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| No. 427 | BAHA’I YEAR 123 | OCTOBER, 1966 |
A closeup of the Shrine of the Báb, Haifa, Israel, showing
roof balustrade, octagon, drum and dome. The Shrine of the Martyr Prophet of the Bahá’í Faith was completed
in October of 1953, the 134th anniversary of His birth in Shíráz, Írán.
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Two recent photos show improvements being made on the physical properties at the Bahá’í World Center. At
the left is the Mansion at Bahjí near ‘Akká, with scaffolding in place for a complete replacement of roof tiles.
View at the right is of Saichiro Fujita working on an informal garden near the International Archives Building
at Haifa. Fujita, who served the Master for many years at the World Center and later served Shoghi Effendi, is
still actively engaged in this work.
Hands of the Faith Announce Changed Assignments[edit]
The following cablegram has been received from the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land:
Result decision Universal House of Justice announce following changes assignment Hands. Hand Cause William Sears returning Africa resume service as Hand that Continent. Hand Cause John Robarts assigned Western Hemisphere will reside Canada serve entire area North America. Confident ever greater victories teaching field both continents result momentous decision. Share message National Spiritual Assemblies Canada, Alaska also publish Bahá’í News.
Haifa, Israel
August 27, 1966
Four Covenant-breakers Expelled by Hands of the Cause[edit]
The following cablegram was received by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States from the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land on September 2, 1966:
“Owing continuation attacks undermining sacred institutions Faith despite repeated warnings explanations announce expulsion Amy Needy, Jean Porch, Ruth Cornell, John Needy. Warn friends all association forbidden.”
Hand of the Cause, H. Collis Featherstone with Bahá’í friends at the Bahá’í Center in Taiwan May 12, 1966.
Members of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Pingtung, Taiwan, elected Riḍván, 1966, as follows: front
row (from left): Mrs. Wu Ping-chen, Ching Chung-tan,
Wu Ping-chen, Wu Wen-jen, Lee Liang-tung; back row:
Wang Chang-lan, Chin Chung-shao, Huang Hai Tan,
Wen Lung-fui.
Marseille Exhibit Proclaims Faith to Thousands[edit]
A portion of the large Marseille exhibition with attending Bahá’ís and friends. Over 1200 square feet of space was utilized to amply portray the Bahá’í Faith to the public. Photo below shows two youthful Bahá’ís attracted to the Faith by the exhibition.
Marseille, the first place in France and in Europe on
which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá set foot over fifty years ago, was
the scene of a mighty proclamation of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh, from June 2 to June 28. More than half of
this city of a million people visited or saw a Bahá’í
exhibition in one of the city’s most strategic locations, a
prominent square at 159 rue de Rome. The exhibit,
occupying 1200 square feet with glass on all four sides,
was fully lighted and open all night. Bahá’í attendants
at the exhibit, drawn from other parts of France, as
well as Monaco, were kept busy day and night answering questions, giving away literature and generally
teaching the Faith to hundreds of inquirers. The response from the public was something hitherto unprecedented in France, not only for the Faith but for any
movement. 20,000 pieces of literature were given away
— many books were sold. Much of the more intense
teaching work was carried on over refreshments served
in the basement.
Many high officials of the city attended, a number having received a copy of the book Paris Talks along with their invitation. So successful was the exhibit in attracting the public that the Television and Radio Department televised the event on the third day and showed the film on the Marseille news programs, along with a favorable interview.
Although the National Spiritual Assembly of France sponsored and arranged the exhibition, one individual made the site available and underwrote the expenses, preparatory to opening a business there.
Sixteen people declared their faith during the exhibition period, some of them having been close to the Teachings but still hesitant prior to this event, and approximately 200 interested people made plans to attend firesides.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of France, elected during Riḍván 1966: Seated, left to right: Mme. David, Mr. Tamene, Mr. Robert, Mr. Abrar and standing, left to right: Mr. Rafaat, Mr. Nounou, Mr. Petit, Mme. Saminy and Mr. Tirandaz.
What Is Happening to the Bahá’ís?[edit]
What is happening to the Bahá’ís? In order to attempt to deal with this vital question, let us take three different stages in the development of the Bahá’í Community and see how, in these three stages, different conditions have become manifest until we find ourselves today in the most mysterious condition the world has ever seen.
Years ago, while the Master was still in this world, I had occasion one day to call on Roy Wilhelm, who had a little office down town in New York City, which for many years was practically the Bahá’í Center of the United States. Roy was very excited on that occasion. He had received a Tablet from the Master and he handed to me the original Tablet to read, and I have never forgotten it. It was reprinted on page 384 of the Bahá’í World Faith.
