Education Committee Resources

Prime Education References From The Urantia Book

Educational Resource Materials

Workshop Materials for Teaching About The Twelve Apostles

Study Group Resources

1990's Wrightwood Series

Papers from the March 2017 Seminar

Wrightwood Series

Prospectus of the Wrightwood Series Seminars 

Sponsored by the Education Committee of the Urantia Book Fellowship

Background

During the 1990s, a process of discussion, writing and publication, known as the “Wrightwood Series Seminars,” was initiated and carried out by the Fellowship’s Education Committee. It produced at least three publications:

Building the Living Temple of Spiritual Fellowship

Gender and The Urantia Book

Perspectives on Race in The Urantia Book

The essence of the Wrightwood process was characterized in the original Prospectus as an “in-depth preparation [with] intimate, thorough discussion.” It was decided early on to “limit participation to a small number of very well-prepared participants, to require each participant to prepare a written position paper for presentation and eventual publication, and to ask the seminar participants to develop a plan of action for presenting the results of their discussion to the readership at large.” The chair or leader and participants in each seminar, met in the Wrightwood Building in Chicago (hence, the origin of the name of the seminar series) for at least one extended weekend to accomplish these tasks. The program was discontinued after the 1990s when the Wrightwood Building was sold.

One of the major goals of the Education Committee is to foster greater in-depth study of the Fifth Epochal Revelation within the Fellowship at large. We think that revitalizing the Wrightwood Seminars is a step in that direction and are continuing the Wrightwood process in 2013.

The Wrightwood Process

Students of The Urantia Book who are intellectually curious, scholarly and spiritually oriented are being invited to form and chair a seminar in the Wrightwood tradition. The method of education to be used in a Wrightwood Seminar is based around intelligent conversation, culminating in written papers from each of the participants. Seminar participants are expected to meet together and discuss a seminar’s theme under the guidance of its chair. Each member of the seminar is required to write a scholarly paper based on aspects of what was discussed and their own thoughts on the subject, to be monitored and edited by the chair of the seminar. More than one gathering may be needed to better explore the theme and provide feedback on each other’s papers.

Limited financial assistance may be available through the Education Committee.

Wrightwood Themes

There are hundreds of potential themes to explore. This is an opportunity to delve into topics of great value and enduring interest. Over time the Education Committee would like to build a strong library of secondary works serving the task of disseminating the teachings of The Urantia Book. The following are some examples of potential themes: the Supreme; Time and Eternity; Effects of the Lucifer Rebellion; Master Universe; the Super Universes and Havona; Fusion of Human Personality and Divine Adjuster; Michael’s Seven Bestowals; any of the major teachings of Jesus; Jesus as the Bread of Life and what it means to us; the revelatory significance of any of the scientific texts in The Urantia Book; Evolutionary Progressive Civilization on Urantia; Government on a Neighboring Planet; Eugenics and Human Culture.

The Wrightwood Seminar is an opportunity for those who have a deep interest in a topic or question to delve into it and share insights with others. Wrightwood Papers The seminar chair will collect the participants’ papers when they are ready, review and edit them, and then submit the papers for an assessment by the Education Committee. Upon approval, the papers will be published by the Fellowship and made available to the larger community of students of The Urantia Book.