The Charter Committee had the pleasure of completing the installations of three new Urantia Societies, bringing the total number of active societies to eighteen. The new societies are:

Pilot Light Urantia Society of Seattle - installed 3-5-88

Heart of America Urantia Society of Kansas City - installed 3-12-88

Urantia Society of Greater New York - installed 4-17-88

All three installations were characterized by an atmosphere of celebration, and many guests from other societies were in attendance.

The Charter Committee is currently reviewing society applications from groups based in Helsinki, Finland and Ontario, Canada. These are the first charter requests we have had from groups outside the United States. Charter dates for each of these groups is projected for the summer of 1989.

The Charter Committee is charged with establishing the requirements for society formation and verifying that such requirements have been satisfactorily met by applicant groups. The rate of society formation appears to be increasing, and each new application reflects some degree of local uniqueness; this becomes more pronounced as we move beyond the United States. The Charter Committee is particularly concerned with keeping membership requirements sufficiently neutral so as to allow interested groups anywhere on this planet to join Urantia Brotherhood without experiencing indifference or insensitivity towards their local social and cultural circumstances. At the same time we must maintain a level of requirement which adds to our membership only those who are adequately prepared and willing to participate effectively in our organizational process. The activity is not without its challenges.

The Charter Committee would be happy to have the any opinions on the manner in which it is conducting its work, as well as suggestions for maintaining a level of membership requirement which will facilitate the international growth of Urantia Brotherhood.

I would like to thank all the committee members for their excellent work and willing cooperation, sometimes on short notice.