“All the people of the world are, as thou dost observe, in the sleep of negligence. They have forgotten God altogether ... They are, like unto the loathsome worms, trying to lodge in the depth of the ground, while a single flood of rain sweeps all their nests and lodging away. Nevertheless, they do not come to their senses. Where is the majesty of the Emperor of Russia? Where is the might of the German Emperor? Where is the greatness of the Emperor of Austria? In a short time all these palaces were turned into ruins and all these pretentious edifices underwent destruction. They left no fruit and no trace, save eternal ruin.”
That was during the years of the first world war, and the Master saw the end in the beginning, and through this Tablet He brought into the hearts of believers the realization that the basis of modern civilization had already been destroyed.
About this time He revealed the following Tablet directly to the believers: “If thou seekest to be intoxicated with the cup of the Most Mighty Gift, cut thyself from the world and be quit of self and desire. Exert thyself night and day until spiritual powers may penetrate thy heart and soul. Abandon the body and the material, until merciful powers may become manifest; because not until the soil is become pure will it develop through the heavenly bounty; not until the heart is purified, will the radiance of the Sun of Truth shine therein. I beg of God, that thou wilt day by day increase the purity of thy heart, the cheerfulness of thy soul, the light of thy insight, and the search for Truth.”
In those two Tablets, revealed possibly in the year 1919, we see the great contrast, the great abyss which has risen in this world between the collapse of the old order and the peoples pertaining to the old order and the rise of the new creation in the hearts of the Bahá’ís. That is our starting-point as we try to deal with this subject, “What is happening to the Bahá’ís?”
All of us who have come into the Faith bring all that we have accumulated with us, of ideas, of impressions, of values, of emotions, of reactions, of envies, of jealousies, everything that we happen to have, we bring with us into the Cause of God.
A certain number of people think that they are Bahá’ís when they can take a certain statement and say, “I believe this to be truth,” but belief is no longer faith. There are other people who take a step farther, they are stronger in their personalities, they have conviction on what they believe, but conviction is only faith in action. A person of strong conviction can quite sincerely be convinced about things that are entirely wrong and useless; so when we meet sincere people, people of ardor, of strong conviction, we have to examine the values they are trying to express, and we never find that people who end in conviction have attained the essence of faith. Faith is not feeling; faith is not the ability to think ourselves from one world to another; faith is being reborn. It is the element of will in the human personality that has to be influenced and that is the last thing that we give up. We can change our feelings, we can change our ideas, but to give up our will is the miracle of human life.
All of His life, the Master, in His travels, His Tablets, was trying to confer upon us the realization of the necessity of giving up our wills and the way that we might succeed. So we had years in the development in the Bahá’í community from that time on, and then the Guardian came a few years later and we went through the discipline of establishing institutions, which delimited the power and the influence and the authority of the individual. Therefore, it was a time of discipline, and for a number of years a time of great confusion, because it was easier to go along by inertia the old path than to stop short and realize that God, Himself, had created these institutions for which we had no respect, because we didn’t like four or five out of the nine elected in a given year; so we lost the meaning of institutions as we contemplated personalities.
The Guardian let this process go on for a certain length of time until October 8, 1952, when he wrote us a letter launching the world-embracing spiritual crusade. He said, for example, “Hail with feelings of humble thankfulness and unbounded joy, opening of the Holy Year commemorating the centenary of the rise of the Orb of Bahá’u’lláh’s most sublime Revelation, marking the consummation of the six thousand year cycle ushered in by Adam, glorified by all past prophets and sealed with the blood of the Author of the Bábi Despensation.”
Then he went on to say “hour propitious to proclaim to the entire Bahá’í world the projected launching on the occasion of the convocation of the approaching Intercontinental Conferences on the four continents of the globe the fate-laden, soul-stirring, decade-long, world-embracing Spiritual Crusade ... aiming at the immediate extension of Bahá’u’lláh’s spiritual dominion as well as the eventual establishment of the structure of His administrative order in all remaining Sovereign States, and Principal Dependencies ... scattered
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over the surface of the entire planet.”
Now this was like an examination given to people, who had been through an educational university, to see how proficient they had become; how much faith they possessed that could be translated into heroic self-sacrificial acts. And God be praised, the first year of the ten-year plan in its results, delighted the Guardian’s heart. The souls were found who have arisen to the condition of real faith.
This afternoon you have had presented to you the Guardian’s most recent general letter (American Bahá’ís in the Time of World Peril) about the danger in which the nation finds itself, and his consummate appeal to the individual souls. Therefore we come again to a time of tests.
