Trustee Announcement: Suit Filed

November 8th, 1999

An Open Letter to Harry McMullan III and to Readers of The Urantia Book

It is with sadness that we write this letter.

We, the undersigned, are united in our grave concern over the recent actions of Harry McMullan III, who published Part IV of The Urantia Book (except for the first paper, Paper 120) under the title “Jesus—A New Revelation.”

Many of Harry’s friends and associates from Urantia Foundation, the Fellowship, the International Urantia Association, and the general readership have tried privately, patiently, and lovingly to dissuade Harry from his plan, both before and after he published Part IV, but to no avail.

In compliance with Jesus’ grievance procedure, many have spoken with Harry one-on-one and in small groups. By this letter, we take the third step of the Jesus grievance procedure and go “to the congregation.” (1763:0)

We, as leaders,former leaders, and members of the community of readers, seek to bring peace and good will to our movement regarding this controversial issue. We did not initiate this disagreement and seek no unnecessary confrontation. Both our time and energy, and Harry’s time and energy, would be far better spent on dissemination, not litigation.

On page 1570 Jesus says, “Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” We desire to make peace—but not peace at any price—not at the price of standing by, while the copyright is broken and the book fragmented. Recall that the Master admonished his apostles and disciples to “proclaim the whole truth of the good news, not just a part of the saving gospel.” (2052:4)

Harry’s publication violates copyright law. It violates the processes of duly constituted group wisdom. It violates the unity of The Urantia Book. It violates the spirit of the unity movement afoot within our community. And it violates the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and that readers need the whole book to understand the parts. In short, it violates the wisdom with which this fifth epochal revelation was delivered to the peoples of this planet.

Although the Trustees of Urantia Foundation have the fiduciary duty to preserve the integrity of the text of The Urantia Book for future generations of readers and for accurate translations into other languages, they do so, not simply because their trust requires it of them. They also discharge these responsibilities out of the deep, personal conviction that we are all human stewards of this revelation, entrusted with the responsibility to preserve the integrity of the text as expressive of our certainty that its transforming power resides in its inviolate wholeness.

As one of the few tools at the Trustees’ disposal to do this, the copyright must be maintained to ensure that translations are as true as possible to the original text. This is not a simple matter of choosing between competing groups of equally qualified translators, who may have different styles of translating. If the copyright in the English text is lost, enforceable copyrights could be obtained on translations of poor quality and on translations which amend, abridge, embellish, or purposefully distort the text. Once obtained, such a copyright could be enforced against all other translations, even against a translation of the original text. Only by maintaining and enforcing the copyright can we ensure that the inviolate text will reach as many of the world’s peoples as possible.

We urge Harry to retract this illegal printing of copyrighted material and to agree in writing not to print or distribute any more volumes of “Jesus—A New Revelation” or any other materials infringing Urantia Foundation’s copyrights and registered marks, with unsold copies to be turned over to Urantia Foundation.

If Harry fails to comply with this request, the Trustees of Urantia Foundation will have no choice but to exercise their fiduciary responsibility and their legal obligations under the Declaration of Trust.

While we prefer to have this matter resolved privately, if Harry fails to comply with this request, the Trustees of Urantia Foundation will—in order to defend, protect, and preserve the Foundation’s copyright in The Urantia Book—exercise their legal option and request that the courts resolve this matter. The legal process, while unpleasant, is used throughout the imperfect and evolving universes to resolve conflicts between beings. Such proceedings can and should be conducted in a dignified and gracious manner that reflects positively on how the revelation transforms human behavior.

Sincerely,

Tom Burns
Past Member of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Hoite Caston
Past Member of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Kwan Choi
Secretary and Member of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

David Elders
Past President of the former Urantia Brotherhood and the Fellowship

John Hales
Past President of the former Urantia Brotherhood

Mary Lou Hales
Forum Member, wife of former Trustee of Urantia Foundation and the oldest known living Urantia Book reader

Gard Jameson
Treasurer and Member of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Richard Keeler
President of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Carolyn Kendall
Forum Member, President of the First Society for Readers of The Urantia Book (the Fellowship)

Tom Kendall
Past President of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Georges Michelson-Dupont
Vice-President of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Patricia Mundelius
Past President of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Mo Siegel
Member of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Paul Snider
Past President of the former Urantia Brotherhood

Neal Waldrop
Past Member of the Board of Trustees, Urantia Foundation

Additional Signatures

The following signatures have been affixed since the original date of this letter. The signatures are listed in the order they were recieved. To add your signature, send an email to: [email protected].

