This year, as in the previous one, activities of the Charter Committee centered around communication with existing societies rather than around chartering new ones. A number of groups from around the U.S. as well as one outside the U.S. requested information about society formation but so far have not taken any further action. 

Much of the recent communication with the societies concerned the "Society Conclave" scheduled for early August at the International Conference in Quebec. The decision to hold the meeting was made after it had been ascertained that most of the societies are interested in having it. As of this writing, about half the societies responded to the request for agenda items, and if all the items were to be adequately covered the meeting could last an entire week. 

One significant development in the past year is the apparent recision, among some societies, of the rule requiring a complete reading of the Urantia Book as a pre-requisite for membership. One of these societies has reported a dramatic increase in membership as a result. In light of this development, perhaps we ought to ask ourselves, what is the meaning of membership. For if membership is an end in itself, there may be some additional requirements we can dispense with (attending society meetings, for example) and our membership will surely increase even further. But then, what are we members of? 

Members of the Charter Committee, along with many others, hope that meaningful Urantia Book related activities will grow all over, and that groups dedicated to these activities will seek to affiliate with the Fellowship in the coming year. 

Members of the Charter Committee:

Avi Dogim, chairman

Bart Ice, secretary

Tom Choquette

Francyl Gawryn

Larry Geis

Geri Johnson