Perhaps we might approach it this way: that in the condition of faith, we are re-born into a realm where we can no longer have a private personal mind, and where we can no longer have delimited personal feelings because the truth of God operates upon that plane, and when our understanding is opened, the realm of universal truth floods us from the most humble to the wisest. There is no distinction; that universal truth of God penetrates and illuminates, and since the same truth passes through all people of illumined understanding, this is what is meant by unity.
Unity is not the formal agreement that people make when they decide to get along together, as though they might as well do it as comfortably as possible with as few disputes as possible. Unity is the oneness of God projected into human understanding, and when the heart is opened on that plane, divine love pours through and that love is the same love that God gives to all other hearts that are bound to Him, and so the hearts are bound together in one love and this is not the inconstancy of personal affection. It is steadfast and eternal. So when we by faith attain even the faintest realization of the miracle that God wants to achieve within every one of us, we lose our sense of the Ten-Year Plan as being supremely difficult. Oh, it costs so much! Oh, it takes away our best workers! Can we do it in ten years? Really that is not the point. The point is, do we live in a world of faith, or do we remain in a world of human doubt, human inertia, human indifference? Because in God’s world, things are done.
Now, let us think for a moment. Here is a pioneer. This pioneer has gone to a far-off area, of different race, different religion, different language; and the American pioneer, whom we have known personally perhaps, responding to the call, establishes residence in that far-off goal. Well, God is there. He is not held back by geographical limitations of the human body, and surely in that area, if the pioneer has the light of the love of God in his heart, there are others capable of illumination in that mass of people.
Looking at it from the point of view of the individual pioneer, he sees thousands of people, he doesn’t know one from the other, and what is he to do?
Well, if he remains in the condition of faith and illumination, I think God works this way. Off in this corner of the city, there is a person who has capacity, and God looks down and begins to move these little chessmen around on the board until finally in the most natural way the person of capacity and the pioneer meet, and if they are in the realm of spiritual consciousness, it is a true and eternal meeting even if they are unaware of it at first. There is confirmation.
So you see the work is done for us. Friends, if we do our share of the work, which is to be fit for God to use, because God does not do His work with people who are too much tainted with the world, God sends us suffering, bitternesses that we need, in order to generate force enough to make the supreme step from the personal will to the will that is handed over to God.
In complete faith, God fulfills our hope if it is true, but He does not fulfill our wishes, and as long as we have the sense of wish uppermost in our mind, our Bahá’í career is one of frustration. So you can see that the quicker we give up our will, the quicker that happiness and hope will come to us, because there is nothing for God to take away from us, He can only give. We create the things He has to take away and then we are upset, but if we give of ourselves, we’ve given all we’ve got. And it doesn’t make any difference from a human point of view, what the capacity is, or the station in life, or the experience, or training, or anything. In the kingdom of God, there is an equality of being.
So friends, if we are asking ourselves, “What is
happening to the Bahá’ís?” we are being torn in two,
because the world is dragging us one way and Bahá’u’lláh is dragging us another, and the quicker we
realize this, the sooner we can bring ourselves to a
unity of being and give ourself to God to use; the better
for us, the better for the Plan of God, the better for the
great work the Guardian is carrying on in Haifa.
—Talk given September 18, 1954—in BAHÁ’Í NEWS nos. 288, 289.
Staff of a Tibetan Refugee School, Mysore, India, who, along with Tibetan students heard the Bahá’í message presented by Dr. H. M. Munje, Auxiliary Board Member. Some of the Tibetan refugee children are shown at right.
Welsh Bahá’ís Exhibit at National Art Festival[edit]
The Welsh Teaching Committee sponsored Bahá’í participation for the first time in the National Eisteddfod of Wales this year, a competitive festival of art and culture held annually which attracts many visitors from home and abroad. Beginning August 1 and held for six days at Aberafan, Glamorgan, the display featured a slide projection of views of the World Center, Bahá’í Houses of Worship around the world and the London Congress. Posters, maps, photos and Bahá’í literature further helped to proclaim the principles of the Faith and the overhead banner, Bahá’í World Faith, was given in both Welsh and English. In addition to the thousands of visitors at the festival, many of whom stopped for information, the exhibit was seen by millions throughout the country on television.
Seven thousand copies of a pamphlet in the Welsh language were given away and an equal number in English. A special presentation of the brochure was made to a new member of Parliament inspecting the exhibit by a young lady dressed in the Welsh national costume.
An announcement was made at the exhibition of ten follow-up meetings in various towns throughout Wales, two of them to be given in the Welsh language. (Photo at right shows a portion of the exhibit.)
National Spiritual Assembly of Nicaragua, elected at
Riḍván, 1966. Left to right: Faustino Espino, Mrs.
