Site Index

The Domestic Extension Committee has continued it's course set over the last decade. Additionally, we have devoted this year to bringing people together, not only for outreach but for inreach, concentrating on keeping readers connected with each other. The following summarizes our activities: 

Area Coordinators -- Ann Garner has initiated a new program for Area Coordinators called ACTS Of The 21st Century. ACTS is an acronym which stands for Area Coordinators Training Series. The unique aspect of this series is that it is comprised largely of Area Coordinators' personal experiences, ideas, and efforts with outreach and study group support. Ann has invited the ACs to regularly submit reports of their outreach experiences to her. She requested the reports be written in an instructional how-to format. The reports are then mailed to ACs every other month along with other updates and information. Hence the Area Coordinator Training Manual is actually being created by Area Coordinators. The manual grows with every new installment and Area Coordinators participate first hand in the manual's implementation and information. 

To date the following Area Coordinators and other contributors have participated in our growing training manual: 

Chrissy Smith (AC Santa Cruz) reported on a booth done by the Santa Cruz readers at an outdoor fair, which they followed-up with an introduction. Chrissy included the notices that ran in local papers announcing the introduction. This was the first edition of ACTS and was mailed to ACs in March. Chrissy is currently working on a report about the Santa Cruz readers' experience with the Adopt-A-Highway road clean-up service project (to be included in a later edition). 

Note: All of the following will be included in future editions. Those pertaining to interfaith will come out in a special edition devoted to that topic. 

Dean White (AC Tennessee) has done a report on a small show in Raleigh, NC, where she and a handful of readers exhibited The Urantia Book and did a lecture and workshop. For the May issue of ACTS Dean describes how to maintain a familial feeling in Urantia study groups. She has also submitted an extensive interfaith comparative paper on reincarnation and The Urantia Book. 

Charlotte D'IngilIo (AC New York) has submitted a report on the Urantia booth she and the readers in her area did in February at a psychic fair. 

Jim O'Brien (AC Dallas) has done a report on topical study ideas for advanced readers as well as service ideas for study groups. 

Larry Watkins (AC Sacramento) is working on a report on the public introduction he arranged at the main public library in Sacramento, as well as his ongoing efforts with interfaith dialogue. 

Virginia Yarborough (AC Louisiana) will be summarizing her ongoing interfaith experiences with an Edgar Cayce study group. 

Stevie Schaefer (AC Virginia) has forwarded several examples of the news letters she uses to network the readers in her area. 

Patije Mills (AC Florida) has sent a well done introduction package, including a 30 minute audio cassette, that can be reproduced and given to potential or new readers. 

Gard Jameson (AC Las Vegas) has done a wonderful interfaith report for ACTS which is forthcoming. 

Sue Tennant is preparing a report on how to do a Urantia Workshop. 

Ann is also rekindling interest in the Library Placement Program. Applications for book placement were sent from The Urantia Foundation for distribution by ACs. 

Booth Outreach -- Thanks to the wise, loving, tireless servant leadership of Paula Thompson the outreach activities of The Domestic Extension Committee have achieved growth, progress, and lots of new readers. Since last July we have done twelve different shows in various cities. We have exhibited The Urantia Book in Los Angeles (twice), San Francisco (twice), New York (twice), Chicago (parliament)*, Boston*, Toronto*, Miami*, Seattle* and Raleigh* (North Carolina). We're soon to do shows in Spokane* (May 13-14), Chicago (May 20-22), Albuquerque* (June 3-5) and Denver (June 3-5). [Note: * After the city indicates first time in that city.] 

The following depicts our accomplishments at shows to date:

Urantia Books sold 206

Concordex sold 35

Paramony sold 22

Life After Death sold 169

Introductions distributed 2,748

Brochures distributed 3,436

Mustard Seeds distributed 11,466

People who saw our booth 115,000

People we talked to 3,500

Attendance at lectures 535

Names added to mailing lists 540

Volunteer booth workers 165

It is difficult to measure the impact we have with numbers. The best way to see how powerfully The Urantia Book's truths can touch people is to work at the booth. We cherish the opportunity and feel privileged to make the opportunity available to Urantia Book readers in additional cities. It's hard work but well worth it.

We are encouraging follow-up workshops in cities which are willing and able to do it. Reports, including detailed outlines, are being submitted by local organizers upon completion of these activities. The follow-up workshops are the next step for bringing new readers into existing study groups, initiating new study groups, and making contact with those individuals who put their names on our sign-up sheets. 

Special thanks to the following individuals who make expos happen in their cities: Larry Geis, Mark Turrin, Michelle Klimesh and Dent Snider in San Francisco, Robin & Helene Jorgensen and Bart Ice in New York, Duane Faw in Los Angeles, Waldine Stump in Miami, Virginia Mellencamp in Santa Fe, Sue Tennant and Scott McDougall in Toronto, Steven Hecht in Boston, Inez and Tony Finstad in Seattle, Matt Block, Scott Forsythe and Marilynn Kulieke in Chicago, and Thomas Orjalla in Spokane. As always the multidimensional ministry of Ann Garner adds so much to all of our booth outreach efforts. Thank you Ann! 

1994 Shows Coming Up -- San Diego (September 9-11), New York (September 16-18), Las Vegas (October 7-9), and Miami (October 21-23). We also hope to do Toronto and Boston again (no dates yet) if budget permits. 

Training Teachers.-- We continue to have training meetings on the Thursday night before every show we do. At least 57 new booth volunteers have been trained in the past year. In these meetings we cover topics such as; how to answer difficult questions, creative listening techniques, what to do when someone wants to argue, ways to avoid irate fundamentalists, basic booth etiquette and logistics, and end with a reading of the Master's "Instructions For Teachers And Believers". 

