Education Committee Report Summer 08’

Currently, the Education Committee is preparing for the Education Committee booth at IC 08.  The booth will have information on our current projects and future plans.

The Committee is also setting the ground work for the 2009 Fellowship Summer Study Session to be held in Chicago.  Chicago‘s central location addresses the cost issues of rising fuel, airfares and an upcoming Triennial Delegate Assembly.  At this point the venue is yet undetermined, but we do have an application into Dominican University and they should confirm availability within this week for early July of next year.  John Hales is also looking into other venues in the Chicago area.  As you know we have had our last two SSS’s at Dominican University and they have been two of our most successful conferences, both financially and in terms of program execution, i.e., having a Program Chair.  Adding a youth program to the SSS is also in the works.  This will enable more parents to attend.

Our work in training Urantia Book presenters is moving ahead as well.  Some of the key areas are:

§         Public speaking skills i.e., Toastmasters, etc., and the issues speakers face such as how to work with heckler’s, etc.  Nick Stefaro has much experience in this area.  Casey Snider, a training professional, has also signed on as an adjunct member to help us in training presenters.

§         Curriculum that would include the answers for the most “frequently asked questions” (FAQs) encountered in the public arena, such as “where does this book come from?”  These FAQ’s are the result of this past year’s research accumulated by committee members and other various sources.

§         Research into curriculum from the original Urantia Book School to see what may be useful (or is it outdated?); thanks to Katharina Becker

§         Interfaith: Dr. Peter Laurence has designed and made available to us a program on interfaith dialogue   Members of the Interfaith committee have taken this course. 

§         Jesus’ way of teaching/training: Marta Elder’s has volunteered to coordinate the results of two study groups that are exclusively assigned to work on Jesus’ way of teaching and training.  She will summarize their findings and use their wisdom to create this course in our curriculum.

§         This fall, Charles Olivea, a professional educator, will begin the paramount task of working on the skeletal framework of an actual UB school. 

And lastly, the Fellowship Education Committee has joined an educational initiative started by Gard Jamieson that consists of members of the Foundation and the UAI to pool our efforts for the benefit of the UB community.

Knowledge is possessed only by sharing; it is safeguarded by wisdom and socialized by love. (Paper 48, Urantia Book)

Respectfully submitted,

The Education Committee:

Gary Deinstadt- Chair

Lila Dogim

Charles Olivea

Katharina Becker

Nick Stefaro

David Holt