On October 5 one of the finest Eastern Regional Conferences of recent years was held in the Congregational Church Hall at Clinton, CT. Around eighty-five people attended. All of the presentations were of excellent quality. The East has many qualified leaders and we are looking forward to the formation of a society there in the future.

Irene and I attended the Ohio Valley Conference on October 12 at the Marydale Camp Grounds south of Cincinnati. The surroundings with lakes, woods, and rolling hills were delightful. About thirty-five people attended the conference which was small enough to have an almost family fellowship atmosphere. Mark, Barbara, and Lynne Kulieke from the Chicago headquarters were also there and participated in the program. The conference was informal but effective.

The legal counsel of the Foundation has completed a Licensing Agreement for Present Urantia Societies. The Executive Committee will be given copies to study during the coming month. In reading it over I personally, think it is a great improvement over the former Confirmatory Agreement and believe it is a good and adequate document. A real attempt has been made to eliminate legal "words of art'' without impairing the efficacy of the Licensing Agreement. As nearly as I can discern, all of the substantial limitations and objections cited in the former document have been eliminated. I would hope that we might be able to send copies of the agreement to societies in January.

Henry and Bauk Begemann from Wassenaar, Netherlands have been in Chicago since November 22 and will leave December 6. Henry has been meeting with the Foundation trustees regarding issues associated with the French translation. Following our regular Executive Committee meeting, the entire committee had lunch with Henry and Bauk at a local restaurant after which we returned to 533 Diversey. Henry gave an in-depth report of his activities in Europe along with some of the problems of' relating to different nationalities and different cultures. We are suggesting that Henry and the French Study Group under the leadership of Jacques Dupont and others consider helping us publish a French translation of the Urantia Journal along with a French newsletter. Henry finds there is so much work to be done he can take care of only the most important matters. We much appreciate the work Henry and Bauk are doing - along with the outstanding services of all Field Representatives - and wish them Godspeed and blessing as they return to their work in Europe.

Carolyn Kendall and the Planning and Expediting Committees for the 1978 Urantia Brotherhood triennial Conference to be held at George Williams College August 13-18 have done a thorough and outstanding job preparing for the conference. It promises to be the most complex in format and the most impressive in quality of any General Conference we have sponsored. You will be receiving the first 'formal announcement of the conference sometime in January.

Clyde Bedell has responded to the agreement reported last month, worked out by the Brotherhood Corporation under which the Corporation would agree to act as a distributor of the Concordex to bookstores. Clyde was appreciative of our attempt to be of greater service to students of The Urantia Book, however, he feels that the agreement was too restrictive, especially concerning control of the introductory material in a new edition. He has decided, therefore, to find his own avenues of' distributing the Concordex. I think almost everyone is pleased that we tried to arrange a working relationship and that everyone, including Clyde, believes the present situation is the best way to proceed. Clyde is hard at work on a new edition of the Concordex and would appreciate any suggestions you may give him to improve its quality.

We have had feedback from some societies saying they have difficulty in getting copies of the Executive Committee Letter to their members and have suggested that we send copies to their members. This leads us to think there may be some confusion as to the purpose of the Executive Committee Letter. It is written for the leadership of the Brotherhood - General Councilors, Field Representatives, and Society Presidents.

We were asked if the material could be shared with society members and we have permitted Society Presidents to use their own judgment. We really assumed that the letter would not be generally circulated, but that Presidents and Field Representatives would verbally share information which they believed was appropriate with readers of The Urantia Book. Our advice would be that such sharing should be a verbal or written selective communication of material in the Executive Committee Letter with others. But we will let you make this decision. We do not feel the Executive News Letter is a publication to be shared with everyone. It is written primarily for the leaders of Urantia Brotherhood who have considerable background and knowledge about Urantia Brotherhood.

We are entering the Christmas season of the year. One can empathize with early man, shivering in the cold and watching the days grow shorter and shorter, when he realizes that this dismal progression has come to a halt It is not surprising that in his joy this day of salvation from darkenss became a major religious celebration with its a significance, and its cultural richness - this is truly a beautiful time of the year. We wish all of you much cheer, good fellowship, and joy during the holiday season.

Cordially,

Meredith J. Sprunger, President