| ←Previous | National Bahá’í Review Issue 6 |
Next→ |
| Return to PDF view |
 | The text below this notice was generated by a computer, it still needs to be checked for errors and corrected. If you would like to help, view the original document by clicking the PDF scans along the right side of the page. Click the edit button at the top of this page (notepad and pencil icon) or press Alt+Shift+E to begin making changes. When you are done press "Save changes" at the bottom of the page. |
A Summation By the National Spiritual Assembly
DR. DANIEL JORDAN, Chairman MR. DR. DAVID S. RUHE, Secretary
The Bahá’í Faith in the United States is plainly on the march. Progress is visible in every area of our defined endeavors. The sense of commitment to the world-wide and national goals of the Faith of God has been perceptibly rising. The ideal of universal participation within our lay religious society, so dependent upon the devotion of each Bahá’í, is being realized consciously in every segment of our life spectrum: from our public speaking to our family relationships, from our offering of our material goods to our willingness to uproot and reshape our lives in pioneering, from our daily work felt as sacramental service to our willing identification as people of Bahá we are becoming the true world citizens of enlightment, magnanimity, freedom. The Centenary of the Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to the kings and rulers of the earth has galvanized an emergent spirit of ever higher resolve.
The Intercontinental Conference and Centenary Observance
October 1967 was a landmark time for the North American Bahá’í communities. As we hailed the writing of the Tablets to the Kings and Rulers by Bahá’u’lláh in 1867, and as chosen emissaries delivered His messages to the rulers’ successors one hundred years later, we the United States Bahá’í host community were privileged to celebrate that Centenary with 3000 fellow believers in Chicago and in Wilmette.
The Conference was a dynamic platform for Hands of the Cause of God Tarazu’llah Samandari, Zikru’lláh Khádem and John Robarts. An intercontinental telephone linkage provided a convincing demonstration
ROEERT QUIGLEY, Vice Chairman
MIss CHARLOTTE M. LINFOOT, Assistant Secretary MISS EDNA M. TRUE, Recording Secretary
MR. ARTHUR L. DAHL, Treasurer
of how close-knit had become our world and its growing Bahá’í family gathered at the six intercontinental conferences. The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh was delivered to President Lyndon B. Johnson on behalf of The Universal House of Justice. Singularly fine special literature, posters and invitations were prepared. The sessions were highlighted by splendid visual programs, a public meeting with Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh and Bishop James A. Pike, an exhibition of Mark Tobey paintings (the Dahl collection), exhibits, newscasts and interviews, culminating in a massive volunteering for pioneering. All was climaxed by a viewing of the portrait of the Blessed Beauty at the Holiest House of Worship.
Hands of the Cause of God and Auxiliary Boards
The Centenary year has been a rich one in the special experiences vouchsafed the believers through the Hands of the Cause of God, each with his special and unique contribution. Our own continental Hands Zikru’lláh Khádem and John Robarts have striven mightily to instill their profound understanding of the Faith in tireless journeys everywhere in the United States and Canada. From his home in California, Dr. Ugo Giachery assiduously served Central America and the Caribbean. Home for a brief leave from Africa was Hand of the Cause William B. Sears, eloquent as ever.
The greatest of bounties was in the person of Hand of the Cause Tarazu’llah Samandari, the venerable disciple who of those living alone knew the Blessed Beauty. With his devoted son Dr. Mehdi Samandari he
DR. DWIGHT W. ALLEN DR. SARAH M. PEREIRA MR. PAUL R. PETTIT
flew from Adrianopleto the Intercontinental Conference as the special representative of The Universal House of Justice. Full of the passion, the oratory and the poetry of the Faith, Mr. Samandari journeyed from Chicago to Alaska, thence eastward across Canada to the maritime provinces, southward to Atlanta, westward through Texas to Los Angeles and San Francisco, finally homeward via Chicago for a heartfelt farewell from the United States National Spiritual Assembly, and so to London and Istanbul. Everywhere the unique station and spiritual power of Mr. Samandari was felt, recognized and hailed publicly.
Returning eastward around the world from the Conference in New Delhi, Hand of the Cause Abu’l Qasim Faizi briefly showered his unique scholarship and loving regard upon the American believers on the west coast, in Wilmette and Chicago before hastening back to the Holy Land. He left America with an open invitation to return however, whenever, forever.
Throughout the year the institution
of the Hands with its Auxiliary
Board members has been indefatigable in meeting its goals of teaching and protection. Hand of the
Cause Mr. Khádem has transferred
his home and ofi-ice to Evanston, Illinois, almost in sight of the National
Bahá’í Center. Dr. Peter lgian and
Mrs. Jane McCants have been
named new members of the Auxiliary Board. Territories of each team
of Auxiliary Board members have
been defined. Territorial travel, circuit teaching and constant correspondence for teaching have infused
into the communities and individuals[Page 2]
2
the spirit projected by these servants
of Bahá’u’lláh.
As the covenant-breakers have crumbled through inanition, small ripples of divisiveness have ap peared on the sea of Bahá’í unity in the United States and abroad. Everywhere the prompt action of the Hands and Board members has been invoked to dampen the tiny embers of covenant-breaker activity.
With the continent-wide expansion of the summer and winter schools of the Faith, the Hands and Board members have undertaken recurrent commitments as faculty members. They have transmitted much knowledge; even more important, they have imbued all with their spiritual commitment.
Most profound of the trainingdeepening efforts of the Hands and Auxiliary Board teams have been the many territorial conferences developed in every corner of the country. These two-day conferences have stressed the fundamentals of Bahá’í belief, the history of the Cause, the Writings in their pure form, the Covenant of God. For the ever-larger audiences of enthusiastic new members these have been necessary education and imperative deepening; they have produced heart-warming friendships of the Bahá’ís with their preceptors and models; there has been a spiritual energizing with the riches of the Word. Board team conferences were held in San Francisco, California; WilmetteChicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado;
Springfield, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Akron, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington.
The Institution of the Hands has played a role which cannot be overestimated in this hour 01 the entry of thousands of young new adherents whose early deepening in the verities of the Cause is imperative. It has been a richly varied and productive year. A minimum of energy has been expended in the duties of protection; a maximum opportunity has been created for teaching, toward the radical expansion of the Faith in the United States.
Teaching and Consolidation The Primary Tasks
If teaching and deepening are the first tasks of the believers, then the measures of success are the enrollment of new members and the intensifying commitment of old mem bers. The first is easy to determine; the second is a constant challenge to appraise and to achieve.
Of new members this lively year there were 1,889. Of these 706 were youth, 37% of the total. Of the adults a very sizeable percentage appear to be under 30, so that, judging by recent years’ enrollments, we are pressing toward a dominantly youthful community in its 20’s, full of enthusiasm and zeal. The new members derive from devoted teaching efforts everywhere; no one area has had a decisive growth role. With respect to deaths, members in and out of the country, withdrawals and administrative sanctions, the net gain for this year in national membership is 1,929 through April 30.
As the “chief auxiliary institution”
of the National Spiritual Assembly,’
the National Teaching Committee has developed long-range planning for the second half of the Nine Year Plan, and for intense multifaceted action designed to create universal participation in teaching. This phased national program of proclamation, expansion and consolidation has largely been established and published.
The three-fold responsibility of the
National Teaching Committee—proclamation, expansion and consolidation — made up the theme and agenda for 18 nation-wide Conferences in February for some 1400 attendees. Teaching. In close cooperation with the Department of Public Information, proclamation years are planned, each upon a dominant theme. In 1968 the focus is upon human rights, since the United Nations has proclaimed this year as International Human Rights Year. With the Centenary statement that “Human Rights Are God-Given Rights,” the annual program has been developed for implementation by the National Teaching Committee’s North American Bahá’í Office for Human Rights (NABOHR) on the theme of “justice for all.”
The Special Events days continue, each with its unique opportunity to proclaim the Faith, each with a subtheme concerning human rights. Through gifts of the book The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to the leaders of America nationally and locally, attention is called to these milestone declarations. Gifts of the Mark Tobey-Dahl book to artists and art departments extend the impact
JUNE ‘1968
of the Centenary proclamational effort.
