PIRT’s mission is to enlighten the spirits and minds of incarcerated men and women by disseminating The Urantia Book to inmates and providing subsequent correspondence to support the inmate’s efforts to study the teachings.
PIRT is a sub-committee functioning under the Association’s Dissemination Committee; 2022 marks this committee’s 17th year of service. Since the inception of PIRT, approximately 6,000 inmate letters have been processed, 2,800 Urantia books have been donated directly, and 400 books have been seeded into prison libraries.
This year, PIRT experienced the loss of its dear Chairperson, David Linthicum, who was Chair for 13 of its 17 years, with the exception being his term as Dissemination Chair. David left his mortal body for mansonia on June 1st, 2022. He is missed by all who served with him in their collective effort to “assist the Father in finding his lost sheep.” David was a tireless servant involved in many activities besides PIRT and his love touched countless souls.
I stepped in during David’s term as Dissemination Chair and was recently approved by the Urantia Association’s Board to serve again as PIRT’s Chair through March 2027. It is an honor to assist our dedicated team in the continuation of PIRT’s mission. David cared deeply about PIRT and his vision was for the committee to continue its service for many decades to come. I vow to do my best to carry on this vision in hopes that PIRT thrives long into the future.
In this spirit, the Team was uplifted by welcoming our newest member, Judy Cosky, who knew David and, when she read of his graduation, raised her hand. Judy is a long-time Urantia Book student and her past service with the Urantia Book International School will bring extra value to our efforts of providing study materials to inmates. As awareness of PIRT spreads, we are encouraged by our brothers and sisters who also wish to serve the Father in this capacity. On behalf of the PIRTeam and every incarcerated soul who now knows the revelation¸ we are thankful to Urantia Association International, the Urantia Foundation, and the readers at large who have made the growth of our service possible. We volunteer our time, but without those who support us with their time, love and financial support, our success as the longest running dissemination program would not be possible.
Thank you and blessings,
Myra Hight, PIRT Chair