Cecilia King, José Inés Arita (treasurer), Mrs. Elena
Blandford, Edgar Gómez (chairman). Standing, left to
right: Mauricio Fajardo, Jorge V. Harper (recording
secretary), Salomón Escalante (corresponding secretary). Adolfo Cornavaca (vice-chairman), is absent.
Left: The North West Africa National Convention held recently. Right: newly elected National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahá’ís of West Africa, left to right: Dr. E. Taii, Sh. Riaz Rouhani, M. Maanan, E. Saberan, I. Mimoun, O.
Oueriachi, H. Rouhani Ardekani, Dr. F. Ahmadpoor and Dr. A. Mesbah.
New U. S. Homefront Work is Launched With Success[edit]
The work of expansion and consolidation of the Faith on the United States homefront was thrust forward with renewed vigor and spirit as the newly appointed committee structure was launched on three successive weekends in July and August. The National Spiritual Assembly, in order better to meet the responsibilities and achievements stressed by the Universal House of Justice, appointed, at Riḍván, a National Goals Committee to replace the former two committees of National Teaching and Community Development, and has, in addition, appointed State Goals Committees in each of the electoral districts throughout the country (with the exception of California which is under the California Victory Committee for the second year). Then, the National Goals Committee was called upon to plan “Briefing Sessions” for the state committees at which information as to functions and responsibilities, inspiration for the tasks, and faith in the power of the Covenant would be gained.
Thus, twelve such sessions were held for the fifty-one State Goals Committees over a period of three weeks in July and August. Each session was led by a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, the Auxiliary Board of the Hands of the Faith in the Western Hemisphere, and the National Goals Committee, who cooperated in bringing to these newly created state committees the total impact of their responsibilities and their privilege and joy in service.
The response to the Briefing Sessions is clear evidence of the earnest longing of the believers to serve their beloved Cause. A genuine spirit of eager expectation and dedication to the tasks was evident from the very first, and to this spirit was added confidence, enthusiasm and happiness. Almost one hundred per cent of the state committees’ membership attended, any absences being due to unavoidable circumstances. All were eager to begin functioning and to initiate the greatest year thus far of teaching and consolidation of the Faith in the United States, and of fulfilling the spiritual mission bestowed upon the American Bahá’í Community by Abdu’l-Bahá.
The agenda of the sessions, which were chaired by a member of the National Goals Committee, provided for clarification of the over-all structure for the work on the homefront and universal participation by the believers, for discussion of the state committees’ functions, consultation on and acceptance of goals and implementation, and for gaining a deeper understanding of the Covenant.
The close coordination and responsibility for the work of the Faith by the institutions of the National Spiritual Assembly and the Hands of Cause of God were symbolized by representatives of both institutions participating in these Briefing Sessions. The National Assembly members brought, in a loving, inspiring and informative way, the close relationships of the institutions and their committees and what the National Assembly needs, expects and hopes from them in the remaining years of the Nine Year Plan. The Auxiliary Board member present at each session contributed a very essential spirit and assurance of assistance, lifting those present to a greater realization of the meaning and power of the Covenant, their reliance upon that power, and the world-wide vision of the Faith in relation to their individual endeavors, and helping all to serve on a higher level of faith and assurance.
Reports Show Enthusiastic Response[edit]
The response was enthusiastic and inspiriting, as indicated in some excerpts from reports, as follows. “It was the great spiritual sense of oneness, high dedication, and new sights in the Faith which I particularly felt.” “I believe the response of these state committees is greater than anticipated. Their establishment fills a real void, and begins to open the way to achieving universal participation.” “All the sessions were marked by enthusiasm and creative planning on the part of the various committees.” “The spirit engendered should spark teaching in these states as nothing before has done, for it is clear that the excellent ideas of these members, plus their devoted activity, sparked and guided by the National Spiritual Assembly should quicken every Bahá’í.” “Emphasis was given all through the sessions to the importance of expressing love and joy in carrying out all projects undertaken.” “I am pleased with the spirit expressed by everyone, and if it is maintained there will be surprising results this year in the number of new assemblies.” “The spirit of the Briefing Session was good and its impact well impressed upon participants, all of whom returned to their respective areas with a strong realization of the importance of the State Goals Committee as the vital link of the teaching and consolidation structure. It was impressive to witness the keen sense of responsibility displayed by the various committees in attendance.” “The friends displayed a sense of adventure and bright expectation that could be attributed only to the depth of their confidence in the structure presented to them.” “The Briefing was apparently successful in achieving the major objectives of arousing enthusiasm for and in gaining understanding of their role, and in orienting them to their goals, especially the one of universal participation through prayer and fireside teaching.” “The discussions throughout were enlightened, provocative and appropriate. Questions and comments focused upon the how, when, and where of SGC responsibilities; never on the why.” “Many new ideas for helping each other across state lines were presented by the state committee members, and a selfless spirit of cooperation was engendered.” “The session on the Covenant was powerful and caught us all in its strong spirit. There needs to be a firm and simple understanding of the power of the Covenant — that it is the source of life and dynamism for the very planet itself.”
