Some of the Administrative Committee suggested that we get out a July Executive Committee Letter to report on the highlights of the General Council meeting to those of you who are not councilors. The atmosphere and attitudes expressed at the meeting could hardly have been better.

The action taken by the Executive Committee on three resolutions which were referred to it by the General Council last year was reported:

1. The matter of representation of Members-at-Large at the Triennial Delegate Assembly had been referred to the Judicial Committee which rendered an opinion that it would be a duplication of the functions of the constitution which is based on the fact that societies comprise the constituency of the Brotherhood. The Executive Committee discussed the opinion and unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Judicial Committee.

2. The second resolution concerned the dissemination of information on the Triennial Delegate Assembly to societies and Members-at-Large. The information was summarized and reported in the August 1976 issue of the Urantia Brotherhood Bulletin.

3. The third resolution recommended the formation of a committee to review Member-at-Large Applications. The Chairman reported that the five officers of the Brotherhood, who act as the Administrative Committee, are processing the applications before they go to the Executive Committee

I attempted to clarify Foundation-Brotherhood relationships by pointing out that each organization had different responsibilities and images. Neither organization, as an organization, has sovereignty over the other. They have priority relationships. We need to keep these different responsibilities and images separate in our minds. Such a philosophy of interaction will help us to see their proper relationship is that of co-operation with mutual assistance and unity of purpose.

The Confirmatory Agreement was freely discussed and I think there is general feeling that a constructive solution to the problem will be achieved. The new document will be a Licensing Agreement. Just as soon as the Foundation can get their legal counsel to complete the agreement, it will be examined by the Executive Committee and after possible revisions, it will be sent to all societies for study and possible ratification. To improve communications and effectiveness, the Executive Committee will act as an intermediary between societies and the Foundation. If any society has any suggestions or objections not already covered by the letter submitted by the First Urantia Society of Oklahoma, would you please get them to us as soon as possible.

The General Council passed the following motion:

It is the sense of the General Council that Urantia Foundation be encouraged to develop the revised Licensing Agreement between the Foundation and the Brotherhood societies as quickly as possible for submission to the societies, and the Council expresses appreciation for the co-operation of everyone in Urantia Brotherhood and Urantia Foundation in resolving this problem.

A number of good suggestions were made to improve General Council meetings and Brotherhood activities by Allen Brazell. The observation was made that we ought to get to the meat of General Council meetings more efficiently. I plan to expedite this suggestion by recommending to the Executive Committee that we send out "Advance Reports" to all councilors prior to General Council meetings, which would contain the reports of officers, committee chairmen, and field Representatives. In this way we could eliminate the time-consuming task of reading these reports in the meeting.

There was an extended discussion concerning the Foundation's decision to discontinue the policy of selling Urantia Books to Brotherhood members at the wholesale price. Some have abused this policy and the Foundation for a number of reasons decided to terminate it. As a compromise to this position, the Foundation is now allowing societies which wish to give gift books to libraries and institutions to purchase them -at the wholesale price provided they inform the Brotherhood where these books are placed. The majority of the General Council expressed approval of the Foundation's decisions. Trustees of the Foundation, nevertheless, said they would be glad to look at any further evidence which might change their view regarding this policy.

The spirit of the entire meeting was warm and open. Everyone seemed to be enthused with the possibilities of the future of the Brotherhood. I believe the capstone to one of the most significant meetings in the history of the General Council came when Paul Snider came to the podium and expressed warm appreciation for the spirit of the entire meeting and voiced his optimism concerning the future of the Brotherhood. Let us all dedicate ourselves to build on this dynamic spirit of good will and service as we face the trials, opportunities, and hope of establishing the foundations of a new age of enlightenment on our planet!

Meredith J. Sprunger,

President