© 2000 K. Richard Keeler
© 2000 Urantia Foundation
¶ New York Conference
Three hundred and fifteen people from 23 countries attended the International URANTIA Association’s biennial conference held August 4 through 7 at Wagner College on Staten Island, ust across the bay from Manhattan. This included 41 young people, between the ages of 7 to 18, who came to share in the experience. The URANTIA Association of Greater New York (UAGNY) and the URANTIA Association of New England (UAONE) co-sponsored this gathering of readers of The URANTIA Book. Staff members of URANTIA Foundation, the Trustees, and many Foundation Representatives and foreign office personnel attended. It was an excellent opportunity to conduct face-to-face business with associates from many lands, and it also provided a chance to personally interact with the readers they communicate with by phone and e-mail throughout the year. Prior to the conference, meetings were held for URANTIA Foundation Representatives, the Trustees, the IUA Council of National Presidents, and the United States URANTIA Association (USUA). The following countries were represented at the conference:
| Argentina | Canada | France | Senegal |
| Australia | Chile | Greece | South Korea |
| Belgium | Colombia | The Netherlands | United Kingdom |
| Lithuania | Ecuador | Indonesia | United States |
| Bolivia | Estonia | Mexico | Venezuela |
| Brazil | Finland | Peru |
The theme of the conference was “The Spiritual Experience: Living the Will of Our Father.” A variety of presentations focused on the diverse ways that we approach the Father’s will and how to best integrate his will into our daily living. Many of the speakers were from countries outside the United States, and some of them gave speeches in their native languages. Translators assisted so that all could grasp the speakers’ personal understanding of the teachings of The URANTIA Book. There were also artistic performances, including humorous skits and songs, meaningful drama, expressive dance, and some professional level vocal and instrumental recitals. There was even a spontaneous rap session from an energetic reader. Up-tempo tunes from “The Little Savages,” an impromptu band, were part of the daily fare.
The location offered easy ferry access to the culture, sights and shopping of New York City. The campus was picturesque with brick pathways leading between the buildings, some modern and some of the 1890s period. The 14-story dormitory afforded a fantastic view of Manhattan and of bridges, ships, sailboats, and the Statue of Liberty.
The Foundation Bookstore was an active place between scheduled presentations. Several new merchandise items were successfully debuted, and a limited edition cap (only 72 made) nearly sold out. All profits from the sale of the cap were donated to the youth scholarship fund. Sales of The URANTIA Book in all languages and editions exceeded expectations.
The youth attendance at New York was an inspiration. There were regular study activities geared to the differing ages, but mostly the young people spent time interacting with one another. The young people at the conference held meetings to discuss on-going and future plans, goals, and pro ects. Between the presentations, side trips to the city, and ust hanging out together, the young readers reported that they had a very uplifting experience.
On the last day of the conference it was announced that the 2002 IUA international conference will be hosted by France. The Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d,URANTIA is eager to offer its hospitality to the worldwide readership. The conference will be held at a location near Paris in August 2002. Information on this event will be publicized as more details become available.
It was also announced that next year’s USUA national conference will be hosted by the Zebedee Guild of Missouri. It will take place at St. Mary College in Leavenworth, Kansas, from July 20 through July 23, 2001. For more information see the related article published in this issue.
¶ President’s Message
by Richard Keeler
President, Board of Trustees
In 1730 in a sanctuary in Sussex, England, were written these words: “A vision without a task is but a dream. A task without a vision is a drudgery. A vision and a task is the hope of the world.”
On The URANTIA Book are written these words:
But paganized and socialized Christianity stands in need of new contact with the uncompromised teachings of Jesus; it languishes for lack of a new vision [emphasis added] of the Master’s life on earth. A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment. UB 195:9.2
The man who designed and built the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco had a vision which led to a task. But it began as an idea in his mind. Every notable achievement in human history began as a vision which led to a task. The Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal, walking on the moon-all began as visions in the human mind.
I believe that God has a mighty vision and task for readers of The URANTIA Book. The vision is that all the peoples of this planet can live as one spiritual family, brothers and sisters living in peace and love and in service to God and to one another. The task is to promulgate this mighty vision globally and to labor to build the Kingdom of God on earth.
There is no greater vision on earth. And there is no greater task on earth than doing the will of God. And “whosoever will, may come” (The URANTIA Book, p. 1567, par. 0). All are called. How many of us will choose to answer the call?
Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision [emphasis added] and enhancement of cosmic insight (UB 100:4.2). Each one of us can undertake the sublime task [emphasis added] of finding God and striving to be like him (UB 195:7.14).
But, “A vision without a task is but a dream.”
Let me illustrate from my personal experience. As a boy, I imagined how wonderful it would be if I could go into partnership with God and help change this world for the better. A thrilling vision! But what task could I undertake to fulfill that vision? Then in 1959 I found The URANTIA Book. Some of the early leaders told us, among other things, that much money would be necessary to publish, translate, and protect this great revelation to all mankind.
So I became a commodity trader, but a commodity trader, not only with a vision, but also with a task. Then in 1989 I was elected to the Board of Trustees of URANTIA Foundation. Through these two positions, Trustee and commodity trader, I have witnessed firsthand how a boyhood vision can become a grown-up’s task — the task in this case being to help publish, translate, and protect the fifth epochal revelation to this war-weary, soul-searching world!
And the task of promulgating the teachings of the fifth epochal revelation to Urantia is a task to which many readers are called, a task born of a vision, which, I venture to say, we can all share.
URANTIA Foundation and its sister organization, the International URANTIA Association, are working interdependently to help proclaim the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear-the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man (UB 195:10.21).
We have a vision. We have a task. May God help us be loyal to our trust.
¶ Urantia Foundation’s Representatives
An all day meeting of URANTIA Foundation’s Representatives and Foundation personnel took place in New York on August 2, 2000, prior to the International URANTIA Association conference. Fifteen representatives attended as well as many of the Branch Office Managers. Information was exchanged, many questions were answered, and social interaction enabled new friendships to be made and old ones strengthened.
More and more of URANTIA Foundation’s global work is being done by the volunteer corps of URANTIA Foundation Representatives. These men and women work tirelessly, on their own time, to seed the Urantia Revelation in their respective countries and regions. Many readers live in countries where it is difficult to obtain The URANTIA Book. Either it is not yet available in the language spoken, or the book shops do not yet stock the book. These readers know about the hardships involved in establishing availability of the book in their countries.
Experience, in the United States and other countries, has shown that the fostering of study groups and reader activities is an essential part of the early dissemination of the teachings of The URANTIA Book. Awareness of the book is spread at first by word of mouth. Then as more people start to make inquiries and requests for it, the bookshops become aware of the existence of The URANTIA Book. The objective is to create a supply and demand factor in the bookshops so that booksellers take notice and agree to carry the book. Therefore an important aspect of the work of the Foundation Representatives is to foster the socialization of readers so that groups become active in helping with the initial process. In addition, Representatives often assist with library placement programs and establish contacts in the book trade.
Following are some highlights from one of this year’s quarterly Foundation Representative reports.
Chile — The Representative in Chile has been busy visiting with readers in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador and establishing the Spanish-speaking Internet School project, el Foro-Escuela, (old website www.urantia-latina.org, new http://www.librodeurantia.org/). He also led the team that prepared a reader conference in Santiago in June.
Colombia — The Representative in Colombia reports that he has responded to many telephone calls and received many letters this quarter. He has been communicating with bookshops encouraging them to carry the book. He is assisted by a reader who travels around the country placing the books in the consenting bookshops. He helped those participating bookshops at the book fair in Colombia during April and May.
Estonia — The Estonian Representative reported that during the first quarter of this year he has received many telephone calls and letters and has been placing English and Russian books in bookshops. He has translated the “Guidelines for Study Groups,” “Selected Excerpts,” and “Description” brochures into Estonian and has been distributing them. He has recently given two introductory talks on The URANTIA Book to interested groups in Estonia.
Indonesia — The new Indonesian Representative reports that he is maintaining a website in the Indonesian language, where he displays information on The URANTIA Book. During a six-month period the site received 550 visitors. (The website address is groups.yahoo.com/group/urantia-indonesia/) He has also established an e-mail discussion list with eleven participants at the present time.
Lithuania — The Lithuanian Representative has been giving talks to various audiences: 200 persons in Vilnius; 50 persons in Panevezys; and 200 persons in Kaunas.
Field Representative — Our Field Representative, who has placed over 1200 books in Indian libraries, reported from India about the cruel reality of the living conditions there. He described the drastic over-population, the associated social problems, and the deadly pollution levels. He considers the introduction of The URANTIA Book and its teachings into this country to be the only sure way to treat the causes of the social problems there. He states: “India still has a great number of utterly good, forward-looking people who could each make spectacularly good use of The URANTIA Book.”