Utilization of All Talents[edit]
There was much interest in the emphasis placed by the National Spiritual Assembly on uncovering and utilizing all possible talents for serving the Faith, and the members of these new committees seemed grateful that they would be free to request help from any sources in their states.
During the Briefing workshops, some committees made specific plans, even typing letters and telephoning,
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Members of State Goals Committees meet with representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly, the Auxiliary Board, and the National Goals Committee at
conferences held at Green Acre (left) and at Atlanta,
Georgia (right) on the weekend of July 23-24.
on the spot, for meetings with assemblies, groups
and isolated believers, while others selected goals and
ways and means of attaining them. But, in whatever
manner they approached the tasks at hand, they had
one thing in common — a loving determination to
serve, as well as encourage and assist every believer to
active participation in the Divine Plan. The new committees expressed appreciation for the wonderful leadership and loving spirit prevailing at these Briefing
Sessions, and, as the responsibilities were progressively
revealed, the prospect of serving became increasingly
exciting.
World Order Published[edit]
The first issue of World Order, the Bahá’í quarterly, will appear this month and will contain articles of great interest to Bahá’ís and their friends. It is the policy of this magazine to address itself to the general public as well as to Bahá’ís and it will deal with problems of international peace, world government, the United Nations, world law and human rights as well as comparative religion, the sciences, arts and letters.
Contents of the October issue include: “My Religious Faith”, by Bernard Leach, noted potter who has been honored in Britain and Japan and who describes with simple eloquence the role of religion in the life of an artist; “Social Disadvantage — The Real Enemy in the War on Poverty” by Dr. Daniel Jordan, Bahá’í, and Director of the Institute for Research in Human Behavior of the School of Education at Indiana University; “City of Man Revisited”, by Prof. Warren Wagar of the Department of History at Wellesley College; Excerpts from Dispatches by the Russian Minister to Persia between 1848 and 1856 to his government concerning early activities of the Bábí Faith.
Subscription for one year: $3.50 (foreign — $4.00) payable to: World Order Magazine, 1 Cove Ridge Lane, Old Greenwich, Connecticut 06870.
A Noteworthy Teaching Program in New Mexico[edit]
The Bahá’ís of Gallup, New Mexico, in July and August sponsored a series of nine meetings to proclaim the Faith to the Indians. Posters were placed in trading posts and stores throughout the adjacent Navajo Reservation. While the attendance was disappointing at the first eight meetings, seventy were present at the final week-end gathering, most of them being Navajos. Auxiliary Board member, Mr. Chester Kahn gave an inspiring talk both in English and Navajo. Mr. Gordon Laite showed slides skillfully arranged around the theme “Blessed in the Spot.” This was followed by group singing led by Mr. John Cook, representative of the American Indian Service Committee.
After the program most of the Indians and non-Indians joined in a dance and further singing around a camp fire.
Sunday morning after prayers and breakfast, Gordon Laite led the discussion. Before the meeting adjourned three members of the Hopi tribe arrived, including the secretary and the assistant chief of the tribe. The son of the latter, at a moment’s notice, gave an interesting talk on the Hopi idea of religion.
United Nations Representative at Green Acre Weekend Institute[edit]
Bahá’ís and guests who crowded into Bahá’í Hall, Green Acre Summer School, on the humid afternoon of August 7 were rewarded with an informative talk by Mr. Asdrubal Salsamendi, Deputy Director of Unesco. Mr. Salsamendi had made a special trip from New York City to be the guest speaker for the public meeting which wound up a two-day United Nations Institute. Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh, Bahá’í International Observer to the UN, was the chairman for the meeting. A stimulating question and answer period followed Mr. Salsamendi’s talk.
His topic was Unesco’s new worldwide literacy campaign, whose goal is to bring the opportunity for education to all people of the world. In pointing out that more than one-half of the world’s population is unable to read or write, he stressed the urgency of the campaign in face of a quickly evolving world civilization.
The United Nations Committee of the Bahá’ís was in charge of the weekend institute, a series of workshops designed to show how the UN is helping build the Lesser Peace which must come before the Most Great Peace for which Bahá’ís are working, and to show the relation of the UN to the Faith.