The training meetings serve as an icebreaker to get people enthused about the show and as a way for booth volunteers to get to meet one another. However, nothing is a greater training tool than the experience one gets when actually working at the booth. In the same vein, we try to include local readers in every introductory lecture we do at the shows.(average attendance 50) We always end each show with a group meal where we recount the highlights of the show and share joy and laughter at a job well done. Most of all, we strive to show readers how simple it can be to introduce The Urantia Book to others. Our hope is to make ourselves obsolete by training local readers to do this work themselves. 

Urantia Book Availability,-- Because of the amount of shows we are doing it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a supply of Urantia Books, We sell an average of 20 books per show. In March we asked The Urantia Foundation to consider selling us books for shows but have yet to hear back from them. Any ideas or assistance readers can provide in supplying books for the expos would be greatly appreciated. 

As we listen to people around the country we hear that books are sporadically available. In some cities books are relatively easy to get while extremely difficult in others. We frequently meet folks at the booth who say they have looked everywhere for the book and can't find it. We hear of an unwillingness on the part of bookstores to deal directly with publishers. 

Pricing of the book is prohibitive.-- When people do find the book they are hesitant to take a chance on it for $50.00. There seems to be a variance in the prices around the country. A man in New York went to purchase the book at a Barnes & Nobel and decided against it when he found a $62.00 price tag. 

The Spanish translation, although in high demand, is extremely difficult to get or afford, costing nearly $80.00 with special order fees. In cities like Los Angeles and Miami, Hispanic people tell us how unhappy they are about this. Of course we would love to take Spanish books to these cities when we go, unfortunately we can't get them. 

Book Subsidies.,-- Last spring in New York a local reader generously subsidized books. We sold a total of 39 books at that show, nearly double what we normally sell. In the fall of 1993 we launched the Afford-A-Book program and began to receive donations from the readership earmarked for subsidizing lower priced Urantia Books at shows. In order to subsidize as many books as possible we have lowered the show price from $39.95 to $29.95. As a result our sales at the shows are up 25%. In New York (because of local reader subsidies) we are able to sell the book for $19.95 and have sold a total of 72 books in the last two shows, up by nearly 50%. This should leave no doubt that the price of the book is often the determining factor as to whether or not a person will buy it. 

As reader/believers we know that no price is too great for this magnificent revelation, but what about the person that has no experience with The Urantia Book? They are taking a chance on what seems to be a very expensive and unusual book. We obviously can't determine the price of the book, but we can subsidize books at shows and make it possible for more people to benefit from The Urantia Book's profound teachings. The people who buy subsidized books are deeply touched to learn that an anonymous reader cared enough to help. 

New Reader Introductions,-- Domestic Extension continues to support and encourage public introductions to The Urantia Book. Members of DEC have personally participated in numerous introductions in the last two years, most recently in Santa Barbara and Sacramento. We will continue to assist and participate when ever and where ever possible. We offer a free information packet on how it introduce groups to The Urantia Book which includes examples of community notices as well as different methods and techniques of doing a public introduction. Here again our main objective is to show local readers how easy it is to hold introductory classes for new and potential readers. It is our sincere hope that they will take the ball and run without our meddling. They usually see us work and say, "if they can do it anyone can." 

The 1994-95 Study group Directory. -- The new directory will go to press in June. This year's directory is dedicated to Michael of Nebadon and the 2,000th anniversary of his bestowal on Urantia. The directory lists 288 domestic study groups plus 59 international groups, an increase of 27 groups over last year. A great deal of effort has gone into this year's directory which promises to be the biggest and most up-to-date ever. 97% of the listings in this directory have been verified as accurate. Many thanks to Mary Ebben for her great job in coordinating and designing this years directory. 

The Study Group Herald.,-- The next issue of the Study Group Herald is due to be out some time in late July or early August. The Herald continues to be an excellent and useful networking publication which is greatly appreciated by study groups. Although this is no longer a Domestic Extension Committee project we are one of three committees that support it's production. The truth is that it is the dedicated efforts of Marty Greenhut that pull this valuable publication together. 

The Phone Message Program. -- The phone message program is almost complete for this season. Since January of 1993 we have run 44 ads with various messages. Our messages have been heard by 1,354 people of which 205 or 15% have requested a packet of information. The cost for 44 weeks of advertising has been $1,839.57. The five top ads this time have been:

1 . What Are Angels? 97 calls and 18 information requests

2. Who Was Lucifer? 82 calls and 11 information requests

3. Who Was Jesus? 80 calls and 10 information requests

4. Jesus Enjoyed The Olympics 49 calls and 9 information requests

5. Prayers From Other Planets 47 calls and 8 information requests

Committee Changes. -- Domestic Extension Committee is pleased to announce the addition of two new members, Larry Geis from San Francisco, and Robin Jorgensen from New York. We are confident that our new members will be able to fill the void left by the resignation of Paul Knott and Peggy Douglass, we will miss them. Ann Garner has been appointed National Area Coordinator and is doing a wonderful job keeping ACs inspired and in touch.

In His service and ever grateful for the opportunity,

Mo Siegel, Chair

The Domestic Extension Comniittee

Paula Thompson, Secretary and Outreach Director

Ann Garner, National Area Coordinator

Robin Jorgensen, Study Group Development

Larry Geis, Special Projects

Marlene Chicoine, Special Projects

Mary Ebben, Tireless Adjunct