URANTIA Foundation & The Fellowship Agreement 1997(October 3rd Meeting)

Dear Friends:

As you may know, the Foundation Trustees and Fellowship representatives met on October 3rd to address organizational differences and to explore various opportunities for future cooperation. We have prepared this joint statement as a way to share the spirit of good will that resulted from our full day of open discussion.

All eleven persons in attendance felt this meeting was a success. On behalf of our respective organizations, we agreed to put the questions arising from the June 10th appeals decision behind us and to focus on the future; we agreed to pursue better communication, more understanding, and direct cooperation on mutual projects. There was a willingness to discuss ways to solve trademark concerns through cooperation. All eleven representatives were hopeful that our cooperative efforts may meet with success in the future.

In keeping with the spirit of the agreement, members of The Fellowship Translation Committee will attend the Foundation Translators Conference in Paris next month. As you can see by the terms below, we plan to combine expertise and financial support to further the dissemination of the revelation to the world.

We appeal for the understanding and support of the community. We all know there is more work to be done than either group can accomplish alone, more readers to be served than there are brothers and sisters to serve them. We shall start with a few carefully chosen projects—public relations, web activities, translations—and build confidence in the potential of our cooperation, as we proceed step-by-step.

It is our belief that the community of URANTIA Book readers may be best served by two independent but mutually supportive organizations. The leaders of the Foundation and The Fellowship intend to walk the second mile in this journey towards unity. We ask that you walk with us.

The terms of the Agreement are below. They have been sealed with a handshake, symbolic of a renaissance of trust and cooperation between our organizations.

TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT

• Pending any appeal to the 9th Circuit’s decision, URANTIA Foundation shall release The Fellowship and Uversa Press from all claims for damages from having published the first and only Uversa Press edition of The URANTIA Book.
• The Fellowship shall retain possession and control of the disposition of the unsold copies of the Uversa Press edition of The URANTIA Book. These copies shall not be sold. They shall be given to libraries, prisons, or to persons who cannot afford a book.
• The Fellowship shall make a significant donation to the Foundation’s Translation fund.
• The two organizations shall form a small committee to address ongoing problems in a timely fashion.
• Within the next six months, The Fellowship and the Foundation shall schedule a face-to-face meeting to address issues such as reader referrals, translation efforts, and licensing ideas.
• Both organizations reconfirm their prior agreement to talk with each other before either group initiates legal action against the other.
• The Trustees of URANTIA Foundation and the Executive Committee of The Fellowship shall help each other represent the Agreement to their respective constituencies in such a way that supporters of the two organizations shall know that cooperation and interdependence are possible between the two groups.

In the Spirit of Cooperation,