Flagstaff Bahá’ís Sponsor Art Exhibit[edit]
At the Flagstaff Art Exhibit. Gordon Laite, exhibit
judge shows picture as friends listen. Opposite Mr.
Laite is Neal Bear, director of the Flagstaff Art Barn
where the exhibit was held. Also shown are Franklin
Kahn (left), guest artist and exhibit judge; Lucy Evans,
artist and William Latham, chairman of the Flagstaff
Spiritual Assembly.
“The Southwestern Art Exhibit, sponsored by the
Bahá’í Community of Flagstaff, Arizona, was the most
exciting, indirect teaching event I ever had the joy of
participating in,” said Mrs. Jeanne Laite of Gallup,
New Mexico. Other Bahá’ís who served the Faith in
connection with this event expressed the same feeling.
The opening, held on the evening of June 30 attracted about eighty attendants who heard Mr. Gordon Laite, a Bahá’í artist from Gallup, New Mexico, speak on the topic, “A New Cycle of Human Power” with Mark Tobey’s painting “Little World” loaned for the exhibit and serving as illustration for the evening’s address.
The exhibit lasted from July 1 through 4, being open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. each day and attracting excellent attendance partly because of the All Indian Pow Wow which was held at the same time in Flagstaff. At least 1,200 visitors from 35 states and seven foreign countries attended the show.
Mr. David Villasenor, a Bahá’í from Glendora, California contributed greatly to the interest in the exhibit by demonstrating his permanent sand painting technique each afternoon and evening of the show.
The paintings entered in the exhibit carried out the theme of unity from diversity, being in all media and modes including modern, traditional, American Indian, Ethiopian, Persian and Chinese paintings.
An attractive display of Bahá’í literature, with pamphlets and post cards for free distribution offered many opportunities for inquiries and discussion of the Faith, and the enthusiasm and warmth demonstrated by those Bahá’ís who helped with the project made a great impression on the visitors who thus caught the true spirit of the Faith. Thus was art, presented with good taste and dignity, a means of attracting people to the Faith.
First meeting held at the new Bahá’í Center in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, July 3, 1966. Devotions and fireside meetings will be held at this Center each Sunday morning at 11:00.
A Major Event[edit]
At Ridvan, 1967, a major event will take place in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Another pillar will be erected to support the Universal House of Justice by the formation at that time of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward, Windward and Virgin Islands. Sixteen islands will come under the jurisdiction of this new National Spiritual Assembly, islands which differ vastly in cultural and economic patterns. The islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix are territories of the United States. The islands of St. Eustatius, Saba and half of Saint Martin belong to the Netherland Antilles group. Guadeloupe and Martinique and half of St. Martin are Departments of France. Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts-Nevis, Dominica, St. Vincent, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia are controlled by Great Britain. Previous to the launching of the Nine Year Plan in 1964 pioneers had settled only on the islands of Grenada, St. Thomas and St. Lucia.
The Caribbean Sea is 1,700 miles long and 700 miles wide. The islands to be included under the forthcoming National Spiritual Assembly form a great arc in this sea, reaching from St. Thomas at the North to Grenada which lies close to the coast of Venezuela. In view of all the factors involved: distance, cultural, political and economic differences, and the varying tempo of life in the several islands the establishment of this new National Assembly will be a momentous achievement.
Because of the great amount of teaching which must be accomplished before April 1967, an intensified program has been launched for the purpose of bringing about a closer relationship between the believers on the separate islands. A series of teaching trips by believers on various islands has been scheduled with institutes and deepening classes planned for each place they visit. From July 24 through September 6 Mr. Ellsworth Blackwell, Auxiliary Board member from Haiti visited all the islands. Miss Katharine Meyer, secretary of the St. Thomas Assembly, visited several of the islands from September 1 to 17. During October a trip to ten islands is scheduled for Mrs. Lorraine Landau, pioneer in Barbados. During each of the remaining months of the Bahá’í year a similar trip is planned. The participating Bahá’í teachers will include: Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Miller, pioneers in Grenada; Mrs. Henrietta Trutza, pioneer in St. Lucia; Mr. Jose Monge, secretary of the San Juan, Puerto Rico Assembly, as well as others including, hopefully, some of the believers newly enrolled.
An exciting project was carried out on St. Vincent during July and August. Miss Jean Norris of Durham, North Carolina, and Miss Barbara Smith, Alexandria, Virginia, spent their vacation time pioneering together on this delightful island. This fine team accomplished very rewarding results including several enrollments, holding a school for children with over twenty in attendance, wonderful newspaper publicity, and the awakening of real interest in the Faith from people at all levels of the society.
