Our Mother God: Knowing Her, Loving Her, Sharing Her

Elisabeth Callahan

Throughout her life Elisabeth has pursued a path of contemplative practice and studies in world religions and transpersonal psychology. She trained intensively as a Zen Buddhist monk for many years in her 30's in both the Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen. Years later she returned to her Christian roots, seeking the expression of the original way that Jesus lived and taught, and was ordained a priest in the Independent Catholic Church. During these years she also pursued training in transpersonal psychology including graduate work at ITP (now Sofia University) in Menlo Park, CA.

Since discovering the Urantia Book in 1984 she has devoted herself to its in-depth study and sharing it with others. She and her husband, John have led a weekly Urantia Book study group in Southern California for many years and derive rich personal and spiritual growth through this fellowship and the process of group discovery and application of Urantia Book teachings. She has been a Trustee of Urantia University since its inception and currently serves as Executive Director of Urantia University Institute.

Kurt Cira

Kurt was born and raised in Northern Wisconsin, the oldest of 6 children in a devout Roman Catholic family. Kurt went to college in Milwaukee and discovered the Urantia Book there in 1972. He studied the book alone for 13 years, during which time he married and raised 3 children. Kurt was an architectural designer and held various other jobs, living 20 years in South Florida.

After retiring he dedicated himself to Urantia-based ministry and moved to back to Wisconsin to be close to his children and grandchildren. He has been an active Urantia conference participant and speaker. He has attended conferences on Urantia-based ministry, taken several related Urantia University Institute courses, graduated from The Christ Experiment’s School of Ambassadors, and has led a series on religion for the UUI Cafes. He is currently involved in many Urantia groups and activities.

Religion is his favorite topic in the Book. He coined the acronym “ROPE” for the Religion Of Personal Experience, an idea expressed many times throughout the Urantia Book. He is developing a website based on the ROPE to reach out to and encourage believers and those who consider themselves “spiritual but not religious” to develop their relationships with God.

Michelle Klimesh

Michelle was raised in a Catholic family. After a crisis of faith turned her into an agnostic, Michelle spent her teenage years investigating alternative spiritual paths. She found the Urantia Book in 1973 and immediately became enchanted. Michelle attended study group at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley that summer before reading on her own for seventeen years. Michelle currently lives in California with her husband, Aaron.

Michelle began looking for other readers when her two daughters were young, hoping that someone else had invented a children’s version of the text. In what now seems suspiciously like angelic intervention, Michelle found and joined Sara Blackstock’s study group. The Urantia Book became a significant building block of her faith journey. Running her business, a gymnastics school, seemed simple because she had the blueprint for an entire universe on her bookshelf. The inspiration and example of how Jesus and Mary raised his family was absolutely priceless to Michelle as a parent.

Twice elected President of the Golden Gate Circle Society, Michelle also served for 18 years on the General Council of The Urantia Book Fellowship with terms as Secretary, Education Chair, Secretary General, and President. She is also the author of the amazing book entitled, “The Story of Everything” which is a beautiful way to introduce new readers and young people to the teachings of the Urantia Book.

Lucretia Schanfarber

Lucretia is dedicated to proclaiming the expanded gospel of The Motherhood of God to our planet as revealed in the teachings of the Urantia Book. Lucretia was introduced to the Urantia Book in 1972 and participated in the 1st International Conference in Oklahoma in 1976.

“Studying the Urantia Book and living its teachings transforms my daily life. I am convinced of it being what it purports to be…the fifth Epochal Revelation to our planet. The Urantia Book is the foundational spiritual text in my life & I read and meditate upon it every day,” Lucretia says.

In cooperation with a select group of four other Urantia Book scholars and spiritual activists, Lucretia helped to launch the Our Mother God website and complementary educational programs and discussion groups focused on the Mother aspect of Deity. Lucretia is also the hosting founder of Sisters Sharing Circles, a monthly zoom encounter group for women to share their stories and experiences related to their own spiritual journeys and their personal relationship with Deity as Mother and Father.

As a long-time organic and regenerative gardener and former broadcaster, Lucretia launched her “Gabbing About Gardening” project via weekly radio shows, podcasts, zoom gatherings and social media communities in 2020.  She grows and manages two no-dig, food-forest, permaculture demonstration gardens designed to empower and encourage all people to become gardeners. Lucretia also conducts gardening and composting workshops and helps people design edible perennial landscapes.

“I know, without a doubt, that our planet is a garden. When we see pictures of our blue-green garden planet taken from space, we instantly realize that Our Garden Planet is real. I am here to help remind people that we are, first and foremost, gardeners! All future generations depend on us re-aligning our priorities and becoming the planetary gardeners we were born to be."

Most of Lucretia’s 40-year, professional career she worked as a marketing consultant in the Canadian Natural Health Products industry. She has helped to research and develop several best-selling products in the industry. She has also worked as a writer, editor and broadcaster promoting natural health products and approaches.

She lives with her husband, Lee Gass, an award-winning UBC (University of British Columbia) science professor and sculptor on Quadra Island and Cortes Island – sister islands in the Salish Sea in British Columbia, Canada. The mother of son, Justice, and daughter, Harmony, Lu is also grandmother to three grandsons (Angello, Jesse and Emmett) and one grand-daughter, Willa Grace.

“Life on this planet, Urantia, is an experience that will remain with us forever. We have a glorious opportunity and a divine responsibility to manifest all the truth, beauty and goodness we possibly can in our one short lifetime here before we graduate and journey on to the next worlds. Being a mother and grandmother, proclaiming the Motherhood of God gospel, and promoting Our Garden Planet are my primary directives.”

Chuck Thurston

Chuck began his study of the Urantia Book in the mid-1970s. After exploring many other sources of spiritual insight, the discovery of the Urantia Book and its teachings marked the beginning of a new and profoundly life-changing growth in understanding of the nature of God and the meaning of our existence. Over the years since then, Chuck has been closely involved with the international community of readers and students of the Urantia Book and has offered many workshops and presentations at annual conferences and other gatherings.

He is currently a co-host on the Saturday morning Cosmic Citizen Blogtalk Radio broadcast and is working with Derek Samaras on the production of UBN (Urantia Book Network) video podcasts on a variety of topics.