With the fusion of the former American Indian Service Committee with the National Teaching Committee, the responsibility for reaching the indigenous peoples of America fell specifically upon the State Goals Committees of eight principal states. Six local Spiritual Assemblies were existent or newly formed within Indian areas. And, the number of pioneers on Indian reservations increased from 20 to 30 during the year.
A very diversified and active circuit teaching program has shown that communities are today far more alert to opportunities in schools and colleges, with mass media, and with special audiences. Team teaching, including interracial teams, has been a significant component of the effort. Travelling teachers from abroad have extensively complemented the corps of American volunteers.
With the active leadership of the Department of Youth and College Activities, the youth programs have expanded and diversified. The summer youth projects of 1967 expanded the field of international teaching from Canada to Mexico and BoliviaVenezuela; projects in the United States continued in selected sites. College clubs now total 58. Intercommunity youth activities are being developed and regularized. Incorporation of the youth into all community affairs is being emphasized.
State Goals Committee briefings in '
August and September accelerated the momentum of the first year of the Committees; the patterns of statewide coordination and communication are becoming more firmly established. The state goals committees handled the organization of the State conventions, published bulletins, established state-wide goals in cooperation with the local spiritual assemblies.
At the National Bahá’í Center, the House of Worship continues to be an ever-more articulate teacher of the Faith. The Department of Temple Activities reported 134,575 visitors during 1967, with 413 tour groups, many visitors of other lands, and many persons of special interest. With new exhibits, the new fireside and reading rooms, and the improved bookshop, volunteer staff to teach the immense number of curious and serious inquirers is the only
[Page 3]
REVIEW
limitation.
Community Development. There is much invisible and unsung labor contained in the maturation of each Bahá’í community. The highroad to the Bahá’í civilization is uphill; but it is directed by the luminous Bahá’í principles which make the climb ultimately rewarding.
There have been many efforts toward the development of the individual believer; a new edition of The Bahá’í Community to be focused upon the individual is in the editorial offing; printed and recorded materials have been disseminated; the “Community Development Program Manual” was further utilized. Local assemblies, both new and restored, were the focus of a 1967 midsummer local spiritual assembly conference series for self-study and appraisal; new and established assemblies were offered circuit teachers for deepening; the improvement of annual local elections was studied.
The legal goals of the Plan were pursued indefatigably. Two new states have statutorily recognized legal Bahá’í marriages: Kansas and Connecticut; Iowa has strengthened its existing marriage legality; only five states still do not offer legal marriage status. Through incorporation of Portsmouth (N.H.) and Baton Rouge (La.) there are now only eight states without an incorporated assembly, while the number of incorporated assemblies totals 143. One hundred ninety-seven localities have recognized Bahá’í Holy Days in their schools, leaving only six states yet to win such recognition.
The national House of Worship continues to function as an expanding center of Bahá’í activities, from the Annual Convention with its 1,200 attendees, the Centenary celebration with its 3,000 believers, and the yearround service to the Bahá’ís of Northern Illinois and the nation, “The Holiest House of Worship” is becoming ever more properly a place of spiritual nourishment and pilgrimage.
Schools. The expansion of the schools program for the national community continues. The need for Bahá’í life experiences as well as for formal learning for Bahá’ís new and old has created a burgeoning program of schools and institutes which rapidly is developing round-the-calendar timing and a country-wide distribution. Green Acre, Davison and
Geyserville School Councils have pushed their teaching programs and expanded their development horizons. Southeastern, Southwestern and Northwestern Schools conducted both summer and winter sessions, while Green Lake-Monmouth Institutes spanned the spring and autumn. Southern California and North Central States Schools and the Northwest Children’s Conference created dynamic summer experiences. Bellemont in Arizona, Pennsylvania Winter Institute, Waveland Institute in Mississippi all were shortterm “school” efforts. An Ad Hoc Committee for Bahá’í schools is now at work seeking to bring into best focus and systematic organization the curricula and faculty, scheduling and geographical placement of Bahá’í schools for the United States.
The Advisory Committee for Education is concluding the first phase of its massive task of developing a Bahá’í child education curriculum. As the Publishing Trust issues the manuals for teachers, the Committee has begun training of the children’s teachers in the new curriculum.
Special Projects. The ongoing Service for the Blind devotes itself assiduously to the preparation and distribution of materials to reach the blind with the Message of the Cause. The National Reference Library Committee works on its projects of organizing information on the Faith, on its indices, and on answering specific inquiries. The Committee on Music devotes itself to work on the collection and publication of songs for the Faith; a western arm of the Committee in California has been developed to increase the flow of popular music. For The Universal House of Justice the Archives Committee is organizing and duplicating the innumerable letters from the Guardian and the Master.
Public Information
The tempest of world change is creating ever greater opportunities for Bahá’í public information via every channel of access to the American people. Increased national and local coverage of the Faith by the news media, and a flood of individual inquiries attest to an increasing public awareness of the Faith. At the same time, greatly intensified Bahá’í efforts are exploiting the opportunities through more and better-trained public information
3
personnel, more and better materials for“ the community’s needs.
The Public Information Department gained a new Advisory Board for Public Information. Some 900 public information representatives have become active throughout the country. Ten excellent two-day institutes provided training to many of these representatives in methods and materials for proclamation and public information. A bi-monthly Newsletter maintains an outflow of current news and suggestions to the representatives. National sources of information — encyclopedias, dictionaries and reference books — are being corrected and upgraded.
The October Intercontinental Conference in Chicago, its prelude and aftermath, offered unusual public information opportunities, through the Mark Tobey exhibit, the presence of Hand of the Cause Mr. Samandari, the book The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, and special mailings.
Four magazine articles presented the Faith: In Ebony magazine (Beth
McKenty) , in The Unitarian-Unb versalist magazine (Natalie DiBuono), in Escapade (Jessyca
Gaver), and in The Friends Journal (Rachel Weller). The cross-country tour of Mr. Samandari with Dr. Samandari resulted in one nationally syndicated article and two splendid local news stories by three of the nation's top writers on religion.
Four color videotapes were produced and broadcast and three are available for repeated use. CBS-TV re-broadcast “And His Name Shall Be One.” Six new radio tapes were prepared for national use. Two popular musical tape series for radio entitled “World in Harmony” were produced by the Radio and Television Committee (T. F. Hollinger). A documentary motion picture on the transforming influence of the Faith is being filmed in the Holy Land, India, Japan and the United States.
A greatly increased local use of all informational media is reported in connection with the Special Events Days and the many activities of the communities. Posters, advertisements, exhibits, fair booths and publicity have been utilized ever more intensively. The greater sensitivity of America to the Bahá’í Faith can be observed on every hand.
International Teaching
The American Bahá’í Community,
with its intrinsic mobility and worldmindedness, has been assigned many pioneering goals beyond the original Nine Year Plan: During this year 23 countries or territories, and 60 new pioneers. That America must be a principal seedbed for the world community continues to be true. During this year 92 pioneers left for posts in other lands, 52 pioneers to our American-assigned goals, 40 to others; 31 pioneers are yet required to complete our responsibilities. And 43 pioneers have returned to the United States, leaving a net emigration of 49 pioneers during this year.
Pioneering received a great stimulus from the Intercontinental Conference in Chicago, when 217 persons volunteered for service. Active recruiting for special pioneering opportunities has continued. Plans are being developed for briefing and orientation of pioneers.
Foreign travelling teacher programs have involved 58 journeys on behalf of the Faith. Two summer youth projects—in Bolivia-Venezuela, and in Yucatan, Mexico—laid the groundwork for expanding such summer teaching. Our responsibilities for establishment of assemblies were pursued in four island goals: in the Falklands, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico a new Goals Committee is pressing toward the requisite two new local assemblies.
Publications, Periodicals, Audio-Visuals
The published materials of the American Bahá’í community, quite apart from the enormously increasing publicity o'n the Faith, have shown a healthy expansion in local, national and international items.
