Bahá’í News/Issue 363/Text
| ←Previous | Bahá’í News Issue 363 |
Next→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
| No. 363 | BAHA’I YEAR 118 | JUNE, 1961 |
Archives Building and Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel
Message from Hands in Holy land to the Annual Conventions of the Bahá’í World
Dearly beloved Friends:
“Every nation in the Western Hemisphere is illumined by the ways and woven into the fabric, of Bahá’u’lláh’s triumphant Administrative Order.” Such, in the beloved Guardian’s own words, is the nature of the unique victory the entire Bahá’í world is celebrating during this blessed Riḍván period, when twent-yone new and independent National Spiritual Assemblies are being elected throughout the length and breadth of Latin America. An enterprise officially inaugurated twenty-four years ago, through the launching of the first Seven-Year Plan, has been gloriously consummated. The “onward marching legions of the Army of Bahá’u’lláh” pause in wonder and survey with grateful hearts their majestic conquests. “That pioneer movement for which” Shoghi Effendi stated “the entire machinery” of the Administrative Order had “been primarily designed and erected” has yielded a mighty harvest, No less than twenty-four independent national spiritual assemblies now comprise the links in the mighty chain of Bahá’í solidarity stretching from the Arctic Circle to the Straits of Magallanes. Humbly, and with infinite gratitude, the followers of the Blessed Beauty lay before His throne this blazing crown in the name and in the memory of their Guardian, for it is essentially his victory, the witness of his faithful and superhuman eirurts to implement that Divine Plan for the spiritual conquest of the entire planet which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá entrusted to his care, to him who was the Sign of God on Earth.
An occasion for such rejoicing cannot be allowed to pass without reviewing the antecedents of this overwhelming victory in the Western Hemisphere, which comprises half of the globe, which embraces the entire New World. and which the Guardian said was “the first region in the Western World to be warmed and illumined by the ways of God’s infant Faith.” He stated that in a sense the original impetus of the world teaching plan of the Master was given when the Báb, in the opening years of the first Bahá’í century, directed the “ ‘peoples of the west,’ to issue forth ‘from their cities and aid His Cause.’” Many times he pointed out that ever since “the momentous and stirring summons was issued by the Author of the Revelation in His Most Holy Book addressed to the rulers of all the Republics of the Western Hemisphere” the uninterrupted blessings of God had been poured upon the American continent. Bahá’u’lláh Himself testified that “in the East the light of His Revelation hath broken; in the West have appeared the signs of His dominion,” whilst ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1917, in one of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, made the extraordinary pronouncement that “the continent of America is in the eyes of the one True God the land wherein the splendors of His Light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled.” “The American continent,” He affirmed, “gives signs and evidences of very great advancement. its future is even more promising . . . it will lead all nations spiritually.”
Within the northern confines of a continent upon which had already been conferred such a remarkable station, the American Bahá’í Community was singled out for unique honours; it was “a community,” Shoghi Effendi wrote, “invested with spiritual primacy by the Author of the immortal Tablets constituting the Charter of the Master Plan of the appointed Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant.” In majestic and ringing words the Guardian himself gave the rank and titles of this favored community, whose mission is so unbelievably great, whose responsibilities are so staggering. Its members were, he said: “the spiritual descendants of the Dawn-Breakers of the Heroic Age of the Bahá’í Faith, the chief repository of the immortal Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan, the foremost executors of the Mandate issued by the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, the champion builders of a divinely conceived Administrative Order, the standard-bearers of a future divinely inspired world civilization.”
The Signs of His Dominion in The West[edit]
A community, called by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “Apostles of
Bahá’u’lláh” and specifically instructed by Him in the
Tablets of the Divine Plan to carry the Message of
His Father to all the Republics of Latin America and
the islands fringing them in both the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, was launched officially in 1937 on its
mission of spiritual conquest when the Guardian set
in motion the first Seven-Year Plan. The precursor of
this historic event was a letter from him written in
May 1936, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada in which he
said a “systematic, carefully conceived . . . plan
should be devised” whose “supreme objective should
be the permanent establishment of at least one center
in every State of the American Republic and in every
Republic of the American Continent.” The significance
of this first Plan was increasingly revealed to the
Bahá’í world. When two years had elapsed Shoghi
Effendi wrote “the five remaining should essentially
be consecrated to the imperative, the spiritual needs
of the remaining Republics of both Central and South
America for whose entry into the fellowship of Bahá’u’lláh the Plan was primarily formulated.” As the
“carrying of the sacred Fire to all the Republics of
the Western Hemisphere” went forward, the tone of
jubilation in the Guardian’s Messages mounted. “From
Alaska to Chile,” he wrote in 1942, “the Americas are
astir with the leavening influences of the rising Order
of the new-bom Revelation.” He said the “first fruits
of the Divine Plan” had been garnered there in abundance and that the first Seven-Year Plan, commenced
on the eve of the greatest war the human race had[Page 3]
ever experienced, had, “despite six years of chaos
and tribulation, been crowned with a success far exceeding the most sanguine hopes of its ardent promoters. Within so short a period, during such troublous
years, such exploits were achieved as will forever
illuminate the pages of Bahá’í history.” On the eve of
the holding of the first All-America Convention in 1944,
celebrating the centenary of the “first, most shining
century of the Bahá’í Era,” in that “great turning
point in the history of our Faith” when “a spiritual
front extending the entire length of the Western Hemisphere” had been established, when “the crowning
act of an entire century” had been accomplished, when
the administrative structure of the Faith was already
“raising its triumphant head in the Central and South
American Republics,” when his heart was “filled with
joy, love, pride and gratitude,” when “the greatest
collective enterprise ever launched in the course of the
history of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh” had been successfully concluded, Shoghi Effendi wrote: “A victory of
undying fame has marked the culmination of the
fifty-year-long labors of the American Bahá’í Community in the service of Bahá’u’lláh and has shed imperishable lustre on the immortal records of His Faith
during the first hundred years of its existence.” In
words such as these he sang the praises of the Community of the Most Great Name in the North American
continent and indicated to the Bahá’í world the nature
of the victories won during the first Seven Year Plan,
not the least of which were the brilliant achievements
in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere.
Two years later the American Bahá’í Community was called upon to launch the second Seven-Year Plan — a plan which the Guardian said surpassed every enterprise undertaken during the first Bahá’í century. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan was steadily gathering momentum. Whereas at the end of the first Seven-Year Plan fourteen of the Latin American republics had established local assemblies, the remainder possessing groups only, whilst the total number of localities had risen to a little over fifty, by June 1947 there were thirty-seven spiritual assemblies and believers were to be found in over a hundred localities. To this extraordinary progress the beloved Guardian at that time paid a unique tribute: “No community,” he wrote, “since the inception of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not even the Community of the Most Great Name in the North American continent, can boast of an evolution as rapid, a consolidation as sound, a multiplication of centers as swift, as those that have marked the birth and rise of the community of His followers in Latin America” whose motherlands had “been chosen as the scene of the earliest victories won by the prosecutors of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan,” He called upon them to “bestir themselves for the collective, the historic and gigantic tasks that await them.” He said the constitution of their national spiritual assemblies for the northern and southern zones was “one of the most vital objectives of the second Seven-Year Plan.” He said these two national assemblies were the “precursors of the institutions which must participate in the election, and contribute to the support, of the Universal House of Justice” and that they must lead, “gradually and uninterruptedly, . . . to the constitution in each of the republics of Central and South America, of a properly elected, fully representative national assembly, constituting thereby the last stage in the administrative evolution” of the Faith in Latin America.
Latin America’s Destiny Unfolded[edit]
Slowly the magnitude of Latin America’s destiny unfolded. Upon the occasion of the formation in 1951 of the two first Regional Assemblies in that part of the world, he wrote them that “these Communities may be said to have been invested with rights and duties which no community in any continent of the Eastern Hemisphere can claim to possess.” He pointed out that these “newly fledged, spiritually alert Communities of Central and South America . . . are expected by their brethren in both the East and the West, to worthily play their part as associates of the chief executors of the Plan bequeathed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.” With the launching of the World Crusade in 1953 new honors and responsibilities fell to the lot of these communities and the national bodies that represented them; in addition to the truly staggering plans made for them in their homelands, no less than nineteen new and previously opened territories were apportioned them as their share in this new globe encircling phase of the Divine Plan — territories so far afield that some of them were situated in the very heart of the Pacific Ocean. Yet after the lapse of eight years nearly every major task at home and abroad set for them by their beloved Guardian has been fully and nobly achieved and the few remaining tasks required to perfect their labors are now well within their reach.
