THE BULLETIN OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHA’IS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
Office of the Secretary
P. O. BOX 139, STATION D, STREET, NEW YORK CITY“It is evident and manifest that the greatest of all means for the progress and advancement of all peoples, and the mightiest instrument for the establishment of true civilization in the world, is perfect love, concord and unity amongst the children of men. Nothing whatsoever in this world can be either conceived or achieved save through the power of unity, of harmony and concord; and the most perfect means thereto is the true faith of God.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly[edit]
Matters taken up by the National Assembly at its meeting held in New York City, October 20 and 21 are here summarized for the information of the delegates and other believers.
It was noted in the minutes that a
piece of land at Cranford, N. J., has
been donated to the Cause by Dr. and
Mrs. Frank Clark; and that land near
Hammond, Indiana, has also been donated
by the Spiritual Assembly of
Urbana, Illinois, on behalf of one of
the Urbana friends. The following
letter from one of the Guardian’s
secretaries, dated August 21, 1928, was
read: “It is very gratifying to him
(Shoghi Effendi) to see the N.S.A.
and the friends wholeheartedly arise
for the completion of this edifice which
was so dear to the Master’s heart. If
this spirit of cooperation and sacrifice
should be sustained it will indirectly
affect all the other phases of our activities
and usher in a new era in the history
of the progress of the movement
in that country. As far as the letters
we obtain show, a new spirit has been
actually awakened and they all seem
to take the question as a challenge
which they have either to fulfill or bear
the consequences of an utter failure. . . .
The Cause at times of real
trial has shown miraculous powers, and
who knows but that in this case also
that power will manifest itself.” In
reply to an inquiry from a local Spiritual
Assembly, it was decided that the
local bodies are free to extend cooperation
to the World Unity Conferences
if such action promises to lead to results
for the Cause. The suggestion
received from a believer that the National
Assembly appoint the Guardian’s
birthday as an annual celebration was
not approved, as this does not correspond
to the Guardian’s own wishes.
The Treasurer’s report for the period
September 1 to 30 contained the following
items: Balance on hand, September
30, $45,041.60; amount spent in
September, $5,498.40. The full reports
are in future to be sent out with the
letters issued by the Committee on
Plan for Unified Action. In order to
keep the current annual expenditure
within the sum of $33,000 which the
Assembly pledged itself to the 1928
Convention not to exceed, drastic
reductions were voted in the appropriations
allotted to administrative and
other activities, a step made necessary
by the unexpected expense of the year
book and the Green Acre Inn. It was reported
by the Temple Committee that
the Executive Board of Bahá’i Temple
Unity had adopted the Indenture of
Trust at a duly called meeting held in
Wilmette, Illinois, on October 6, 1928.
This Indenture transfers title and possession
of the Temple property from
Bahá’i Temple Unity (the Illinois religious
corporation formed to hold this
property in 1909) to the nine members
of the National Assembly as trustees
for the benefit of the Bahá’is of the
United States and Canada. The Indenture
was then signed by the nine
members and turned over for registry
at the Cook County, Illinois, Registry
Office. By this action (taken as the
result of the Guardian’s request that
the Temple property be incorporated in
the present Bahá’i administration), the
legal status of the Cause in America
has now been completed. The title
“Financial Secretary” having caused
some confusion in connection with the
valuable services being rendered by
Mrs. Corinne True, it was voted to
change this to “Assistant to the Treasurer.”
The Temple Maintenance Committee
was requested to investigate all
the conditions (in connection with
architectural and engineering plans,
etc.) which must be fulfilled preliminary
to actual construction of the
Temple and report back detailed recommendations
by January 1, 1929.
