Q: I’m very interested in your religion, its beliefs, references, etc. I’m currently a Lutheran and I’m finding out more about them that I don’t like. I’m tired of mainstream Christianity. Do you have churches like other churches?

A: Urantia Book readers come from all manner of beliefs or lack thereof – -Catholic priests and nuns, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Mormons, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Moslems, atheists and agnostics and everything in between, even Lutherans.

There have been attempts in the past to establish a Urantia Church but the concept isn’t particularly well received among Urantians – -you see, most of us believe that the teachings of The Urantia Book do not denote a new religion as much as they provide an umbrella under which all world religions can function. The Urantia Book is here, in part, to elevate and uplift the religious thought in the world, whether it be Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, or pagan, not to impose another form of religion.

The kingdom of heaven that Jesus introduced is what The Urantia Book calls the “invisible brotherhood.” This invisible brotherhood will be (and is being) manifest through individuals’ development of relationship with God through the religion of personal spiritual experience, which is the religion that Jesus taught and lived. While it would appear that churches will always be desirable as sources of community and fellowship, this personal religion, being a spontaneous and always-growing phenomenon, will resist the traditional form of what we have come to know as a “church,” which is usually characterized by rules, regulations and dogma. You can read Urantia book teachings about the weakness of institutionalized religions HERE

(195:10.1) The true church—the Jesus brotherhood—is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity…

Thanks so much for your question…you are not alone in your frustration with the institutionalized Christian church, and I hope that you’ll be able to find a more progressive congregation as time goes on.