A successful traveling teaching trip through the islands was taken during the summer by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Noyes, Binghamton, New York, accompanied by Erica Reich and Bob Cronin, youth. Another summer trip was made by Mrs. Frances Foss, East Orange, New Jersey which trip has brought her to the decision to return to pioneer on one of the islands.
The many pioneers who have settled in this vast island area are doing highly commendable work for our beloved Faith. They need the prayers of the friends all around the world to fortify and give impetus to the important work they are doing and to help in accomplishing the momentous event of next Riḍván.
Nation-wide Television Program Presents Film “And His Name Shall Be One”[edit]
The thirty minutes viewing time which it took to show “And His Name Shall be One,” the CBS-TV “Lamp Unto My Feet” film that went out over the entire network of over 200 stations in the United States and Canada on Sunday, September 4, was only a minute part of the time and effort involved in the presentation of this beautiful story about the Bahá’í Faith.
In February, 1965 the first contact was made by Mrs. Jessyca Russell Gaver, a Bahá’í of New York, with the show’s executive producer, Miss Pamela Ilott, an English actress who gave up the stage for her preferred occupation of doing documentaries about news events. For “Lamp Unto My Feet,” a program that has been carried on for many years, is not so much concerned
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with religious news as with the news that all sorts of
topics, ideas and people make today. Miss Ilott was the
first to agree that the Faith proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh
was indeed a Faith to be recognized as important and
noteworthy.
After continued contact with representatives of the Faith in America, in June, 1965 Miss Ilott, with her producer/director for the show, Mr. Marvin Silbersher, and a camera crew went to Israel to do a series of film programs, one of which was to be the taking of camera shots of the Bahá’í Holy Places in that country. With the cooperation of the Hands of the Faith resident in Haifa at the time, and members of the Universal House of Justice, Mr. Silbersher and his crew followed the path of Bahá’í pilgrims for a number of days, going to the Shrines, to Bahjí, to Pilgrim House and to ‘Akká, to record the scenes of both Bahá’u’lláh’s glory and imprisonment.
In April, 1966 the second part of the show was shot during the National Bahá’í Convention in Wilmette, Illinois, where a number of believers were photographed walking or discussing the Faith. And in August, 1966 the final filming was done when Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh, as the Faith’s well-informed United Nations representative since 1948, was interviewed by CBS’s Dallas Townsend, and told how the Faith has affected the people and country of America.
The camera work was exquisite, particularly the parts in color. But the editing of the film, skillfully done by “Lamp’s” film editor, Bernadette Sauvé, and the selection of background music performed so magically by Ethel Shaw, are what added the “icing” to the rich cake of visual beauty. The narration was beautifully and poetically created by Director Marvin Silbersher who admittedly captured much of the spirit of the Faith, not only from the Writings but also from the explanations given to him at Pilgrim House in Haifa by Hands of the Cause Abu’l Qásim Faizi and Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, as well as by the other gracious and wonderful believers he talked with everywhere he went in the Holy Land and in Wilmette and New York.
The barrage of letters that followed the September 4 showing of the film, “And His Name Shall Be One,” made everyone concerned very happy as it proved to them that, thanks to “Lamp Unto My Feet,” the name of the Bahá’í Faith will now be better known and more easily recognized in the United States. The American Bahá’ís are deeply grateful to the people of “Lamp Unto My Feet” who made this marvelous breakthrough possible for their beloved Faith.
Indian Bahá’í Center Rededicated[edit]
The Bahá’ís of Macy, Nebraska, with the assistance of friends from nearby communities of Winnebago, Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota have successfully carried out a three month plan of rebuilding and again dedicating their center. The scene of the Center, in the heart of the Omaha Indian Reservation, was the place where the first all Indian Assembly in the West was formed in 1948.
The completion of the work of rebuilding was celebrated on July 24 with a dinner and service of dedication, to which all residents of the Omaha and neighboring Winnebago Reservations were invited. Some 300 souls came and enjoyed a bountiful dinner of barbecued deer, chickens, soup and Indian fry bread. With the cooperation of the Indian Service Committee a joyful and inspiring service was held with talks by Mrs. Bea Bechtold of Phoenix, Arizona, Mr. Michael Jamir of Winnebago, Mrs. Edna Atkins, who pioneered at the Omaha Reservation for six years, and Mrs. Ina Mae Brown, Sioux Indian Bahá’í who addressed the gathering with inspired words on the significance of Bahá’u’lláh as the One Who Fulfills the Indian prophecy of “One who gathers all men into one fold.”
