First, please accept my apologies for being delayed with this communication. There is much to report, but so much further to go that I often think more about what is yet to be done than what we have accomplished. But when I stop and think about it, I realize that we should note and be grateful for the distance traveled thus far.

Our True Parents are in South America, and I have heard nary a peep of news from there. In the meantime, huge projects are proceeding, including Lasting Love conferences in China, Russia and Korea, an Assembly at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel dealing with the United Nations, ALCs in each state, and the 144,000 churches/flags project. In this powerful mix, our humble seminary nonetheless is making progress.

1. The UTS web site. Due to lack of handing things on, we had lost the ability to update the site, and it took us a couple of weeks to track down a former student in Japan to get the information. We have it now and have two web-masters picking up the work. Also we are transferring the site to an in-house server.

2. Several faculty, staff and committee members met on July 12 at 43rd Street to discuss the NY Seminary Extension. Following that meeting I had a conference call with Dr.s Bansa and Swanson. Out of that meeting, and a series of conversations the following day, we are ready to propose to the Board of Trustees the following core staff for the Extension: Dr. Kathy Winings, Director, Dr. Elgin Watkins, Senior Vice-President for Development, Rev. Levy Daugherty, Vice-President for External Affairs, Sayomi Kamimoto, Administrative Assistant. Sayomi will come to Barrytown to meet our staff here and begin ascending her learning curve. We are planning for a meeting of this core group for Wednesday, July 26, at 43rd Street.

3. Discussions between Rev. Daugherty, 43rd Street Building Manager Abdel Mesbah, and myself on July 18 concluded that the Extension should utilize space on the first and second floors of the building. We will discuss this further on the meeting of the 26th.

4. I will be meeting UTS faculty and staff at Barrytown on Tuesday, July 25, to discuss how to proceed with the Middle States Association, our accrediting body. We are making substantive changes in mission, curriculum, programs, clientele and location. Our Self Study is scheduled to begin this autumn. We should keep the MSA clearly informed of our plans and the reasons for them.

5. We have at the present moment 16 new students solid for this autumn at Barrytown, and another 7 very likely. We have three non-Unification Church students lined up, from Ecuador, the Bahamas and Denver. On Tuesday, July 18, I provided the Unification Church District Leaders of New York preliminary brochures for the Extension. We pray for a big positive response. We are now printing the nicer brochures, and they will be ready Saturday morning. I will mail a brochure to you; if you need more, let me know.

6. Our catalogue is in process. The Barrytown catalogue is nearing completion. The Extension catalogue will be much simpler, because the Extension is not yet a formally recognized program, but is only the Barrytown classes being offered at a different site. In fact, we probably would not be able to call it a real catalogue, but more a booklet or prospectus.

7. A closing note on our purpose, to which I always return in my heart. What is the purpose of this seminary? We can simply put it as being to contribute to building God’s kingdom, and I focus on three aspects of this: a) creating strong and joyful marriages and families; b) creating a vital, life-giving church; c) building the healthy community inclusive of race, nation and religion. Now, this is a tall order. It is a challenge to create a curriculum with qualified teachers who can deliver these goods. Nonetheless, it is at this moment our God-given challenge, so let us work together to meet it. I will endeavor to create means by which our alumni community can be a part of this great task. And I seek your ideas about this as well.

8. What can each of us do? At the top of the list is prayer, next is comments or ideas about this project, and finally, finding new students is very important. We have a fresh application form, specifically designed for non-Unification Church applicants, and a new brochure. If you contact Tessa Hodson, at (from overseas, you still have to use the 914 area code, I am told) she will send you brochures and application forms.

Thank you everyone for your support in all its dimensions.

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