Bahá’í NEWS, assisted by an increasing input of stories from the World Center, has significantly grown in scope, and this year included one special, 40-page, profusely illustrated issue on the six Intercontinental Conferences. Seven major messages from The Universal House of Justice have been published. A stream of inspirational special articles has appeared. Stories of proclamation, teaching and consolidation have been the primary substance of the journal.
Beginning with the calendar year 1968, the U.S. SUPPLEMENT to Bahá’í News has been issued as the NA TIONAL Bahá’í REVIEW, incorporating also the special publications and letters heretofore issued by the Departments of Public Information, Teaching, Community Development, and Youth and College Activities.
The Bahá’í Publishing Trust, the principal source of the publications of the Faith in the United States, has reported that in calendar year 1967 some 800,000 books and pamphlets were distributed throughout the English-speaking world. New American and British books and pamphlets have widened the range of offerings; there have been reprintings of more than 30 titles. A new Publications Board has assumed general guidance for the evolving program of the Trust. In the communities, librarians have been expediting massive sales of literature for all the purposes of the Cause.
WORLD ORDER magazine, in its second year of quarterly publication, has moved its operational base to Wilmette, with new production and circulation arrangements. As an instrument of proclamation and teaching, WORLD ORDER will have a gathering impact on the believers and public alike, through its handsome format, distinguished authors, and range of Bahá’í and Bahá’í-related articles.
CHILD'S WAY magazine continues as a bi—monthly guide for parents and teachers of children. There has been a range of stories, reviews, poetry, music and discussions pertinent to the needs of Bahá’í instruction of children.
For audio-visual and short-term printed materials the Distribution and Service Department has vastly expanded its service to the believers. Posters, photographs, cards, slides, recordings, films, video-tapes and audio-tapes, models, rings and ringstones are handled for the community. The Temple Bookshop is the local outlet for the Bahá’í Publishing Trust; but also a multitude of printed items are offered to serve limited and short-term needs of the Faith.
Properties Abroad and at Home
The Nine Year Plan properties goals abroad have increased by one: a Temple site for Norway. Meanwhile, we have been able to assist in the acquisitions of Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds for West Africa, in Monrovia, Liberia, for Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam, and for the Indian Ocean in St. Pierre,
JUNE 1960
Reunion 1.; and a Temple site for Chile in Santiago. The cornerstone of the House of Worship for Panama has been laid, and the edifice is in its preconstruction days. Soon it will rear its eggshell delicacy upon a peak in Darien at the bridge of the continents, a symbol of the coming of the new day of God.
The Bahá’í Home in Wilmette entered its tenth year of service to humanity, functioning at capacity and striving to improve its daily labors of love. With new personnel and physical changes, the capacities of the Home will be significantly increased.
The House of Worship with its surrounding gardens continues to be a great showplace, village landmark, and place of Bahá’í pilgrimage. Foundation Hall has added two new rooms, new exhibits and greatly improved facilities for service to the friends and to the legion of visitors. The landlord National Center Properties Department manages and maintains all the tenant agencies of the Faith in Wilmette, and this year completed the new Annex to the Secretariat building.
At Green Acre School in Eliot, Maine, the Fellowship House has been almost completely renovated and winterized for year-round utilization; other maintenance has made the school continuously more functional. At Davison Bahá’í School in Davison, Michigan, a long-range development plan for year-round utilization is in process. At Geyserville Bahá’í School in Geyserville, California, its new financial independence makes systematic programming for the property development feasible by its managerial Council. At the Evergreen Cabin in West Englewood, New Jersey, growth is anticipated toward a trusteeship of unique service aspects.
New local Bahá’í Centers have been acquired or are in process of acquisition in Peoria, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Denver, Colorado, as well as on two Indian Reservations — at Pine Springs, Arizona and Neah Bay, Washington. Generous friends have made bequest gifts of land.
Office of the Secretary
To a large extent the image of the American Bahá’í community abroad derives from the office of the Secretary. The United Nations Committee
[Page 5]
REVIEW
and the Observers to the United Nations for the American community, working with the Bahá’í International Community of The Universal House of Justice, represent us in the world of international change, this year heightened by the United Nations Human Rights Conference in Tehran in April. The new Ad Hoc Committee for Washington Affairs is called upon for missions in our national capital. Increasing contacts have become necessary with the United States government in connection with taxation, military service, citizenship and international relations. Contacts with the other 80 National Spiritual Assemblies range from transfers of Bahá’ís to shared responsibility for attacks upon our fellow Bahá’ís anywhere in the world. The International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Center of The Universal House of Justice is housed and operational in Rochester, New York. The continuing intensive national support of the United Nations, as directed by the beloved Guardian, largely centers upon United Nations Day in October and Human Rights Day in December. This Human Rights Year 1968 will see national Bahá’í emphasis on the United Nations Conventions on the rights of man.
In a similar fashion the Office of the Secretary reflects the face of the National Spiritual Assembly to the believers. Through new data-processing methods, mailings have been improved for Bahá’í News and NATIONAL Bahá’í REVIEW, for WORLD ORDER and soon for CHILD'S WAY. Special listings of many kinds are now readily generated. Access to the rich human resources of the Faith with its growing numbers of members is being achieved through systematic collection of personnel data which will be usable thereafter for all national purposes.
The community administrative problems include membership rolls; local, state and national conventions; and the thousand-thousand details of personnel management of the National Bahá’í Center and of the national community.
For the judicial concerns of the National Spiritual Assembly staff support is provided in matters of marriage, divorce, financial problems, psychosocial and other issues of the individual Bahá’ís living under Bahá’í law. The Bureau of Social Status Problems assists in crucial labors and studies.
The Office of the Treasurer
1967-1968 has been a year of superlative generosity of the devoted believers in the Cause. Responding to the challenges of the ever-more-visible growth of the Faith nationally and internationally, the total contributed to the National Fund has been an unprecedented $931,669, far beyond the highest totals of the past. Of this total $657,815 derived from assemblies, groups and individuals; $96,372 from bequests; and $154,517 from special gifts. Other income was $22,965. While our national community’s numerical growth explains in part the notable increase in giving, the record must be seen in the individual outpouring for the Intercontinental Conference, the special high month of March, the sharp rise in private donations to the special interests of the Cause, and the rise in local contributions, some of which giving is quite invisible at the national level. At the local community and group level, judged by the fiscal accounts and budgets rendered to the national office, local activities and expenditures have risen significantly. The Ad Hoc Committee for the Fund has been of assistance to the treasurer in creating greater awareness of both needs and expenditures.
The total of American national funds devoted to international efforts, sent to the World Center, the Continental Fund allocated for deputization, for pioneers, for the work of the Bahá’í International Community, for foreign properties and the Panama Temple was $430,100, or 43%. It is vital that we continue to see ourselves as a financial mainstay of the world community; our Bahá’í brothers elsewhere struggle with their inflation and their relative poverty.
The Publishing Trust continues to be self-sustaining. The Distribution and Service Department has just reached a self-supporting basis. Thanks to its bequest funds base, Bosch Trustees for the Geyserville Bahá’í School are also self-subsistent. The very extensive pioneering program, even with its large budget, represents 6 to 10 times as large an unrecorded Bahá’í expenditure by the self-sustaining American pioneers. Certain of our capital investments are amortizable. The Bahá’í Home is close to an operating equilibrium. With the new year a revised and more satisfactory budgetary system has been adopted, with im 5
proved accounting controls. Improved machine handling of fiscal data for greater volume, facility and precision is scheduled for the near future.
It has been a vital year of acute growth, full of love, and full of the promises fulfilled and soon to be achieved.
Youth Urged to Engage in Service Projects
From time to time the youth have inquired about Bahá’í involvement in service projects sponsored by non-Bahá’í organizations. The National Spiritual Assembly issued a clear answer to this inquiry during its April 16 meeting in New York. It decided:
To encourage the American Bahá’í youth to work in service projects with non-Bahá’í organizations this summer — service projects that will associate them with the poor and dejected in our society. These projects opportunities may be found through government agencies, university, college, volunteer and other non-governmental agencies. The youth should take advantage of the opportunities for teaching provided by these work experiences, satisfy their growing eagerness to serve suffering humanity in tangible ways, broaden the base of their life experiences, and increase their maturity and training for future Bahá’í-sponsored service programs.
