I recently attended the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) 2004 conference on Development and Institutional Advancement that was held in Charleston, SC. The themes were to share knowledge about fundraising benchmarks, to explore the ABCs of development and even some XYZs were explored too. The context was that all of the participants work within the theological community. They work for seminaries throughout the USA and Canada. There was quite a diverse crowd with nearly 200 Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists and one Unificationist. Many participants have been coming to this annual conference for many years, and continue to find value in the peer relationships. The leadership of the program was excellent. The theological development profession has some remarkable and committed talent.

This was the first time a UTS development officer attended the conference. I was very well received. Though it was not my agenda, several times I was asked questions about the Unification movement and aspects of Unification theology. My fellow participants were warm and helpful, and especially helpful to the first time attendees.

The one element of the conference that excited me the most had to do with its vision. This is the common vision that theological education is at the cornerstone of American society, and paramount to a healthy society. This vision reinforced my desire to be effective in my alumni relations and development work for UTS.

The overall issues faced by seminaries are more or less the same, though some have large endowments, like Princeton, and others operate with no endowment and meet their financial needs through annual campaigns, as does Dallas Theological Seminary. Whatever the history or policy of the different seminaries, there are many common threads that bind them together. As seems true in every aspect of life, it is often easy to think that the challenges are personal, or unique to my life or institution. This conference revealed that the issues, concerns and challenges are felt across the board. And the conference offered a chance to hear the solutions that are proving effective in different institutions.

Of course it is not a cookie cutter fit. A few seminaries have hundreds and sometimes thousands of students. More commonly they have a hundred or so. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some have alumni programs to rival any Ivy League alumni club, while others are just getting started. It was apparent that past success does not guarantee the future success, and that a shifting market and different social influences cause each institution to look beyond their own walls.

This venue was the meeting place to discover even one valuable piece of the puzzle that might shift the gears in the alumni and development program of large or small seminaries. As in the current business world, there are sometimes advantages to being young and mobile, and there are sometimes advantages to a long history and stability. In this theological market, I sensed that no one was being complacent. There are, of course, differences among the competing denominations, but above all the conference underscored that strong leadership in terms of quality and quantity of theological education is needed. It was inspiring to hear the speakers and presenters so sure of their mission and their calling. The confidence they exhibit is very contagious. There is much to learn from this community and not the least is the role of the development officer as a theological educator of stewardship. I have re-examined my role and function at UTS as a result, and have made new plans to incorporate what I have learned. Another wonderful experience was to meet John David Doose an alumnus of UTS and resident of Charleston. We spent some wonderful hours together in this picturesque town. Many will remember him as David Doose, and I am happy to say that he is supporting the newsletter with his editorial skills. If you need limousine service in Charleston on your next visit give him a call.

I have made the study of marriage related issues a personal project ever since my parents divorced when I was a teenager. Once I was married my wife, Cathy, and I have attended workshops and therapy to help improve our marriage. In recent years, while working with the International Educational Foundation (IEF), I have had the privilege of doing extensive research that includes attendance at workshops and seminars on marriage. As a result I have created my own educational materials. My hope has always been to integrate the best of social science research and spiritual wisdom to help other married couples and young people looking to get married. I have spoken to clergy audiences and singles groups, but it was only recently that I had an opportunity to address those within my own faith community.

I was pleasantly surprised to be invited by the Bay Area Family Church to present a marriage preparation workshop to Second Generation and their parents, as well as any other adults and teenagers who wanted to attend. Coming on the foundation of Pastor Kevin Thompson's own study of marriage education and the clergy training that Dr. Josie Hauer had conducted a few months before, my program was intended to stress practical insights and skills to complement the more meaning-oriented, theological approach of the fundamental Blessing Preparation workshop. The program spanned the weekend of April 20 to 23, 2004, and close to 200 attended the various talks at the San Leandro, California, Family Federation Church and Principle Academy. It began with a Friday night Divine Principle study, in which teenagers sat with the adults to hear my talk on "What Divine Principle Says about True Love." This presentation arose from my past year of working on a new book for IEF entitled, Educating for True Love: Explaining Sun Myung Moon's Thought on Morality, Family and Society. During this presentation I made the point that the Principle of Creation suggests that following certain principles invites the presence of God and thus, true love. Contemplating the four position foundation yields at least five such principles: Mind & Body Unity, Giving & Receiving, Subject & Object Partnership, Masculine & Feminine Harmony, and Unity around a Higher Purpose. Each one of these has particular implications for marriage and thus for preparing young people for the Blessing in a practical way. For example, Mind & Body Unity relates to character traits that successful spouses possess. Preparation then includes character-building activities such as service projects as well as religious activities that cultivate a sufficient prayer life. Subject & Object Partnership has to do with the spouse's teamwork and their respective roles, for which preparation would include cooperative experiences along with serving in leadership and supportive roles. Physical intimacy promotes Masculine & Feminine Harmony in marriage, and premarital purity is the best foundation for this.

