By Barbara Newsom, Illinois, USA, and Charles Laurence Olivea, New Mexico, USA
Editors Note: The Education Committee of The Urantia Book Fellowship sponsored their 2009 Study Session at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, USA, entitled “God-Consciousness--A Living University. Trustees Gard Jameson, Marilynn Kulieke, and Mo Siegel attended this event.
Have you ever noticed that The Urantia Book places definitions of God-consciousness in the last sentence of the Foreword and in the first sentence of the last paragraph of the whole book? With these inspiring words, 116 participants from Canada, Germany, and the United States joined in a study and celebration of the teachings of the fifth epochal revelation.
The conference featured principal themes of God-consciousness each day: God the Father, our Brothers and Sisters, and our Master Son, Michael. A site on campus served as a Temple of the Father's invisible presence, inspired by the example of the Garden of Eden, where participants gathered for morning and evening meditation.
Paula Thompson (Colorado, USA) coordinated the registration, Barbara Newsom (Illinois, USA) served as program chair, and Lila Dogim (New Jersey, USA) managed logistics. A huge book store was staffed by Mike Wood (Urantia Foundation), Mark Kulieke and Pat Hilger (Morning Star Foundation), and Paula Thompson (Urantia Book Fellowship).
A pre-conference day on Thursday included an Education Workshop on the nature of education and the future of education in our community; “Art in Chicago,” a tour of some of Chicago's great art and architecture; and a Spiritual Retreat.
Friday through Sunday, participants met for a morning plenary session with music, worship and a presentation in the auditorium, followed by two-hour workshops in the morning and afternoon that explored the topics intensively. Twenty faculty members presented far-reaching programs on the daily focus, including such topics as God’s Relation to the Individual; God-Consciousness and the “Inevitabilities”; Daily Living and the Purpose of The Urantia Book; God-Consciousness in Supremacy, Ultimacy, Absoluteness, and Infinity; God-Consciousness in Art, Architecture, and Literature; the Brotherhood of the Kingdom; Transforming Society; the Power of Unconditional Love; Loving our Enemies; and the Religious Life of Jesus.
“Evangels of Revelation” met daily to develop their public speaking skills. During feedback sessions at the end of each day, students, not faculty, gave short talks on their respective workshops. Study materials from the conference are being added to the committee’s website at www.urantia-education.org [2].
All workshop leaders expected participants to bring their Urantia Books to the sessions. Several workshop leaders conducted pre-conference study with their study groups and societies; they are also continuing the 2009 theme of study with post-conference study in their local areas. Some of the workshop leaders posted recommended readings prior to the conference. One workshop required pre-registration with required reading assignments. All these features were well-received, as evidenced from written feedback and evaluations submitted by participants.
The Education Committee of The Urantia Book Fellowship is strongly committed to deepening and broadening the nature of study among students of The Urantia Book, having noted that voluntary study becomes a norm by the fifth mansion world for the majority of ascenders. Study of the revelation is a complement to unselfish service and spontaneous worship, also commonplace on the fifth mansion world. To what extent can we actualize these potentials now?
We hope that you will join us next year to explore these themes and more at Techny Towers, a beautiful retreat center near Lake Michigan in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, USA, July 21- July 26, 2010. Tour this site at www.technytowers.org [3] and look for news about the 2010 study conference!