Tonia Baney - Executive Director, Urantia Foundation
Seppo Kanerva - Chairman of the IUA Council of National Presidents & Vice Presidents
Mario Casassus Bulnes - Urantia Foundation Office Manager, Chile
Nathen & Kasandra Jansen - Urantia Foundation Office Managers, Vancouver Office
Catherine Jones - Administrator, International Urantia Association
Richard King Poitevin - 30+ year Reader
Suzanne Kelly-Ward
Dorothy James Elder - Vice President, United States Urantia Association
Moris Kaplowitz - Treasurer, United States Urantia Association; Member Virginia Carolina Readers
Bill Page - Member, Southern Kindred Spirits
Harold W. Schomas - Colorado Springs, CO
Steve Shinall - President, Southern Kindred Spirits IUA
Susan Wright Mogilka
Chris & Tina Moseley - Urantia Foundation Office Managers, U.K.
Carlos Rubinsky - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Shirley Pelland - Co-host, Temecula Valley (Calif) Urantia Book Study Group
James Woodward - Co-host, Temecula Valley (Calif) Urantia Book Study Group
Ed & Susan Owen
Lee Armstrong - Past President, First Urantia Society of Los Angeles
Roselyn Armstrong - Past President, Virginia Carolina Readers
Mary J. Michael - member, LoneStar Light Texas Readers of The Urantia Book
Terry Brown - Secretary, United States Urantia Association
Ronald Louie - Chair: Unity & Cooperation Committee; V. P., Urantia Association of the Cascades
Lea Fishburn
James & Marion Perry
Bud Kobell - President, H.U.L.A.
Betty S. Zehr - President, United States Urantia Association; Secretary, New York/Pennsylvania Urantia Association
Steven Hecht
Nancy C. Shaffer
Evelyn Sisemore - President, Tulsa OASIS Study Group, member First Society of Oklahoma
Kathy Wanemacher - 25+ reader
Vern & Nancy Grimsley
Mary Snider
Vitaly Kondratjev - Urantia Foundation Office Manager, St. Petersburg, Russia
Rebecca Oswald - Secretary, Northwest Urantia Association
Jerry Prentice - President, Missouri Urantia Association
Carrie Prentice - Chief Editor, Urantia Journal
Lynn Prentice - Secretary, Missouri Urantia Association
Jay Peregrine - 25 year reader, Chicago, IL
Blaine Miller - Vice President, Missouri Urantia Association
Peep Söber - President, Estonian Urantia Association
Gaétan Charland - Président - Association Urantia du Québec
Robert Solone - President, Greater Lake Michigan Urantia Association
Jean Royer - France
Jeanette Schafer - NW Urantia Association
Robert Coenraads - Sydney, Australia
Trevor & Kathleen Swadling - Urantia Foundation Office Managers, Sydney, Australia
Cece Forrester - 30+ year reader; member, First Society, Chicago (The Fellowship)
José F. Stahl - Treasurer of the Urantia Association of Greater New York
Patricia Stahl - UAGNY
David Linthicum - VP Spirit of Oklahoma
The Board of Directors and Members of the Urantia Association of Columbia
Carlos Zapata - longtime reader
Nancy Bigelow
Bill Payne
Jo Anne (Nelson) King
Ralph D. Zehr - President, New York/Pennsylvania Urantia Association
Arthur Fisher - Vice President, New York/Pennsylvania Urantia Association
Gary Stevenson - Treasurer, New York/Pennsylvania Urantia Association
Laurence R. Whelan - Ventura, California
Joe Foreman - Past President, Rocky Mountain Spiritual Fellowship; Secretary, Rocky Mountain Chapter IUA
Ray Scruggs - 25 year reader
Gilles Bertrand - 23 year reader
Rob Davis
Luiz Carlos Dolabella Chagas - Chief Translator of the Portuguese Team; Urantia Foundation Representative in Brazil
Carlos Ortega - Urantia Foundation Representative in Venezuela
Kalevi Eklöf - President of the Finnish Urantia Association
Rhonda Sorter - Missouri Urantia Association
Tom Furgas - 2 year reader
Susan Alon
Larry D. Wright
Ron Craig - 30 year reader
Pat Murnin - President - Northwest Urantia Association
Richard A. Rawson, M.D. - Sacramento
Gary Hall - 30 year reader, Boise, ID
George Devlin - 15 year reader, Canada
Oslo, Norway Urantia Study Group - Nigel Hornby, Espen Paulsen, Geir Pettersen, Odd Aune, Pachy Rodriguez, Baard Westby
Kurt Schluter - 20 year reader
Kathy Williamson
Susan Bryner - long time reader, Pacific Grove, California
Stephen Smith - 30 year reader living in Honduras
Karen Lewis - 10 year reader, Nelson, British Columbia
Randall Krommenhoek - 25 year reader, Jacksonville Beach, FL
Dan Neves - 9 year reader
Jayson L. Kenyon - 7 year reader
Chris Ragetly - France
Jim Nelson - Seattle, WA
Séverin Desbuisson - Paris study group facilitator
Vernon Chapman
Paul Anderson
Nicholas Knight
Darka L. Watters - reader since 1973
Susan Alexander
Joey Garza
Mike Wood - President, Kansas City Urantia Association & former founding member, Heart of America Urantia Society
David Bart Agee - 16 year reader
Andres Rodriquez - Editor IUA Journal and Member of Urantia-Association Colombia
Xandy Smith
Al Gates Lockett 28 year reader, member Urantia Association of Greater New York
Judy Van Cleave 27 year reader, President of the Idaho Urantia Association
Edwin G. Armonio - Iloilo City, Philippines - reader since 1981
Paul Spencer Brown - reader
Nancy Brown - 23 year reader, First Society Member
Elise van Ruth - Netherlands
Catharine Sanders - Auckland New Zealand
Derek Grimm - Asahikawa, Japan
Mark Meier - reader since 1988
Mark A Kurtz - Goshen, IN
Marcelo Haubert D'Oliveira - Oslo, Norway
Doug Allitt - reader, Langwarrin, Victoria, Australia

To add your name to this list, send an email to: [email protected]