The next day the main seminar consisted of three presentations. In the first one, "Preparing Myself for Marriage: Taking Responsibility to Become a Good Mate," the main emphasis was on developing an attitude that actively takes responsibility for one's personal happiness and for challenges that come up, especially in personal relationships. Certainly Father sees this as fundamental to a good marriage, and many marriage experts agree. The second presentation was focused on debunking the kinds of myths that the culture promotes that get in the way of a satisfying an enduring union. Called "Getting Smart about Love and Marriage," this session invited participants to break into groups to figure out why such notions as "If I find the right person, we will automatically love each other forever," "My mate should know how to make me happy," and "I cannot marry someone I don't love" are "dumb ideas." I concluded the day with a discussion about "Constructive Complaining" and coached the participants on some helpful ways to ask someone else to change what they are doing. Sunday was reserved for discussions about purity. I spoke to the Sunday School Teen group about "Getting

Smart about Sex and Purity." Again, I asked them to tell me why certain prevailing assumptions about sexuality were faulty by answering such questions as, "Don't we need sex on a regular basis?," "If you both agree and use protection, what's the harm?" and "Doesn't prior experience make you a better lover in marriage?" This lively session was followed by a sobering discussion with the parents on "Supporting Our Kids' Purity." I began by orienting the parents to the reality of what our youth are dealing with in present society and offering strategies that they need to follow to help prevent sexual mistakes-the most important strategy being living a balanced life, especially enjoying healthy and varied vertical and horizontal relationships. At the conclusion we had give and take, with parents voicing concerns and all of us offering comments to one another. The weekend included a talk to STF and a message given to a clergy prayer breakfast gathering, as well as many meetings and discussions about how to incorporate ongoing marriage enrichment and preparation into the faith community life there.

It was wonderful to give something back to the Bay Area Family, my spiritual birthplace, and see my spiritual mother again along with old friends. Yet in some ways, the most gratifying experience was simply to see the beginning of a shift in church culture that would encourage the discussion of the challenges we face as spouses and parents and the active exploration of practical strategies that complement our theology. The result can only be healthier families and more hopeful youth who serve as a greater testimony to the power of our True Parents.

Going back to the year of 1978, when I received the call and the invitation to study at UTS, I am reminded of key themes for me; a time for deep prayer to develop a personal relationship with God, the chance to share part of a lifelong fellowship with fellow-travelers on the Providential path, the challenge to serve in central leadership roles during this uniquely historical time period, the lifetime commitment to be the West Point version of leadership for God's Providence. More than 25 years later there is a variety pack of situations that I and other alumni find ourselves in. So now what do we do?? After talking with a number of UTS grads in recent months, I want to offer a few ideas that are based on my own field/ life experience. I offer them for your consideration as part of the growing alumni forum that seems to be actively unfolding. The meter is running, so to speak, and virtually everyone I know wants to do all they can to make the balance of their earthly life as effective and meaningful as possible. I understand that the core UTS leadership team is working as hard as they can to craft an attractive/ relevant vision from which a sustainable game plan can be produced. From my professional work in the field, this is no small task. It's an ownership-taking process that almost parallels the writing of the Constitution and the cultivation of an authentic culture that makes it real. So what can we, as UTS Alumni, do to make the most of our gifts/ talents/ passions and

how do we celebrate/ enjoy the process? I suggest that part of that is determining what we really feel called by God to do and pursuing it whole-heartedly. I sense that many have been quietly doing that or at least have seriously thought about it and are pursuing further training to develop/ hone/ polish those gifts.

I start with this "Vision Thing" as it relates to my personal relationship to God and to the greater human community. What it is? Recently, I responded in writing to some key questions, to newly consider what that might be for me at this point in time. Such questions included:

What do I want to have more or less of? As Helen Keller once said, "Worse than a life without sight is a life without vision." Of course, we have the shared global, cosmic, historical Providential vision. And for me, the question is, in light of this much greater Providential circle, what is my personal, from-the-heart, no kidding, vision, values and game plan, as it relates to that bigger circle -at least for the next few years?

Again, from talking with other alumni, and especially in light of the increasingly rapid pace of change in today's world and in many of our lives, many of us are discovering that it's either time for a check up from the neck up or even time for a completely new rewrite -certainly a major process.

I am happy to say I have some ideas that I think (hope?? -:) align with the much greater view of God's Providence. I envision that you, the reader, do too. Or at least you are feeling the need for it or are actively in process, sorting it out for yourself and those around you. So now what to do?

