1997 was a challenging year for the Domestic Extension Committee. Even amidst great changes we were able to preserve our core programs while initiating some new ones. With the help of hundreds of volunteers we were able to accomplish the following:

Booth Outreach

We did 18 shows in 17 different cities, which included: Pittsburgh, Seattle, San Francisco, Pasadena, Boulder, San Diego, Spokane, Denver, Ft. Collins, Sacramento, Austin, Chicago, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Toronto. All of the following literature was purchased with a personal "one on one" recommendation:

Urantia Books 361

El Libro De Urantia 41

Concordex 26

Glossary 9

Introductions 569

Fellowship Brochures 500

Life After Death 115

UB Basics 15

UB Brochures 2,276

Angels Coloring Book 51

21 Steps 23

Mustard Seeds 5,060

Secondary Books 67

One God Buttons 203

Exposure 500,000

Names Added 680*

Volunteers 170*.

New Volunteers Trained 68*

(* indicates a close approximation based on averages)

Please note:

June 1996 to June 1997 we sold only Uversa Press Urantia Books at shows - 496 sold

June 1997 to June 1998 we sold only Urantia Foundation Books at shows - 272 sold

Sales dropped 45% when selling just the plain blue book :-(

So far in 1998 we have done shows in Albuquerque, Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, Minnesota, and Spokane, with shows planned for Ft. Collins, Austin, Cleveland, Sacramento, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Portland, and Toronto.

Public Introductions & Workshops

Domestic Extension did public lectures in 7 different cities last year to nearly 250 people. Each time we do a public lecture on The Urantia Book we include local readers who typically give personal testimonies. We continue to encourage follow-up workshops in the cities where we do expos. The expos have provided a wonderful opportunity for local Urantia communities to promote other activities such as workshops, conferences, and retreats.

Uversa Press Distribution

While we were helping with distribution for Uversa Press we sent out thousands of fliers, placed beautiful display ads in dozens of trade publications, and exhibited the book in Book Expo America and the International New Age Trade Show. Since Uversa Press' book has been out of distribution we have shipped hundreds of books to numerous Urantia societies and study groups for placement according to the guidelines established between The Fellowship and Urantia Foundation.

The 97-98 International Study Group Directory

LuAnn Harney is currently working on this year's directory. We hope to have it done for distribution at the Summer Seminar.

Committee-Changes

In July of 1997 Paula Thompson became the new Chair of Domestic Extension Committee. In addition we added the devoted service of LuAnn Harney who has worked with DEC as an ad hoc member for several years now. We will miss the servant leadership of our long time chair and good friend Mo Siegel. His love, vision, and dedication made DEC a dynamic and effective committee. We wish him well in his new appointment as Urantia Foundation Trustee, and we offer him our heartfelt thanks for his years of unselfish service!

Plans & Progress

In late 1997 we initiated a new program called the Study Group Host program. This program was created to replace the Area Coordinator program with a more direct approach to serving the needs of study groups. From here we hope to explore new avenues of service to study groups and their hosts. Our desire is to facilitate the formation of new study groups as well as support existing ones.

As always we are ready to serve and ever grateful for the opportunity!

In faith and friendship 

Paula Thompson, Chair

Domestic Extension Committee