TO: GENERAL COUNCIL OF URANTIA BROTHERHOOD

FROM: DAVID N. ELDERS, CHAIRMAN--CHARTER COMMITTEE

May 27, 1982

SUBJ: COMMITTEE REPORT FOR PERIOD AUGUST, 1981-JUNE, 1982

"The acid test for any religious philosophy consists in whether or not it distinguishes between the realities of the material and the spiritual worlds while at the same moment recognizing their unification in intellectual striving and in social serving." The URANTIA Book, Published by URANTIA Foundation, 1955. p. 1114:4

The essential message of this quote has again guided the work of the Charter Committee during this past year as we have continued our search for a consistent approach to the question of membership in URANTIA Brotherhood. Inasmuch as we did not have much work to do in the specific area of chartering societies (Tampa Bay area withdrew after filing its initial chartering documents), we spent our time this past year in an evaluation of the meaning of membership in the context of the work on philosophy we began last year.

An update on our progress is summarized below:

1. Last August a questionnaire was sent to all General Councilors asking for opinions and experience in the area of the meaning and value of membership generally, and specifically requesting a response to the question of whether or not every person who joins URANTIA Brotherhood should have read The URANTIA Book in its entirety at least once. Of the 36 Councilors, 24 responded. The most complete response, from Paul Snider, represents an articulate statement of the thrust of by far a majority of the rest of the Councilors participating. Because of this, and because it also represents a view in concert with the Charter Committee, we have included a copy in this report.

Indicated action: As a result of our studies and evaluation to date, we plan to submit to the General Council Meeting this June a proposal for a change in the Constitution of URANTIA Brotherhood which would require all General Councilors and representatives to the TDA to have completed a reading of The URANTIA Book. Further, we plan to initiate with existing Societies member of the brotherhood discussion on the desirability of requiring every member of the brotherhood to have completed one reading.

2. We-have been continuing our work on rewriting the materials for those study groups who wish to consider society status. This is a project which we plan to complete this year. 3. For the first year, the Charter Committee will host a workshop at this year's program at Lake Forest. Our subject will be the same as our membership project with the combined purpose of eliciting broader comment and experience from participants while at the same time raising consciousness of the need to integrate the statement in the aforementioned quote with a practical philosophy of membership in URANTIA Brotherhood.

4. Active study groups which have inquired about society status include: The Valley Forum(part of FUSLA at this time), Jabal Pur, India (just beginning the active study group formation process--many years away from society status),Austin, Texas (they have even begun the draft of a constitution); Tampa Bay Area, and Toronto, Canada have pulled back somewhat from actively pursuing chartering.

It is the Charter Committee's belief that the effectiveness of URANTIA Brotherhood in the coming years as a facilitator of personal religious experience, a mechanism for the progressive understanding of our Father and the universe in which we are citizens, and the steady but sure spread of The URANTIA Book itself will in no small part be due to the quality of those persons who become its members; and, quality in this sense has to do with increasing understanding of and familiarity with all facets of The URANTIA Book, commitment to both the spiritual brotherhood and the social organization now growing up as a community of students of the teachings, and the cooperative experience and wisdom of those who have agreed to function for a time in organizational capacities.

My warmest thanks to the members of the Charter Committee who have served so well during this past year: Lucille Faw, Mary Lou Hales, Ticky Harries, David Renn, and Irene Sprunger.

"Man can never wisely decide temporal issues or transcend the selfishness of personal interests unless he meditates in the presence of the sovereignty of God and reckons with the realities of divine meanings and spiritual values." The URANTIA Book, p. 1093:2

Respectfully submitted,

David N. Elders For the Charter Committee