I know that for me, the biggest challenge I find is to first model what I seek to advocate, be it God's True Love or an effective leadership training program. In a classic "mind/ body, mind over mattress" sense, to make myself the pilot project that I think might be expanded to serve the greater whole.

Inspirational Developments I am inspired by ideas that I am hearing from other grads about systematically developing "vitamin-supplement" type Institutes for Spiritual Self-Mastery, Healing, Marriage, Family, Parenting, Leadership Development, Effective Ministry, Global Service and so on. I envision that these can all, in some form or fashion, add to the main menu of UTS, Family Fed and beyond. I am further inspired to see the writings and the Powerpoint presentations that are emerging on these topics and the idea that an increasing number of grads are seeking quality training beyond Unificationist ranks. Many are working to learn from the best of the best, whether it's in the Christian ministry fields, world religion fields, philanthropic/ stewardship disciplines or from the professional development arenas. Working from within these foundations, we can possibly find betters ways to collaborate with them or even reformulate how we ourselves are living and working.

So for now, without being too grandiose, what might I next suggest we do next as UTS Alumni? To begin, I think it is a good idea to get our lines of communications freshly going. A current inventory and total update of our database is needed. Get a monthly email newsletter going, similar to what is being presented here. A vehicle for celebration, activity updates, exchange of best ideas/ best practices, innovative ways to further strengthen our personal and public foundations, etc, etc, etc. This can all be in the name of compassionately spreading God's True Love and addressing root causes of some of the most troubling problems confronting humanity in the world today.

I, for one, would be happy to chip in to help make that happen. I see it as an opportunity to freshly connect our dots and discover new energy in fellowship and mutual service. I suggest, and will support, self-funding the Alumni Association, so that it serves as a plus, not a drain. Part of what I see as possible in this process is how we can better understand each other, for real, and how we can help each other become more successful. Maybe put an interactive UTS AA website into the mix?

I am confident that our reciprocal exchanges can be an increased source of inspiration and tools, not only for each other, but also for the greater good. Enough from me -what do you say?? Lots of Love and All The Best To Your Providential Success

Send all info to John David Doose at jdsdoose@ earthlink.net

Name: Robert Beebe
Location: Moscow, Russia
Family: wife Karen from Class of 1983 and 6 children (Timothy, 16; Arienne, 15; Alexander and Zachary, 13; Katya, 11; Chason, 6)
Mission: Director of International Educational Foundation for the Northeast Continent

Name: John W. Gehring
Location: Living in Nutley, NJ
Family: Yoshiko and their five children.
Mission: Working with the Religious Youth Service (RYS) since 1986 and recently has been working with the Interreligious Peace Sports Festival. He is currently the IIFWP Director of Youth and Sports.

Name: Judy Skarsten-Shahi
Family: Daughter Theoni Victoria, 11.
Mission: In September starts new position with Montessori School teaching 9-12. Previously home-schooled and taught at New Hope Academy.

Hi everyone, Greetings from UTS. Congratulations to Robin Graham, our Director of Alumni Relations and Development, on getting the Cornerstone ramped up again, and to David Doose for his significant support to make it happen.

Over the years, UTS has gone through many changes, but the land, river, mountains and fresh air endure. I've just concluded my interviews with the 60 or more students from Barrytown who are graduating. When I asked them about their UTS experience, they all treasured the diverse friendships they had developed and the beautiful environment. Truly these are both given by God.

One object of interest over the past few weeks has been my "Spirituality of Golf" class. The subject matter is not golf; it is spirituality. I have found a number of excellent books on the subject. Golf has long been connected with access to the spirit world. Also themes of peace-building and marriage enhancement are found in the golf literature. But the central spiritual theme is that of mind-body unity. In golf, one is playing against oneself and the environment. To succeed at golf, one needs to stay in the present and to have a fine balance of the intellectual, controlling mind and the intuitive mind that releases control in trust of the body's ability to execute the shot. One needs to have a clear and precise target. One needs to put aside the past and have confidence about the future. The journey of life takes place on the course (the original and most famous St. Andrew's "old course" has its 18th green built upon an ancient graveyard).

So too, to achieve success as a leader in the church or business, one needs to find the balance between control and trust. The need to "give up control" is emphasized over and over again in the church health/ growth literature. As leaders, we need to trust that our members will choose righteousness as much, or even more than through us. As members, we need to trust our leaders' decisions and work with their vision for the sake of outreach.

The leader's task is to set the goal, to define the target, with an inspiring vision. The leader needs to equip the members (practice, practice) with the tools necessary to succeed. Then the leader needs to give up control, and let the members do the ministry, while supporting, encouraging and rewarding them every step of the way.

