Updates from the April 2025 Trustee Meeting

By Judy Van Cleave, secretary, Urantia Foundation, Idaho, United States

Five-Year Planning

Committee chairs reviewed the goals developed and assigned to their teams during the October 2024 strategic planning session. The goals will be further developed with strategies for achieving them.

Books

Q1 sales and distribution of The Urantia Book and its translations declined 11% compared to 2024, mainly due to low sales of the Portuguese books. We anticipate a rebound in overall sales because the beautiful Cambridge LeatherSoft edition is now back in stock, and sales of Portuguese books should bounce back.

Top priorities for the second quarter of 2025 are investigating new channels for book distribution worldwide; developing a new app for Android and Apple devices; and implementing sales and distribution strategies for the five-year goals.

Education

Joanne Strobel reported that during the January trimester of Urantia Book International School (UBIS), Associate Trustee Richard Zhu facilitated a beta course in Chinese, which was well received by the readers who were invited to enroll. Richard plans to present another class in September, and it will be open to the general Chinese readership.  

The April session lasted six weeks, and 16 courses were offered across six language branches. Trustee-liaison Olga López shared that UBIS is working to implement a consistent structure within their international branches, and the UBIS Governance Committee is offering some essential help with that. An annual meeting of all faculty and staff took place on June 21.

Chris Wood reported that Science Symposium IV, “The Evolution of Human Knowledge—100 Years Later” will be held November 6–8, 2025, with Marjorie Ray serving as emcee. Presentations will be given by Tom Allen, Phil Calabrese, Brad Garner, Gard Jameson, David Neufer, Nigel Nunn, George Park, Gabriel Rymberg, Geoff Taylor, and Ralph Zehr.

Tamara Strumfeld reported that the Urantia Book Study Group Directory team continues its dedicated service to the community of readers. The team is looking at ways to refresh the site and enhance user experience.

This quarter, the total for all groups remained constant at 521, and while the directory lost 12 groups in the United States, it gained one in the lovely Magnolia State, Mississippi. The directory also gained 10 groups worldwide, both online and in person, and have added a group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Fundraising and Finances

• Q1 unrestricted donations were 327% above Q1 of 2024, and 15% above budget. Restricted donations were 5074% above Q1 of 2024, and 4% below budget.

• Q1 estate gifts totaled $10,551.

• Total income increased 205% compared to Q1 of 2024 and came in at Q1 budget.

• Administrative expenses were up 22% compared to Q1 of 2024, and 1% over budget.

• Total expenses decreased by 8% from Q1 of last year, and came in 16% under budget.

Translations

Georges Michelson-Dupont presented his 106th translation report. The Esperanto and Filipino teams continue to collaborate. It has been more than a year since the Chinese translation in simplified characters was published on the Foundation's website in March of 2024. The results have been promising, with more and more Chinese people becoming aware of the revelation.

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Invited Guests

Geraldo Queiroz joined the meeting so the board could express their gratitude for his work with UBIS. In 2019, he began offering courses in Portuguese. Geraldo developed and offered courses three times a year, often two at a time, for 18 consecutive trimesters. He also mentored students to become facilitators.

In 2022, Geraldo turned his attention to developing German courses. He recruited and trained three facilitators in Germany who are now ready to take over.

Olga López shared how great an inspiration he has been to everyone at UBIS, adding that sometimes it just takes the right person to show up!

Georges Michelson-Dupont thanked Geraldo for his dedication. Geraldo responded that Georges was his first teacher-facilitator—a very good teacher-facilitator—so good that he used Georges's example and style for facilitating and relating to his students. Geraldo will now retire from UBIS and write a book he has long been planning.

Line St-Pierre and Sue Seccombe, presidents of Urantia Association and the Urantia Book Fellowship, joined the meeting to update board members on the activities of their respective organizations. Line shared her experience of being nominated and recently elected as the Association president. Sue thanked the trustees for their willingness to partner on projects and grants.

The presidents and board continued with an hour-long discussion on their respective organizations and how they might collaboratively best serve the work of the revelation.

Jim English joined the meeting so the trustees could personally thank him for his work in formatting the revised Korean translation for printing. The board joined together in expressing sincere appreciation for his service on many projects of Urantia Foundation, which illustrates his ever-willing character as a “Soldier of the Circles.”

Mustard Seed Grants Project

The board approved the following 10 grants for the first round of 2025.

1. Training of Educators according to The Urantia Book

• Applicant: Moustapha N'Diaye
• Country: Senegal
• Focus Area: Education

2. Urantia Revelation Video Channel

• Applicant: Nugroho Widi
• Country: Indonesia
• Focus Area: Digital Outreach

3. Third Nigerian Urantia Book Conference

• Applicant: Emeka Anazodo
• Country: Nigeria
• Focus Area: Education

4. CherubiMail Videos

• Applicant: Benjamin Brill
• Country: United States
• Focus Area: Family-Based Programs

5. Translation of the Simplification of the Foreword Pamphlet

• Applicant: Jean Ascher
• Country: Denmark
• Focus Area: Secondary Publications

6. Urantia Book Teacher Education Program

• Applicant: Urantia University Institute
• Country: United States
• Focus Area: Education

7. Spotlighting the Teachings of Jesus from The Urantia Book

• Applicant: Daniels Hussaini
• Country: Nigeria
• Focus Area: Digital Outreach

8. New York Urantia Outreach Tables

• Applicant: Charles Lehner
• Country: United States
• Focus Area: Book Fairs

9. Strengthening the Urantia Community in Spain

• Applicant: Urantia Association of Spain
• Country: Spain
• Focus Area: Digital Outreach

10. Cultural and Spiritual Exchange through Urantia Book Teachings

• Applicant: Alain Cyr
• Country: Canada
• Focus Area: Education