Such, briefly, is the history leading up to the formation of these twenty-one supreme administrative bodies. The mysterious impetus imparted by the Báb in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá, the singular, significant and dynamic statements of Bahá’u’lláh, the innumerable references of the beloved Master culminating in His Plan for the spiritual conquest of the entire globe, the detailed, brilliant and inspiring strategy Worked out by Shoghi Effendi during his thirty-six years Guardianship, the “daring exploits” of so many valiant Bahá’í pioneers, teachers and administrators—all have contributed to bring the Bahá’í world to this magnificent consummation, this unique event.
Though this is the end of a long journey, it is only the beginning of a glorious future for these new national bodies, and the communities they represent. They must remember that they share with the North American Bahá’í Community, as its appointed “associates,” a special responsibility in the prosecution of every phase in the successive unfoldment of the plans which form stages in the evolution of what the Guardian called the “Grand Design delineated in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s immortal Tablets;” the members of these new communities share in what Shoghi Effendi characterized as “the phenomenal destiny which the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the New World are to fulfil.” They are, now, he wrote, “launched on their Crusade for the spiritual conquest of the whole planet.”
Before passing on to survey the victories won in
other fields during the past year, we should recognize
that aside from the fact that twenty nations and one
dependency are electing their supreme Bahá’í admin[Page 4]
istrative bodies, an additional event of far-reaching significance is taking place. “The Islands of the West Indies,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote in the Tablets of the Divine
Plan, “have great importance . . . especially the two
black Republics of Haiti and San Domingo.” It is these
republics which are now rearing up two of those autonomous pillars so soon to bear the weight of the Universal House of Justice. Who can doubt that these two
new national communities, seconded by their sister
community in Jamaica, and representative of that race
which Bahá’u’lláh Himself likened to the “pupil of the
eye” through which He claimed “the light of the spirit
shineth forth,” will greatly enrich the supra-national
world-wide fellowship of His Faith and herald the day
when innumerable other black nations of the continent
of Africa elect their own independent national assemblies?
Remarkable Record of Victories[edit]
The remarkable record of victories achieved since last Riḍván in the prosecution of the World Crusade of our beloved Guardian — the completion of which he indicated would mark the end of the first epoch in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá — bears eloquent testimony to the devotion and sacrifice with which the friends in every part of the globe have striven to fulfil his cherished hopes and high expectations. As the eighth year of the Ten-Year Plan draws to a close, the believers everywhere may gain fresh inspiration and encouragement from the imposing list of achievements recorded during the past year.
The light of the Faith, now radiating from two hundred and fifty-seven countries, islands and dependencies, now covers the face of the globe, bringing to fulfilment the many prophecies foreshadowing the worldwide spread of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh ere the close of the first century following the declaration of His Mission, referred to by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as “the dawn of the Sun of Truth.”
In his last Riḍván Message the beloved Guardian called upon the friends in all continents to exert strenuous efforts to assure the “early attainment of the goal of five thousand Bahá’í centers in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.” By Riḍván two years later, less than eighteen months after his passing, this goal was not only attained but exceeded, when the number of localities where Bahá’ís reside reached a total of over five thousand two hundred. This Riḍván, as a result of the continuing dispersion of pioneers and the winning of fresh recruits to the ranks of the Faith, the total has risen to the truly impressive level of nearly six thousand five hundred, a gain of no less than four thousand centers since the inception of the World Crusade in 1953.
This rapid process of multiplication of centers has brought the number of localities in Germany and Austria to a hundred and fifty; in the British Isles to a hundred and fifty-three; in Australasia to nearly a hundred and sixty; in Canada to a hundred and seventy-one; in the goal countries of Europe to nearly a hundred and seventy-five; in the fast-awakening Indian sub-continent to nearly two hundred and thirty; in Latin America to nearly three hundred and sixty; in the entire Pacific area to nearly six hundred; in Persia to more than one thousand and eighty: in the rapidly developing African continent to over fifteen hundred; and in the United States of America to nearly one thousand six hundred.
Particularly noteworthy is the rate of increase which has occurred in the four widely dispersed areas of the Indian subcontinent, Latin America, the Pacific area, and the continent of Africa. Since the announcement made by the Guardian in his Riḍván Message of 1957, the number of centers in the Indian sub-continent has almost doubled. In Latin America, the gain has been even more striking, from approximately a hundred and thirty to almost three hundred and sixty, a truly remarkable achievement in so short a space of time, and one contributing significantly to the fulfilment of the goal of a national assembly in every republic of Central and South America, Throughout the Pacific region there has been an increase of more than three hundred centers in a four-year period, testifying to those spiritual potentialities mentioned in Shoghi Effendi’s frequent references to the establishment and spread of the Faith in the countries of the Asiatic mainland and the islands of the Pacific. The total of more than fifteen hundred centers in Africa reflects the addition of nearly one thousand localities since 1957 when he so proudly announced in his last Riḍván Message that the total had reached a level of more than five hundred and fifty.
After the formation during the current Riḍván period of twenty-one national spiritual assemblies in Latin America, a total of forty-eight national and regional assemblies will be functioning throughout the Bahá’í world as the supreme, divinely-ordained administrative institutions of their respective countries and areas.
Achievements By Local Spiritual Assemblies[edit]
The total number of local spiritual assemblies, the foundation upon which the entire Bahá’í administrative structure rests, is now nearly one thousand eight hundred and fifty, an increase of three hundred and eighty-five over the number reported in last years convention message, and a further substantial increase will occur this year, as the fruit of the stupendous efforts exerted in all the continents of the globe to fulfil both the original and the supplementary goals of the Ten-Year Plan. Two hundred and sixty-five of these local bodies are now incorporated, an objective to which the beloved Guardian attached great importance. Nearly twenty new registrations were secured during the past year, chiefly in the Western Hemisphere, in regions as widespread as Alaska, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. The incorporation of the four Brazilian Assemblies of Curitiba, Sao Caetano, Campinas and Niteroi in one year, bringing the total in that country to eight, as well as the registration of the local assembly of Chiclayo, Peru, represent particularly significant victories, as both Brazil and Peru now have the unique distinction of being the first sovereign countries in the Bahá’í world to attain the goal of incorporation of every one of the local spiritual assemblies within their borders. Another notable achievement of the past year was the incorporation of the local spiritual assembly of Victoria, British Cameroons, the first in this region of West Africa, and one which undoubtedly will open the way for legal recognition of the Faith in other countries and dependencies of that important area.
Supplementary Plans Fulfilled[edit]
The goal of translating the literature of the Faith into
me indigenous languages of the territories included in
the Ten-Year Plan has, in most cases, been accom[Page 5]
plished, and the supplemental achievements in this important field have exceeded all expectations. Since the
inauguration of the Crusade translations have been
completed in no less than one hundred and eighty-four
different languages, eighty-one of which represent original or revised objectives, and the remaining one hundred and three supplementary achievements. All of the
goals for translation have been fulfilled in the languages
specified for Europe and the Americas, and nearly all
of those for Africa; only ten in Asia remain to be completed. Including those already in existence before the
opening of the Crusade, Bahá’í Literature has now been
translated into two hundred and seventy-three different
languages, one hundred and twenty-five of these since
the passing of the beloved Guardian.
The Ten-Year Plan called for the acquisition of eleven sites for future Bahá’í Houses of Worship, Most of these were purchased in the early years of the Crusade, the last one having been added in 1958. Acquisition of Temple sites was also an objective of many of the supplementary plans given to various national and regional Assemblies. Including the original eleven, no less than forty such sites have now been acquired, among these plots in all but two of the twenty republics of Latin America, foreshadowing the day when peoples in all the continents and major areas of the world can assemble for worship under the dome of future Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs.
Recognition of the independent character of the Faith by civil authorities, an objective constantly urged upon the friends by the beloved Guardian, has been further advanced during the past year through the action of school officials in twelve additional cities of the United States giving recognition to the Bahá’í Holy Days. Over ninety jurisdictions throughout the world now grant the Faith this form of recognition. During the past year the Bahá’í marriage certificate has been legalized in Louisiana in the United States, bringing to twenty-nine the number of states and federal districts in that country which recognize the right of Bahá’í Assemblies to conduct legal marriage ceremonies.
