UrantiaUniversity, Inc. - 2021 The Progress Project Course

Join the Fall 2022 Session

October 13, 2022 - January 19, 2023

Thursdays 5:30-7pm PDT

6:30pm MDT / 7:30pm CDT / 8:30pm EDT

Note the class runs 12 weeks, excluding Nov 24, Dec 22, and Dec 29 for holidays

A mandatory orientation is Thursday, September 22

Register for the Orientation

Invitation to join

the Progress Project Course

You are invited to join with others for a season of spiritual growth.

The purpose of the Progress Project course is to deepen our personal relationships with God, share our inner lives with each other, and support each other in spiritual goals through intentional relationship. We take our name from an initiative that was developed by Urantia Book readers as a network of small groups focused on personal spiritual growth. This is the third time we are offering this course on the UUI platform.

During the course, we will meet for 90 minutes each week in class, focusing on the arc of spiritual growth from inner connection to outer expression. Each class period will include time for worshipful communion, instruction from Angie and Aprilhelen, and breakout groups for Urantia Book study and personal reflection on the week’s theme.

In addition, all students will be expected to join a Triad: a group of three that meets outside of class to support and accompany each other in their mutual desire for personal spiritual progress. These meetings are an additional 90 minutes per week and include worshipful communion, sharing of your inner life, and a time for study.

Lastly, all students will be asked to develop a personal, everyday practice of communion with God. We’ll invite you to set spiritual goals and journal about your experience as you go.

The Progress Project course is a deep-dive! You’re making a real commitment – to God, to yourself, to your Triad, and to your peers. We will not have auditors for this course. Before registering, we invite you to reflect on whether the time is right for you to make such a significant commitment. We hope you’ll say yes!

Orientation Session

and Commitment

We will hold an orientation session three weeks before the start date and will also make a recording available to all who register.

If you are considering the Progress Project course, be sure to attend this session or watch the recording.

At the orientation, we will provide key information that you will need as a student in the Progress Project course and give you a chance to ask questions. This will help you decide if the course is right for you.

Afterwards, if you decide to join the course, we’ll ask you to complete a short online survey and make a commitment to undertake the entire twelve weeks. For the Fall 2022 session, the holiday season will be honored, so the course will run longer than twelve consecutive weeks.

Your commitment not only supports you in your personal progress, but the whole group in theirs. We’re all in this together…in spiritual growth!

This course has initiated a new dimension of spiritual growth for me! - Ann, USA

The UUI Progress Project is an enlightening adventure which inspires personal growth and connects us with other UB readers around the world. - Jane, Canada

Being in a Triad was an impactful and valuable personal experience, and I was impressed at how far along my Urantian peers are on their personal development. - Bob, USA

Such a great place to grow and serve and exchange with God-loving brothers and sisters!! - Manuela, Germany

This is a course in deepening one's relationship with our Paradise Father and it delivers in spades...I have used some of their techniques to inwardly and upwardly reach, daily...so soul-satisfying!! - Monica, Canada

The Progress Project has helped my spiritual growth more than anything I have ever done. I encourage everyone to participate in this wonderful program when they can. - Kurt, USA

Weekly Outline of the Course

While some details may change, this is a general arc of our time together:

Week 0: Orientation

An intro to the course with key info, Q&A, and a call to commitment.

Week 1: Trinitized Spiritual Growth

An overview of the Progress Project, the role of Triads, and the universe pattern of the Trinity. Meet your Triad for the first time!

Week 2: Sharing the Inner Life

On the importance of sharing your inner life with God, your Triad, and the class.

Week 3: Connection with God

Explore techniques of inner Spirit connection while being reminded of our many Spirit helpers.

Week 4: Communion with God

Learn from others about their practices of communion and develop and deepen your own.

Week 5: The Practice

On patience, adaptation, and the power of free will as we continue our journey of spiritual discipline.

Week 6: Self-Awareness

Discover techniques and resources for cultivating self-awareness.

Week 7: Living on Purpose

On the art of spiritual living: cultivating daily habits and a rhythm of life.

Week 8: Gifts of God

On the gift of personality, the consecration of choice, and transforming through difficulties.

Week 9: Personality Progress

Begin to recognize your growing capacity to bear the fruits of the spirit.

Week 10: Serving God

On loving service and discovering your true voice and spiritual purpose.

Week 11: Transformation

On the growth of meanings and the realization of values in your life.

Week 12: Moving Forward

Celebrate our personal and collective progress and our visions for the future!

