teachings of The Urantia Book, and at the same time serve as an effective tool for the training of future teach ers. For additional information about the UBIS, you may read about it on the Foundation’s website or contact delder03@sprynet.com
The Winter Semester 2003
Forty-five students participated in the three courses presented for the January/March 2003 Semester. Readers from around the world-Spain, Canada, Great Britain, Iran, Bolivia, Mexico, and the USA - studied and fellowshiped together. For many of the stu dents, new or long-time readers, this was their first contact with other Urantia Book readers, and it was an enriching and joyous experience to greet and welcome them to the readership. The ability to come together in a study atmosphere of a world community via the internet adds a true sense of Brotherhood to the course experience. In addition to the English courses, one French course is in progress, while the two Spanish courses were completed in December.
Spring Semester 2003-TeacherTraining
The UBIS set aside the April/June semester as a time for training new Teacher/Facilitators. Readers who desired to serve as Teacher/ Facilitators, and who had first participated fully and experienced two UBIS courses as students, participated in the four week training session.
The teaching staff of the UBIS assisted inthe course which began in May. In addition, the UBIS has developed a “Teacher’s Handbook”, which is also available to the new teachers in electronic form. The VBIS considers the training of teachers a high priority, and it has used the methods of teacher-training from The Urantia Book as its guide:
All the way in to Paradise the ascending pilgrims pursue their studies in the practical schools ofapplied knowledge — actual training in really doing the things they are being taught. The universe educational system sponsored lnJ the Melchizedeks is practical, progressive, meaningful, and experiential." (emphasis mine UB 35:10.3)
Information regarding the courses for the September Semester is available on the Urantia Foundation website. Registration for the September Semester begins Tuesday, September 2, 2003. Courses begin on September 22.
A few comments from the students:
“I believe this is a very important avenue to continue to pursue in bringing together readers and new readers of The Urantia Book. I know this in my heart.”
“I have passed on this mode [the UBIS] of connecting and learning to many people in hopes that they will find the same satisfaction and enrichment I have.”
“I feel that my faith has increased where it has been in a dormant stage for years. My understanding of the Thought Adjuster, personality, and faith has grown due to the teacher and his classroom.”
“I do so pray with a whole heart that this educational opportunity continues. It must.”
“The Urantia Foundation is doing invaluable work with The Urantia Book Internet School.”
¶ Unity of Purpose Initiative
In 1989 a division occurred between Urantia Foundation and its supporters and the leadership and members of the Urantia Brotherhood (which became the Fifth Epochal Fellowship), which has had far-reaching repercussions. In 1996, the Trustees of Urantia Foundation issued an appeal for unity and cooperation among those interested in The Urantia Book. In the following months and years, Urantia Foundation has made consistent efforts to foster such unity and cooperation.
Beginning in 1996, as part of a strategic planning process, the Foundation, through brainstorming sessions and focus groups, conducteasurveys of reade-rs both with and without affiliations to various organizations, to solicit feedback on issues relating to Urantia Foundation. Urantia Foundation invited the Fellowship leadership to meet with them with the theme of “Understanding,” with an aim to reduce any lingering antagonism. The stated goal was to “re-humanize one another and expand our understanding of one another’s actions, motives, and values,” guided by the analogy given to us in The Urantia Book of the caveman and the sabre-toothed tiger (UB 100:4.5). Since 1997 Urantia Foundation has providedreferrals to readers and study groups without regaraio’organizational affiliation so long as a group indicates it is focused exclusively on study of The Urantia Book.
In January 1998, Urantia Foundation formalized its policy of support for unity and cooperation among reader and reader groups, which was soon followed by an invitation extended to two long-time Fellowship Executive Committee members to join the Board of Trustees of Urantia Foundation. Efforts have continued, including a full issue of Urantian News devoted to promoting unity and teamwork among readers based on trust and respect for one another. The Matthew Project came into existence from among dedicated readers with various affiliations who joined together to work toward the success of this revelation.
We are pleased to see these efforts to bring about greater unity among readers continuing. The following two open letters were circulated in recent months. The August 27 letter below is from three of the four Trustees who served on the Board of Urantia Foundation in1989 when the former Urantia Brotherhood dissolved its formal relationship with Urantia Foundation. It came in response to a letter from 19 members of the 1989 General Council of the former Brotherhood, which is also reproduced below.
We appreciate their efforts to repair the damage of the past. May we all find greater love and understanding for one another as we seek, each in his own way, to find and do the will of the Father as best we understand it.
¶ Letter from the undersigned Trustees of the 1989 Urantia Foundation Board of Trustees:
Dear Fellow Readers of The Urantia Book :
We welcome the May 8 letter signed by 19 elected members of the 1989 General Council of the former Urantia Brotherhood. As three of the four Trustees of Urantia Foundation who served during the traumatic events of that summer and fall, we join them in expressing the hope that mutual respect and unity of purpose will prevail throughout the global community of readers.