The extraordinary increase in the number of Bahá’í summer schools, winter schools, week-end schools, teaching conferences and congresses throughout the Bahá’í world, in both the East and the West, precludes detailed enumeration at this time, but bears witness to the greatly increased community activity of the believers and the range of that phase of their teaching efforts, aimed at deepening the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in their knowledge and understanding of His Faith‘ Also of significance has been the increase of endowments, a number of which have been contributed by devoted, newly-enrolled African believers who have, out of their meagre holdings, insisted on donating land for local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and schools.
Persia and U.S. Join in Mighty Effort[edit]
In reviewing the extraordinary progress which has been made in achieving so many objectives of the Ten-Year Plan, sufficient tribute could never be paid to the services rendered by the followers of the Faithin Bahá’u’lláh’s native land. This oldest community in the Bahá’í world, from whose ranks its early saints, heroes and martyrs were drawn, has poured forth its substance, and an army of pioneers, in a steadily mounting stream for the support of every undertaking embarked upon in every continent of the globe.
The eighth year of the world-embracing Crusade now drawing to a close has witnessed an unprecedented movement of pioneers from both Persia and America into the goal cities of Europe, paralleling and indeed surpassing that which occurred in Latin America in the months preceding the great victory won in that region last Riḍván. This stupendous effort, the first of its kind to join the two foremost communities of the Bahá’í world in an international undertaking of such transcendent importance has, through the operation of the Joint Deputization Fund and the settlement of pioneers, assured the formation of the requisite number of local assemblies specified by the beloved Guardian as objectives of the homefront campaigns in the goal countries of the European continent, aimed at quadrupling the number of local assemblies existing at the beginning of the Crusade — the highest objective set by him for any homefront in the Bahá’í World Community.
This glorious victory represents a significant milestone in that “fate-laden” process set in motion by the beloved Guardian in 1946 when he made “the initiation of systematic teaching activity in the war-tom, spiritually famished European continent” a primary objective of the second Seven-Year Plan launched in that year, and which constituted the second stage in the unfoldment of the world mission given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the American believers. In calling for a vanguard of pioneers to inaugurate the “spiritual conquest of the old world,” he looked forward to the time when, “in the years to come” a host of Bahá’u’lláh’s standard-bearers would “spiritually raise up the sorely ravaged continent of Europe.” This confident hope of our beloved Guardian will become a reality this Riḍván when, as the fruit of the labors of this host of pioneers, the foundations for eleven future pillars of the Universal House of Justice will be laid, paving the way for the establishment of these divinely-ordained institutions in the Riḍván period of 1962.
The evolution of the World Center of the Faith so often alluded to by the beloved Guardian in his references to the rise and development of the institutions functioning in the Holy Land, will enter another stage this Riḍván when the International Bahá’í Council, the forerunner of the Universal House of Justice, will be transformed into a duly elected body. This highly significant event, the first international election in Bahá’í history, has placed upon the members of the national and regional assemblies formed last Riḍván the obligation of participating in the election of a body to whose membership believers in every part of the world are eligible.
Temples Exert Powerful Teaching Influence[edit]
The process of erecting a Bahá’í House of Worship in
each of the five continents of the globe, a task of far-reaching spiritual significance and one to which the beloved Guardian attached immense importance, may be
said to have entered its final stage with the opening in
Kampala, Uganda, of the completed Mother Temple of
Africa last January, the contemplated dedication of the
Mother Temple of the Antipodes in Sydney, Australia
next September, and the laying of the corner-stone of
the Mother Temple of Europe in Frankfurt, Germany
last November. No one could have foreseen, when the
vast panorama of the World Crusade was spread before[Page 6]
our eyes in 1953, that in the eighth year of its prosecution Africa would snatch the palm of victory in yet another field.
The beautiful and dignified African Temple, enthroned like a queen on Kikaya Hill, overlooking the City of Kampala and the rolling green countryside, seems to emanate a warm and personal welcome to all who behold it, and is already demonstrating the truth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words that these Temples are great silent teachers of the Faith. On the day of its dedication the Words of Bahá’u’lláh, recited in Persian, Arabic, many African languages and English, flowed over the assembled believers from East Africa, Abyssinia, Eritrea, Rhodesia, Ruanda Urundi, South Africa, The Sudan, Arabia, Persia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the United States and other places, in mighty waves of benediction, lifting all hearts in praise of Him, and filling the souls of the friends with awe at the contemplation of the bounties of God poured forth in this Day of Days in such supreme abundance, On the day following this profound experience of Bahá’í fellowship, the Temple was formally opened to the public for worship; the crowds, representative of not only the African peoples, but of European, Indian, Sikh, and other elements in the population, filled the Temple to its open doors and overflowed onto its surrounding terrace, an attentive, colorful and reverent throng united, for perhaps the first time, in a service of worship dedicated to the one ness of mankind, to the establishment of world peace and the creation of a society founded on the brotherhood of all men and the fatherhood of their common Creator.
The blessings which this Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is now releasing in the heart of what once was termed the “dark continent” but which now may be truly said to have become the “bright continent” are indeed incalculable. Already similar blessings are beginning to flow out from the first Bahá’í House of Worship to be erected in the Southern Hemisphere, where thousands of people, in anticipation of its forthcoming dedication, are visiting the Sydney Temple, receiving literature, asking questions and broadcasting news of the progress of Bahá’í activities throughout Australia.
There remains the construction, in the center of that continent which is the cradle of western civilization, amongst peoples highly gifted but sorely disillusioned, often hopeless and cynical through direct experience of two cataclysmic wars, of the third great House of Worship which Shoghi Effendi called upon us to erect during this period of unparalleled expansion in all fields of Bahá’í activity. We have witnessed how far-reaching has been the effect of the completion in the heart of America of that most holy Temple dedicated by the Center of the Covenant Himself; we now see before our eyes the new and powerful teaching influence which the African and Australian Temples are releasing. We cannot for a moment contemplate depriving the European continent and its spiritually famished multitudes of a similar blessing. A supreme effort is required, however, if we are to accomplish this purpose. The fanatical and calculated opposition of certain ecclesiastical elements in Germany has delayed, until the eighth year of the World Crusade, purchase of a site for and permission to build a Bahá’í House of Worship there. At long last the Work has commenced, and there are bright prospects for the speedy erection of this building, whose design was approved by the beloved Guardian himself and for the support of which he urged the entire Bahá’í world to rally its forces. Unfortunately, the steady rise in prices in Europe, and particularly in Germany, since the passing of the Guardian, will now entail a tremendous increase in cost This, as well as the maintenance abroad of that precious corps of pioneers in Latin America and Europe, whose steadfast and devoted services are the buttress of the newly elected local assemblies upon which the future pillars of the Universal House of Justice must rest, as well as the support of the various activities which are the mainstay of the mass conversion beginning at long last to take place will, if we are to meet our obligations and achieve our goals, require an the part of every single believer, whatever his or her personal circumstances, whether in the East or the West, a tremendous and unprecedented degree of self-sacrifice in the support of the various funds, the bedrock upon which all Bahá’í activity inevitably rests. Face to face with the gravity of our present obligations, we must never for a moment lose heart. We have never failed. Our record is unblemished. Miraculously, at the last hour, battles greater and more critical in the fortunes of our Faith have been won.
Process of Mass Conversion Accelerates[edit]
That the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the “priceless gem of Divine Revelation enshrining,” as the Guardian wrote, “the Spirit of God and incarnating His Purpose for mankind in this Age,” “feeds itself upon . . . hidden springs of celestial strength” and “propagates itself by ways mysterious and utterly at variance with the standards accepted by the generality of mankind" is, in every field of Bahá’í activity, being constantly demonstrated, but perhaps in no field as clearly as that of the teaching work. The vast process of mass conversion, in fulfilment of Shoghi Effendi’s expressed wish that during this fourth phase of the Ten-Year Plan “an unprecedented increase in the number of the avowed supporters of the Faith, in all the continents of the globe, of every race, clime, creed and color” should take place, is beginning to yield its first fruits.
Little wonder that these fruits are, for the most part, being garnered in lands and amongst peoples who have retained, he said, their “primitive simplicity and remained uncontaminated by the evils of a gross, a rampant materialism undermining the fabric of human society alike in the East and the West, eating into the Vitals of the conflicting peoples inhabiting the American, the European and the Asiatic continents, and alas threatening to engulf in one common catastrophic convulsion the generality of mankind.”