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Snyder and their son William
Richard Snyder, pioneer at the newly dedicated Center at Macy, Nebraska.
are the new pioneers who will live and teach the Faith
on the Reservation. As a fitting climax to the day’s
festivities these devoted souls were blessed with the
birth of a daughter, Jamal Ann.
Those who took part feel that once again they have seen demonstration of the power that is in this Cause. Their plea for help was answered, request for speakers brought able assistance with the result that at least 260 friends are close to the teachings of God for this day. Soon the victory will be even more apparent in this special village, one that was praised and prayed for by the beloved Guardian.
Local Spiritual Assembly of Skokie, Illinois formed at Riḍván, 1966. Seated, left to right: Valorie Wagner, Caroline Hoff (secretary), Jessie Chitham (treasurer), Nancy Swanson. Standing, left to right: Michael Chunowitz (chairman), Rowell Hoff (vice chairman), George Wilson, George Becker, Barry James.
Bahá’í Holy Days Recognized[edit]
By letter from the District Superintendent of Schools, August first, the Bahá’ís of Goleta, California, were notified that “Goleta Union School District will excuse the children and/or members of the Bahá’í World Faith” on the nine Bahá’í Holy Days, the dates of which were listed. Similar permission has been granted by the Boards of Education in Toledo and in Washington Township, in Ohio as well as in Ipswich, Massachusetts. This brings to 162 the number of localities where Bahá’í Holy Days are given recognition by local school authorities.
News Briefs[edit]
The Bahá’í Club of Michigan State University, at Lansing, Michigan, presented a slide lecture in the Student Union building on July 21. An audience of seventy attracted by personal invitations, mimeographed announcements posted on the campus and a two column notice in the college paper, heard Bob Cameron, of Duluth, Minn. explain the slides as he showed them. About half the audience remained afterwards to ask questions, giving the four Bahá’ís present opportunity to explain the teachings of the Faith in more detail. The four Bahá’ís: Bob Cameron, Faramarz Samadany, Richard Thomas and Kenneth Gottlieb demonstrated the teaching on oneness of mankind, representing as they did American, Persian, Negro, white, Christian, Islamic and Jewish backgrounds.
Twenty-four Marian Anderson rose bushes were given to the City of Niagara Falls, New York, this summer as the contribution of the local Bahá’ís to the community beautification program. The Marian Anderson rose, the first ever named in honor of a living Negro, was selected for this gift “as a living symbol of the basic principle of the Faith — the absolute Oneness of Mankind” and because of its planting at the House of Worship in Wilmette and later in the gardens at the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa.
The public presentation received considerable press coverage and was attended by the city mayor, other city dignitaries and by sixty-five Bahá’ís and their friends from twelve communities in Western New York and Ontario.
Mildred B. McKown, local spiritual assembly chairman, told those gathered of the history of the search for and naming of the rose and why the local Bahá’ís selected it for planting in the Hyde Park Rose Garden in Niagara Falls.
As a result of unusual publicity that appeared in a renowned French newspaper, France-soir, concerning a Bahá’í wedding at the Center in Paris, Radio-Television of Paris and Radio-Luxembourg, which is heard throughout Europe, interviewed a number of Bahá’ís in respect to the Faith. Among those interviewed were National Assembly member, Mr. Robert and Madame Guyonne David of the Public Relations Committee.
BAHA'I IN THE NEWS[edit]
The bimonthly magazine, Fellowship in Prayer, for August 1966 devotes over two pages to quotations from the Words of Bahá’u’lláh with an explanatory note stating that the first nine of these quotations appear over the nine entrances to the House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. The publication is dedicated to the purpose of promoting the practice of prayer among all religions and has included accounts of the Bahá’í Faith in several issues in the past.
Baha’i House of Worship[edit]
- Through October 15
- 10:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Daily
- Beginning October 16
- 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Daily
- Sundays
- 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.
- Sundays
- 4:15 p.m.
Calendar of Events[edit]
- FEASTS
- October 16 — ‘Ilm (Knowledge)
- November 4 — Qudrat (Power)
- HOLY DAY
- October 20 — Birth of the Báb
- PROCLAMATION EVENT
- October 24 — United Nations Day
- U. S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS
- November 18-20
- December 30-January 2
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is published for circulation among Bahá’ís only by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is edited by an annually appointed Editorial Committee: Mrs. Sylvia Parmelee, Managing Editor; Mrs. Eunice Braun, International Editor; Miss Charlotte Linfoot, National Spiritual Assembly Representative.
Material must be received by the twentieth of the second month preceding date of issue. Address: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A 60091.
Change of address should be reported directly to National Bahá’í Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.SA. 60091.
