1992 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT TO THE
GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE FELLOWSHIP
Marilynn Kulieke


 

For the Fellowship, this past year has gone by rather uneventfully although there is much that is happening in the Urantia movement that continues to give cause for serious thought. Channeling experiences that a number of Urantia Book readers across the country have become involved with, a continuing decline in the number of Urantia Books which are available throughout the United States and possibly other places as well, and the impending court case of URANTIA Foundation against Christen Maaherra for violation of copyright continue to occupy energy as we examine how our organization interfaces with an environment outside our sphere of direct responsibility. I would like make some observations about what I have seen happening in the Fellowship over the past year, as well as provide you with those things which I have specifically done in my position as vice-president. 

One area in which the Executive Committee has devoted a great deal of energy over the past year is our headquarters. With the downsizing of office staff in the fall, it became important that we re-evaluate its function and the support which we could provide with fewer staff. 

A subcommittee of Lucille Faw, Jim Johnston and I investigated several issues related to the office. The first thing we did was to delve into the value of the 529 Wrightwood property and the cost of other options such as renting. Next, we asked a number of individuals who represented General Councilors and locally active individuals, what they thought our headquarters should be like. Their responses and the Executive Committee (EC) discussions led us to conclude that there were numerous viewpoints on the kind of office needed. Such questions arose as: Are we looking for a "business" office or something broader? Should there be only one office or a network of offices? How is a "headquarters" different from an office, and which one do we want? Do we want a place which has overnight accommodations? What do we want the office to communicate to visitors?

These discussions resulted in a survey that EC members completed asking them to rate the importance of a variety of factors in choosing an office. From that survey we determined that the things that were most important were: annual cost, security, place for seminar meetings, setting, access by air, hotels/housing, places to purchase services, the image it projects to readers, and access by ground transportation. With that information, the next step is that each EC member will write a description of their vision of our headquarters. Once we can get some agreement on a general direction, we will then bring this to the General Council for further direction. One point it appears that the EC is agreed on, is that we are not in hurry and should explore different alternatives before acting. 

Another issue that we have dealt with this year in relation to the office is filing and archiving. There was general agreement that after a number of years of growth we needed a central filing system and an archival filing system that was clear to a number of people. Approximately eight EC came to the office early before an EC meeting to help organize such a system. A great deal was accomplished and work on the system has continued throughout the year. An outgrowth of this process was finding a variety of secondary works that had been sent to the Fellowship over the years. This, along with the needs of the Wrightwood Series sponsored by the Education committee, resulted in the beginning of a resource library that will become a part of the office. In terms of archives, we also ran across different historical materials. The special projects committee has been working on activities related to the history of our organization and we expect at some point to have an organized collection of material related to our history. 

Over the past year there has also been a trend towards more decentralized efforts in the work that we have done. Beginning last June with each society having at least one of their members on the General Council, we expected to see clearer communication between the central organization and societies. Aligned with a more decentralized view, the mid-winter general council meeting in Los Angeles was planned primarily by the Los Angeles society with a subcommittee of John Lange (chair),. Gard Jameson, Lucille Faw and myself working on the coordination of this meeting.  

A project that has been worked on by Dave Elders, Janet Farrington and myself since the past January is called "FLOWERS" (Fellowship's Local Outreach, Work, Effort and Resources Support Program) The purpose of this project is to help distribute Fellowship resources to local areas to support activity. A copy of the implementation plan and actual materials developed for this program will be included with the General Council Agenda. This program was approved by the EC at their April meeting and we are asking for the Council's approval at the June, 1992 meeting. Overall, there have been a number of efforts made over the past year to promote activity locally with support from the General Council, Executive Committee, and office staff. 

Probably one of the greatest personal struggles for me over the past year has been in examining what I believe are appropriate actions and viewpoints of an organization such as the Fellowship which has purposes relating to the material, intellectual, and spiritual socialization of TheUrantia Book . It appears to me that for many years our organization has been looked to for making pronouncements about the validity of viewpoints held by individuals who read The Urantia Book. Examples of some of the questions which have been asked are: Vern Grimsley's messages, are they real? Is Ham authentic? Is the Course in Miracles a companion work to The Urantia Book? One might argue that if these issues effect the reader community then the Fellowship, as an international network of readers, has an obligation to address these issues organizationally. On the other hand, an argument could be made that although we may have addressed some of these issues in the past, that a social organization needs to be inclusive of all readers and can not have viewpoints, policies, or doctrines which would exclude any person who has a belief in The Urantia Book. Striking the fine line between being accepting of all kinds of personal religious experiences/attitudes and insuring that our organization's work focuses on The Urantia Book and it's teachings has been difficult for me. Hopefully, our whole organization will continue to grapple with this issue over the next few years as we continue to create an organization that is tolerant and open, yet focused on our organizational purposes. 

I have enjoyed serving as vice-president over the past year and have been greatly enriched by working with the many fine individuals on the Executive Committee and General Council.