TO: General Councilors, Society Presidents, and Field Representatives

The program for the Field Representatives Workshop on March 5 and 6 has been completed and copies are enclosed for each Field Representative. It was good to talk with each Field Representative over the weekend. Everyone will be participating in the workshop and we are anticipating a productive and exhilarating get-together.

There is encouraging progress in the process of finding common ground in the wording of the Confirmatory Agreement. Urantia Foundation in December sent a letter responding to the three questions submitted by the First Urantia Society of Oklahoma last year. The Oklahoma Society discussed the letter thoroughly and authorized their "Committee on Confirmatory Agreement" to draft and forward a reply to me to give to the Foundation by February 26. The Oklahoma Society plans to share their response with all of you early in March. This correspondence has educational value for all of us and we hope will expedite reaching a "Confirmatory Agreement" with the Foundation throughout the Brotherhood.

The following changes in regulations concerning members-at-large were made by the Executive Committee:

• 1. If an individual lives within 100 miles of a society he should apply to that society for membership. Because the decision for society membership is always up to the individual and society involved, the Executive Committee realizes there may be exceptions to this rule. This rule is not retroactive in application.
• 2. The membership-at-large application should include a check response which encourages the applicant to start a study group; i.e.: "I shall strive within the limits of my abilities and wisdom to start or encourage the organization of an informal group in my area to study The Urantia Book.
• 3. When any member-at-large through lack of communication appears to have lost interest in his Brotherhood membership, the Secretary shall contact this person and ascertain his desire to continue membership in the Brotherhood. No member-at-large shall be dropped from membership until such action is approved by the Executive Committee.
• 4. All applicants for membership must be recommended by a General Councilor or Field Representative of Urantia Brotherhood, and by one other Brotherhood member. Where such individuals are not available, the Executive Committee is empowered to make a judgment regarding suitability for membership based upon methods of its own determination.

The Urantia Foundation has decided to raise the price of The Urantia Book to $26.00 on March 1, 1977. The price of The Urantia Book has not been raised since 1971 and, I understand, the cost of living index has risen around 43% since that date. The cost of printing and general office expense have made a price raise virtually mandatory. The decision has also been made to discontinue discounts to members and societies purchasing books in any quantity after March 1, 1977.

This has always been a questionable policy and the Foundation has now decided to terminate it. The cold weather and energy crisis are forcing us to break our old habits of thinking and living. Hopefully, there will be some transfer in our ways of thinking about the moral-spiritual crisis of our age. New and enlarged spiritual concepts may be more acceptable to a society conditioned to find new approaches to its material problems. May each of us strive to be in the vanguard of this searching generation.

Cordially,

Meredith J. Sprunger, President