Contents of this document:
Part 1: The Importance of Christian Ministry
Part 2: Personal Experiences in Christian Ministry
Part 3: Our Ministry to the Christian World

Let me begin this discussion by asking you to consider several questions which students of The Urantia Book often ignore:

First, "Is our ministry to the Christian world important?"

Second, "If it is, and we want to be successful, what should be our approach?"

And third, "Should we adapt and adjust our ministry so as to harmonize and even unify with the best in Christianity?"

Fact # 1. I strongly desire to effectively minister on a personal level to others, to really help them to live a better life. Like many of you, I believe I have found in Jesus, especially as portrayed in the Urantia Book, the way of truth, the way of life; and this truth must be shared. The higher goal of my ministry is to contribute to a revival of the actual teachings of Jesus and an expansion of his inner spiritual kingdom in our world.

Fact #2. I live in a Christian world. The traditions, culture, beliefs, and values of those I contact with in my daily life are predominantly Judeo Christian. Even those who reject organized Christianity generally hold to a background belief in the goodness and value of its better teachings. And on a wider level our highest planetary ideals in morals, ethics, and religion are embodied in the Christian tradition. Even in our modern secular and materialistic age most people still accept, to one degree or another, the authority of the Bible and the positive value of its Jesusonian teachings.

My second major reason for undertaking a ministry to the Christian world derives from the teachings of The Urantia Book itself. For if we look at what the Urantia Papers really teach we do not find that they direct us to spread Urantia Books‹rather, they call for a new revelation of Jesus and his saving gospel. The following quotations should help make this clear:

Page 2083 "The hour is striking [that's now] for a rediscovery of the true and original foundations of present day distorted and compromised Christianity‹the real life and teachings of Jesus." (my insertion)

Page 1866, "There must come a revival of the actual teachings of Jesus."

Page 2084, "Modern culture [that's our culture] must become spiritually baptized with a new revelation of Jesus' life and illuminated with a new understanding of his gospel of eternal salvation." (my insertion)

Page 2090, "Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it."

And please take special note of this last quotation from page 2082:

"Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings." (my emphasis)

In doing this we are merely following the example of Jesus' ministry to the Jewish world. He always adapted his teachings to the ways and comprehension of his listeners. He did not incite confusion and arouse antagonism by teaching truths too far removed from the capacity of his hearers. Jesus always affirmed the best in the Jewish religion and showed due respect for the ways and traditions of his people. He often affirmed and even relied upon the authority of the Jewish scriptures in his effort to get across his own expanded teachings.

In our work for a new revelation of Jesus I believe we should do the same. Whereas Jesus lived and taught mostly among the Jews, the culture we live in is basically Christian. If we are to go to the world we live in, the Christian world, we should first respect their traditions, second, affirm our commonly held beliefs and values, and third, present our expanded revelation of Jesus in a way that best harmonizes with their understanding and belief system; in sum, we should simply relate to Christians as fellow religionists who share many of our beliefs and values, and learn to speak to them in their own language.

I have experimented with this form of ministry for more than 20 years and the following is an outline of some of my experiences and observations. My hope is that they will stimulate you in your personal ministry and perhaps help you make your ministry more effective.

These experiences and comments are presented on three major levels: personal ministry to close family and friends; ministry in the social arena, especially the workplace environment, and the wider sphere of planetary ministry.

On the personal level the best part of a ministry that seeks harmony and unity with Christian ideals is the sense of community and acceptance I feel with close family and friends.

I grew up as a part of a large and closely knit extended family that included parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. We all grew up faithfully attending mainline churches and the Christian religion has always been a central part of our lives.

What has my acceptance of the Urantia Revelation meant to my relations with this close family circle? It has not meant that we live in two separate worlds where each side rejects the beliefs of the other. In fact our religious unity has grown stronger. Because I accept and affirm the best of Christianity our religious viewpoints are mutually respected. I can minister freely to those closest to me and by openly affirming Jesusonian teachings can help strengthen them in "fighting the good fight of faith."

While most of my personal family circle are a part of the mainline Christian tradition, my wife's parents and my brother adhere to stricter interpretation of the Christian viewpoint. With these more seriously devoted religionists I have also found deepened and more rewarding relationships.

My brothera conserative Christian, and I have had many positive discussions through the years and both feel a sense of shared values. In fact, our relationship has been defined more by unity of religious ideals than by differences in theology or personal approach. I have enjoyed attending his church as well as religious retreats sponsored by that church. At these church gatherings I found I could easily minister insights I have gained from The Urantia Book, and in turn was uplifted by a sense of unity and fellowship with other sincere religious believers.

I have even had a very positive discussion with my father-in-law, a fundamentalist, concerning the atonement doctrine. With this fundamentalist believer I was able to make all my important points and arguments by prefacing my discussion with this viewpoint:

Of all the teachings of the Bible, Jesus' stand out as the highest and best. His teachings are perfect and all others should be judged by their harmony with his concepts and pronouncements.

It is important to observe that my ministry to the Christian world has not just been one way. In many instances Christian friends and acquaintances have ministered to and prayed for me in my times of need. Indeed I feel certain that their prayer and ministry has been instrumental in bringing my through some of my most difficult times. My experience is that when we seek religious unity with Christianity we gain great benefit from the prayer and ministry of our Christian friends, and we open up great new opportunities for inspirational fellowship and communion with other devoted religionists.