So as not to lose time, the Youth Department communicated this decision to all state goals committees, Bahá’í clubs, and regional youth committees on April 22. These Bahá’í agencies have been asked to assist the youth in their quest for service projects.
Practical Approaches
One means of learning about these opportunities for service is by consulting Invest Yourself, a catalogue of youth service projects published by the Commission on Youth Service
Projects, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 832, New York City, N.Y. 10027.
Another means is to check the 10cal agencies of the Office of Economic Opportunity. OEO sponsors all kinds of humanitarian projects. For instance, it is one of the financial supporters of Appalachian Volunteers, a private agency working in hard-core Appalachia: Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. AV grew out of Kentucky week-end workcamps for college students and now includes a summer program.
One’s own college may provide leads to college-sponsored projects. There is, for instance, Project ABC, a project of three colleges (Carleton, Dartmouth, and Mount Holyoke) and approximately 80 private, residential secondary schools, aimed at giving advance summer preparation to specially chosen pupils from educationally and economically deprived backgrounds. According to Invest Yourself, talented young Negroes, American Indians and others in economically disadvantaged groups are encouraged to participate. The summer program involves tutoring on the above-named college campuses. The emphasis is on English and mathematics.
Similar service projects may exist in our hometowns or just close by. The first step should be to check every available source of information, including schools, colleges, foundations, human rights and other social agencies.
It should be understood that the decision of the National Assembly is not intended to supplant Bahá’í youth teaching projects which have already been organized.
Florida Youth A Beehive of Liveliness
The Florida Youth Coordinating Council was elected by the Florida youth on January 20th, 1968. Those who attended the State Youth Convention can testify that the nine youth on the Council were indeed elected in a rarefied atmosphere of prayer. The following day, a Sunday, the youth present met to discuss future activities and make plans. It was then that the Florida Bahá’í State Goals Committee asked the one day old Council if it would take on the responsibility of planning the program and inviting speakers for the Florida Bahá’í Spring Institute.
Youth Conference held April 13-14 at Tallahassee, Florida at the Seminole Reservation and sponsored by the Florida Youth Council.
Two and a half months of preparation followed, in which the bonds of
cooperation between the State Goals,
Committee and the Coordinating Council grew warm and intense.
Registration, the official welcome of the Council, orientation, prayer and mirthful singing all crowded themselves into the afternoon and evening of April 11th. A group of joyful and sleepless youth stayed up until two or three the next morning, singing and greeting late arrivals. Classes, coordinated by two college youth, proceeded smoothly through the next three days, following no preset sequence and only a rough time schedule, and touching on such topics as Indian Teaching, Back-biting, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Success in Teaching, youth-adult relationships, Black Power and the contents of The Bahá’í’ Community. Presented were 8mm movies of Seminole Indians and a slide program of rare photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Sunday morning saw several people relate moving and personal stories of their entry into the Faith.
A great chunk out of each afternoon was allowed for recreation, such as swimming and canoeing in the lake available to all who make use of the facilities at the Seminole Reservation, a recreational area operated by the Florida State University in Tallahassee. One afternoon the youth took out about seven or eight canoes, gathered in the middle of the lake for a song fest, then broke up in gleeful chaos and raced for shore in time for supper. The meals were typically Southern and simple. The weather was clear and warm. Friday night, an eclipse of the Moon in a cloudless sky cast its spell over already spell-bound young people who gathered on the pier to sing and
pray. All this added to the perfection of the Institute.
Speakers ranged in age from twelve to 74 years. Perhaps the most distinguished were Curtis Kelsey, Auxiliary Board member; Mr. Carroll Hoeppner, Chairman of the Florida State Goals Committee; and June Ritter, a spirited.and fascinating Bahá’í from Indiana. All the speakers imparted knowledge at once useful and sorely needed. and all of them received heaps of praise from their audience.
Not only did Dr. Leonard Hippchen, who teaches at the University, act as registrar; he was also chiefly responsible for securing the grounds for the use of the Bahá’ís. He received two healthy and well—deserved rounds of applause from those attending the Institute.
Those attending, who numbered approximately 70, were predominantly young people. Adults, though in a minority, were not ignored. Their tastes, suggestions, and desires were all observed and satisfied. The spirit of youth pervaded the Institute, giving birth to two new Bahá’ís, both of whom are in their teens. The whole group was dignified and well-behaved. No discipline was needed and no complaints were heard from those in charge. Coming in the wake of racial disturbances in the city and on campus, this radiantly integrated group certainly had a marked effect on observers both young and old.
Good-byes took over half an hour.We crossed arms, joined hands and sang in a circle. Tears, hugs, kisses and laughter played on re-tuned heart-strings. The music was very
sweet, and it still echoes across the V
Southeast. —VINsoN JAMIR
[Page 7]
REVIEW
Annual Reports Available on Request
In the past every believer has received a full set of the printed Annual Reports to the Bahá’ís of the United States, but owing to the expense of both printing and mailing, the National Spiritual Assembly has decided to make them available this year only to those who request them. However, all delegates to the National Convention, all local spiritual assemblies and all national committees have received copies for their use. The report of the Treasurer was published in the May National Bahá’í Review and the report of the National Spiritual Assembly is being published in this issue, since they summarize briefly the progress and status of the American Bahá’í Community.
Individuals requesting full reports should write to the National Bahá’í Center, 112 Linden Ave., Wilmette, Illinois 60091. They will be available on a first-comefirst-served basis.
Unciaunted Utah Believers Open Town
Lack of non-Bahá’í attendance at the three initial public meetings in Park City, Utah, did not discourage the Salt Lake County Bahá’ís in their striving to fulfill their “Proclamation” — to open Park City to the Faith. A month after the last “unattended” meeting, a dozen Bahá’í proceeded to observe World Religion Day in the virgin town. The groundwork laid during the preceding month was strong and extensive though, and by the time of the evening World Religion program, the Bahá’ís had been shown nothing but friendliness and hospitality during their efforts to motivate the townspeople to attend. For example, posters were up, the library had been given a copy of “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era”, and a Bahá’í had been talking casually around town about the meeting. On the big day one merchant pointed out his poster to the Bahá’ís, and not knowing who they were, urged them to attend. Already the degree of success in this town of 1,300 inhabitants is far greater than in many larger cities.
"No acf. however great. can compare . .
“They that have forsaken their country for the purpose of teaching Our Cause — these shall the Faithful Spirit strengthen through its power. No act, however great, can compare with it, except such deeds as have been ordained by God, the All-Powerful, the Most Mighty. Such a service is, indeed the prince of all goodly deeds, and the ornament of every goodly act.” Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh p. 334.
Many letters cross the desks of the Foreign Goals Committee, letters from pioneers around the world. Sometimes we weep over them and sometimes we are joyful over the exciting news and victories; sometimes our hearts are torn by the vivid struggles laid bare on the pages. The pioneer has our highest consideration and respect, our deep love and gratitude as he devotes his life to building God's kingdom on earth in a foreign land surrounded by strange customs, mores, and peoples. From time to time we would like to share excerpts
Two Faithful Employees Retire at National Center
All of the employees, their husbands and wives, gathered at the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds on April 11 to honor two retiring co-workers, Miss Sophie Loeding of the secretariat staff and Howard Morton of the maintenance staff.
Miss Loeding has given over 27 years of exceptionally devoted service at the national office. Many friends will recall seeing her year after year at the national conventions taking down the recommendations. The ellicient quality of her work has won the respect and appreciation of all her co-workers, and her good humor and congenial, cooperative manner have won the love of countless friends who have had the privilege of knowing and associating with her. Miss Loeding still comes to the office a few hours each day to help with various special projects.