By October our Field Representative will have placed 1500 books in libraries throughout India and 200 in the United Kingdom. He has also placed a total of 40 into Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Cambodia.
Senegal — The Senegalese Representative reports that he has been responding to many telephone calls from readers of Le Livre d’Urantia; has donated many French books; has fostered a study group of seven which meets twice a week and includes teachers and school staff; has fostered a five-member women’s study group which meets every day; has fostered a study group of twelve long-time readers who meet twice a week; and has facilitated a study group of seven new readers meeting twice a week. Apart from these groups, there are seven more small groups of one or two participants to whom the Representative offers assistance. One additional study group of 17 participants was recently formed. This group meets daily to discuss sub ects chosen by its members.
The Foundation’s Senegalese Representative was part of URANTIA Foundation’s delegation that attended the Parliament of World Religions in Cape Town, South Africa. He concluded his report with these remarks: “In Africa the book distribution is facing a problem that people cannot afford to buy the book because of their low living standard. The stock of books donated is depleting. Our association is increasingly face to face with the need to cooperate on an interfaith basis, not only in Senegal but in other countries as well. The dissemination of the teachings (or of the book itself) in an Islamic cultural setting, and in a country where 80 per cent of the population confess Islam, requires ingenuity.”
Uruguay — Twin brothers are serving as the Foundation’s Representatives in Uruguay and report that they have formed a study group for new readers. They are seeking permission from the Minister of Interior to visit prisons and give lectures on The URANTIA Book. Their main concern is the high price and poor availability of the book in Uruguay. The Foundation will be working with them to establish distribution channels to make the book more affordable and more widely available.
¶ Foundation Meetings With North American Readers
The Trustees of URANTIA Foundation have traveled extensively over the past 10 years, meeting with readers, receiving input, and exchanging ideas. These efforts to remain in touch with the readership continue. During the month of June 2000, Richard Keeler, President of URANTIA Foundation; Tonia Baney, Executive Director; and Cathy Jones, International URANTIA Association Administrator, traveled to eight North American cities to dialogue with readers about URANTIA Foundation’s past, present, and plans for the future, especially as developed by the Matthew Project Task Force. Richard, Tonia and Cathy were joined by Trustees Gard Jameson and Mo Siegel, Foundation staff, and Matthew Project Task Force members at various stops along the way. The Task Force members included Bill and Sharron Beasley, Dorothy Elder, Tom and Carolyn Kendall, Nancy Shaffer, Mary Snider, and Bryan Snowden.
Meetings were held in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; League City, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; and Vancouver, British Columbia. Local groups or individuals in each area hosted the meetings. The Foundation’s representatives received a warm welcome and en oyed the opportunity to exchange ideas with so many interested readers around the country. They learned that, in addition to International URANTIA Association members, there are many other readers who are genuinely interested in, and supportive of, what the Foundation is doing.
¶ USUA National Conference
The 2001 United States URANTIA Association (USUA) annual conference will be hosted by The Zebedee Guild of Missouri, assisted by the Greater Kansas City URANTIA Association. The theme of the conference is “Preparing As Teachers and Leaders, or What Are You Doing With the Rest of Your Life?”
This conference will he held at St.-Mary College in Leavenworth, Kansas, just north of Kansas City and just west of the Missouri River, which separates Missouri and Kansas at this location. The conference will be held from July 20 through July 23, 2001, On-campus housing will be available from Thursday night, July 19, through Monday morning, July 23. Missouri is the geographical center of the United States, so this location fills within driving distance for much of the country. St. Mary College is twenty minutes front Kansas City International Airport. For more information contact Jerry or Carrie Prentice at prentice@socket.net.
¶ Urantia Foundation At Book Fairs
INDIA — In August 2000, URANTIA Foundation once again attended the annual Delhi Book Fair. Valuable contacts made in the book trade last February were strengthened, and The URANTIA Book now has reliable distribution outlets in India. Several new contacts were made that may prove beneficial to the future dissemination of the revelation in India.
Three study groups were held throughout the fair, and readers started to get to know one another and exchange contact details. We took the opportunity to encourage the readers and to foster their study groups.
