By Judy Van Cleave, Trustee, Idaho, United States
Decisions Made
Fundraising
Because of a number of future translations and revisions, Urantia Foundation needs money for day-to-day operations and for completing long-term projects such as the Chinese translation, the Spanish revision, and book distribution. Grant proposals will be created this year in the hope of finding people interested in funding these projects.
A new endowment aimed at raising $25 million dollars has been established. This endowment, named the Revelation Bridge, is intended to protect the Urantia Revelation and Urantia Foundation during the 25-year transition between the baby boomer generation and the millennial generation. The intent is to build a fund that generates income to pay day-to-day bills without depleting the principal of the endowment. At the end of 2013, the average university in the United States had an endowment of $355 million dollars. Inasmuch as Harvard University has an endowment of $32.7 billion dollars, it seems prudent and reasonable that the most important spiritual endeavor on this planet has at least a $25 million dollar endowment. It is a gift that the baby boomer generation needs to make for the welfare of the world and the support of the Urantia Book project.
Translations
Trustee and Manager of Translations Georges Michelson-Dupont reported on each translation and revision in progress. Every board meeting comprises two parts. One is the general session with the full board. The other is the executive session that is attended only by the trustees and invited presenters. During July’s executive session, the majority of time was spent reviewing outside evaluations of current revisions to ensure they are of the highest quality.
Education
Ralph Zehr reported on UBIS and informed us all by his report that classes are now being conducted in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Gard Jameson also reported on the upcoming Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, this October.
Books
As always, the Book Committee presented current facts about the global distribution of Urantia Books. We also reviewed the newly printed English, Spanish, and Portuguese books. The new British Tan LeatherSoft™ book, which is receiving excellent reviews from long-time readers, is available on Amazon at https://amzn.to/1JflEty [2].
One of the most important things you can do for the Urantia Book project is to post a short book review of The Urantia Book on Amazon. Sharing with others how and why this revelation has improved your life may make a compelling difference regarding their decision to read the book. At the moment, 460 people have reviewed it with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5. The more reviews the better! We are hoping to reach 500 reviews by the end of the year. Here is the link: https://amzn.to/1UFu2Vh [3]. And while you are there, if you have time, please add your review to the Foundation’s LeatherSoft™ books. Their links are https://amzn.to/1TwvzQh [4] and https://amzn.to/1JfnKcU [5].
For those of you who order books directly from Urantia Foundation, we encourage you to buy directly from Amazon instead. When you buy from Amazon you benefit everyone because you keep the book selling in commercial channels of book distribution.
Associate Trustees
Guy Perron from Montréal, Canada, was elected to serve a three-year term as an associate trustee. Guy has been one of UBIS’s most esteemed teachers, and we welcome him to our team. Simultaneously, Sandra Burga-Cisneros has cycled off the board. We deeply appreciate her time and service as an associate trustee.