Special Projects Committee -- Annual Report
Larry Geis, Chairman
Members: Larry Watkins, Chick Montgomery, Barbara Newsom,
Meredith Tenney and Thomas Orjala
July, 2005
Committee membership
Two new members were added to the committee during the past
year: Thomas Orjala of
Cosmic Café: Thomas, partnering with Aurora Hill, has developed a grassroots effort to build spiritual community in their local area by sponsoring and facilitating a weekly evening meeting at a local coffee house. Inspired by the universal principles of our revelation, they lead conversations that encourage participants to share and explore their beliefs in a safe, open minded environment, in this case a local coffee house. This low-key approach allows one to discover concepts and universal truths without dogmatic presentation.
InnerLife International (formerly SOAP) Project is currently being chaired by Meredith. Several intensive planning sessions have been held since interested individuals came together and brainstormed it into existence at the summer conference of 2003. The focus is on developing and training young adults in service and leadership skills. The means and methods for accomplishing these goals are slowly evolving. An evening meeting at IC 05 will report on this progress and explore future possibilities. Details of these activities are too numerous to adequately report here.
It was my intention is choosing these new members to create symbolic liaison with such grassroots activities in the greater Urantia movement. While this may not be the constitutional intent of this committee, it seems more appropriate at this 50 year anniversary juncture, given the diversity of those whose lives have been significantly touched by this unique phenomenon.
Fifty year history of the General Council
Working with Barbara Newsom’s historical resources, we have compiled a listing of all individuals who have served as volunteer members of the 36 member General Council since its inception in 1955. The original founding members were self-appointed for initial nine year terms. Twenty-five of them completed the full nine years and seventeen were re-elected by the first Triennial Delegate Assembly in 1964. The average length of service for these pioneers was just short of 25 years. Five councilors sat for 30 years or more.
As of this writing, 171 individuals have been on the roster, and only eleven of these were selected by the council itself to temporarily fill vacancies. All others were elected at least once by the TDA process. By the end of the current cycle in 2006, more than 100 will have completed at least nine years of faithful participation. A complete listing, showing the number of years for each person, is attached as a separate document.
The committee will have a face-to-face meeting during IC 05
at
Submitted by Larry Geis, Chairman