Annual Report of the President
To the TDA, General Council, and Membership of
The Urantia Book Fellowship
July, 2000
Janet Farrington Graham
This will be my final annual report as president of The Fellowship. Although there are many exciting projects in progress, I will leave it to the next president to share the good news with you. There are a few times when it is appropriate for a president to share personal feelings about the state of the "union", and I hope this is one of them. The statements below represent my opinions, not necessarily those of the people with whom I have served. However, I feel a responsibility to share the insights gained during my three years as Fellowship president.
I believe the revelation community is at a crossroads. Our major organizations are facing the choice of reform or failure, a choice brought about by the natural evolution of a human system that has exhausted the potential of its infancy. Fifty years ago a small group of dedicated religionists labored to bring forth an epochal revelation, and they designed an organizational system to facilitate the emergence of a new social/religious movement. This may have been the best possible system for its time, but throughout most of a fifty-year history, the organizations comprising this system have been mired in power struggles and political strife. There have been lawsuits and rumors of lawsuits. Millions of dollars of valuable capital and countless hours have been invested in maintaining or challenging the status quo. Relationships have been damaged and volunteers have become discouraged. Long-time readers are frustrated over the state of the movement, and new readers are dismayed. "How did a spiritual community dedicated to an epochal revelation find itself in such a mess?"Individual believers, feeling the need for independent action, have initiated projects designed to transcend the influence of unresolved conflict among the leadership, and perhaps this is the next evolutionary step: a network of private foundations dedicated to specific projects, a grassroots seeding of revelation services independent of any umbrella orgamization. While this alternative may be acceptable, I believe we must also examine, carefully examine, what has transpired during the past fifty years and make a reasonable effort to design an organizational structure that can serve the community during the next hundred years.
I often wonder what our spiritual supervisors think about the state of the Urantia movement, and I long for the advice of the Resident Governor General. Are these power struggles necessary? Can we invest our talents more wisely? Have we overlooked the forest for the trees? Imagine, for a moment the elevated perspective of the spiritual administration on Urantia. These experienced celestial personalities are able to see the unfolding of trends far into the future. They know, for example, how electronic communication will change the legal status of intellectual properties and change the lives of human beings previously isolated; they recognize the potential inherent in the paradigm shifts brought about by advancing technology. In fact, I believe they anticipated this shift and provided our community fifty years to adjust to the shock of epochal revelation, and to prepare for the future.
Are we prepared? I think the escalation of conflict, the struggle for control of the book, is evidence that we are not prepared. Further, I believe that if we continue down this road our organizations will eventually become obsolete, and may unwittingly institutionalize a religion ABOUT the book.
There are no ready solutions. In our best moments, we dream of a unified community, free of the struggle for control of the text, sharing the fruits of the spirit with a struggling world. In our most insightful moments, we envision an active partnership with the planetary government, providing administrative support in preparation for the next spiritual age. In our most private moments, each one of us sincerely seeks greater service to our Creator Son, and to the Supreme.
There is no doubt in my mind that our community is hungry for brotherhood. Although we know that social brotherhood is an evolution born of struggle, spiritual brotherhood can be attained now. "Always we may have diversity of intellectual comprehension andinterpretation, even varying degrees of socialization, but lack of spiritual brotherhood is both inexcusable and reprehensible." (170:5.20)
Perhaps it would help to shift our focus from secular ends to spiritual means. Conflict is inevitable, the result of diverse human minds and committed wills; conflict illuminates the potential for personal growth. Resolution is creative, the result of spiritualized minds discovering the Father's will; resolution indicates the realization of spiritual growth. "Mutual understanding and fraternal love are transcendent civilizers and mighty factors in the world-wide realization of the brotherhood of man." (52:6.2-7)
And perhaps it would he helpful to shift our focus to a universe perspective. "Urantia is the sentimental shrine of all Nebadon, the chief of ten million inhabited worlds, the mortal home of Christ Michael, sovereign of all Nebadon, a Melchizedek minister to the realms, a system savior, an Adamic progressor, a Son of Man in the likeness of mortal flesh, and the Planetary Prince of Urantia. And your record tells the truth when it says that this same Jesus has promised some time to return to the world of his terininal bestowal, the World of the Cross." (119:8.8)
The eyes of the universe are upon us. The planetary government is dedicated to our success. We have angels working by our side. What we need is the courage to resolve our inevitable conflicts, to reform our outdated organizations, to revitalize our spiritual community.
I retire from organizational service for a time, to more fully embrace a community perspective and to explore the potentials for revelation service. I am grateful for these three years as Fellowship president, and my nine years as a General Councilor. And I have faith that the next President and General Council will serve the membership to the very best of their abilities.My prayers go with you all.
Submitted by Janet Farrington Graham
A Service of
The Urantia Book Fellowship