In a little over a decade the ranks of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the African continent — now representing no less than two hundred and eighty-six tribes, have swelled to twenty thousand, ten thousand alone having been added since the passing of the beloved Guardian in 1957. “The pure-hearted and spiritually receptive Negro race” which, he testified, was “so deeply loved by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, for whose conversion to His Father’s Faith He so deeply yearned,” is now beginning to take its rightful place in the Bahá’í world;
Construction Begins on Mother Temple of Europe[edit]
Blasting of rock.
First layer of concrete.
Twenty-seven fundaments for pillars.
Connection wall between pillars and fundaments.
already seven national and regional bodies are representative of areas where the majority of the electorate belong to this distinguished race. The possibilities for an unprecedented enrollment of new believers in these areas are practically limitless, particularly in the African continent, and may be said to be solely dependent on a wider dispersal of Bahá’í pioneers and teachers and the provision of the necessary financial assistance in support of plans that are already formulated and only held in abeyance through lack of sufficient man power and means.
Concomitant with the remarkable advances made in Africa, the Pacific region, upon which the Guardian lavished so much praise and encouragement during the last years of his life, and of whose newly-won victories he was so immensely proud, is witnessing a comparable expansion amongst the many peoples scattered throughout its islands and peninsulas who are as yet unspoiled by the blighting winds of Western materialism, In the Island of Mentawei alone there are now over five thousand Bahá’ís, whilst in the entire Southeast Asian area the number of the adherents of the Faith has swelled to well over eight thousand. Throughout the islands of the Pacific Ocean the far-flung Bahá’í communities are rapidly expanding and steadily increasing numbers of their varied races are being enrolled under the banner of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. In the Indian sub-continent, one of the earliest regions to receive His Message during His own lifetime, a wave of conversion is spreading amongst some of its more primitive people in the Maydhya-Pradesh area, over five hundred of whom have embraced the Cause during the last few months.
In conjunction with the extraordinary progress which has taken place in the spread and consolidation of the Faith throughout the Western Hemisphere during the last few years, a less conspicuous but equally important advance can be seen in a field to which both the Master and the Guardian attached the highest significance. Almost half a century ago ‘Abdu’l-Bahá instructed the believers in the United States and Canada to “attach great importance to the indigenous population of America,” promising that the Indians, like the original inhabitants of Arabia who accepted and supported Muhammad would, when educated and guided, “become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.” The nineteenth objective of that portion of the World Crusade entrusted in 1953 to the American Bahá’í Community by its Guardian was the “conversion to the Faith of members of the leading Indian tribes.” At a steadily accelerating pace this immensely significant process of conversion has gone on until at the present time we are witnesses of an event of extraordinary historic importance, the election in B0livia of a national Bahá’í assembly representative of a community the vast majority of whom belong to the Aymara race. No less than thirteen hundred of these Indians, in over one hundred localities have, with enthusiasm and conviction, embraced the Faith and are responsible for the formation during this present Riḍván of over twenty local assemblies, thus directly fulfilling the expressed wish of the Guardian that the Indians be elected to the councils of the Faith and lend their support to its administrative activities.
The establishment of Indian assemblies in Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico—areas which were the scene of such mighty pre-Colombian civilizations as those of the Incas, the Mayas, and the Aztecs; the formation of no less than four assemblies representative of Canadian Indians in the Yukon, Alberta and Saskatchewan; the fact that there are now over forty Indian and Eskimo tribes represented in the Bahá’í Community throughout the Western Hemisphere — more than double the number in 1957 — all testify that the devoted followers of Bahá’u’lláh, in both the East and the West, are mindful of the tremendously significant words of their beloved Guardian at the inception of the World Crusade, and are devoting special attention to the teaching work in these infinitely fertile fields.
At the moment when such great victories have been won, when such significant events are taking place, when the Ten-Year Plan, the detailed, unique and precious plan of Shoghi Effendi, embodying his fondest hopes, and setting forth so clearly those tasks the accomplishment of which in their entirety must constitute the rock foundation of the work to come for generations, is drawing to a close — at such a moment we should pause and weigh once again the implications of those words he addressed to the first Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in Africa at the opening of the World Crusade: “I welcome,” he said, “with open arms the unexpectedly large number of the representatives of the pure-hearted and spiritually receptive Negro race . . . I acclaim the preponderance of the members of this same race at so significant a Conference . . auguring well for a corresponding multiplication in the number of the representatives of the yellow, the red and brown races of mankind dwelling respectively in the Far East, the Far West and in the Islands of the South Pacific Ocean, a multiplication designed ultimately to bring to a proper equipoise the diverse ethnic elements comprised within the highly diversified world-embracing Bahá’í Fellowship.”
There can be no doubt that one of the deepest sources of satisfaction to the heart of our beloved Guardian during the closing years of his life was the remarkable progress being made in carrying the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh to the members of these races. Their enrollment as Bahá’ís, however, was far from being his ultimate goal. He desired their “active participation in the administrative affairs of the Bahá’í Communities.” This desire of his is now being rapidly fulfilled all over the world.
Fresh Recruits Essential Safeguard Victories[edit]
Significant as these other plans and considerations
may be, there was a dream of the future in Shoghi
Effendi’s mind, a Vision of things to come. This Crusade. he pointed out at its very inception, has been
launched “for the systematic propagation of the Cause
of Bahá’u’lláh over the surface of the entire planet . . .”
“It must, as it approaches its climax, carry the torch
of the Faith to regions so remote, so inhospitable that
neither the light of Christianity or Islam has, after the
revolution of centuries, as yet penetrated.” Already in
Africa, in the Pacific, and in the Americas, the first
attacks on these remote outposts of paganism have been
made and members of tribes as yet unconverted to
any of the great living religions of the world have
accepted, with steadfast and illumined hearts, the regenerating truths enshrined in the Revelation of God[Page 9]
for this Day. But beyond all this there were still heights
and depths of service not yet attained, shining prizes
within our reach, which Shoghi Effendi longed for us
to seize, to which his eyes traveled with yearning and
hope as he gazed upon the vision of our future. To
all his “dearly loved . . . onward marching legions of
the army of Bahá’u’lláh” — whether they labored beyond the Arctic Circle, in the torrid zones of the
Eastem and Western Hemispheres, on the borders or
in the heart of the jungles of Burma, Malaya, India
or the Amazon, on the fringes of the African and
Arabian deserts, in the lonely islands dotting the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans or the North Sea,
whether they scaled the mountains of Tibet, penetrated
the interior of China, Mongolia and Japan, sat with
the leper, consorted with the outcast, traversed the
steppes of Russia or the wastes of Siberia — “I direct,” he wrote, “my impassioned appeal to obey, as
befits His warriors, the summons of the Lord of Hosts,
and prepare for that Day of Days when His victorious
battalions will, to the accompaniment of hosannas
from the invisible angels in the Abba Kingdom, celebrate the hour of final victory.”
The brilliant plans, the daring campaigns, initiated by the Guardian during the thirty-six years of his ministry to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh have home fruit, during the eighth year of his World Crusade, in a manner and to a degree the staunchest believer would never have dreamed possible during that dark and fateful period associated with his passing. Great, however, as our present victories are, we must never for a moment lose sight of the fact that the crown of so much labor and sacrifice will elude our grasp if the remaining objectives of the Ten-Year Plan are not achieved and the prizes already won are not safeguarded during the two years that lie ahead of us.
The consolidation of the various homefronts, a task of such fundamental importance that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself repeatedly stressed it as early as 1916 in His Tablets of the Divine Plan, must receive the special attention of all national bodies, whether presently or previously formed, throughout the entire Bahá’í world, for the homefronts, and primarily the formation of the number of local spiritual assemblies specified by the Guardian himself for each one of them, are the bedrock upon which rest those pillars which must, at the end of the Crusade, sustain the weight of the Universal House of Justice itself. “The Crusade must,” he wrote “as it approaches its conclusion, pave the way for the laying, on an unassailable foundation, of the structural basis of an Administrative Order whose fabric must, in the course of successive Crusades, be laboriously erected throughout the entire globe.”
The process of carrying the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to all the peoples of the world must be accelerated, for He Himself ordained teaching as one of the primary duties of every single one of His followers. When broken in strength and advanced in years ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in those Tablets which constitute the Charter of teaching activities for centuries to come, recalled in most touching terms His own labors to spread the Faith of His Father and warned the believers against the vanity of all other preoccupations. “Ye have observed,” He wrote, “that while ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in the utmost bodily Weakness, while he was indisposed and had not the power to move . . . he traveled through many countries.” “What result,” He asked, “is forthcoming from material rest, tranquility, luxury and attachment to this physical world! It is evident that the man who pursues these things will in the end become afflicted with regret and loss.”