Contact was again made with the Christian group who has been sending The URANTIA Book to theological colleges throughout India. So far, response from the colleges has been positive. Many Christians in India work in the midst of human suffering and are acutely aware of the danger to their families with the recent persecutions of Christians in India. Moreover, they do not seem to be concerned with differences over dogma and theology. There seems to be an instinctive acknowledgement of the truth and beauty contained in The URANTIA Book. Many seeds have been sown, and in time we may see how fertile is the soil.
VANCOUVER, CANADA — URANTIA Foundation office in Vancouver, British Columbia, exhibited The URANTIA Book at the Canadian Booksellers Association’s (CBA) annual Convention and Tradeshow in Toronto, Ontario, in June 2000. This is Canada’s largest and most definitive book industry event at which the Foundation established a first time presence.
The booth at the CBA tradeshow was constructed and staffed by readers from Ontario and British Columbia. The volunteers met with booksellers, chain store buyers, distributors, authors, and librarians. The personal contacts established during the tradeshow are helping to create a higher profile for The URANTIA Book in Canada.
QUEBEC, CANADA — For the first time, URANTIA Foundation attended the book fair in Quebec, Canada. Managers from the Foundation office in Quebec and other volunteers manned the booth during the 5-day event in April of this year. The book fair drew an estimated 40,000 visitors. Over 100 persons signed up to be on the Foundation’s mailing list to receive more information about the book.
The booth included a variety of informative posters and brochures. All current translations of The URANTIA Book were on display, including the CD-ROM version of The URANTIA Book. A computer was set up where people could try out the many features of the CD-ROM.
SOUTH KOREA — In June 2000, the Foundation attended the Seoul 2000 International Book Fair to debut the Korean translation of The URANTIA Book. This newest translation is especially noteworthy as it is the first non-European language to carry the message of the fifth epochal revelation. South Korea is one of the pivotal countries of the Pacific Rim. Modern and industrialized, it has seen an unprecedented embrace of Christianity and has been very hospitable to western religions.
Korea is a very literate nation, and book fairs draw hundreds of thousands of visitors. Seoul 2000 was not restricted to book trade professionals, and the fair was well attended by the general public. We handed out over a thousand brochures and sold more books than we expected. Copies of the book were also donated to libraries, professors, teachers, and clergy.
Several local readers assisted. They were enthusiastic and helpful in explaining the contents and philosophy of the book to hundreds of interested people. Our representative in South
Korea publishes a magazine and has been instrumental in establishing distribution of the book in Korea.
Many of the same volunteers also assisted at the Seoul International Christ 2000 book fair in Seoul, Korea, September 1 through 5. This was the first time URANTIA Foundation participated in a Christian book fair. It too was very successful.
The future appears bright for the success of The URANTIA Book and its teachings in Korea. We are encouraged by the early progress of this new translation and have faith that modest gains will blossom into more reader groups and increased participation with other readers worldwide.
¶ Book Sales In 2000
Through the end of August this year, URANTIA Foundation has sold 24,743 copies of The URANTIA Book. This compares with 14,090 books for the same period last year. If sales continue at this brisk pace, URANTIA Foundation will sell more books in 2000 than in any previous year.
¶ Spanish Book Sales Soar
Our Latin American brothers and sisters seem to be on fire with the revelation. In recent months, the Foundation has seen unprecedented growth in the sale of El libro de URANTIA, especially in South America. With the help of two new ma or international distributors, one in Argentina and one in Mexico, the current printing is selling out sooner than expected. One of the distributors is ordering the book by the thousands.
Consequently, we are going to reprint the Spanish book immediately. The new printing will be virtually the same as the current one. The revision process that is currently underway in Seville, Spain, will not be completed for some time. We are looking forward to making available a completely revised edition of El libro de URANTIA in a future printing.
URANTIA Foundation has had much success in establishing a fixed price for El libro de URANTIA throughout Latin America, making it more affordable for the residents there. The Foundation sustains a loss on the sale of each book. Because of this, a perpetual printing fund for the Spanish book is being proposed to insure that it remains in print. A perpetual printing fund is an endowment fund in which only the interest may be used for printing expenses while the principal remains intact.
¶ Copyright Update
One of the main objectives of URANTIA Foundation is the protection of the inviolate text of The URANTIA Book. Our short history shows that this is not an easy task. Sometimes the Foundation must rely on the legal justice system and on our copyright in The URANTIA Book to ensure its protection.
