Incoming President’s Message – March 2025

From , By Line St Pierre, Canada on

Dear members of the Urantia family, 

It is with deep gratitude and a great sense of responsibility that I assume the presidency of Urantia Association International, effective April 1. Since January, I have been training with Enrique Traver, the outgoing president. This mandate represents a precious opportunity for me to serve the Urantia community and to work, with the support of our great team, the International Service Board (ISB) and the International Representative Council (IRC), to expand this revelation that enlightens our souls and minds. 

Our mission goes beyond the simple intellectual study of The Urantia Book. My most sincere desire is to inspire everyone to live their teachings to the fullest, integrating them into our daily lives and embodying love and truth in our interactions with our brothers and sisters. It is not only a matter of understanding, but of experiencing, feeling, and manifesting the Father’s will in our lives. 

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Fourth Urantia Association European Conference

From , By AFLLU Conference Committee on

June 6-9, 2025 – Paris France

Divine Distributivity, Man as Heir of God
Organized by AFLLU, the French readers’ association of The Urantia Book
europe2025.urantia.fr

Dear friends,

June is fast approaching and the Paris 2025 conference awaits you with joy and fraternal friendship. It is important to register by April 1st to reserve your accommodation.

We invite you to join us in discovering the cosmogony the authors of The Urantia Book offer for our reflection, that was never fully revealed on Urantia before the twentieth century. It originates in Eternity and ends in Infinity, and we, the children of our Universal Father, are invited to participate as heirs.

Saturday morning will be devoted to studying the preparatory phase of events prior to the coming of space-time itself, how the First Cause, the I AM, the Unity of Infinity-Eternity, manages to diversify and produce the foundations of all reality. This 45-minute presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer workshop session to get us thinking about the very nature of reality. 

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History of the French Urantia Book Translation

From , By Urantia Foundation, Reprint on

Reprinted with permission from Urantia Foundation

With the Paris conference on the horizon it seems appropriate to revisit the very first translation of The Urantia Book, which began in the late 50’s. The bulk of this article is from The Challenges of the First Translation of The Urantia Book, by Georges Michelson-Dupont (trustee and manager of translations). It has been reformatted and includes excerpts from Second In-depth Revision of the French Translation, by Jean Royer.

Mr. Michaelson-Dupont will be speaking at the upcoming Paris Conference. We hope you will be able to attend, with this unique opportunity to meet Georges, one of the pioneers and great supporters of the Urantia Foundation.

A Brief History

Soon after the publication of The Urantia Book in 1955, Mrs. Caroline Brown, a member of the Forum, sent a copy to her friend Jacques Weiss. Mr. Weiss was a brilliant man who graduated from L’École Polytechnique, one of France’s most prestigious universities who had translated other books including Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East, published in French in 1946, and more recently, Esoteric Healing, by Alice Bayley.

Mr. Weiss began translating The Urantia Book in late 1956 or early 1957. Mr. Weiss enumerated some of the many challenges and difficulties all translators experience. Not only must a translator translate ideas and not just words, but also, in the case of The Urantia Book, new concepts must be understood clearly and translated accurately.

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Dancing with God Retreat

From , By Line St Pierre, Canada on

September 11-14, 2025

At The Urantia Foundation in Chicago

In a sacred circle of trust with other women, we invite you to explore the dignity of being Daughters of God by honoring our value and importance, and by co-operating with the divine spirit within to bring forth the beautiful harvest of the fruits of the spirit.

To register visit our website:

http://sisterhoodcircle.net/upcoming-events/

THE FEMININE SPHERE, OUR LEGACY FROM GOD

As women we are unique. We are a thought in God’s mind, and in acting with HIM in every situation, every challenge in our lives makes what does come, always more complete than what preceded: Progress, growth, perfection. The feminine role is to embody God’s love and bring it to life.

Spotlight on Urantia Association Volunteers

From , By Janet Guaderrama, USA on

[This is a new Tidings series that features volunteers in our Association who are serving you–and serving the revelation–all over the world.] 

Tidings: Welcome, Janet Guaderrama, to our new feature where we focus on our valuable volunteers! Please introduce yourself.

Janet:  I grew up in a Catholic family in Toluca, IL, playing guitar at masses and loving CYO classes. I studied Eastern religion before I found The Urantia Book in January of 1975, right out of high school. I was 18 when someone asked me what I thought about the story of Adam and Eve. They then told me about the book’s version and it just clicked. I was ready.

