President’s Report – Summer 2021

Happy New Year and I sincerely hope you have all had a good Christmas and a happy and safe holiday season.

As one year draws to a close and and another one starts, and as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, let’s hope we will start moving towards some semblance of normality. However, now that the new Omicron variant is throwing a spanner in the works, it remains to be seen whether we can “live with the virus” or not. I feel that in the big picture society, to some degree has been changed forever. I get a sense that we are moving in the right direction, even though sometimes it may seem like a swinging pendulum.

We have had our annual conference which was somewhat modified but nonetheless a success. (See a full report further on in this newsletter.) Thank you to the Sydney group for organising this event. Hopefully our next annual conference in Tasmania will be back to a normal in-person gathering.

From where I sit, I see and hear that there are many study groups happening across Australia and New Zealand. It would be great to reach out to them all now and again so we may get to know one another and share how our study groups are faring.

Personally, I am involved in two study groups: the Mona Vale monthly Sydney study group and the online weekly group hosted by myself. Occasionally I attend the Canberra Study Group online.

Our weekly online group has on average four attendees, though lately we have had seven to eight, all from various places including Tasmania, Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney, Albert, and Canberra. The Mona Vale Sydney group usually has an average of seven in-person and another six or seven virtual regular attendees.

Study groups have grown and morphed into hybrid meetings with a mix of face-to-face and online participation. If you are looking for a study group in your local area or time zone, then refer to the ANZURA Study Group list on our website at: https://anzura.urantia-association.org/. Also view the international Urantia Study Group Directory. You can simply Google “Urantia Study Group directory” or use this link https://www.urantiastudygroup.org/.

We publish two to three Arena’s each year which contain interesting information on news and events in our region as well as study articles written by students of The Urantia Book. I hope you enjoy reading this summer issue which contains some of the presentations held at our recent virtual annual conference.

If you have anything you would like to contribute to the Arena please contact us. Also if you would like to take more of an active role in ANZURA please contact us and let us know how you would like to help.

May you all have a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year and enjoy your festivities with friends and family. 

In service and faithfully
Phillip Marriott