In reviewing the half century since The Urantia Book was first published, it is important to bear in mind that the Foundation’s executive and managerial responsibilities make itfundamentally different from social and fraternal organizations such as the former Brotherhood, the Fellowship, and the International Urantia Association. Nonetheless, the patterns of close cooperation and overlapping leadership that prevailed in the 1950s and 1960s often left the impression that the Foundation and Brotherhood shared equal responsibilities in charting a path toward eventual acceptance of the teachings by all fellow humans and in pursuing their common goal of upholding the revelation. In the ensuing decades, this pervasive misunderstanding contributed to a significant increase in tension.
For example, the original five Trustees believed that “Urantia” and the concentric circles symbol could be useful inidentifying the inviolate text of The Urantia Book; and that idea has continued to be an important element of the Foundation’s long range strategy. During the 1970s, Foundation legal counsel urged that the Trustees take a series of steps to ensure that the registered marks remained valid and effective. This included requiring that each Urantia Society enter into a Confirmatory Agreement - a formal, legally binding document that authorized it to use the marks in specific ways. In these and other regards, however, the Foundation’s pursuit of appropriate goals was sometimes accompanied by unnecessary abrasiveness and unfortunate personal friction, and there were good reasons for concern about that.
When the crisis erupted in mid-1989, the Trustees were immediately confronted with a swirl of conflicting information and advice. Under emotionally charged circumstances, like those that undermined relationships among leaders of the Foundation and former Brotherhood, human actions and decisions can never be perfect. We do not claim that ours were. In retrospect, there might have been additional steps we could have taken that would have persuaded the former Brotherhood not to go forward with public actions that we were compelled to consider as attacks on the Foundation and fundamental challenges to its policies, reputation, credibility, and vitality. And if such actions had been avoided, we might have been able to find ways to reduce long-standing tensions so as to prevent the separation that fall. Unfortunately, each of these last two sentences is merely a “might have been,” for we cannot change the past and will never know for sure.
Since the crisis reflected U.S. patterns of personal interaction and group dynamics that are far from universal, many readers elsewhere found the 1989 events difficult to understand. But readers in other countries mainly pursued their own paths, and for many years the unexpected disruptions among Americans seemed to have little impact on them.
Although there were regrettable rifts in longstanding friendships, after the separation the Fellowship was free to run its internal affairs entirely as it wished. The Foundation, recognizing a clear need, established the International Urantia Association (IUA) to provide a framework within which its supporters could pursue their own social and fraternal interests. This was entirely natural, and the IUA now operates in sixteen countries and on five continents.
In the intervening years the Foundationhas devoted considerable resources to translations, and it continues to do so. Six translations of The Urantia Book are now available (Dutch, Finnish, French, Korean, Russian, Spanish), and seven others are on track for publication within the next two or three years (Estonian, German, , Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish). In addition, nine other translation projects are in their early or intermediate stages (Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Farsi, Greek, Indonesian, Japanese, Norwegian, and Polish).
Despite the mistakes of the past, or perhaps even because of them, more and more readers are coming to understand that our over arching goal is not just the dissemination of a book, but the spiritual, social, economic, and political transformation of all mankind. The revelators have challenged us—and our successors and heirs—to foster such an all-embracing spiritual renaissance that the people of Urantia will eventually overcome the consequences of the epochal errors that marred earlier ages and handicapped all subsequent generations, including our own (e.g., the Caligastia rebellion, the default of Adam and Eve).
On paragraph 28:6.9 of The Urantia Book, a Mighty Messenger tells us:
Time is the one universal endowmentof all will creatures; it is the “one talent” intrusted to all intelligent beings. You all have time in which to insure your survival; and time is fatally squandered only whenitis buried in neglect, when you fail so to utilize it as to make certain the survival of your soul. Failure to improve one’s time to the fullest extent possible does not impose fatal penalties; it merely retards the pilgrim of time in his journey of ascent. If survival is gained, all other losses can be retrieved. UB 28:6.9
These sentences are addressed to the individual, but their underlying message can also be applied to the overall situation of readers in the United States. From 1989 onward, there have been recurring frictions and tensions that have impeded certain forms of cooperation, but personal growth and the work of study groups have been largely unaffected. The limitations of social and fraternal organizations thus kept us from “improving our time” to the fullest extent possible, but that was essentially a delay and was certainly not fatal to the goals of the revelators. In compensation, experience over time has helped broaden perspectives and deepen understanding, thus enriching the store of wisdom that all of us can draw on as we address the challenges of 2003 and the years to come—in full awareness that we cannot relive the events of 1989, nor revert to the original organizational patterns that led to the crisis that summer and fall.
Readers of the teachings need not see alike and should not waste time or energy on a futile quest for uniformity. In answering a provocative question from James Zebedee, Jesus said he had “come into the world to proclaim spiritual liberty to the end that mortals may be empowered to live individual lives of originality and freedom before God” (as the Midwayer Commission states on UB 141:5.1 of The Urantia Book). Jesus later assured James, “you may enjoy all of this profound spiritual unity in the very face of the utmost diversity of your individual attitudes of intellectual thinking, temperamental feeling, and social conduct” (UB 141:5.2).
