Developing an Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Study Group or Society

The purpose of studying the Urantia Book is to empower ourselves to change our lives, our communities and our world - change for the better, a transformation, really.  A Urantia study group or society should assist individuals in their efforts to become majestic and well-balanced personalities. 

In the Appleton - Fox Valley area of Wisconsin, we have developed an Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Study Group that provides opportunities for:

Deepening our connection with God
Creating meaningful connections with each other
Experiencing Love, Truth, Beauty & Goodness
Discovering new ideas
Finding new meanings
Intellectual challenge
Spiritual growth and personal development
Studying difficult concepts
Experiencing a variety of viewpoints
Practicing our ability to adapt
Empowering ourselves
Attaining Goals
Love and acceptance
Listening and sharing
Ministering to others
Experiencing freedom
Freedom of self-expression
Experiencing Spiritual Enthusiasm and Joy
Critical thinking
Meeting new people

Live by the Diamond Rule:  Love others as God loves us.

We empower ourselves when we take the initiative, when we act, when we develop confidence in our own capacities and abilities.  We find value and new meanings in our spiritual pursuits when we study deeper, when we try to personally experience the spiritual.  We practice freedom of expression when we allow others the freedom of speaking from their heart.  True freedom comes from having no spiritual boundaries, boundaries keep you from experiencing God.  We experience truth when we develop a deeper, closer connection with God and each other.  We experience beauty when we give and receive kindness, mercy and grace.  We experience goodness when we minister in loving service to humanity and creation.   We can do all this because of God, because this is part of his purpose and plan for our lives.

Developing a worldwide personal/virtual 'Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Society'

The Urantia community needs an Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Society.  Planet Urantia would like to be the sponsor of just such a society, therefore, we are now communicating this desire and beginning to take steps to contact individuals from diverse spiritual and/or religious backgrounds from around the world to see if they might be interested in joining an Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Society.

Why do we need another society - and especially an 'Interfaith Spiritual' society? 

1. It is important to develop spiritual societies within the Urantia community of Readers/Students because there exists within the community of Urantia Readers/Students a block of individuals who are deeply spiritual and desire to connect with other like-minded spiritual individuals.
2. Bringing people from diverse spiritual/religious backgrounds together improves our understanding of and relations with each other.  We can learn so much from each other.
3. It facilitates the goals of the founders of the Urantia movement - to foster and develop study groups (and/or societies) around the world.  
4. It will enable us to create ministry and service opportunities around the world through the shared resources and wealth of knowledge that a worldwide Urantia community embodies.
5. It gives people an opportunity to spread the teachings of the Urantia Book by encouraging the creation of local study groups and/or cosmic cafes - such as the one we've created - Interfaith Spirit Quest. - See our meetup site here:  Meetup.com/Interfaith.
6. Many people around the world do not have a local study group or society, this Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Society would be both a personal and virtual society.  Personal in the sense that it would be based in a particular geographical location, with opportunities for conducting local study groups and occasional conferences for the 'Interfaith' community of Urantia readers/students.  Virtual in the sense that anyone, anywhere in the world can join as long as they accept the terms of our constitution. 
7. During national and international Urantia conferences, we would expect that members of an Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Society who are able to attend such conferences would have a joyful reunion and time of unique fellowship.
8. It will enable more people from more parts of the world to have a voice in the administration of the Urantia Fellowship organization through the election of officers and members of the General Council.

The following is noted from the Constitution of the Urantia Fellowship Organization (UrantiaBook.org): 

The purposes of THE FELLOWSHIP are the study and dissemination of the teachings of The Urantia Book; the promotion, improvement, and expansion among the peoples of the world of the comprehension and understanding of Cosmology and the relation of the planet on which we live to the Universe, of the genesis and destiny of Man and his relation to God, and of the life and teachings of Jesus; and the inculcation and encouragement of the realization and appreciation of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man ‑‑ in order to increase and enhance the comfort, happiness, and well‑being of Man, as an individual and as a member of society, by fostering a religion, a philosophy, and a cosmology which are commensurate with Man's intellectual and cultural development, through the medium of fraternal association, ever obedient and subservient to the laws of this country and of all countries wherein THE FELLOWSHIP may extend.

INTERESTED?  If you are interested in joining an Interfaith Spiritual Urantia Society and you have read the entire Urantia Book all the way through at least once, please contact us through Planet Urantia by leaving a comment on this blog post and we will contact you in short order. 

Comments should include:

• Your name
• Email and/or phone number
• Best time to contact you - please specify time zone
• Any other pertinent information you would like us to know

This post will be revised as new information develops.

October 1, 2009

S. Hansen, Interfaith Minister

Appleton, Wisconsin 

Comments

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