The Green Acre Committee was also
requested to make a complete analysis
of Green Acre in order to determine
what policies and methods will make
Green Acre revenue-producing in the future,
to avoid further large investments
and appropriations for that center during
the period when we must concentrate
on the Temple fund. It was
voted to approve the report of the Special
Reviewing Committee, which has
read the manuscript of Ahmad
Sohrab’s diary that this work conforms
to the Guardian’s instructions that no
books should contain as direct quotations
any oral words of the Master
not afterward confirmed by Him. The
Pacific Coast Bahá’i Summer School
Committee was increased by two new
members, Mrs. Ella G. Cooper and
Mr. Willard P. Hatch. Approval was
voted for the generous offer made by
one of the New York friends to donate
a number of specially bound volumes
of Bahá’i literature to the Emperor
and Empress of Japan as a token of
amity and goodwill from the Bahá’i
ladies of America. It was recorded in
the minutes that the National Assembly
has received the U.S. certificate of
trademark of the name “Bahá’í” registered
on August 17, 1928, under No.
245,271. The Publishing Committee
was requested to promote the sales of
The Bahá’i World, as all sums received[Page 2]
Such feasts for newly interested ones
are a splendid method of spreading
the Glad Tidings.
Mr. Vail was invited to join a conference of social workers to be held June 10th and 11th at a country club near Waukegan, Illinois. Thirty social workers, ministers, university professors, doctors, labor leaders, business executives, gathered together at this club and spent two days discussing the question of prejudice. Mr. Vail was asked to give a talk upon the Bahá’i solution of the problem of religious prejudice. Much interest was awakened. One national secretary of the race relations department of one of the great denominations who was present said that the Bahá’i principles were just what he believed. Then he turned to a Chinese businessman, a speaker of that morning, and said, “You too are a Bahá’i.” And this Chinese merchant straightway began to study a Bahá’i pamphlet.
Mr. Vail has also spoken many Sunday afternoons in the beautiful Foundation Hall of the Temple, where splendid groups of people attended with joyous eagerness to hear the divine teachings. After each meeting he has conducted an intensive study class in the Bahá’i philosophy, using Mrs. Gift’s outline on God’s Manifestations as a text book. Each member of the class writes each week a paper on one of the topics of the outline, this after an exhaustive study of the various references, and presents this paper to the class. After reading the paper the author answers questions on the subject presented by the teacher of the class. The members are entering into the work with great enthusiasm and declare that the careful preparation of these papers has taught them more about the real Bahá’i teachings than years of merely attending meetings. Out of the group there promises to come a number of gifted and effective teachers. The love of the Heavenly Teachings manifest at the meetings is like a divine elixir.
In July, the student who became a believer at the Temple in May sailed for his instructorship in a Chinese university and called all the passengers together to tell them on shipboard of the Bahá’i teachings.
Progress of Miss Alexander’s Work in Japan[edit]
Letters from Miss Agnes Alexander dated April 22 and June 20, 1928, contain many evidences of the confirmation she is receiving for her Bahá’i activities in Tokyo.
“Easter Sunday, April 8, was also Buddha’s birthday this year. On that day it was my privilege to give the Bahá’i message to some students of the School for the Blind. Two members of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom were here on their way from China to America, Mme. Drevet and Miss Pye. Miss Pye was wearing a beautiful Bahá’i ring. She told me she was not a believer, but that Mrs. White, mother of Sir Frederick White, had put it on her finger and told her it would help her. This especially interested me, as Sir Frederick White headed the English delegation at the Institute of Pacific Relations in Honolulu last summer.
“From June 5 to 8 there was held here in Tokyo the first National Religious Conference of Japan composed of Buddhists, Shintoists, Christians and others. Through His power I was invited to be a member of the conference and to speak a few words at the banquet, which preceded the sessions. . . . Every word spoken at the conference is recorded, so these great words of Bahá’u’lláh go down in the history of this first independent all religious conference in Japan.”
News Letter of the Haifa Spiritual Assembly[edit]
A few excerpts from the latest NEWS LETTER issued by the Spiritual Assembly in Haifa will convey important details of Bahá’i activity in various centers of the Orient.
“It is a pleasure to report that the newsletters received from various parts of the Orient during the last two months show sustained endeavor and unceasing effort on the part of the friends. All throughout Persia and the Near East the friends have come to realize increasingly the need for permanent headquarters and meeting places; and we are glad to learn of the purchase and establishment of such centers in Mashhad, Persia; Baghdad, Iraq; Marv and Tashkand, Turkistan; and Karachi, India. In one of the villages of Yazd, Persia, a farmer who was originally of the Zoroastrian faith commemorates the anniversary of his departed son with the generous offer of a furnished house to be owned by the Bahá’i community in the village and used as their permanent meeting place.