For 18 years I have served as director of the Einstein School, a small private school I founded in 1981. The following words were part of the school's original statement of guiding principles. They demonstrate the ease with which one may blend Christian and Urantia Book teachings in a way that is acceptable to the general public:

Einstein School believes that learning and character development should not be separated. Its purpose is the balanced development of the whole personality‹body, mind, and spirit. The school affirms the basic values and teachings of Jesus. It encourages students to see themselves as children of a loving heavenly Father and to treat others in a brotherly manner. Love, thoughtfulness, helpfulness, and service to others are emphasized.

I have found it both rewarding and effective to apply Jesus' teachings in the many real life situations that arise at school. For example one of the most fundamental problems children face is lack of self-respect. This often results both in serious learning problems and in difficulties relating to other students and to teachers. The school's answer to this wide-spread problem is to teach the students to see themselves as children of God and therefore worthy of respect. At the same time it is emphasized that all others are also worthy of respect, and that the more we respect others the more we can respect ourselves. This idea and ideal that we are all sons and daughters of a loving heavenly Father is the most central teaching of the school, the one that I seek most to impart to our students.

Because the school is openly Jesusonian and Christian in its policies I find it easy and natural to minister in many ways. For example, I begin each Monday morning by announcing a "word of the week." It is a character or positive value word such as faith, tolerance, altruism, etc., and sometimes a phrase like "Be of good courage," or "To have friends be friendly." We discuss the concept and each student looks up the word and writes a short description of it. The younger students also do a color poster each week and we vote each Monday on the previous "poster of the week."

The school has enjoyed great success and we receive many times the applications that we have space for. It has become well known in the community as a place where children who had previous difficulty in school enjoy success, growth, and more fully reach their full potential. All this has taken place in a school that teaches revealed Jesusonian concepts using the Bible as a background authoritative source.

My first and most basic purpose for the book was to have an easy to read, trustworthy and acceptable version of Jesus' life and teachings to give to others. The book was dedicated to the students of Einstein School and every year at the school's closing ceremonies I present a copy of the book to each departing pupil as their special gift from the school. I feel real satisfaction in being able to leave with every student a book that continues and reinforces the ideal ministry of the school, and that also can serve as a life long source of inspiration, guidance, and comfort.

This book is always readily received and even looked forward to by the students. In fact, two years ago my high school students repeatedly requested that we study the book as a part of our history course. So last year I am taught History of Religion to my eleventh grade class using The Life and Teachings of Jesus as our textbook.

I have also given the book to many others, especially friends and troubled individuals who are facing difficulty or crisis in their lives, and have received numerous reports of positive results. Other readers have also found the book useful. For example one long time Urantia Book student told me it had helped heal his relationship with his parents who had been concerned about his being into The Urantia Book. In another instance, a couple reported using it with great success to teach a Sunday School class in a mainline church‹in fact, most of the class later ordered the book.

A book of this type, that gives a purified Biblical account of Jesus and his teachings can prove especially useful for Urantia Book believers. By becoming familiar with the record of Jesus in the Bible we clearly see the fundamental harmony of the two accounts. But perhaps its greatest value lies in the fact that it provides us with a language of intercommunication; with it Bible and Urantia Book students can talk to each other. It gives us a way to teach the truths that activate us, and reference these truths with words and teachings that are revered by our hearers.

My final example of the usefulness of the Biblical record of Jesus concerns my youngest son. When he was around 15 we began regular weekly readings of The Life and Teachings of Jesus. He was not ready for The Urantia Book and its wording was too advanced for his comprehension. But he could more easily grasp the simplified and ordered presentation of Jesus collected from the Bible. For a teenager this approach had another special virtue‹by learning about Jesus from the Bible he did not have to feel different from his peer group. We went forward each Sunday morning for several years reading the book, and I found that I was able to impart and emphasize all the important teachings of Jesus. Then one morning, as we began our reading, he said: "We have now read this book several times and I know it. When can we read The Urantia Book?" Well, we began reading The Urantia Book that day and continue to the present time. His acceptance of Jesus' teachings and positive character development over the last four years, and throughout many difficult times, has been an answer to his parents' fervent prayers.

Today I challenge you to develop your own personal ministry into a more effective force for the uplift of others. Remember, The Urantia Book calls for a new revelation of Jesus and an expansion of his kingdom‹the rule of God in the heart of the individual believer. To help bring about such a spiritual transformation in others is a far greater task than spreading Bibles or Urantia Books. It means leading others to actually accept and live Jesus' teachings‹to become loyal sons and daughters of God who live their lives by faith, and give forth the fruits of the spirit.

For such a great task we need all the resources we can muster. By seeking harmony with the best in Christianity we move from a very limited audience to a ministry that unifies us with our world and has real potential to transform that world. Remember, the presentation of a new vision of Jesus that attracts and unifies Christian believers is the goal the revelators present to us in their vision of our world's ideal religious future. Listen to their great prophetic promise from page 2086: "The great hope of Urantia lies in the possibility of a new revelation of Jesus with a new and enlarged presentation of his saving message which would spiritually unite in loving service the numerous families of his present day professed followers." (My emphasis) This is our mission; this is our call; may it guide and inspire us to achieve a more effective and rewarding personal ministry.

A Service of
The Urantia Book Fellowship