Please note:

Participants must be able and willing to use the Zoom online video-conferencing application (rather than phone call-in) to participate in this online learning experience.

First-time Zoom users will need to download an applet from the Zoom.us.com website in order to join the online meeting.

Watch the video above to hear more about the

Progress Project from Angie Thurston and Aprilhelen,

the course developers and instructors.

Course Format

Time frame: 12 weeks (Excluding the weeks of American Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, though we highly encourage your Triad to meet during these weeks.)

Format: Weekly online meetings using Zoom video-conferencing. Participants are expected to attend all the weekly meetings, with the group and with your Triad.

Technology: We will review the tech components of the class at Orientation and be there to help you along the way! In addition to Zoom, we will also use:

UUI's online campus, our educational platform, to access all course materials and discussion board
Google Documents for shared editing of Triad materials and periodic surveys
Note that your Triad will collaboratively decide on a means of ongoing communication and good cheer (email, text, WhatsApp, etc)

Class time: The entire class meets 90 minutes per week online, plus 90 minutes per week in a Triad group (to be scheduled by the three people in the Triad at a time convenient for all of you).

Additional Effort: You are expected to engage in daily spiritual practice, spiritual goal setting, and journaling about your experience.

Level: There are no prerequisites for the course.

Size: Class is limited, so sign up early!

Language: English

Facilitators

Angie Thurston

I'm Angie Thurston, and I'll be one of your faculty members for this course. I was raised with the Urantia Book, and the part that always compelled me most was this idea of spiritual growth. I would read about "spiritual goals" and "growing closer to God" and I wanted to know how to do it! I also knew that I couldn't – and didn't want to – do it alone. Luckily, I wasn't the only one. The Progress Project was born from a small group of Urantia Book readers who all wanted to support and accompany each other in our spiritual growth. It has been a Godsend for me and I'm excited to share it with you.

My work in the world is all about the future of spiritual community. I spent five years as a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and am the co-founder of Sacred Design Lab, a soul-centered research and development lab. With my mother, Claire Thurston, I lead a program called Inner Sourcing for young adults to connect with their souls.

I'll be joining you from Alexandria, VA, where I live with my husband Vipin, our son Orion, and our cat Pepper.

Aprilhelen

Aloha! Aprilhelen here, radiantly from the Northwest Arkansas Ozarks. I appreciate being “together in spiritual growth!” Another second generation student of The Urantia Book, one of my passions has been the practice of integrating the techniques of the art of living prescribed by the revelators and by witnessing how Christ Michael lived.

Through the past twenty-five years of sharing, with all ages, the eight-fold path of the art of therapeutic yoga and personal integration, catering and nutrition education, horticulture and animal husbandry, I have been able to effectively expose these tools for others, so we may all up-step our addition of value to the Supreme. I am now in school for a higher level of certification in yoga therapy.

Also through UUI, my facilitator and course development skills are being used for the debut program within its new branch, School of Service. Another passion project of mine is facilitating conversations lifting up the Art of Universal Language, a social engagement exploration of unifying communication. I am an active member of several of the Fellowship’s Committees: Web Content/Stepping Stones Program (content creator, host, and trainer of “Spiritual Growth Conversations”), Youth and Young Adults (secretary), and Family Life. I am also a helpful friend of the Urantia Book Network, UAI, the Urantia movement at large, and the Twelve-Step community.

My spiritual sister Angie and I have worked together for the Revelation for over a decade. Our shared experience on the playground of the UB Fellowship’s Youth and Young Adult Committee has provided us many valuable leadership and service opportunities that laid the foundation from which the Progress Project has now emerged. This will be our third time hosting this course on the Urantia University Institute platform. Our vision is to help the Progress Project pollinate across the Urantia movement and beyond!

Having now facilitated two Progress Project courses, we decided the structure that has been developed will greatly benefit from an additional training course specifically for the Progress Project Service Corps. This new offering is for alumni of the original course was offered in its pilot form in Spring 2022. We plan to offer it again in Spring 2023.

FAQ

After I enroll, what happens next?

After registering for the Orientation Session, you will receive a confirmation email and subsequent email reminders of the Orientation session on Sept 22.

A few days before the Orientation session, you will receive an email with login information for the online Zoom meeting.
Following the Orientation session, if you choose to enroll in the course, you will receive a registration survey and reminders for the Week 1 course start date on Oct 13.
A reminder email with the login information will be sent to participants the morning of the start date of the class.

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