Howard Morton, known to all as “Mort,” has been a familiar figure for 20 years around the Temple area where he has served on the maintenance staff. Though not a Bahá’í, “Mort” has been “one of us” throughout this time. He was noted for his ability to perform as carpenter, electrician, plumber, heating specialist and painter, for there was literally nothing that “Mort” couldn’t do. He is greatly missed.
, from the letters of these valiant ones who with high
purpose have forsaken their country.
The Caribbean
From Saba, Netherland Antilles, Lorraine Landau, who has pioneered in many countries, wrote: “The hardest part of pioneering is leaving a post . . ., packing up and saying good byes. During the Ten Year Crusade I used to try to keep a stiff upper lip and be detached, but it gets harder each time.
“Last month the Saba friends gave me a real birthday. Somehow they found out, and at dawn the St. John neighbors serenaded me and presented me with a gift. I was invited out to lunch and dinner and taken for a car ride. In between times the children came to visit in twos and threes, wearing their Sunday clothes and shoes and bringing flowers and little presents. By
[Page 8]
evening I was ready to collapse when I heard more
singing and opened the door to a group of Windwardsiders who came to make a surprise party, bringing a
big birthday cake, fruit juices and more presents. It
was like a second Christmas here.
“But it will be even harder to leave the Bahá’í friends scattered among the islands from north to south. It has been a great privilege and spiritual bounty to work in the Caribbean, and to be a member of the first National Spiritual Assembly. However, no matter how I look at it and no matter how much I pray about it, the move seems right.
Still no declarations in any of these three Dutch islands, . . . but the people are beginning to accept the existence of the Faith. I wrote a series of four articles for the little weekly newspaper that circulates these islands. The series will end next week. Frances Foss says the articles are being commented upon and liked by the Saint Maartens. The Saba people say little except to acknowledge pride that someone from Saba is getting published in the paper. Last month I moved ‘The Greatest Name’ from one wall of the living room to another wall. A visitor, after sitting a half hour asked, ‘What have you done with that ‘prayer’ you had hanging there?’ I showed him where I had moved it and he changed the subject immediately as did the others in the room.
“A few days ago the Post Mistress of St. John was talking about the Pilgrim Holiness preachers, and their various ways of getting people to their knees. She paused and said, ‘This is very different than your religion. You teach by actions rather than words and this is what really is religion.’
“Then there is the woman who lives between villages on the high peak above the road. I was climbing to Windwardside and she called out, ‘Look! It is time to pray. The sun is exactly overhead.’ Sure enough it was noon on the head and I wondered about this, and I said the noonday prayer. Several weeks later she called out to me that she had been praying hard for me and I must pray for her too. I stopped and thanked her for her prayers. Months ago I‘d given her an Ebony Reprint. She confessed she couldn’t read and was giving it back to me when I suggested she keep it anyway to look at the pictures and have some family member read it to her. This day she reminded me of the paper I'd given her and said she has it pinned on the wall and that it has a prayer on it so very nice that she memorized it!” Later Lorraine wrote: “Leaving Saba was hard. Once word got out I was packing to leave there was a constant stream of visitors. The St. John people made a farewell party out under the moon on a high look-out and sang many sad farewell songs. The Windwardside people gave me a house partyEveryone predicted I would return some day. Several asked if another Bahá’í would be coming to take my place. One Saban got up the courage to say that other religions had tried to put someone on their island but the government and the people didn’t want them and didn’t let them stay. They implied that Saba feels different about Bahá’í.”
—FOREIGN GOALS COMMITTEE (to be continued)
JUNE ‘1968
Purpose of June Human
Rights Conferences
The success of Bahá’í communities throughout the world in bringing about unity from racial, cultural, ethnic, economic and national diversity impelled the National Spiritual Assemblies of Alaska, Canada, the Hawaiian Islands and the United States to jointly initiate a proclamation program designed to express the God-given human worth and rights of all peoples. The basic elements of this proclamation program are embodied in the statement, “Human Rights are God-Given Rights.”
The Regional Human Rights Conferences being held throughout the United States during this month of June constitute the first part of our national proclamation program. Following the Regional Conferences, a national Conference will be held in September in Chicago. On U.N. Human Rights Day, December 10, 1968, an international banquet will serve as the setting for the presentation in Washington, D.C. of a Human Rights Award. If the purpose and impact of this proclamation program are to be achieved, it will, to a large measure, depend upon the Regional Conferences.
Each individual or organization will receive in their Conference program a statement that the key to the success of Bahá’í belief is found in the relevance of Divine purpose to human progress. The statement continuesz. . . .“The legislations on civil rights, as significant as have been their impact, have hardly begun to attack the root cause of the injustices they were meant to erase. For the problems of racial and other forms of discrimination, unequal education, unfair employment, restricted and sub-standard housing, etc., are not simply the consequences of inadequate legislation: they are the symptoms of deep spiritual diseases —— hatred, bigotry and prejudice—which require remedial action based on spiritual principles. The missing essential has yet to be incorporated into our attitudes and efforts.”
“The basis upon which these Conferences are being held is the conviction that human rights are shaped by the source and purpose of man’s existence. They are not based upon the discretion or wisdom of human institutions. The fundamental teachings of all the world religions are that man is a spiritual being who derives his uniqueness from the conscious exercise of the princinles of justice, love and freedom. The recurrent proclamation of these principles by world religions demonstrates their indispensability to man's development toward a peaceful world. Properly viewed, then, human rights are God-given rights.”
“The purpose of these Conferences is therefore to evoke an atmosphere in which the attitudes and efforts of men can be motivated to deal with our social problems in view of the understanding that human rights are God-given and thus inevitable if man is to progress.”
—NOR'rH AMERICAN Bahá’í OFFICE FOR HUMAN Rxorrrs
[Page 9]
REVIEW
The National Center Properties
HE House or WORSHIP in Wilmette is the first and
dominant structure among a growing number making up our National Center Properties. The management and development of these properties has for several years been the responsibility of a Department with this name, appointed annually by the Temple Trustees.
The Department serves, in effect, as “landlord” to several “tenants”: the Secretariat, the Publishing Trust, the Bahá’í Home, the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds — all major users of the National Center’s facilities. Space needs of the National Teaching Committee, Public Information Department and the Distribution and Service Department similarly are responsibilities of the Properties Department. The most consistent coordinative relationship is with the Temple Activities Department, whose many teaching functions most of the recent improvements within the Temple have been designed to serve.
Property Improvement
Some of the projects recently completed by the Properties Department include the creation and furnishing of the Fireside Room and Reading Room. Pictures of these rooms are shown. These projects involved rearrangement of the book counter for the public, with most of the equipment being relocated to make a Book Shop from which Distribution and Service can provide materials exclusively to Bahá’ís.
Projects of this sort are done, if possible, by the Temple maintenance staff, and are scheduled during winter months when garden work is less demanding, and when there is less disturbance of Temple visitors. All of the projects just described were accomplished in this manner and at comparatively reasonable cost. Specialists were required for electric wiring, heating and ventilation.
The addition to the Publishing Trust building, and the two major expansions of the Secretariat have required outside help and were constructed under contract for the necessary excavation, concrete foundations, heating, air conditioning and electrical work. The architectural design and preparation of working drawings and specifications for all of these projects have been done
9
by members of the Properties Department, whether built by our own staff or by outside contractors.
Operation and Maintenance
The more significant area of responsibility of the Department is the ongoing operation and maintenance of Bahá’í properties in Wilmette. This is where the larger portion of expenditures is made from a typical year’s budget. Most of the budgetary items are fairly consistent from year to year. Utilities in particular show regular and expected increases as Temple activities grow, and as fuel and power costs rise. Some unusual costs must be faced, such as rebuilding of a blower in the heating system or correcting the settlement of portions of the terrace surrounding the Temple steps.
