A Biography by Dave Tenney

Our beloved Meredith Hartt Tenney has recently passed on to the next step of her universe ascension career, after several years of struggling with Parkinson’s disease. She was much beloved by her family, professional colleagues, and friends in many parts of the world. “Mer” lived her early life in Northville, Michigan, and then moved to Stowe, Vermont in her early twenties. Later she settled down to Acworth, New Hampshire with her husband Robert, and lovingly raised four children (Kyle, Gray, Whit, and Paige). Later she raised a fifth child (Alanna) with her beloved second husband, Dave Tenney.

Meredith was a Certified Nurse Midwife, and helped to bring over a thousand babies into life here on Urantia. In the late 1980’s she obtained a double degree from Boston University—a master’s in public health and a law degree, while also serving on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine. She went on to provide medical care as a mid-level practitioner in a variety of settings along with developing a successful, first of its kind, incentive-based teen pregnancy prevention program in the Manchester, New Hampshire school system. 

In addition to her impressive professional career, Mer had a living faith in what she had read in The Urantia Book since receiving it in 1972. She ardently sought God’s will, and consistently endeavored to do her utmost to serve God by extending divine love to all of her sisters and brothers in our universal family, both seen and unseen—and she truly did it! She was especially devoted to our Mother Spirit, reflecting the love of the “Divine Feminine” to all she met, and even set aside a devotional room filled with pictures and statues of “Mother” from various religious traditions. Her work for “Mom” included advocacy for women and children’s issues, including participation in a spiritual ministry which included co-developing a women’s sewing machine project in rural Kenya. She also worked behind the scenes with several leaders of various circles of women to help unify and mobilize the goals and projects of women’s organizations worldwide. She regularly attended a variety of women’s conferences, including the annual Women’s Conference at the U.N., where she (with Mother Spirit's help) uplifted the dialogue.

Mer was an inspiring and articulate public speaker and gave numerous presentations on various spiritually related topics to a variety of audiences around the world. She spoke three times to large gatherings in Istanbul on the commonalities of the UB with their spiritual perspectives. She presented at the World Parliament of Religions in Australia helping to facilitate the recognition of Mother Spirit in various faith traditions, and spoke at another Parliament with her husband Dave on how the relationship between Mother and Michael could serve as a divine pattern for human relationship. Mer provided many other presentations at numerous UB conferences over the years, including several on the “Garden Project” focused on facilitating the UB community’s readiness for creating a new Garden on Urantia, in advance preparation for the promised arrival of an Avonal Son on a Magisterial Mission. 

In the past year, Mer was instrumental in initiating the development of Light and Life Communities, a project also focused on preparation for the  Magisterial Mission. Mer was the secretary of the board of the Urantia Book Service Corps of New England for several years, and in this past one served in the role of cultivating spiritual community in the region. She also completed coursework and graduated in the first class of the Christ Experiment, and earned a certificate as a Spiritual Life Coach. Know that our Mer will keep serving God wherever she is!