“Enthusiastic response has been made in various centers as a result of the Guardian’s last letter to his Eastern friends in which he urges the Spiritual Assemblies to make a special effort to purchase and own all those sacred sites and dwellings, in the vicinity of each Assembly, which were closely associated with the lives of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.”
The Annual Souvenir of ’Abdu’l-Bahá[edit]
Between two and three hundred people responded to the cordial invitation issued by the Spiritual Assembly of West Englewood, N. J., for the sixteenth annual meeting commemorating the Unity Feast held there by the Master in 1912. The program included brief addresses by a number of well known believers, both afternoon and evening. That unique Bahá’i institution, the “Evergreen Cabin,” has been greatly extended since last year. In time to come, this center will be able to accommodate great gatherings of truth seekers, and its quiet but continuous progress during these years is convincing testimony to the power of concentrated faith.
Bulletin Published By National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt[edit]
Cordial welcome is extended to No. 1 of a printed Bulletin, dated June, 1928, published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Egypt, in English, Arabic and Persian. This newsletter from Egypt can fulfill a mighty function, emanating as it does from a country which throughout history has been the meeting place of three continents. We quote the following statement, addressed “to our friends and co-workers throughout the West.”
“It is the earnest hope of our National Assembly to issue this bulletin regularly every month in three languages, namely, English, Arabic and Persian, so that it may become an organ of love and concord and a medium for interchanging the news and activities of the various Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’i World.”
“We are happy to acknowledge receipt of several circular letters from the different Assemblies and especially the bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of the United States and Canada, which has been lately of great interest to us and its contents are translated into Arabic and included in our Arabic section for the benefit of the Arabic speaking believers.”
“We are anxious to hear more and
more of the activities of our coworkers
in the West and we are looking
forward, hopeful that they will earnestly
arise and cooperate in the final completion
of that memorable and sacred
edifice, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar of
Chicago, once blessed by the hands of
our beloved Master ’Abdu’l-Bahá.”
[Page 3]
committees appointed to work out the
details: Program Committee, Prof. E.
A. Rogers, Mrs. E. G. Cooper, Mr.
Leroy C. Ioas; Building Committee,
Mr. W. H. Linfoot, Mr. John Bosch,
Mr. Leroy C. Ioas; Finance Committee,
Mrs. E. G. Cooper, Mrs. Amelia
Collins, Mr. W. P. Hatch.
A number of the friends have indicated their desire to build cabins, and the Committee will make it possible to obtain use of land for this purpose under a lease.
Detroit Assembly Conducts Modem Study Class[edit]
A program received from the Spiritual Assembly of Detroit, Michigan, discloses a Bahá’i study class planned along such interesting lines that it should prove helpful and inspiring to the friends in other cities.
The general heading is “New Solution of Vital Problems—A Modern Study Class for the Discussion of Bahá’i Principles and Their Application to Present Needs.” The class meets Wednesday evenings at the Detroit Federation of Women’s Clubs.
The program itself consists of a booklet with an introductory statement on the purpose and scope of the class, relating the Cause to worldwide events of the day. This is followed by the Twelve Basic Bahá’i Teachings, after which is given the subjects for the current month. The cover and part of the contents are permanent, for use throughout the year, the monthly calendar alone being changed.
A typical subject for one lesson is “The New Test for Truth,” presented with an interesting comment and references in Bahá’i literature.
The Detroit friends, who have received the cooperation of the National Teaching Committee, seem to have found a most effective method for attracting nonbelievers to participate directly in Bahá’i study.
The Bahá’i Magazine for July and August[edit]
The contents of The Bahá’i Magazine, Star of the West, for July, 1928: The Great Need of Peace, by ’Abdu’l-Bahá; Editorial, by Stanwood Cobb; The Law of Diminishing Returns, by Keith Ransom-Kehler; Healing— Spiritual and Material, Chapter 2, by Walter B. Guy, M.D.; On the Road of Service, by Florence E, Pinchon; ’Abdu’l-Bahá in America, Chapter 3— Chicago—by Dr. Zia Bagdadi; True Religion, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick: The World’s Greatest Prisoner, by Henrietta C. Wagner; American Peace Society’s Conference, by Dale S. Cole.