Future Needs
Expenditures of the Department are running close to $100,000 per year or ten cents of every dollar contributed last year. Over 80 percent of the budget is in maintenance and operations, the balance in capital improvements, for what might be considered a normal year. Inevitably there will be years when unusual expenses will arise. For example, the Temple Trustees have authorized $30,000 for repairs to the terrace surrounding the main Temple steps. There is an urgent need for added fire protection of the area surrounding Foundation Hall. This work, having the highest priority, can amount to as much as $19,000. It has become apparent that additional storage facilities must be created for use of the Publishing Trust, Distribution and Service, WORLD ORDER Magazine and BAHA'I NEWS, a project estimated to cost about $8,500. None of these projects can be deferred for long.
There are improvements contemplated for the coming year which are intended to enhance the appearance and comfort of the reception and display areas surrounding Foundation Hall: additional carpeting, painting of floors and some new furniture. A long list of joint undertakings of the Properties and Activities Departments is being arranged in logical sequence of priority. As funds become available, new lighting, a ceiling, and a completely renovated display area will create a suitably dignified welcoming environment for gatherings of the Bahá’í friends and for the ever-increasing numbers of visitors to the Temple.
F-:7
The Gardens
Another aspect of the National Center has great appeal to visitors—the gardens. Care of the gardens requires an annual $15,000 to $17,000 expenditure for salaries of the gardeners and for the flowers and plants needed each year to provide a jewel-like setting for the Temple. As shown in the accompanying picture, work is already under way this spring to assure a continuous display of beauty well into the fall.
Without question, the Temple, its gardens and the surrounding Bahá’í properties together constitute a most potent medium for teaching the Faith. The Department therefore strives in each project or action, whether in simple maintenance work or extensive new construction, not merely to uphold, but to amplify the qualities and strengthen the capacity of the National Center Properties in service to the Faith and as silent teacher.
FAITH ACTIVE AT PORTLAND. MAINE. COFFEEHOUSE—FOURTEEN DECLARE
Among the many programs initiated in Portland, Maine, for the spreading of the Bahá’í Faith is a spontaneous effort to reach the youth in the area. The center of activity for teaching them has been in and around the Gate Coffeehouse.
The Gate is a Christian-sponsored social arm in the community, and has had a stormy two years of existence as far as public opinion is concerned, report the Portland Bahá’ís. However, the Gate’s staff, besides just operating a coffeehouse, has been instrumental in rehabilitation and employment as well. During the past eighteen months several lectures on the Faith have been presented there, and the Gate’s library includes Bahá’í books. People on a summer Youth Project spent much time there and Bahá’í youth are there at most times of the day.
The results of these efforts have been amazing. the Portland Bahá’ís announce. Regular “Gaters” are very familiar with the Faith and there have been fourteen declarations from among the Gate’s patrons and volunteers. And the supply of eager souls continues to grow!
Teaching at the Gate has been exciting because those who “pioneer” there have encountered people of all
JUNE ‘1968
religions, denominations, and all conditions and walks of life. The stories to be told of some of the new believers are inspirational. One girl ran away from home, came to the Gate, became a Bahá’í, and shortly thereafter returned to her home in Pennsylvania. Another Gater heard of the Faith, “ran for one year and six thousand miles,” and returned to declare.
The Portland Bahá’í community is very proud of the “Gate Project” and has learned much from associations with this particular group of people desiring to know about Bahá’u’lláh.
Politics and the Bahá’í
“Shun politics like the plague, and be obedient to the government in power in the place where we reside! . . .” So Shoghi Effendi sharply advised the American Bahá’ís in a memorable and realistic couplet of instructions. Indeed, he tells us that “to enter the arena of (American) party politics . . . assuredly will be detrimental to the best interests of the Faith and will harm the Cause. Apparently, he assumes that common semantic connotation of politics as the corrupt and dishonest public management which seeks to secure the success of political candidates or parties, rather than its purer first choice dictionary definitions as “the science and art of government,” or as “the theory or practice of managing affairs of public policy.” Repeating the themes at another time, he states clearly that “the attitude of the Bahá’ís must be twofold: complete obedience to the government of the country they reside in and no interference whatsoever in political matters or questions. What the Master’s statement (the Will and Testament) really means is obedience to a duly constituted government, whatever that government may be in form. We are not the ones, as individual Bahá’ís, to judge our government as just or unjust—for each believer would be sure to hold a different viewpoint, and within our own Bahá’í fold a hotbed of discussion would spring up and destroy our unity. We must build up our own Bahá’í system, and leave the faulty systems of the world to go their way. We cannot change them through becoming involved in them; on the contrary, they will destroy us.”
Therefore, to understand our true position we must know clearly that the Bahá’í world community is profoundly concerned with the science and art of governing Bahá’ís and with the theory and practice of managing the affairs of Bahá’í public policy. The grand conceptions of Bahá’u’lláh, the administrative principles enunciated by the Master, the steady development of the World Order by Shoghi Effendi, and now the strong grasp of The Universal House of Justice all lead us inevitably to the Bahá’í state of tomorrow. But today “what we Bahá’ís must face is the fact that society is disintegrating so rapidly that moral issues that were clear a half century ago are now hopelessly confused and what is more, thoroughly mixed up with battling political interests. That is why the Bahá’ís must turn all their forces into the channel of building up the Bahá’í Cause and its administration. They can neither change nor help the world in any way at present. If they become involved in the issues the governments of the people are struggling over, they will be lost. But if they build up the Bahá’í pattern, they can offer it as a remedy when all else has failed.”
[Page 11]
REVIEW
The Bahá’í System Is Unique
The Bahá’í system is a unique one. It is evolving rapidly through God's will for today. With all Bahá’í adult citizens eligible and obligated to vote, with no party but only an electorate, with no electioneering and no nominations, with secret ballot, with authority and power vested in assemblies of the annually elected, with no priesthood and no professional leadership, with consultation channeled into decision by God's methods, and with a community pledged to unity in action . . . the Bahá’í government is certain to be a new dimension in the governing of men. But the times are in embryo, for the Bahá’í Cause is just now emerging from its period of unmitigated obscurity.
However, in this time of our youth as a nascent institution of broad powers-to-be and of a profound destiny, individual Bahá’ís must still live and will inevitably interact with contemporary life. In this American democracy they may contribute as citizens, in limited ways.
“The friends may vote, if they can do it, without identifying themselves with one party or another. It remains for the individuals to so use their right to vote so as to keep aloof from party politics, and always to bear in mind that they are voting on the merits of the individual, rather than because he belongs to one party or another. The matter must be made perfectly clear to the individuals, who will be left free to exercise their discretion and judgment,” In short, they may vote as independents, unaffiliated with any party “as a nonpartisan and not as a member of any political party.” That they cannot then vote in the primaries is a sometimes unfortunate penalty of the current American political system.
Some limitations are necessarily made. “No Bahá’í vote for an -office, no Bahá’í participation in the affairs of the Republic, shall involve acceptance . . . of a program or policy that contravenes any vital principle, spiritual or social, of the Faith.” Again: “No vote cast, or office undertaken, by a Bahá’í should necessarily constitute acceptance by the voter or office holder of the entire program of any political party. No Bahá’í can be regarded as either Republican or Democrat, as such. He is above all else the supporter of the principles enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, with which . . . the program of no political party is completely harmonious.”
From time to time it may happen that “a certain person does enter into party politics and labors for the ascendancy of one party over another . . .” When he “continues to do so against the express appeals and warnings of the Assembly, then the Assembly has the right to refuse him the right to vote in Bahá’í elections.”
Since political conflict and controversy are frequently so virulent and so hazardous to individuals or to the good name of insitutions, “the friends . . . should be very careful in their public utterance not to mention any political figures, either to side with or to denounce them . . . Otherwise they will involve the friends in political matters, which is definitely dangerous for the Cause.” Such public utterance may be “the publication of articles and pamphlets bearing upon the controversial and political issues of the day." We must be wary, since “any minute and detailed analysis by the friends
of subjects that are in the forefront of general discussion would often be misconstrued in certain quarters and give rise to suspicions and misunderstandings that would react unfavorably upon the Cause." “ While refusing to utter the word that would needlessly alienate or estrange any individual, government or people, we should fearlessly and unhesitatingly uphold and assert in their entirety such truths the knowledge of which we believe is vitally and urgently needed for the good and betterment of mankind.”