Shoghi Effendi pointed out to us, at the very inception of the Crusade, that the prosecution of all the other vital tasks he had enumerated as objectives of his world-embracing Plan, “would fail to achieve their supreme purpose if not supplemented by the equally vital task . . . of winning to the Faith fresh recruits to the slowly yet steadily advancing army of the Lord of Hosts, whose reinforcing strength is so essential to the safeguarding of the victories which the band of heroic Bahá’í conquerors are winning in the course of their several campaigns in all countries of the globe.”
No words could better direct the attention of the friends to the significance of the immediate three-fold task that confronts the entire Bahá’í world — the consolidation of the homefronts, the process of mass conversion and the rearing of the Mother Temple of Europe — than these written by our beloved Guardian himself long ago, on another occasion, but in words so pregnant with meaning for this hour in which we find ourselves that they seem to have been written yesterday: “Ours is the duty to fix our gaze with undeviating attention on the duties and responsibilities confronting us at this present hour, to concentrate our resources, both material and spiritual, on the tasks that lie immediately ahead, to insure that no time is wasted, that no opportunity is missed, that no obligation is evaded, that no task is half-heartedly performed, that no decision is procrastinated. The task summoning us to a challenge, unprecedented in its gravity and force, is too vast and sacred, the time too short, the hour too perilous, the workers too few, the call too insistent, the resources too inadequate, for us to allow these precious and fleeting hours to slip from our grasp, and to suffer the prizes within our reach to be endangered or forfeited. So much depends upon us, so pregnant with possibilities is the present stage in the evolution of the Plan, that great and small, individuals, groups and assemblies, white and colored, young and old, neophytes and veterans, settlers, pioneers, itinerant teachers and administrators, as isolated believers, as organizers of groups, and as contributors to the formation of local or national assemblies, as builders of the Temple, . all, without exception and in every sphere of activity, however modest, restricted, or inconspicuous, must participate and labor, assiduously and continually, until every ounce of our energy is spent, until, tired but blissful, out promised harvest is brought in, and our pledge to our Beloved fully redeemed.”
—Signed
RÚḤÍYYIH
AMELIA COLLINS
LEROY IOAS
JALAL KHAZEH
PAUL HANEY
JOHN FERRABY
A. Q. FAIZI
April 1961.
International Bahá’í Council Elected[edit]
“(With) deepest gratitude (for) Bahá’u’lláh’s unfailing blessings enabling (the) Bahá’í world (in the) eighth year (of the) Crusade (to) elect (the) International Bahá’í Council succeeding (that) first historic body appointed by (the) Guardian (we) joyfully announce (the) membership: Jessie Revell, Ali Nakhjavani, Lotfullah Hakim, Ethel Revell, Charles Wolcott, Sylvia Ioas, Mildred Mottahedeh, Ian Semple, Borrah Kayelin. (We) invite (the) believers (to) join us (in) ardent prayers (that this) historic step may release (the) spiritual impetus (for the) attainment (of the) goals (of the) scared plan so dear (to the) heart (of the) beloved Guardian.”
(Signed) HANDSFAITH
Haifa, Israel
April 29, 1961
Beloved friends:
The above announcement was received during the Fifty-Third Annual Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and is shared with the entire Bahá’í world at the instruction of the Hands of the Faith in the Holy Land. The significance of this momentous event and its relationship to the Universal House of Justice to be elected in 1963 was referred to in the message from the Hands of the Cause of November 2, 1960, published in Bahá’í News No. 357, December 1960, as follows:
“One of the most significant events during this coming Riḍván period will take place when the national spiritual assemblies of the Bahá’í World elect the International Bahá’í Council. We shall witness, for the first time in the history of the Faith, an election on a global scale, and the hearts of the believers will echo the words of the beloved Guardian at the time when he appointed the first International Bahá’í Council: ‘Hail with thankful, joyous hearts’ this historic moment. This Council which the beloved Guardian characterized as the ‘most significant milestone’ iii the evolution of the Administrative Order since the Master’s ‘passing will now undergo, in his own words its ‘transformation into a duly elected body;’ it will be international in character, and have its headquarters at the World Center of the Faith. In addition to those functions which were announced last year, it will be given certain administrative duties to discharge in facilitating the work at the World Center in relation to national assemblies abroad. It would be well for the believers, pondering at this time the importance of the step that is being taken through this election, to bear in mind that however significant this first universally elected body may be, it must never be compared with that supreme body upon which we are promised the Twin Manifestations of God will confer infallibility in the discharge of those duties ordained for it in the holy text.”
—UNITED STATES NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Delegates Elect NSA for 1961-1962[edit]
The newly-elected National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States for 1961-1962 is as follows: H. Borrah Kavelin, chairman; David Ruhe, vice-chairman; Charles Wolcott, secretary: Charlotte Linfoot, assistant secretary; Edna True, recording secretary; Arthur Dahl, treasurer; Hugh E. Chance. Amoz Gibson, and Sarah M. Pereira.
Uruguayan Bahá’í Conference, held in Minas, Uruguay, December 1960, was attended by approximately thirty-five Bahá’ís including several of the friends from Argentina.
Memorial Gathering Honors Hand of Cause Corinne True
At the request of the Hands in the Holy Land, the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly arranged a memorial service in honor of Mrs. Corinne Knight True, revered and beloved Hand of the Cause of God. This was held in the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár on Friday evening, April 28, during the National Convention. Delegates and visitors attending the Convention and friends from the surrounding area filled Foundation Hall and quietly paid tribute to this venerable figure of both the heroic and formative ages of the Faith. Beautiful ted rosebuds arranged on the center table, flanked at each end by large baskets of pink and white carnations and stock, decorated the hall for this occasion. The program consisted of music followed by prayers read by H. Borrah Kavelin, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, readings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh by Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh, Auxiliary Board member, remarks by Hand of the Cause Paul Haney, from the World Center in Haifa, and a closing prayer, “From the sweet-scented streams . . . ” by Mrs. Charlotte Orlick, followed by additional music.
Mr. Haney shared the message sent to the Bahá’í world by the Hands in Haifa after they received the news of the passing of Mrs. True — a message of grief over the loss and of honor and praise to this distinguished figure whose life, service and steadfastness will “enrich the annals of the Faith in the western world.” He also read several of the many cablegrams which had come from the entire Bahá’í world: from the two Hands of the Cause in the Western Hemisphere, Mr. Khádem and Mr. Sears, from the Asian Hands of the Cause gathered in Tihran, from the National Spiritual Assemblies of Persia, of the Arabian Peninsula, and of Scandinavia and Finland.
Mrs. True was one of that small band of stalwart followers of the Master who entered the Faith shortly before the turn of the century. She came from a southern family steeped in orthodoxy. Her father was a Presbyterian minister. She made a complete break with all of the tradition and orthodoxy of her family. “We recall,” Mr. Haney stated, “at the Conference of Badasht the followers of the Báb led by Bahá’u’lláh made a complete break with all of the past — with Muslim orthodoxy and tradition. Mrs. True did just that.”
Early in her Bahá’í life she wrote the Master and asked for a set of guiding principles for her life, and received the following Tablet from Him:
O thou dear servant of God!
Thy letter was received and its contents noted. As to instructions which thou desirest, they are as follows:
Believe in God; turn unto the Supreme Kingdom; be attracted unto the Beauty of Abhá; remain firm in the Covenant; yearn for ascending unto the heaven of the sun of the universe; be disinterested in the world; be alive with the fragrances of holiness in the Kingdom of the Highest; be a caller to love; kind to the human race; gentle with humanity; interested in all the people of the world; wish for harmony and seek friendship and honesty. Be a healing for every wound, a remedy for every sick, a source of harmony among the people; chant the verses of guidance; pray to God; arise for the guidance of the people; let thy tongue explain and thy face illumine with the glowing love of God. Rest not a moment and breathe not a breath of repose until thou becomest a sign of God’s love and a banner of God’s favor.
Throughout her life she was guided in her every action by these instructions.
In the minds of most of the believers of the Bahá’í world Mrs. True is best known for her work in connection with the building of the Mother Temple of the West. She was one of the two persons who found the
Meetings were recently hem in the two goal cities of Holland, Arnhem and Utrecht. Photo at left shows the
Arnhem group with friends and newly declared believers Mrs. John Hutjens, seated second from left, and Mrs.