I was sitting in my office most of one afternoon last week with two major church leaders, one from the regional level, one from the national. There we sat, talking to each other about how to reach people outside the church. As the afternoon wore on, and the golden sunlight slanted through the ancient bookshelves of this former Catholic seminary, I found myself thinking, when are we going to go beyond talking to each other? Why aren't we sitting with these very people who are outside the realm of True Parents? Our church is in a transition now in America, launched from the recent developments in Korea. If you have not heard much about this, and I don't think many of us have, please catch the new issue of Today's World and read "Revolution of Ideas in Korea--The New Hoondok Family Churches." (p. 9) A friend of mine in Korea called it a "revolution," and it well could be. Basically, Father is asking that we stop talking to each other and spend all our time talking with our neighbors, relatives and friends. The front line is that "line of fire" that separates oneself and the person who does not know about True Parents. Our culture of heart has got to keep us up on that line so that we can share our heart, love and convictions with others who can benefit, those who are searchers like us. I hope that UTS, and its Alumni Association, can support this with all our hearts.

The plan is to publish the Cornerstone quarterly in June, September, December, and March. The current June issue highlights some of the Class of 1984. If you are part of that class and feel that you have been overlooked or would like to let your fellow alumni know what you are up to then please contact the editor John David Doose at jdsdoose@earthlink.net.

The December issue will highlight the Class of 1994. Please forward any information to John David Doose and mention the Class you graduated with.

Don't put E-Cornerstone out with the trash! With the proliferation of spam, or junk mail, infiltrating the mailboxes of Internet users, many are placing blocks on unwanted mail. Some are insuring that only mail from specific e-mail addresses reaches them. If you want to continue to receive UTS E-News on a quarterly basis, please make sure to include us in your approved e-mail address book and see that we are cleared to pass through any spam blockers you may be using. If you should suddenly stop receiving E-Cornerstone, check with your Internet service provider. If you have a change of e-mail address, wish to be removed from the distribution list, or wish to add a friend or classmate, please send e-mail to alumni@uts.edu.

As a fellow alumnus I share many of Don Sardella's concerns and hopes as stated in his article. He sees the possibility that alumni can create a support system that will enable everyone to be more successful. In my new role as Director of Development and Alumni Relations one of my first concerns was to examine the responsibilities of the position and how to bring success.

I created vision and mission statements for the two functions that are as follows: Alumni Relations Vision: A community of alumni and friends of UTS who exemplify the heart of God in action.

Mission: Maintain a lifelong commitment to the success of each alumnus and alumna of UTS.

At the end of 2003 the UTS Board of Trustees responded to a challenge from Dr. Hendricks (UTS President) to join in a campaign to provide scholarship support for incoming students. Almost 95% of the Board contributed. At the end of April 2004 Dr. Hendricks challenged the staff and faculty to match that commitment to the UTS educational vision. It underscores the commitment which those involved in the day-to-day work at UTS have toward the vision and mission.

Now I have an opportunity to ask for UTS support from the alumni. I have heard from one or two alumni that they would give, but no one has ever asked. Well here is the "ask." UTS is not just about the education, though that is at the core of the program. There is also the responsibility for a 200-plus acre estate and the problems that come with aging infrastructure. It is a most valuable property and well worth our investment. The educational program is even more valuable, and even more worthy of our investment to maintain a powerful experience for the upcoming students.

Below are some budget items that need funding: Advertising $4450 Audio-visual $1500 (UTS has a great power-point training program) Staff Training $1600 Skills, software, admin training Grounds Maintenance $15,996 Library Periodicals $8800 Printing and Publishing $15,875

If you have made a fortune since you graduated then please consider a large donation, but if you haven't please help with as much as you can. Of course unrestricted donations allow UTS administration the most flexibility in financial management, but if you see another need or have a special interest you would like to contribute to just attach a note and let us know where you want it directed. Currently I am asking graduating students to donate $40 to the alumni fund, and then to increase that by $40 each year; i. e. 3rd year $120, 4th year $160, and 5th year $200. The goal is that, at minimum, every alumni from every class can give $200 per year by the time they have been an alumni for 5 years. If 500 graduates donate then that can add a minimum $100,000 income stream to the UTS bottom line. I am hoping that all alumni can begin making an ongoing contribution to the work of UTS. A contribution that you can anticipate making annually. This plan would give UTS a strong financial base upon which to expand and market itself. This plan provides an opportunity for all UTS graduates to illustrate the confidence they have in their alma mater by making a commitment to its continued success.

I invite you to come back to UTS for Open House May 29th or come to the Class of 2004 graduation June 26th Ping Yap, UTS accountant (ping@ uts. edu), can provide details for automatic payment. I look forward to hearing from you.

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