Initially, I studied with the large Bloomington-Normal study group and hosted meetings frequently on the farm where I worked in Secor, IL. I moved to Boulder, CO in 1976 and learned a lot from their large and active Urantia Book community. When organized religion wasn’t working for me, Urantia Book study groups provided spiritual community and communion. A Godsend.

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Study Group Touring

From , By Richard (Rick) E. Warren, USA on

The Urantia Book Study Group Directory now has 532 listings in 20 languages. It is “a free and open service to readers of The Urantia Book to facilitate their connection with other readers for the purposes of collaborative study and spiritual fraternity, and to study group hosts to publicize their meetings toward this purpose.”

The Study Group Directory is overseen and curated by representatives from Urantia Foundation, and volunteers from Urantia Association International, Urantia Book Fellowship, and a website administrator. Each listing has a description of its operation and contact information. The website also has a global map showing locations, downloadable study aids, and a registration page.

It may seem strange that a pandemic (Covid) caused so many new study groups to come online, but that is the case. A while ago I decided to visit all the online English-speaking groups in the Directory. So far, I have visited almost twenty. I can attend one or more Zoom groups every night. Several groups meet on the same day at the same time, so I usually attend a group for a few months then go to another. It’s such a privilege to have so many choices and I can always return to any group.

Study group touring has been a remarkably rewarding experience. The number of Urantia Book readers I’ve come to know and love has increased with every group I visit. Each group is unique in several ways, in how the host conducts study, in how attendees respond, in how many attendees there are, even in how topics are presented. No two are alike; I visited a study group where only the host and I showed up, whereas others have up to thirty attendees.

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Melbourne Conference Reflections

From , Presented by Kathleen Swadling, Australia on

Reprinted From The Arena

We had a lovely conference this year which was held 4 – 7 October at the Edmund Rice Centre in Lower Plenty, Melbourne. The theme was Urantia Stocktake – Past, Present and Future. Readers attended from Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, NSW, Hawaii and New Zealand. The group was cozy and allowed for plenty of informal interaction. Our thanks go to the Melbourn Study Group members who hosted the gathering – Regina Williamson, Prue Scott, Bevan James and Dennis de-Jong.

There was good mix of presentations and workshops this year with plenty of humor, socializing and music. I heard many people express what a highlight these conferences are in that you can feel safe and comfortable talking about Urantia Book teachings and concepts that you just can’t talk about freely with those who are not familiar with the book.

We held a delightful welcoming “meet and greet” happy hour on Friday afternoon where we socialized and got to know new people who attended for the first time. Each morning before breakfast, the “early birds” attended a worship session with a good mix of silence, prayer and readings from the book. Prue was the MC and opened the conference on Friday evening with an ice-breaker activity whereby we were given a little slip of paper with a question on it. We went around the group, and each read out their own question and then answered it. This was fun and stimulated a lot of discussion.

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President’s Message – December 2024

From , , By Enrique Traver, Brazil on

It is curious to see how we define our goals, values and destinies.

In any religion it is very easy to allow values to become disproportionate and to permit facts to occupy the place of truth in one’s theology. 143:6.3

Often our mortal vision is focused on immediacy. At this moment or, at most, for the period we estimate, we will live in the flesh, even without knowing when the “D” day will be.

Many times, we strive to prolong our earthly life, which is very good, but the fact is that none of us would be able to add a single day of life to our fleshly existence. Of course, good eating habits, exercise, and so forth, can make it even easier for us to live a few more years of life with better quality if we make an effort. But it is also a fact that none of us can in any way add a single day of life to our own carnal experience when the moment of death comes. When life exhales from our bodies, everything will be finished, as seen from the angle of this immediate vision.

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International Service Board Election Results

From , , By Joanne Strobel, USA on

The International Representative Council held elections on Saturday, December 14, to fill open seats on the International Service Board (ISB) and Judicial Commission. The new terms will commence on April 1, 2025, following a three-month period of training. The election for president was postponed due to the unexpected decision by our current president, Enrique Traver, to not continue for a second term. This results of this election will be announced in the next issue of Tidings.

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Sharing to Learn; Learning to Share

From , , By Joanne Strobel, USA on

Like many of you who work on behalf of the revelation, I wear several hats. My day job is working remotely for Urantia Foundation, where among other things I have the privilege of serving as executive director of Urantia Book International School (UBIS). During my spare time I am the board secretary of Urantia Association International. Over the last four years, I have observed how many local leaders are serving in multiple organizations. This should come as no surprise since a love of the revelation and a desire to serve in leadership roles often go hand in hand.