Masje van der Garde at far right. This group was first organized in November 1959, with pioneers Mr. and
Mrs. Edward Bode of the USA. and settler Mrs. Holly Watrin of Holland. The Utrecht meeting, shown at
right above followed a Persian dinner held at home of Mr. and Mrs. Jafar Rahmani, Persian pioneers.
land for the Temple. For seventeen years she received all contributions as financial secretary of the Bahá’í Temple Unity, and she acknowledged each contribution with a personal note containing some word of encouragement. or loving message. These notes have been saved and treasured through the years by many of the friends throughout the world.
The Master sent many instructions to Mrs. True about the building of the Temple. Mr. Haney shared a few of these Tablets received by her which show the love and esteem in which the Master held her and the great importance of the Temple:
O thou who are turning unto the Kingdom of God!
Now the day has arrived in which the edifice of God, the divine sanctuary, the spiritual temple, shall be erected in America! I entreat God to assist the confirmed believers in accomplishing this great service and with entire zeal to rear this mighty structure which shall be renowned throughout the world. The support of God will be with those believers in that district that they may be successful in their undertaking, for the Cause is great and great; because this is the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in that country and from it the praise of God shall ascend to the Kingdom of Mystery and the tumult of His exaltation and greetings from the whole world shall be heard!
Whosoever arises for the service of this building shall be assisted with a great power from His Supreme Kingdom and upon him spiritual and heavenly blessings shall descend, which shall fill his heart with Wonderful consolation and enlighten his eyes by beholding the glorious and eternal God!
As the Temple project developed Mrs. True became convinced that it could not be a local endeavor of the Bahá’ís of this area, but that the responsibility for its administration must be shared with the other friends of America. She wrote the Master and made a suggestion. The following answer was received from Him which led to the formation of the so-called Bahá’í Temple Unity, the first national body of the United States, and although it was for the work of the Temple, it was really the forerunner of the National Spiritual Assembly:
. . . Concerning the members of this spiritual meeting. you suggested that they be selected from all the spiritual meetings of the other cities of America. I quite approve and am very much pleased with this plan. This will become the cause of harmony in the Word in all America. Therefore, ask every spiritual meeting in the other cities that they will each select one and send him, and from these selected ones and with those who are selected from the Chicago meetings, establish a new meeting for the provision of the needs of the Temple. if this be established with perfect fragrance and joy, it will produce great results. In this new meeting. especially for the establishment of the Temple, ladies are also to be members.
Excerpts from other Tablets are:
. . . I beg of God to encircle you with the Most Great Bounty and confirm you with the Most Imminent Grace which consists of building the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Chicago. This foundation will have the greatest effect in the hearts of the people of faithfulness.
Therefore, endeavor ye with all your power and generosity so that ye may raise this first foundation in the Name of Baha in the continent of America. I supplicate God to pour upon you heavenly blessings and that thy family be protected from every sadness and sorrow in this world.
O thou my daughter of the Kingdom!
Praise be to God that thou art assisted and confirmed in the service of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and art spending thy effort in the erection of this Edifice. The construction of this great building is the first divine foundation of the people of unity in America and it will be like unto a Mother unto the
The Bahá’í Communities
of Lahti, Helsinki, Tampere and Turku were
represented at a February
Conference held in Helsinki, Finland. A workshop
was held on “The All of
Consultation.”
Bahá’í youth attending the All-Burma Teaching Conference held at the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Rangoon, Burma,
Oct. 8-9, 1960. Hand of Cause H. Collier Featherstone and
Mrs. Featherstone (back row) were present.
Temples of God. All the temples which will be built
in the future are born from this great Temple.
God says in the great Koran: “The building of the Mosques of God is carried along by those souls who believe in God and in the Day of Judgment.” In other words, the construction of the divine mosques is undertaken by the believing, pure and blessed soul. It is my hope that thou mayest become assisted in building this Edifice and become conducive to the firmness of the people in the Covenant and Testament.
O thou dear maid-servant of God!
The question of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is very important and is superior to every matter; surely put forth utmost effort tor it.
In the fact you have registered the Name of ‘Abdu’l-Babé in the contribution book, I became very happy . . .
The Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Rangoon, Burma.
In addition to her unparalleled service in the construction and development of the Temple of the West,
another of Mrs. True’s great contributions was that
of teaching, not only in her every action of kindness
and love to all, but also in guiding many to acceptance
of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. The Master wrote her:
O ye who are set aglow with the fire of God’s Love!
Blessed are ye for having been chosen by God for His love, in this new age, and joy be to you for having been guided to the Great Kingdom! Verily, your Lord hath chosen you to show the path to the Kingdom of God, among the people . . . I rejoiced to hear of your efforts in the Cause of God. This is indeed good service.
Mrs. True’s steadfastness in those earlier years — her championship of the Covenant in days of testing — continued throughout her life. There are innumerable Tablets from the Master addressed to her as “O thou who art firm in the Covenant!”
She was one of those individuals who completely made the transition from the period of the Master to the period of the Guardian. She continued to serve with the same complete devotion and consecration, and the Guardian praised her many times for her services, as did the Master. Mrs. True had the bounty of eight pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Her first one was in 1907 and the last one occurred in 1952 at the age of ninety-one.
In 1957 when word of the passing of the beloved Guardian came, her daughters brought the news to the True home and consulted together as to how they would break it to her, They were concerned as to what impact it would have upon her, but they finally showed her the message indicating that the beloved Guardian Shoghi Effendi had passed on to the Abhá Kingdom. She looked at the message, closed her eyes for a moment, and then raised her head and said in a strong voice, “You must know that this is the will of God.”
Nearly One Thousand Bahá’ís at U. S. Convention Greet Hand of Cause Paul Haney[edit]
As delegates and visitors poured eagerly into Wilmette for the Fifty-Third National Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States, they were greeted by familiar concomitants of the great annual gathering. Here, once more, were the first soul-lifting glimpses of the holiest House of Worship in the Bahá’í World; the kaleidoscopic weather combinations of sun, cloud, wind, rain, and moonlight; the strengthening spiritual draught offered by the first devotional period; and eventually the keen expectation stirred by the notes of the chairman’s Chimes as he opened the initial session. But inevitably the tone, purpose, and content of the 1961 convention were permeated by a prevailing sense of urgency. Vital, difficult goals were still to be gained in the beloved Guardian’s Ten-Year Crusade, and its culmination was only twenty-four short months away. As one delegate put it, the count-down had begun.
The convention agenda meshed in closely with “the immediate three-fold task” which the Hands of the Faith in the Holy Land pointed out in their message to all the 1961 conventions: “the consolidation of the homeironts, the process of mass conversion and the rearing of the Mother Temple of Europe.” The lastnamed factor was handled with dispatch through the convention’s quick approval of a budget including America’s immediate share of the cost of the Frankfurt House of Worship. The other phases of the task occupied the delegates’ almost constant attention through four exciting days.
Soon after the opening, Chairman Borrah Kavelin introduced Hand of the Cause Paul Haney. The revered Hand of the Cause, who himself had presided at many conventions before being called to serve in the Holy Land more than three years ago, galvanized the friends with his confident reminder that soon the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, through establishment of the Universal House of Justice, would, for the first time in history. provide a supreme infallible body through which Divine guidance will flow to all mankind.
National Teaching Conference for the German section
of Switzerland held in Basel, Switzerland, June 1960.
Throughout the sessions, Mr. Haney repeatedly contributed words of wisdom, explanation, and reassurance, as when he reminded the deeply anxious delegates of the Guardian’s statement that the American
Bahá’í Community would not lose its spiritual primacy.
During the initial session he also alternated with Chairman Kavelin and Secretary Wolcott in the reading of
the Message from the Hands, of which he himself was
one of the authors. He pointed out that this message
was considered by the Hands to have special historical
significance because or the great victory in Latin
America which it memorialized; namely, the formation
during Riḍván of twenty-one new national spiritual
assemblies. It is for this reason that the message includes, for the benefit of future generations, numerous
quotations from Shoghi Effendi. In recognition of its
outstanding importance, the whole assemblage promptly adjourned to the Temple auditorium to offer prayers
for complete fulfillment of the Ten-Year Plan. Soon
afterward the convention acknowledged the historic
document with a cabled message.
