It’s been a busy year for ANZURA. Since the last Arena the main highlight has been the annual Urantia Book Readers’ Conference which was held at the glorious Lake Dewar Lodge in the Daylesford region in Victoria.
The venue was ideal for our needs. We were surrounded by nature and the building had floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall sheet glass windows on both sides, which allowed for the serenity of the natural surroundings to be viewed at all times throughout the conference.
Truly magic!
While the number of attendees were down this year, the quality was excellent. You’ll see a more detailed report and an extensive pictorial summary further on in this issue of Arena
ANZURA’s AGM for 2011 was held during the conference. Elections were held for the Governing Board positions of Vice President and Treasurer. I’d like to welcome onto the Board our new Vice President Julian McGarry from Tasmania and new Treasurer Rita Schaad from Newcastle.
On behalf of all members I would like to thank outgoing Vice President and Treasurer Robert Coenraads and Trevor Swadling respectively. Both served diligently in these positions for the past four years.
Trevor Swadling reported on his progress with the “Operation Contact” project at the AGM. I announced this new initiative in the last issue of the Arena. Many groups have been targeted and sent a copy of The Urantia Book. See a detailed report further on in this issue.
The 2012 ANZURA conference will be held in Queensland. Graeme Chapman has volunteered to be the main organiser so stay tuned for details as they emerge.
ANZURA members Julian McGarry, William Wentworth and Merindi and Bernie Belarski represented ANZURA at the Leadership Symposium that was held in Chicago in July of this year.
he call went out for the participation of readers from all over the world who are interested in taking on teacher and leadership type rolls in their efforts to spread the teachings of The Urantia Book in their regions. All came back with good reports on meeting and fraternising with readers from all over the world who are dedicated to the task of attempting to further the Urantia revelation in their countries.
Nigel Nunn showed Part 1 of his DVD presentation — Universe Frames — at the conference. He received some encouraging feedback as well as some constructive criticism. Nigel now has Part 2 — The Personal Universe — ready to be viewed.
(Postscript; here is the new and updated link of the entire work as at 2020)
Treasures shared, treasures found
An enthusiastic group of 24 gathered at Lake Dewar Lodge YMCA in Myrniong, Victoria in October to explore the treasure chest of revealed truth each has
discovered in The Urantia Book. Experience of treasures such as personal friendships, growth of love and understanding, insight and life-changing knowledge, shared and appreciated by all.
Excellent presentations were delivered by:
Regina Williamson on The Purpose of Living and the Goal of Existence,
Graeme Chapman on Scientific Content in The Urantia Book, (Graeme is a geologist),
Bevan Rhys-James on Understanding God The Absolute (Bevan drew inspiration
from the writings of Bill Sadler Jr),
Ian Esmore and Robert Coenraads spoke of the ongoing service project of
providing education to girls in particular, in developing nations such as Thailand, India and Pakistan through FreeSchools organisation established by Urantia readers. https://freeschools.org/
Thanks go to Ian and Isobel Esmore for the excellent teamwork in organising the venue and planning the program.
A highlight for everyone was the outing to the historic towns of the region, Blackwood, Trentham and Daylesford.
The mineral springs of Mount Hotham were a highlight with multiple samplings from the freely available bubblers.
A cappuccino stop in picturesque Trentham and a casual wander around the lake at Daylesford were also very much enjoyed before 
returning to the conference for the Sunday evening program.
Ian, for the Lakeside Conference Group 2011