Non-Association With Subversive Movements
In addition, there must be “complete non-association with any subversive movements.” Bahá’ís are not allowed to accept “any political office by vote of a political party,” but may accept non-political public appointments or civil service in governments where partisan commitments are neither implied nor demanded.
“Politics” can mean many things to different persons. Hence the prohibition that “we should have no political connection with any one of the parties and should join no faction of these different and warring sects” can be construed more widely than inproper. It is well to recall that every aspect of life meaningful to mankind sooner or later comes or has already come into range of society’s regulations and changing disciplines, hence into that society’s “politics." It may be health (i.e. public health), sex and morality (regulations re sexual behavior and aberrancies), the status of women (equal rights to hold property, to vote, not to be sold as chattel), the rights to and opportunities for education (public education laws), eating and drinking (food and drug acts, health controls), shelter and housing (real estate laws), and commerce (securities control, tariffs), etc. The concerns of the communities of men are many and complex. Too narrow an interpretation of “politics” would in fact exclude Bahá’ís from contemporary life, from all the professions, and from that healthy interaction with today's world which will ultimately bring the ideas of the Faith to recognition and fruition. One goal of the Bahá’í community is the “development of the relationship between the Bahá’í community and the United Nations.” Certainly the present-day UN is “political” and power-oriented; yet we shall work with it in non-partisan ways.
“According to the exhortations of the Supreme Pen and the confirmatory explanations of the Covenant of God, Bahá’ís are in no way allowed to enter into political affairs under any pretense or excuse, since such action brings about disastrous results and ends in hurting the Cause of God and its intimate friends.” Therefore, “absolute impartiality in the matter of political parties should be shown by words and deeds, and love of the whole of humanity, whether a government or a nation . . . should also be shown by words and deeds . . .” We are men and women of one world. We are building the Bahá’í system. We are following the Divine Plan. The Bahá’í polity will come, and the world
‘will then welcome the bounty of Bahá’u’lláh whose
principles of world order will be seen as the light of truth, the guidance for all.
(Note: Quotations are from various messages of Shoghi Effendi.) Reprinted from U.S. Supplement October 1964
‘I2
National Spiritual Assembly Outlines Proclamation Activities for This Year
The unknown sea which is world-wide proclamation, the new dimension into which the community of the Most Great Name is now sailing, has many facets. Within the United States on the national level, there will be yearly themes for our proclamation efforts for the remainder of the Nine Year Plan. This particular year 1968 is devoted to the theme “Human Rights are GodGiven Rights,” and the North American Bahá’í Office for Human Rights (NABOHR) is executing the provisions of the statement prepared by the North American Bahá’í communities, released in October at the Intercontinental Conference at Chicago, and reprinted in the NATIONAL Bahá’í REVIEW for April.
The local communities throughout the country will be participating in their own proclamation events and efforts, including “Bahá’í Weeks” and celebration of Bahá’í proclamation day events, the themes of which are geared to the “Human Rights are God-Given Rights” theme already mentioned. In the efforts this year, already begun by presentation of The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to city officials and leaders of thought, the work will be geared to the theme of human rights and their relationship to the Bahá’í message. All of these activities, carried out to help the Cause emerge from obscurity, “must be sustained by teaching, particularly locally where public announcements should be related to such efforts. This coordination is essential, for nothing will be more disheartening than for thousands to hear of the Faith and have nowhere to turn for further information.”*
Now that the preparation period prior to the launching of local proclamation efforts is over, the local spiritual assemblies are going ahead with their plans in coordination with the state goals committees, remembering the necessary period of several months required for good planning before starting a major proclamation program. They will begin consulting their Public Information representative, either the local one or the state goals committee representative, who have attended the Proclamation/Public Information Institutes held recently throughout the country. Many committees have already held such proclamation programs to acquaint all the people of their city with the Faith, and now these will be helping their goal cities to do likewise. In all of these efforts we are reminded of the injunction of The Universal House of Justice “to launch, on a global scale and to every stratum of human society, an enduring and intensive proclamation of the healing message that the Promised One has come and that the unity and well-being of the human race is the purpose of His Revelation.” *
‘The Universal House of Justice Riḍván message April 1967.
JUNE ‘1968
New Musical Plays
Two new tapes have been added to the lending library of the Department of Community Development for use by assemblies and state goals committees. The one is entitled “The Wonder Lamp — the story by Hand of the Cause of God, Mr. A. Q. Faizi.” The taped narration is by Dr. Samuel McClellan with music composed and played by Mrs. Mildred McClellan. It is a child’s play about the dimming of the “light” through “coverings” by those admiring its beauty and its ultimate salvation through Nature’s shattering forces. It is an excellent teaching medium to be heard, or produced as a play with children pantomiming action to the music.
The other tape recording, “I Wouldn’t Miss The Chance,” is a musical play composed and directed by Mrs. Mildred McClellan. It is about the day-to-day life and struggles of a small Bahá’í community where there has been a lull in the teaching efforts and consequent temporary loss of the vision of their ultimate goal. Upon their encounter with a humble pioneer they are refocused in the right direction. It provides a painless opportunity to look at ourselves and is an excellent deepening medium to be heard, or produced as an Operetta by the more ambitious communities. It is recommended for Bahá’ís only.
Requests to borrow these tape recordings should be sent to the Department of Community Development, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
Holy Days Commemoration:
On Naw-Rúz and Riḍván the children from the Wilmette area were treated to two happy and joyous celebrations arranged by the Temple Children’s Committee.
March 21 found the children of all ages filling to capacity the area arranged for their party. The spiritual commemoration had been held early the previous evening enabling the children to attend. During the Thursday afternoon party entertainment was provided by a talented new believer from the Evanston community, Mr. Gerald Kogens, who did many magical tricks which were a real joy — and mystery — to the parents as well as the children! He revealed a remarkable talent for making balloons into elephants, poodles, swans, etc., to the delightful squeals of those present.
On Sunday morning, April 21, the children who regularly attend the Temple children’s classes, as well as many guests from the surrounding area, began their commemoration of the Feast of Riḍván in the Auditorium of the House of Worship where prayers in Persian, Spanish and English were recited by children from three to thirteen years of age. After this devotional program they returned to the foundation area where they heard the story of Riḍván as told by two children, and then were led in joyful song with guitar accompaniment. While refreshments were being served happy games were played. Those who had come from far and near left with the joyful spirit of Riḍván in their hearts.
As recognition of Bahá’í Holy Days becomes widespread throughout the country, more and more communities are planning special daytime programs for the children, particularly on these festive Holy Days.
[Page 13]
REVIEW
"And His Name Shall Be One" to be Telecast for Third Time
The CBS-TV color presentation on the Bahá’í Faith, “And His Name Shall Be One” will be telecast nationally for the third time, Sunday morning, June 30, 1968 on the CBS Television Network. Bahá’ís should check their local station log for time and channel. It may be listed under “Lamp Unto My Feet”, the CBS-TV series in which the Bahá’í presentation appears.
Bahá’ís are again provided with a tremendous opportunity to acquaint millions with the Faith. Bahá’í communities, groups and isolated believers are urged to make an intensive effort to secure a record audience for the program, to use it as a means of proclamation.
The following are some suggested activities:
0 Invite guests to your home for breakfast, followed by viewing the program and discussion.
0 Rent a meeting place and secure a color television set. Serve rolls and coffee and follow program with discussion.
0 Make attractive flyers announcing the program and distribute these at super-markets, laundromats, bus depots, etc. This is a good youth project.
0 Send notices to all churches and organizations. Ask them to announce the showing and to list your meeting in connection with the showing in their bulletins.
0 Place an advertisement in local newspaper. Communities and groups can cooperate in placing such ads more economically. Don’t forget Negro and college newspapers.
0 Place posters announcing the showing and any Bahá’í meeting in key places such as community centers, colleges, high schools, etc.
0 Try to secure local spot announcement on television following the program to announce future meetings and where to get further information on the Faith.
