A Steady Pulse...

by Bruce Porter
NUA President

Hi, everyone. Now that we are officially a chapter of the International Urantia Association, let's keep the pulse beating! By that I don't mean that we have to jump in and MAKE things happen, just that it would be good to keep in touch and have regular meetings.

What the Northwest Urantia Association will come to represent in time will depend on the foundation we set now. A small effort to be available and communicate with each other can set the stage for a cohesive and unified group. What we will do together in the future none of us can know, but let us remember that small things we do now can make a big difference in the future.

It is rare opportunity to be able to be associated with so many who have a strong and long abiding commitment to The Urantia Book. It is truly a lifelong pursuit. I think some of us are just now finding ourselves ready to begin to live the "word" not just talk about it. I look forward to the strength we will all gain from spending time together.

See you in August!

What Next?

by Leonard Ablieter

We now represent the International Urantia Association. Last May we had the honor of taking part in the chartering ceremony of the Northwest Urantia Association after having followed the call of the Coordinating Committee, read the charter and bylaws and sent in our applications. In June we held our first working meeting. And this is the first issue of our newsletter, The NORTHWEST URANTIAN.

This would seem to be a good time and place to reflect on and bring into focus just what some of this means and two thoughts that come to mind most readily are commitment and interdependence. The tasks of IUA are spelled out quite clearly on pages two to four of our charter and it is tempting to go down the list and start dividing up the tasks among us or among committees set up by us and to establish schedules and areas of responsibility. In other words, set up a battle plan. After all, the very first sentence of the charter says that IUA is a task oriented organization. During our first meeting—in the true American way of doing things—we began to head off in this very direction.

Yet I'm being brought up short by these ideas of commitment and interdependence. Richard Keeler, in his letter to us, put it quite succinctly when he likened joining an association of IUA to getting married. Marriage is one of the most important commitments we make and it requires that the parties become interdependent. They each give up their independence with respect to their joint enterprise and they do so freely and fully.

As we begin to think of our new relationship with the IUA in these terms we cannot help but realize the necessity of our actions being guided by the URANTIA Foundation and the teachings of The URANTIA Book itself. The URANTIA Book is not some object out there waiting to have someone do something with it or about it. Whatever is done to, with or about it is unalterably bound up with its teachings, and it follows that so is the manner in which we go about the tasks and responsibilities we have taken on as members of NUA.

The point quite simply is, let's look before we leap. No quotations necessary here. This is an admonition our parents taught us. And its cautionary influence may but rarely have been more important in our lives than it is now, as we apply it to the search for the direction we want our efforts to take.

At the charter meeting, as we were talking about what we might do with our newly formed organization, a comment was made—I don't remember by whom—to the effect that even if we did "nothing", that would be just fine, with the implication that progress would be made even so. It leads me to another thought made by Richard in his letter to us, namely: ". . . it will be easier to do that which has been left undone than to undo that which has been unwisely done."

So I'm recommending that we do nothing? Well, yes and no. The answer is yes when it comes to precipitous action, or any action at all if taken for the sake of just doing something, of "getting the ball rolling". There is no rush to do anything. Task-oriented is not the same as activist.

On the other hand I think we can accomplish much by just thinking in depth about this new association we have entered into. How do we personally fit into it? How do or can we affect it? How does it affect us? What about this new relationship, this interdependence we now have with the Foundation? What does it mean, what degree of our autonomy have we given up?

The answers are not for me to give or even suggest. We each must find our own. This needs a period of exploration, adaptation, a feeling out and getting used to, until we are at ease with our new relationship and have been able to integrate its significance into our daily thoughts and lives. Then we will know what to do.

On a more immediate note I do have a suggestion. It is quite clear to me that Jeff Wattle's excellent treatise Introducing The URANTIA Book in Accord With Its Teachings, published under the auspices of the Foundation, represents the current thinking of the Foundation with respect to this subject. As members of IUA and in light of our newly chosen interdependence with the Foundation it behooves us to respect the latter's position and be guided by it. Hence it follows that it is a good idea to study this pamphlet thoroughly before we undertake any steps related to its subject, as an organization or, for that matter, as individuals.

The universe is a social place and IUA is a social organization. We have taken cognizance of this fact by agreeing to have bimonthly get-togethers, largely of a social nature and for those who can spare the time to attend. Social interaction will give us the opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from each other and learn new perspectives. It may be the one activity most useful to us and our new organization at this point in time. A close second in immediate usefulness is likely to be our newsletter. It can serve as a valuable communications tool, making it possible to keep in touch with our far flung members, many of whom may not be able to attend every meeting. We may use it to share ideas and it will keep us up to date when we miss a meeting.