Over the years, we have kept the readership informed of our efforts in this very important task, and we shall continue to do so. We reported in the last issue of URANTIAN News (June 2000) that Harry McMullan’s Michael Foundation, Inc., filed suit against URANTIA Foundation requesting the court to declare the copyright in The URANTIA Book invalid or, alternatively, to rule that Mr. McMullan’s publication entitled Jesus-A New Revelation, consisting of Papers 121-196 of The URANTIA Book, does not infringe the copyright. The case has been set for trial in April 2001.
For more detailed updates on this ongoing case, please contact URANTIA Foundation.
“The great religious teachers and the prophets of past ages were not extreme mystics. They were God-knowing men and women who best served their God by unselfish ministry to their fellow mortals.” UB 91:7.2
¶ Christmas Open House
Mark your calendars. URANTIA Foundation’s annual holiday open house will be held on Saturday, December 16, from 4 until 9 p.m. The event is annually hosted by hte Trustees and staff. A brief program will be co-sponsored by Greater Lake Michigan URANTIA Association (GLMUA) and The First Society for Readers of The URANTIA Book Music, entertainment and refreshments will be provided. Please plan to join us.
For information, contact URANTIA Foundation at (773) 525-3319.
¶ Urantia Foundation “Merchandise” And Trademarks
Recently, additional trademark registrations were filed by URANTIA Foundation that would prevent the use of “URANTIA” and the Concentric-Circles Symbol in commerce by anyone other than URANTIA Foundation or its licensees on various merchandise items. We have also trademarked a composite mark consisting of the words “The URANTIA Book” together with the Concentric-Circles Symbol, and a quotation from page one of the book: “[T]o expand cosmic consciousness and enhance spiritual perception…”
We want to assure you that URANTIA Foundation is not marketing these items to the general public or through retail channels. We are only making them available to interested URANTIA Book readers at conferences or other gatherings and as gift items. The fact is, if URANTIA Foundation does not register and use the marks in these categories, others could produce and market this type of merchandise. This would dilute the association of these marks with URANTIA Foundation and The URANTIA Book.
Years ago, URANTIA Foundation registered trademarks for the words “URANTIA,” “URANTIAN,” and the Concentric-Circles Symbol for use on books and printed materials and as service marks for educational services. This was done as a means of identifying the inviolate text of The URANTIA Book and the services of URANTIA Foundation and affiliated organizations. After the copyright expires, the trademarks alone will serve to distinguish The URANTIA Book published by URANTIA Foundation. The registration of these marks does not preclude their use by individuals for personal, non-commercial purposes as permitted by URANTIA Foundation policies. Nor does this reflect a change in Urantia Foundation’s policies that permit reader organizations to identify themselves with such terms as “Readers of The URANTIA Book” or “Students of The URANTIA Book.” The copyright and trademark policies are available through our reader services department or from our Web site at http://www.urantia.org/.
We have found that many readers of The URANTIA Book enj oy having these types of gift items. URANTIA Foundation’s income from sales of The URANTIA Book does not begin to cover the expenses of producing the book in the various languages. We depend on the generosity of readers to fund the printing, distribution, and translation of The URANTIA Book. The income generated from this merchandise provides another means for URANTIA Book readers to help subsidize The URANTIA Book so that we can keep prices low enough for people around the world to afford it.
¶ Reader Comments About The Urantia Book
“I came across The URANTIA Book by accident. I was looking for a commentary on revelation in the New Testament for my Sunday School class, so I typed in revelations on the internet and came up with The URANTIA Book. I started to read it and haven’t been able to put it down yet. It has answered many questions that I was seeking answers to. One day I will thank God and the writers for this Book.”
“One reason I have been drawn to the Urantia writings is because it is fresh and has not had time to become corrupted. Not to mention that it is so much more complete in its scope and that its original language is English. After 30 years of seeking knowledge of God and his ways I have much new food for thought. Thank you for your valiant efforts.”
“I am now reading the chapters on Jesus’ life, it is extraordinarily detailed and informing. I am absolutely perplexed by this and can’t help but wonder how this is. There is definitely a strange ring of legitimacy in this strange, beautiful text. I tried to start at the beginning but the use of language was like an attempt to explain everything put into words, like the maximum capacity of language, of human literal expressing, like trying to explain to someone who has never smelled a rose the smell it emits. The book is amazing.”