0 Send letters to key people in the community such as civic officials, presidents of local clubs, civil rights leaders, school principals, etc. inviting them to view the program.
Bahá’í communities should begin planning as soon as possible to take advantage of this opportunity to proclaim the Faith.
1‘ lJ,J.I‘."|l.r‘—“isl
- ?I’,’/.'_'.l‘3
ARE
GOD-GIVEN RIGHTS
. . . . . . .
HUMAN RIGHTS
_ _ n Nam. Amovlxun nahu-i onm Iu «mum mahulnAuoMn1
Human Rights Poster
The North American Bahá’í Office for Human Rights (NABOHR) in cooperation with the Public Information Department has produced a poster for use during Human Rights Year (1968). The poster shown here carries the title of the Bahá’í state ment on human rights: “Human Rights Are God-Given Rights,” which is also the theme for this
year’s proclamation. It also carries the symbol of the Human Rights Year—a flame and wreath. The posters are available from the Bahá’í DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE DEPARTMENT, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091, at a price of $1.50 for five and $2.75 for ten. Bahá’í communities are urged to use these during the remainder of this year in conjunction with their human rights programs. There is a space at the bottom of the poster for local tie-ins or announcements. The poster was designed by Gordon Laite and is 14 inches by 20 inches.
Notes
Bahá’í communities throughout the US. are very much in the limelight in publicity in connection with human rights. Space does not permit mention of all that has been done but a few that are immediately available will illustrate this. The Bahá’í Community of Kansas City, Kansas placed an advertisement in Kansas City Kansan reprinting the Bahá’í Human Rights statement and above it the words: “In memory of Dr.
‘I3
PUBLIC INFORMATION
Martin Luther King, the Bahá’í Community of Kansas City, Kansas, reprints the following statement” . . . The Bahá’í Community of Wilmette, Illinois sent a letter to the Village Board in support of the need for a fair housing ordinance and a human relations commission. The letter was also printed in the Wilmette Life, the local newspaper. . .The Bahá’ís of Quincy, Illinois, in connection with the death of Dr. King, were able to get the local newspaper to print the Bahá’í prayer for mankind revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a two column article. .The Phoenix, Arizona Bahá’í Community had a three column article in the March 23, 1968 issue of the The Arizona Republic in which most of the Bahá’í statement on human rights was printed. . .In Portland, Maine the daily newspaper of April 12, 1968 carried the three column headline: “Riot Prediction Made 56 Years Ago Has Come True, Says Bahá’í Worker.”
"UMAN RIG . "I3 ARE GOD avg
Henry Wigfall, Bahá’í Club at San Jose City College, California and Charles McAllister, right, present Dr. Otto Roemich, president of
left, president of the
City College, with the Bahá’í Club’s statement, “Human Rights Are God-Given Rights” at a public meeting at City College in recognition of United Nations International Human Rights Year. This picture appeared in the San Jose Mercury for March 7, 1968.
[Page 14]
14 JUNE 1968
Bahá’í House of Worship Calendar of Evenfs 1 Daily Visifing Hours FEASTS 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. June 5 —— Nur (Light) , June 24 —— Rahmat (Mercy) 5“"“"Y D°"°'“°"‘ July 13 — Kalimét (Words) 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. August 1 — Kamél (Perfection) Sunday Public Meefings HOLY DAY 3:45 p'm' July 9 — Martyrdom of the Báb Firesides Sunday, 4:45 p.m. PRJ(l)JEL'3}‘:1_A1-?r~lONI’@/iEN1;) Thursday, 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. e ace y ay
Deepening Class Tuesday, 8:00 to 9:30 p.m.
. In Memoriam
Edward E. Hurbert Mrs. Maida Merriam
Ruckersville, Virginia Hollywood, Florida STATE GOALS COMMITTEE SECRETARIES Apru 10. 1968 March 28, 1968 Central California Dist. #2 Verne Kuske Mrs. Buena J. Morgan Mrs. Cuba Roach, pro-tem, 454 Keats Ave., Clovis, 93612 Wenatchee, wash, Des Moineg, Iowa Southern California Dist. #1 December, 1967 March 23, 1968 Miss Norma Brodie, 632 N. Fairview St.. Burbank, 91505 . West Virginia. Mrs. Mabel Martin Mrs._ Ethel M. Runyon Miss Ada Schott, pro-tem, 6501 Maccorkle Ave., Charleston. MaYW00d. 11110015 I-eW1St°“» Idaho 25304 March 1, 1968 March 11, 1968 Nafionul Bahá’í Fund Thousand S Cumulative Mon+hIy Income: 1968-1969 |.200 ' ’ moo - <36‘ — Am: Auwy I.ooo - 3° 4 We 60 ——— 900 — \)"\ 0°‘;
800 ' '4'
700 -
coo -
500 —
4oo -
zoo -
zoo -
I00 -
l I I I I I I I T I I I AsoI=::_.,_;-.::’_.‘.'.:.’_. £.%.%é”;~:5§§§£>s.% CONTRIBUTIONS FOR APRIL 1968 Regular Confribufions 48.02037 Special Confribufions . . . 37,457.00 _ Esfafes _ . 0 . 3,398.65 Launching the 1968-69 Budget Ofherlncome .. . 3,092.70 Total $9 I 369.22
NUMBER OF ASSEMBLIES CONTRIBUTING April ._. . 244
[Page 15]
REVIEW
Date and Event
September 15, 1968 World Peace Day
October 24, 1968 United Nations Day
November 12, 1968 Birth of Bahá’u’lláh
December 10, 1968 Human Rights Day
January 19, 1969 World Religion Day
March 21, 1969 Naw-Rúz
June 8, 1969 Race Unity Day
Theme
World PeaceHuman Right to Live
United NationsA Service to Mankind
Bahá’u’lláh Divine Architect of Human Rights
Human Rights are God-Given Rights
Build a New World
Youth — Power for Progress
Race Unity — God’s Command, Man’s Challenge
1968-1969 Special Events For Proclaiming the Bahá’í Faith to the Public
Bahá’í Material Recommended
WPD Public Information Kit WPD Poster
Pattern for Future Society Destiny of America
One God, One Truth, One
People
Material Suggested by U.N. Committee
Poster Kit
A Pattern for Future Society One Universal Faith
Bahá’í Peace Program
Public Information Kit Poster Kit
The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh Bahá’u’lláh—His Call to
the Nations
Lord of the New Age Bahá’í Answers
Material Suggested by U.N. Committee
Poster Kit
Tomorrow and Tomorrow
One World One Family
Bahá’í Declaration of Human Rights
WRD Public Information Kit Poster Kit
Meaning of Worship
Bahá’í: World Faith for
Modern Man Lord of the New Age The Future of Mankind
Public Information Kit Faith for Freedom
RUD Public Information Kit
RUD Poster
Man One Family
Bahá’í: Way of Life for Millions (EBONY)
Order literature from Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 110 Linden Ave., Wilmette, 111. 60091 Order posters from Bahá’í Distribution & Service Department, 112 Linden Ave., Wilmette, 111. 60091
[Page 16]
‘I6
Proclaiming the Faith to the Public
The EVENTS listed on the other side represent the minimum which the National Spiritual Assembly desires every Bahá’í locality — assembly, group and individual to use in proclaiming the Faith to the public and in establishing relations with a larger circle of contacts. All such events should be directly sponsored, announced and conducted under Bahá’í auspices, and their Bahá’í identity is not to be submerged in an interorganizational arrangement; exceptions to this are United Nations Day and Human Rights Day which are officially sponsored by the United Nations and co-sponsorship or cooperation with other local organizations is encouraged where appropriate. As in the past, many localities will also use occasions other than those listed to proclaim the Faith in their communities.
Good photographs and reports of outstanding observances should be sent immediately to the Public Information Department, National Bahá’í Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, 111. 60091. Preserve and refer to this sheet so that all events can be carefully planned and material ordered well in advance. In addition to the materials listed, the NATIONAL Bahá’í REVIEW and the PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER will carry additional information from time to time.
—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY June, 1968
JUNE ‘1968