Finally, the most significant task, we have already accomplished. We helped bring into being The Northwest URANTIA Association. By making this choice and just by being there we have become a valuable and much needed resource of the Foundation. We have been given a rare opportunity to serve in a significant way.

In-depth study of The URANTIA Book and the orderly dissemination of its teachings requires committed individuals who will resist the temptation to forge ahead and "spread the word" and who have the strength and the faith to be patient. Just living the teachings will bring results, and slow though they may be in coming they will far exceed in value anything that might be achieved by precipitous action.

Urantia Foundation Charters NUA

by MC

On May 7, 1995 the URANTIA Foundation chartered and licensed the Northwest URANTIA Association (NUA) in West Linn, Oregon. Conducting the ceremony were two trustees of the Foundation, Patricia Mundelius and Richard Keeler, and Cathy Jones, of the International URANTIA Association (IUA). Taking part in this event were sixteen charter members from Washington and Oregon.

Cathy Jones coordinated the formation of NUA, the fourteenth chapter of IUA. For several months she communicated with students of The URANTIA Book in the Northwest who had shown interest in the International URANTIA Association. She organized a teleconference with these potential members just before the licensing.

Saturday, May 6, consisted of informal question and answer periods. Patricia Mundelius, president of the Foundation and granddaughter of Dr. William Sadler, recalls her childhood days at 533 Diversey Parkway: "There was nothing unusual about those Forum members coming and going. It was the norm."

Concerning the relationship between the Foundation and the Fellowship, she says the URANTIA Foundation needs to focus on its functions. The Fellowship becoming independent was a natural outgrowth. There were times when members from both organizations have worked together on a project, such as the Audio Version of The URANTIA Book.

Treasurer's Report

by Pat Murnin
NUA Treasurer

It was proposed and approved at the last meeting of Northwest Urantia Association that the yearly dues for the members of the association will be $40.

This money will be used for the operation of the association: postage, office supplies, printing of the newsletter, telephone bills, etc.

This year we had an $80 licensing fee and a $12 fee for registering the name, Northwest Urantia Association, with the State of Oregon Assumed Business Registry. This was necessary so we could get a tax exempt tax ID number, and open a bank account under the name, Northwest Urantia Association. These are one-time expenses.

In the future we will have a better handle on what we will need to operate the association for one year, and we could adjust the dues accordingly.

Please make your check out to the Northwest Urantia Association. Because we are a nonprofit religious organization, your donation is tax deductible. Please mail your checks to:

Pat Murnin
4736 SE 60th Ave.
Portland, OR 97206

First NUA Meeting

Sunday, June 25, 1995
at Bruce Porter's Home, West Linn, Oregon

by MC, NUA Secretary

PRESENT: Bruce Porter, Dennis Gray, Richard Langdon, Leonard Ablieter, Faye Baier, Pat Murnin, Mike D'Ambrosia, Betsy Engstrom, Mark Alexander, Lisa Thorpe, Joe Frischolz, Richard Daskam, MC.

Bruce Porter, NUA president, calls the meeting to order at 10:45 a.m. He talks about the direction NUA will take, our interdependence with the Foundation and the need to keep the momentum going. Leonard Ablieter leads a study of Jeff Wattles' Introducing The URANTIA Book in Accord with its Teachings. Members sign up for committees to deal with each task of IUA.

Break for lunch at 12:30 p.m. Spaghetti, regular and vegetarian sauce from Pat Murnin. Excellent salad and coffee by Dennis Gray.

NUA regroups at 2 p.m. We discuss membership dues and by consensus decide on $40 a year. Next, we resolve to meet on the last Sunday of every other month, with the major annual meeting in June. Our next two Sunday meetings will be on August 27 and October 29.

Meeting adjourns around 4 p.m.

With Practice

by MC

This is the first issue of The Northwest Urantian. What is its purpose? What contents should it have and do these serve the purpose? This newsletter is for us and by us. And who are we? We joined the Northwest URANTIA Association. Leonard Ablieter asks, "What next?" Thanks, Leonard, for naming our newsletter and for your article. It started "the ball rolling".

The URANTIA Book attracts all kinds of people. Its message is universal. It is no surprise to meet the most diverse characters in a gathering of readers, such as we find at NUA. Dissimilar and imperfect we are. We will make mistakes, we will disagree at times. At first we may produce noise, but with practice we shall create music. Let us sing together in the dark. Your participation is important. We have a job to do. Let's do it.