Connecting Through Social Media
Hello, everyone, and thank you for including me in this roundtable. I am serving the Urantia Association as Social Media Subcommittee Chair, and I want to speak from an experiential point of view about how the Urantia community can leverage social media to share and study the teachings of The Urantia Book.
Global statistics show that as of early 2026, social media is a primary driver of global engagement, with about 5.66 billion users—nearly 64% of the world’s population. This fast-paced, mobile-driven digital environment is a critical infrastructure for communication and interaction, and our Urantia social organizations should be using it actively and intensely.
The revelator said, “Thousands of study groups must be brought into existence.” He didn’t say what kind of study groups – in-person or online. For sure, the revelators knew that this Digital Age would come.
Platforms like Facebook have become the main hub for online study groups in our community. The numbers really show the impact: one of the biggest English-speaking groups has around 13,000 members, while one of the Spanish-speaking groups has 23,500, and the biggest one has more than 43,500, all of them growing fast. There are more than one hundred other smaller study groups on Facebook, and several more on WhatsApp and Telegram. Social media’s global reach means anyone, anywhere, can join the conversation when it suits them.
Facebook study groups are effective spaces for readers to explore and analyze concepts. When they are public, they allow the group to connect with truth seekers from every language and culture.
With dedicated moderators who nurture respectful and thoughtful discussion, these groups welcome both newcomers and longtime students. There’s no limit to how many can participate, making it easy for everyone to find a welcoming place.
One of Facebook’s greatest strengths is breaking down language barriers. Automatic translation of texts and video dubbing make it simple for readers from all backgrounds to participate, share, and learn from one another. These groups are also crucial for outreach, introducing The Urantia Book to people who might never have found its teachings otherwise.
But for these groups to thrive, wise and thoughtful administration is needed. It’s important to focus publications and discussions on the teachings, answer questions, and avoid divisive or discriminatory content. Sharing relevant passages, analysis, and explanations of Urantia Book concepts, and fostering a welcoming environment helps everyone feel engaged, encouraging anyone interested in spiritual topics to join and contribute.
Behind these vibrant groups is a team of experienced readers who actively clarify concepts, enrich debates, and share insights from fields like science, astronomy, history, and archaeology. Their dedication illuminates The Urantia Book’s teachings for all of us.
Social media groups also serve as central points for sharing information about events, conferences, and meetings—often hosted on platforms like Zoom—which helps expand their impact even further.
Many people join quietly, absorbing information without always participating, yet their presence is real and meaningful. These groups have been a lifeline for readers who’ve spent years isolated from other Urantia community members. This pattern is similar in live Zoom study groups, where most attendees prefer to listen. Creating a welcoming atmosphere is essential, letting everyone contribute at their own comfort level. Moderators play a key role in encouraging open and respectful expression, stepping in only as needed to keep things positive and focused.
Managing these large, diverse online communities takes wisdom and empathy, especially when responding to those with deeply held beliefs. Thoughtful engagement can foster open-mindedness, leading many to embrace the revealed truths of The Urantia Book and become enthusiastic members of the community.
For both live Zoom and online study groups to succeed, they must remain welcoming, free, and accessible to all. Sharing invitations for events and meetings within these groups is vital for encouraging broader participation. Over the past decade, I’ve been part of the Latin American Study Group on Zoom—a dynamic and inclusive group where experienced readers deepen our understanding through their expertise in history, religion, geography, and philosophy. I am profoundly grateful to the Father for the faithful friends who serve our study group year after year, sharing their personal studies, facilitating meetings, and contributing to our collective growth.
What our Urantia global community needs more of is active and united service in the open arena of social media, especially from organizations dedicated to disseminating the teachings. We need urgent action to keep things on track for the future. As our revelation teaches, personal religion alone is not enough; some kind of organization is necessary for sustained development.
A Melchizedek of Nebadon says in Paper 98: “While it is true that the institutionalization of religion has usually detracted from its spiritual quality, it is also a fact that no religion has thus far succeeded in surviving without the aid of institutional organization of some degree, greater or lesser.” (98:6.1)
An orderly service to the revelation needs social organizations to maintain coordinated efforts focused on fostering true personal religion. Social media is where the world interacts today.
Engagement on social media—as organized teams of service to the revelation, personal interaction, answering questions, helping people understand complex concepts, and fostering friendship and unity among members of the same spiritual family—should be a top priority for Urantia social organizations.
Urantia Association is making progress in social media service, with an active Facebook study group, a Facebook page, and subsidiaries like the Mexico and Brazilian Associations, and others, active in their Facebook and WhatsApp groups.
Social media is essential today for sharing the teachings and reaching people from every culture and language. We need people who know the teachings deeply, live them wholeheartedly, and dedicate themselves to loving team service—helping others to understand the advanced concepts, promoting the knowledge and personal practice of the Jesus teachings to share the revelation with spiritual power—with the power of the Spirit of Truth connected and alive in our souls.
There are some students who love the revelation and work daily on social media to share its contents and help others understand its meanings, doing a remarkable job, but I see a great need for team service and united efforts. An efficient team service is needed, which requires experienced students who truly understand spiritual growth and the complex teachings. Impersonal dissemination without real personal contact and interaction with readers and interested people isn’t enough. Social media offers a functional means to connect with truth seekers, overcome distances and different languages, and encourage cross-cultural learning. I know from experience that many hungry souls are happy to find in the book the answers they need.
The key to the growth of the GLOBAL Urantia movement is real social open contact and collaboration in studying and discerning the teachings. Social organizations should make every effort to promote this service on social media, which is like a global city where most of the planet’s inhabitants reside and can be easily reached. We’re missing out on the most affordable, useful, and effective tool for advancing our revelation, helping people to grow experientially following spiritual guidance—by knowing, understanding, and living the divine truth. These social media tools are freely available. Let’s use them! We need teams of people well-trained in book knowledge and real spiritual experience, applying Jesus’ methods and procedures in their service, following Jesus guidance, and using the instructions given in The Urantia Book for an effective dissemination of the teachings, which requires living spiritual experience in walking the path of truth. Thank you.