Contents for August, 1928: The Accident of Color, by ’Abdu’l-Bahá; Editorial, by Stanwood Cobb; Bid the Sand Let in the Light, by Florence E. Pinchon; Search (a poem), by Ruth Ellis Moffett; ’Abdu’l-Bahá in America, by Dr. Zia Bagdadi; The Unknown Dawn (a poem), by Sophronia Aoki; Why Pray?, by Dr. Orrol L. Harper; The Annual Souvenir of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, by Hooper Harris; Healing—Spiritual and Material, by Walter B. Guy, M.D.; Hungarian Artist Painted Portrait of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, by Martha L. Root; The Religion of the Unreligious, by James F. Morton; Good-Will Orators, by Agnes B. Alexander; World Thought and Progress.
Teaching Activities of Mr. Albert Vail[edit]
During the past five months Mr. Vail has made one long trip east, and various journeys in Illinois and Wisconsin, speaking in universities, clubs, and to Bahá’i groups and teaching in many personal interviews. In February, he gave three Sunday morning lectures on the Bahá’i Cause to a class in Comparative Religions in one of the largest community churches in the Chicago district. A number of those who attended this class seem permanently interested in the Cause. In May, he spoke before an assemblage of ministers and lay delegates of one of the prominent denominations at their annual Western Conference.
On February 19th, in the afternoon, a group of university students, teachers and social workers from all parts of Greater Chicago came to Mr. Bourgeois’ studio to hear, at their request, of the spiritual aspect of the Bahá’i teachings and of the Bahá’i Temple. A student secretary of a university community church brought her young people’s society to hear this lecture in lieu of their Sunday evening meeting and was so much interested that she has since continued in her society a study of the Bahá’i literature. Various persons who were at this unusual meeting have become permanently interested in the Bahá’i Cause. One woman, a brilliant, high school teacher, says that last year she worshipped in the mosques of Africa; this summer she expects to worship in the Buddhist temples of China—and the Bahá’i Cause is to her the inevitable movement to unite the religions of the world.
On May 13th the same party of university students, teachers and ministers studied the great world religions in different parts of Chicago. They attended
|
Miss Leonora Holsapple in her work in Brazil is an amazing example of capacity in service and the law of increase. She states that she is occupied with “the publication of the magazine in Brazil, translating and typing the whole of Dr. Esslemont’s book, holding classes in English eight hours a day, maintaining six boarders and an orphan girl and keeping those necessary contacts for the work of Bahá’i teaching!” And out of the substance of such a life she contributes to the Temple! |
Solemn High Mass, listened to an exposition of Islam by a Moslem at the University of Chicago, to a lecture on “The Soul of India” by a Hindu at the Chicago Theological Seminary and then came to the Foundation Hall of the Bahá’i Temple in the evening where they asked Mr. Vail to speak to them upon. “Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet of the New Era.” Professors of Comparative Religions and ministers who were of the party asked many searching and illuminating questions until, in answer, the whole Bahá’i Movement was presented, including the need of a new Manifestation. Then members of the party lingered and asked questions or studied Mr. Bourgeois’ beautiful drawings for nearly an hour after the meeting disbanded. They eagerly bought literature, asked where Bahá’i meetings were to be held, and three of the students said they wished “to join the Bahá’i Movement.” One of them is to be an instructor in sociology in a Chinese university. He sailed in July with a Fine set of Bahá’i books, eager to spread the message in China. As a result of these two meetings a whole group of students is studying the Divine Teachings.
Mr. Vail was soon asked to speak at a university students’ chapel. Then he was invited to address a university class in Comparative Religions, and also to meet a group of men at dinner at their fraternity. In both of these meetings searching questions were asked, up to the limit of time. The eager response of these university students to the Bahá’i solution of world problems is a joy to witness.
In Peoria, Mr. Vail spoke recently at a banquet feast held in one of the clubs, where the new believers invited their friends to dinner. There were stirring talks, beautiful music, radiant faces and a joy that filled every heart.