A note of deep sadness was struck in the announcement that blessed Hand of the Cause Corinne True had passed to the Abhá Kingdom on April 3. Forever to be associated with the development of America’s Mother Temple, and revered throughout the Bahá’í World for her indomitable firmness in the Covenant, Mrs. True has been characterized by the Guardian as the most venerable figure among the pioneers of the Faith in the West. A memorial service held in Foundation Hall on Friday evening, April 23, is described elsewhere.
Early in the convention proceedings the United Nations representatives gave a most heartening account of the work in establishing ever closer relations with the world organization. The response of the delegates was a recommendation that the National Assembly send a letter of support to the secretary-general of the U.N.
A special education committee working with the
National Teaching Conference for the French section of
Switzerland held at Vevey, Switzerland, October 1960.
Hand of Cause Tarázu’lláh Samandari (front row center) meeting with Bahá’ís at Bangkok, Thailand, March
1961.
National Assembly reported on a study aimed at coordinating the organization, policies, and curricula of
the vital sources of Bahá’í education, including summer schools.
By prearrangement, not all committees were called upon for reports, although representatives stood ready to clarify points that arose. But the American National Teaching Committee, the National Assembly’s chief arm for directing the teaching on the critical homefront, gave a full and impressive accounting of its year’s work. In so doing, it laid the foundation for discussion of the principal task to which the convention was called upon to address itself: the stimulation of immediate and effective action in the related fields of teaching, proclamation, consolidation, and mass conversion.
Although the enrollment of both adult and youth members was the greatest since the beginning of the World Crusade, the delegates felt that an even more rapid growth was retarded by a lack of full obedience to the injunctions of the Faith’s principal Figures regarding teaching, as well as disobedience to the Bahá’í laws and standards of conduct. We still fail to put the Faith first in our lives, and in the field of teaching individually We do not mention the Faith to one new person each day, hold a fireside every nineteen days, and win one soul each year. We spend too much time on uninterested people, often including friends and family, instead of finding receptive souls. Also we become involved in too many problems that grow out of the inadequate preparation of believers for enrollment and insufficient post-enrollment deepening.
Among the remedies suggested was a fuller realization that basically our problems reside in the heart of each individual. Especially must we obey the many injunctions of the beloved Guardian, whose great mission was to set in motion the Divine Plan — a mission which he fulfilled through a series of tasks and plans addressed to a body of believers expected to mature and to regenerate itself spiritually. Reminding ourselves oi the urgency oi our mission, and specifically that of the Crusade, we must broaden and intensify systematic, sustained teaching at the local level. We should, if necessary, “teach ourselves to teach,” realizing, as Shoghi Effendi told us, that the average teacher is an ordinary Bahá’í, but one who is constantly cultivating a deeper understanding of the essential verities of the Faith. This is accomplished through study and thorough reliance on prayer and the divine institutions.
Help from our national administrative and teaching organs will be forthcoming, but we should not wait for this; the emphasis, as always, must be on individual teaching. This process can and should be kept uncomplicated: study the Word, live the life, give the message. In doing this we simply project our own faith in and love for Bahá’u’lláh to other souls, offering them with complete assurance what no one but a Bahá’í can give them. For attraction and growth, and to assure success for the individual and group efforts so often entwined with one another, all communities must truly settle personality conflicts, and local assemblies must constantly strive to function as true “Trustees of the Merciful.”
On the subject of suitable approaches to the public in this crucial period, both in the Faith and in the world, delegates suggested emphasis on America’s spiritual mission, especially where youth are concerned; bold assertions, perhaps adaptable to mass proclamation, that Christ has returned or that God has sent a new Messenger; and a challenge to join the Army of Bahá’u’lláh.
Finally, all individuals and all communities should set definite goals — goals to be carried constantly in their thoughts, incorporated in their prayers, and implemented with irresitible energy and faith.
These and many other ideas were discussed for consideration by the incoming National Assembly and by
Members of National Teaching Committee of Vietnam
and Bahá’í pioneers gathered outside the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Saigon for a teaching conference, April 1961.
the believers at home. Appropriately reinforcing the consultation was a message from the Hands of the Western Hemisphere which not only conveyed joyous confirmation of the forming of the new National Assemblies in Latin America but also called for a tidal wave of teaching aimed at winning the remaining Crusade goals in both the United States and Canada. It provided the assemblage with a powerful and eloquent stimulus toward the attainment of the American community’s greatest remaining objectives: establishment this year, and consolidation next year, of enough local assemblies to finally bring their number to the total of 300 set by Shoghi Effendi.
A valued contribution to the homefront consultation was the reading of excerpts from a letter from ‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, Her message, which among other things, significantly predicted that mass conversion of our white people would follow mass conversion of the American Negroes and Indians, will be published in full for the American believers. In the convention itself it was followed, in good time, by brief reports from the Indian Service and Inter-racial Committees, reflecting intensified activity and growing success in their respective fields.
Victories were also reported or reviewed by the committees aiding in the international expansion of the Faith: in Latin America; in the eleven western European goal countries, where the quadrupled local assemblies specified by the Guardian were established, forshadowing the organization of more national bodies next year; in Africa, where the major goals have been won; and in Asia, where all essential posts have been filled. Further teaching and consolidation are needed in practically all of these regions, so that there is no dearth of opportunities for thrilling and rewarding pioneer work.
The report of the national treasurer conveyed a sense of the magnitude of the task facing the American
Three summer schools were held at the close of 1960
in the South Pacific; in Western Samoa, Tonga and
Fiji. Attendants at the Fiji sessions are shown above.
In addition to other subjects, all three schools held
classes on Administration.
Bahá’ís and their menus gathered at the Taiwan
Bahá’í Center (Formosa) in celebration of Naw-Rúz
1961.
community in its undertakings to bring the number of
local assemblies up to 300, to discharge its obligations
in the consolidation of gains on the world front, and
to aid in the completion of the Frankfurt Temple. As
explained by Hand of the Cause Paul Haney, the ecclesiastical opposition to the building of the Temple,
and the resulting delays in a period of rising prices,
have greatly increased the cost of the edifice beyond
the $350,000 approved by Shoghi Effendi before his
passing. Not all of these funds are being sought at
present, but the Persian and American communities
have been asked to contribute $50,000 each for two
years, and the first $50,000 is included in the new national budget, which totals $550,000. This figure is considerably higher than last year’s but, as Treasurer
Dahl said in effect, if all the believers can come to a
full realization of the urgency of the needs, they will
gladly make the sacrifices for which it calls.
The election of the new National Spiritual Assembly was conducted in an atmosphere of prayerful solemnity, emphasized by the retirement of the non-delegates to the auditorium for prayers of guidance. The results of the voting and the election of the officers appear elsewhere in this issue of BAHÁ’Í NEWS.
Soon after this event came the cablegram from the Hands of the Faith in the Holy Land announcing the results of another election of special significance — the membership of the International Bahá’í Council. Commenting on this message, which is printed elsewhere, Mr. Haney pointed out that the election of the new International Council marks the first Bahá’í election on a global scale. It will function for two years, he explained — that is until the Universal House of Justice is elected. A quorum of its members will be at the Bahá’í World Center at all times. It will work under the direction of the Hands and its duties will be of an evolving nature.
Interspersed with the hours of consultation were several dramatic interludes: a motion picture review of the dedication of the Kampala Temple last January, with comments by Auxiliary Board member Amoz Gibson and former Africa pioneer Robert Quigley, both of whom had been present; a color-slide film with recorded commentary on proclamation; a youth presentation stressing the responsibility of Bahá’í youth to give the Message; and, on the last day, a word-and-picture resumé of accomplishments, including greatly enlarged photographs of Temples, Shrines, and Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds.
Noteworthy also were the many messages of greeting from national and local assemblies; the prayers in Persian, Hawaiian, and Gha, the one in the latter tongue being given in his native dress by a Ghanaian Bahá’í; and visitors from New Zealand, South Africa, and Iran.
The Feast of the Riḍván was celebrated with a devotional service in the Temple auditorium, and later with a public address before a throng that taxed the capacity of Foundation Hall and all available adjacent areas. The speaker, Hand of the Cause Paul Haney, referred to Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of His mission as bringing a new Faith to a world universally engulfed by the emergence of science and technology. The Bahá’í purpose is to regenerate mankind at this critical juncture and to prepare it for participation in a new world civilization. Following these opening remarks, Mr. Haney presented an eloquent and crystal-clear exposition of the Faith.