We see no reason for group bitterness or a lack of spiritual brotherhood among readers in the United States. We commend the desire of the 19 elected members of the 1989 General Council to overcome any residual friction that may still cause tension. The time for healing old wounds is long overdue. We believe that possible joint projects or other forms of practical cooperation could make useful contributions to the long range task of rebuilding respect, confidence, and trust, but we are well aware that any such decisions would have to be made by individuals and groups who are acting on their own initiative and at their own pace.
On May 2, participants in a meeting at Foundation headquarters sought to update the Foundation’s strategic plan for the next three to five years. After agreeing that distribution, dissemination, protection, and translation of the teachings remain essential tasks, they adopted an overall theme that they hoped would unify all efforts: “Love and respect for others are essential to the success of the Urantia revelation, which illuminates the uniqueness of individual personality and the creative spiritual values that result from the Father’s indwelling presence. Our decisions and actions will reflect this spirit of loving friendship and cooperation.”
As Trustees of Urantia Foundation who experienced the traumatic events of 1989, we commend these inspiring ideals and hope that in the future, readers in the United States and throughout the world will pursue mutual goals by carrying out a wide range of positive projects, acting in the spirit of cooperation and teamwork that honors our joint destiny and the Father’s creative intent.
Sincerely,
Hoite C. Caston, K. Richard Keeler, Neal Waldrop
¶ From the undersigned members of the 1989 General Council of Urantia Brotherhood:
Dear Urantia Book Friends:
Sometimes the future is changed by actions which ripple unexpectedly through time. The actions in the late 1980’s that led to the separation of Urantia Brotherhood and Urantia Foundation, the two organizations which were the original vehicles for supporting the fifth epochal revelation on our planet, have clearly caused that kind of ripple. The facts of the separation can be debated, yet with the benefit of time and experience, the meaning of the separation has become clear. It has been as if a knife were thrust into our small community of readers leading to discord, dissent, and mistrust.
The destiny of our planet is to move ever upward toward harmony and unification. The energy circuits, the Spirit of Truth, our Thought Adjusters, and many other spirit influences are all beckoning us toward unity. Our souls crave unity. Yet, we can no longer hold hands together with some of our fellow Urantia Book readers because those who were once friends are now foes. We have followed the paths of those in earlier epochal revelations to fragmentation and sectarianism.
And when we try to tell the story of the separation to those who know nothing about it, the story is hollow. It is not filled with the goodness and spiritual fragrance of God-knowing individuals. One of the saddest facts of the separation is that mistrust has been spread throughout our world community. Like a virus, the two organizations create dissent where people hunger instead for the truths and hope of the better world that we understand from The Urantia Book.
Many individuals have played a role in creating the separation. Most did not act out of maliciousness nor intent to harm, but out of a sense of responsibility to the Urantia revelation. Well intentioned people did what they believed best. But their best was just not good enough. We know that now.
We have laid blame on the organizations responsible for the separation for altogether too long. Blame will not allow our comrrtunity to heal. The acceptance of responsibility by the individuals who had a partincreating and perpetuating this separation can begin the reconciliation process. This process would not be easy and would take the efforts of many to form a common ground. And this would be only the beginning of our journey towards community.
The following members of the Executive Committee and General Council of 1989 have committed to a process of rebuilding unity in our community. Even though we believe we made in good faith the best decisions we could in 1989, they were never intended to cause the dissolution of the formal relationship between the Brotherhood and Foundation. Thus, we accept responsibility for the role those decisions might have played in that separation. With the benefit of nearly 14 years of hindsight and experience, we regret the impact these events have had on the development of a necessary, vital, and living unity of purpose in our community reflective of the best of the revelation. We hereby invite all who have had a role in the creation or perpetuation of this separation to join us with prayers and a renewed faith that unity can and will emerge. We also urge the current leaders of both organizations to meet and dialogue about recreating unity throughout our community.
But someday the true believers in Jesus will not be thus spiritually divided in their attitude before unbelievers. Always we may have diversity of intellectual comprehension and interpretation, even varying degrees of socialization, but lack of spiritual brotherhood is both inexcusable and reprehensible. (UB 170:5.20)
Respectfully,
The undersigned 19 elected members of the 1989 General Council of Urantia Brotherhood have chosen to be signatories to this statement With one vacancy, two graduations, and two who could not be contacted, 31 members of the 1989 General Council considered this statement (seven chose not to sign and there was no response from five).
Stephen Dreier*, David N. Elders*, Anthony R. Finstad, Scott M. Forsythe, Polly Friedman, John W. Hales, Gard Jameson*, James G. Johnston*, MarilynnJ. Kulieke*, Eileen Laurence, Peter Laurence*, R. Steve Law, James McNelly, Larry Mullins, David Robertson, Mo Siegel, Brent St. Denis, Paul Snider, Melissa Wells
* Executive Committee Member