UBIS has grown exponentially over the past 25 years. From its origin as a correspondence school for English-speaking readers, the program has expanded to seven languages, offering courses in Spanish, French. Portuguese, Hungarian, German, and Polish. In January we will introduce a prototype course in Chinese. And by next September, we hope to offer courses in Indonesian and Finnish.

UBIS trains motivated readers like you and me to become teacher-facilitators (TFs). We adhere strictly to a non-interpretive teaching philosophy, and acknowledge the revelators as the true teachers. Our TFs simply facilitate the process of self-discovery of revealed truth. The school’s pedagogy is based on the Jesusonian method of questions and answers, making each student a dynamic participant. Intermittent discussion weeks are full of personal sharing and robust dialog among students from diverse cultures and backgrounds.

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4th Urantia Association European Conference

By AFLLU, France on

June 6-9, 2025 In Paris!

Organized by AFLLU, the French readers’ association of The Urantia Book

Divine Distributivity, Man as Heir of God

It’s good to tell people, “You’re great, you’re unique; the world and the Universe need you!” But can we really explain why? Through four presentations, followed by workshops, we invite you to explore the answers offered by The Urantia Book.

Man is great because he is God’s heir. But what exactly does he inherit? Can his human life be more beautiful if he knows more about his divine heritage?

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Dancing With God Retreat

From , , By Cheryl Glicker, USA on

Ten women, three of them facilitators, gathered last month for the first Dancing with God Retreat held at Urantia Foundation headquarters since 2019.  It was my very great privilege to be among them.  For me, it was like a homecoming.  I had attended two such retreats previously and benefited from them in so many ways.  These Retreats, facilitated by The Daughters of God, longtime Urantia Book students and leaders, Line St-Pierre, Katharina Becker, Doreen Heyne, and (previously) Carrie Prentice, have been the source of much spiritual, intellectual, and personal growth not only for me, but for many other women who have sought strength, renewal, growth, and the determination to continue their commitment to living God’s Will and enhancing the status of their sisters all over the world. [At a Dancing With God Retreat, the Daughters of God do not lead, rather they serve as guides, facilitators, for the rest of the participants to help them explore the unique ways in which they all “dance with God”.]

We introduced ourselves as we gathered over refreshments in the dining room at 533 that first evening, each of us telling where we had come from, chatting amiably, finding similarities here and there, or catching up with old friends we had not seen for some time.  Then, over the first of three absolutely delicious dinners perfectly prepared and artistically served by our two wonderful volunteer cooks, we continued our “getting to know you” conversations and shared our experiences with The Urantia Book.

It is a life changing experience and a priceless privilege to be able to lay aside daily obligations and step out of our routines, to come to this historic place and spend time in quiet contemplation with spiritual sisters from all over the globe, to share and to laugh, to encourage and uplift, to meditate and pray, and to come to a greater understanding of our worth and our opportunities!

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The Urantia Book in Nigeria

From , , By Alicejane Uwaoma, Nigeria and Ade Awoyinka, England on

I was invited to Chicago in April 2019, along with other readers from other countries, to talk about the opportunities of spreading The Urantia Book in countries worldwide. I spoke about the possibilities in Nigeria, based on my limited experience of living there.

My starting point is that Nigeria is a country of great spiritual potential but is experiencing those common problems and social dislocations of a nascent democracy and emerging economy. Whilst this can make everyday life unpredictable, its unpredictability creates a fertile ground for an improved and more enlightened spiritual awakening because of the on-going struggle to resolve the problems of basic existence. The everyday living in Africa, taken for granted in more settled societies and mature economies, is precarious. Therefore, people are more spiritually attuned and are less at risk of the self-satisfied skepticism of those whose basic needs have been met.  We do not know how long this window will remain open. The increasing risk is that people become overwhelmed and respond through social unrest, making it difficult to work.

It is not secularism that is the obstacle to sharing The Urantia Book in Nigeria and more widely in Africa. The biggest barrier to spreading the word in Nigeria is the entrenched authority of organized religion. The Bible is the word and has the last word.  So where does The Urantia Book fit in?  How do you disseminate a revelation that will be judged against the authority of the Bible and other religious texts?  In my limited sharing of the book with Nigerians, I am asked—does it align with the Bible?