In the concluding session, and after a final period of consultation on homefront teaching, Mr. Haney appeared before the nearly one thousand friends once more for his final words of guidance, and inspiration. The convention, he said, had made all realize that in these closing months of the Crusade the American Bahá’í Community has a rendezvous with destiny which will affect Bahá’í history for years to come. The Ten-Year Crusade closes the first epoch of the Divine Plan and, in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, these days, once
Southern University Library display for Bahá’í World
Youth Day, Baton Rouge, La.
gone, can never come again. We must realize the glory
of these hours, and, grasping our opportunity, climb
to new heights of sacrifice and dedication, thus vindicating the position of leadership conferred upon us
by the Master and the beloved Guardian.
There followed another farewell, this one in a heart-stirring letter sent by beloved Hand of the Cause William Sears on the eve of his departure for service at the World Center; a closing prayer; and then the end had come, A flurry of good-byes filled the hall and corridors, but many of the friends stayed on for the afternoon public worship service. As they mounted the great circles of steps toward the majestic auditorium, the bright spring colors of the Temple gardens came sharply into view, like prophetic symbols of an awakening world.
—P. R. AND S. B. MEINHARD
Believers of Dalat, Vietnam, observing the Naw-Rúz
Feast.
Bahá’ís gathered in celebration of World Religion Day,
1961, Caracas and Distrito Sucre, Venezuela.
International News Briefs[edit]
The April Alaska Bahá’í News states that enrollments in Alaska “have already surpassed the all time high mark reached last year.” The goal town of Cordova in Alaska has just recently grown from a lone pioneer to a group of four, one of these a youth. Adult and youth classes are being held regularly for interested contacts.
World Religion Day in Australia this year attracted 1,000 to seven public meetings. over 300 guests were among the 400 attending the meeting in Adelaide. Most of the 330 people attending Sydney’s meeting were not Bahá’ís, and this same ratio or Bahá’ís and guests extended throughout the well-attended meetings held in Toowoomba, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Hobart. The Darwin Group prepared a week—long public library display and broadcast a thirty-minute radio address. Bahá’ís in Ballarat projected a five-week advertising campaign and arranged an interview on a local radio station. There ls no doubt that these meetings and all the media of mass proclamation, including excellent publicity, made an impact upon Australia this year.
The Regional Assembly of the South Pacific has announced the opening of Ocean Island in the Gilbert Islands, and regretfully states that Makogai Island, in the Fijis, opened to the Faith a few months ago, is presently without a pioneer.
In Germany, the cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Braunschweig, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden, Heilbrenn, Stuttgart, Goeppingen, Ulm, and Nürnberg observed World Religion Day under the general theme of “Deeds Reveal the Station of Man.” In four of these cities, speakers of other religions participated, among them a highly qualified professor from an old German University, Dr. Heiler, who by this act cast away the shackles of paralyzing limitations. The press has been invited to all meetings; in one city a press conference was organized immediately following the event. The press coverage, though limited, was friendly and factual.
Left: Hand of Cause Mr. A. Furútan (second row center) visiting newly formed Bahá’í group of Padova, Italy,
December 1960, Right: Hand of Cause Dr. Ugo Giachery (second row center) meeting with Bahá’ís of Padova
and Venice, Italy, to consult on teaching and administration. This meeting was held at Padova on Feb. 5, 1961.
New Zealand held its twenty-first summer school
from January 7 to 14, at Helensville with fifty-nine persons attending. A new study approach was used. After
presentation of the subject matter by the leader, the
class met in small groups to discuss answers to various
teaching problems. These answers were further discussed with the full class session.
The Yerrinbool Bahá’í School in Australia held from December 26 to January 3 had the largest attendance ever recorded, with 112 persons attending the sessions. Many of these were interested contacts. Bahá’ís came from every mainland state and territory and from the New Hebrides.
There is a feeling of awakening in Italy. Here some Americans and many Persian friends have come to help form new assemblies and consolidate weak communities. On November 11 and 12, a national teaching conference was held in Rome, as previously published. On February 5, a joint teaching conference of the two cities of Venice and Padua took place in the latter city. Hand of the Cause, Dr. Ugo Giachery, gave an inspiring talk on the current situation, the victories recently won, as well as the plans still to be carried out. The presence of Dr. and Mrs. Giachery contributed greatly to the success of this meeting. Also in Padua, the enterprising youth organized a meeting for World Youth Day on March 25, with the participation of youth from other Italian cities.
The first public proclamation of the Faith in Bologna, Italy, took place on the eve of Naw-Rúz. Bahá’ís from Florence, Padua, Rimini and San Marino also brought guests. Nearly one hundred persons, over half of them guests, heard a brief Bahá’í talk in the private dining room of one of the finest restaurants in the city. Following the talk and an excellent dinner, questions and answers provoked by the speaker’s remarks extended the dimer for two hours. It was a happy time for everyone. Beautiful spring flowers, background music, the gathering of many races and religions all made this Naw-Rúz an unforgettable occasion.
Thirteen Villages Opened on Tabiteuea in Gilberts[edit]
In June of 1955 one of the first Bahá’ís of Abaiang, Peter Kanere, went to his home island of Tabiteuea in the Gilbert Islands, where he taught until joined by pioneer Joe Russel in Dec. 1959. Their joint teaching work resulted in the formation of three local assemblies by Apr. 21, 1960. There are now Bahá’ís in thirteen villages on the island, and several native Bahá’ís have gone to other islands to work, thereby helping to spread the Faith. There has been an increase of 112 Bahá’ís this past year.
Three Bahá’í schools have been opened and are in process of being registered by the government. These schools are supported, except for books and supplies. by the Bahá’ís of the island.
The area of the Gilbert and Ellice Island colony is two million square miles, mostly water. To show the difficulty of travel, it takes six nights and five days to return from the island oi Tabiteuea to Tarawa as the ship stops on many islands to load copra.
Believers in Buota village, NO1th Tabiteuea, at teaching conference held Dec. 1960. They formed their
assembly in April 1960.
Bahá’ís of Etta village, North Tabiteuea with Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in background. Their assembly was formed in 1960.
Believers in Utiroa village, North Tabiteuea, in front
of Maneaba (village meeting house) which belongs to
village but is used by Baha is for meetings.
Group of Bahá’ís in Tewai village, South Tabiteuea,
at a teaching conference held Dec. 25-26, 1960.
Picture showing size of village Maneaba (meeting
house) in Tewai.
Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Pomona, Calif., incorporated Feb. 27, 1961. Front row, left to right: Miss Lois K. Sokup, Per Kvalheim, Mrs. Alice Mays, Ronald A. Carsten. Back row: Mrs. Gry Kvalheim, Mrs. Marion Barnes, Russell Le Vell, Mrs. Sa-Raann Le Vell, Mrs. Wilma Henderson.
Bahá’ís of Puma Arenas, Chili, holding one of their
regular teatime meetings at the Center, Feb. 19, 1951.
Two More School System Recognize Bahá’í Holy Days[edit]
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Nashville, Tenn., was informed on November 14, 1960 by the Superintendent of Nashville City Schools that Bahá’í children may be excused from classes without penalty for observance of Bahá’í Holy Days. On February 9 he informed the Assembly that the school system auto matically grants teachers two days in each year for leave for religious purposes. He states: “We are glad to show this respect for your religious faith.”
Upon the request of the Bahá’í Assembly of Kirkland, Washington, permission has been granted by the Lake Washington School District for Bahá’í children to remain away from classes on Bahá’í Holy Days.
Altogether, twelve school systems have given recognition to the Bahá’í Faith since Riḍván 1960.
—U.S. National Spiritual Assembly
Calendar of Events[edit]
FEASTS[edit]
June 5 — Núr (Light) June 24 — Rahmat (Mercy)
U.S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS[edit]
June 9, 10, 11
Baha’i House of Worship[edit]
Visiting Hours[edit]
Weekdays
10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Entire building)
7200 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Auditorium only)
Sundays and Holidays
10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Entire building)
5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Auditorium only)
Service of Worship[edit]
Sundays
3:30 to 4:10 p.m.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í World Community.
Reports, plans, news items, and photographs of general interest are requested from national committees and local assemblies at the United States as well as from national assemblies of other lands. Material is due in Wilmette on the first day of the month preceding the date of issue for which it is intended.
BAHA’I NEWS is edited by an annually appointed Editorial Committee. The Committee for 1960-61: Mrs. Eunice Braun. International News; Miss Charlotte M. Linfoot, National News; Miss D. Thelma Jackson and Mrs. Harriett Wolcott, Editors.
Editorial Office: 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A.
Change of address should be reported directly to National Bahá’í Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A.