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Focus on the Father – The Divine Leadership Team

From , , By James Woodward, USA on

A leadership crisis has plagued our world for some two-hundred thousand years. Over that very long stretch of time the turmoil of cosmic insanity gripping the planet has been widespread. The Urantia Book reveals that wise spiritual leaders have appeared from time to time and effected good progress among their followers, but for reasons scattered throughout the revelation (mostly disobedience to Deity) that progress invariably dwindled over generations.

A planetary quarantine of Urantia and the presence of unbalanced and misbehaving superhuman personalities have bequeathed us a history of error, evil, sin, and iniquity. The double default of rebellion by the Planetary Prince, and mission failure by Adam and Eve resulted in a legacy of spiritual chaos so rampant and destructive as to attract the remedial attention—the love and mercy—of Michael of Nebadon, the Creator Son of this universe.

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TIME with God is ETERNAL

From , , By Francine Fortin, Canada on

 If you live in the PAST, you are depressed
If you live in the FUTURE, you are anxious
If you live in the PRESENT, you are at peace
Lao Tau

The Urantia Book teaches us to think differently, revealing truths and elaborating concepts that, in my experience, had never before germinated in my mind.

So, when I realized that time and space had not always existed, and that God had created them, starting in Paradise, I was struck by this discovery, which led me to think hard about this fascinating subject: TIME

It’s very reassuring for me to know that my time here on Urantia is only temporary and short, very short. Whatever challenges I face, my time here is but the blink of an eye, compared to the eternal life that awaits me. 

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The Giving Season

By Jay Peregrine, USA on
Association Logo

Dear Urantia Book Reader,

The 2024 Holiday Giving season is upon us.  This is the time when Urantia Association International is gifted with most of the income which sustains us throughout the coming year.  While planning your year-end activities, please take a moment to consider a heart-felt donation to help us continue our important work in 2025.

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Unity Initiative Update

From , , By Special Unity Committee on

In June, the Unity Committee of the Association began meeting regularly with the Unity Committee of the Urantia Book Fellowship to explore the possibility of uniting our two organizations into a single entity. By August, several key issues had been identified. At present, discussions are on hold at the request of the Association awaiting options regarding the Fellowship’s publishing of The Urantia Book.  We remain committed to pursuing unity and look forward to continuing down this path. We will provide updates as progress is made.

The Urantia Book and Chat GPT

From , By Michael Zehr, USA on

There has been a lot of excitement over recent AI tools with speculation about how they might change the world (for better or worse) including how they might help us learn and understand concepts. I’ve seen examples and reports of people giving it prompts such as “What does The Urantia Book say about …?” Or “According to The Urantia Book, what is …?” While this can be useful, care should be taken so that it leads to helpful results.

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From the Editor

From , By Richard Jernigan on

November 2024

Translating a document as immense as The Urantia Book is a humbling notion. Transferring this English text into the word symbols of Chinese must be downright overwhelming. Richard Zhu discovered this text around 2009 and within five years, translating it into simplified Chinese became a mission that will probably be lifelong. Richard joined us on a Zoom call recently to tell his story of leading this translation effort. Georges Michelson-DuPont, who heads translations for Urantia Foundation, has often said it takes thirty years to do a truly strong translation of The Urantia Book into another language. Richard admits that after ten years of work he believes his team is only halfway done with getting this translation to the level of perfection it deserves. But Richard is in it for the long haul, and we’re grateful. 1.6 billion people read simplified Chinese and will now have access to this revelation in a familiar text. You’ll see in the interview a few samples Richard sent us of how his team translated few terms, as well as a comparison of “simplified” and “traditional” Chinese. The latter, read by the 30 million people of Taiwan and other countries, is also underway.

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Reader Comments

From ,

Re: Thomas Aquinas and the origin of The Urantia Book

May 2024

I enjoyed David Kantor’s article on Aquinas and the roots of the revelation. There was so much going on in that period, and Maimonides and Al Ghazzali were just two others from the religious traditions who were really helping to bring a candle to confusion, providing Guides for the Perplexed. The mystic traditions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism were also bringing an appreciation of the importance of personal spiritual experience.

One of David’s sources, Rick Tarnas, was my teacher and dissertation advisor. His book Passion of the Western Mind has almost as many underlines as my UB. One of my favorite classes to teach at University of Nevada-Las Vegas has been The History of Philosophy with its twists and turns of personal revelation and confusion.

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