The American Bahá’í/Volume 30/Issue 5/Text

←Previous

The American Bahá’í
Volume 30, Issue 5

Next→

Return to PDF view

Proofread once

[Page 1]THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í

JUNE 24, 1999 RAHMAT/MERCY KALIMÁT/WORDS BAHÁ’Í ERA 156 VOLUME 30, NO. 5

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY AND REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCILS • PAGES 17–48

I•N•S•I•D•E WESTERN CENTENNIAL PAGE 14 YOUTH SUMMIT PAGES 52–53 MORE CONVENTION NEWS PAGE 54

WRITING THE FUTURE • 6 CARTA A LOS AMIGOS • 13 HONOR ROLL • 50–51 IN MEMORIAM • 56 CLASSIFIED • 57–58 PERSIAN PAGES • 59–62

Ex-president gives Bahá’í Chair Lecture[edit]

Lebanon’s former president prescribed a “consultative process” that takes religious teachings into account as a path toward solving the world’s conflicts, as he gave the Fifth Annual Lecture of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace in early May.

Amine Gemayel, speaking on the theme of “Religion, Conflict Resolution, and the Role of Leadership” at the University of Maryland, said global conflicts can only be resolved with a “synthesis of religious tenets,” because “it is the spiritual dimension that governs humanity’s conduct and behavior.”

More than 400 people heard the lecture, in which Gemayel suggested that “the time has come for the creation of a new universal forum that draws together thinkers, philosophers, theologians, spiritual leaders and diplomats.”

SEE BAHÁ’Í CHAIR, PAGE 57

Southeast Asian conference attracts 15 into Faith[edit]

Service, learning and youthful energy reached a joyous confluence as 12 youths and three adults involved in helping youth embraced the Bahá’í Faith at the 10th annual Southeast Asian Community Builders Roundtable Conference early in June.

This influx of 15 new Bahá’ís—and a teaching and service effort that has brought in several more since then—are a reflection of the work done over the years through the conference, the sponsoring U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office and its helpers in several regions.

A total of 105 souls participated in the gathering at Bosch Bahá’í School in the Santa Cruz mountains of California.

Youth were the focus of the conference. Many consultations were aimed at applying spiritual solutions to issues youth face, including violence in schools.

Two messages to the conference from our National Spiritual Assembly, including a special message to the Southeast Asian youth, helped galvanize the proceedings.

Many highly respected Southeast Asians attended, including Lao Chue Cha, a former member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Laos; Minh Tu Le, a daughter of the former secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Vietnam; and Sen Souern, a prominent Cambodian Bahá’í and former Buddhist monk.

Several of the youth who embraced the Bahá’í Faith at the June conference are pictured with other participants. Photo courtesy of U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office

SEE SOUTHEAST ASIAN, PAGE 63

THE NATIONAL FUND
Between May 1 and May 31, 1999
$2,250,000 Goal/All Funds
$1,390,644 Received/All Funds
See page 3 for details

E•X•C•E•R•P•T•S

“... in the beginning the believers must make their steps firm in the Covenant so that the confirmations of Bahá’u’lláh may encircle them from all sides. ...”

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá [Page 2]

ALMANAC[edit]

Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Báb A Bahá’í Holy Day • Observed sunset July 8 through sunset July 9; devotional gatherings should be held at 1 p.m. daylight time July 9 (noon where standard time is observed) • Work is to be suspended

"(The Báb) withstood all persecutions and bore every suffering and ordeal with unflinching strength. The more His enemies endeavored to extinguish that flame, the brighter it became.... Consider how the Báb endured difficulties and tribulations; how He gave His life in the Cause of God; how He was attracted to the love of the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh; and bow He announced the glad tidings of His manifestation." —‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 139

The Báb and a companion were executed by firing squad in a public square in Tabríz, Persia, on July 9, 1850. For further study, see The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 500-526.

Some significant dates in Bahá’í history[edit]

Late June and July

July 1848: In one of the most fateful months in the early annals of the Cause, events unfolded that led to martyrdoms and ultimate glory for the Báb and several of His foremost disciples.

⚫ The Báb transformed a heresy trial in Tabriz into a formal public announcement of His mission, declaring before a tribunal—which included the crown prince of Persia—that He was the Qá’im promised in Shi’ih Muslim prophecy. The Báb was beaten, then sentenced to death; the execution was carried out nearly two years later.

The Conference of Badasht ended with dozens of followers confirmed in the conviction that the Báb had authored an independent revelation from God, superseding the Qur'an and the laws of Islam.

• Mullá Husayn, unable to attend the conference, received the turban of the Báb and instructions to go to the Mázindarán region carrying a Black Standard. As many as 300 men rallied around him on a troubled mission that led to the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí, which soon was fortified and besieged. He was killed in battle the next February.

• Quddus was arrested soon after the Conference of Badasht. Soon after his release, which was arranged by Mullá Husayn, he joined the Bábís at Shaykh Tabarsí. He was taken prisoner when the siege ended the next May, then killed days later.

Tábirib, only weeks after proclaiming the spiritual emancipation of women at the conference, was arrested and held in Tehran until her execution in 1852.

July 26, 1868: Bahá’u’lláh, residing in Adrianople (Edirne, in European Turkey), was condemned by the Sultán to perpetual banishment; this order led to His decades of confinement in ‘Akká, Palestine.

July 19, 1907: The Bahá’ís of Chicago filed incorporation papers, becoming the first Bahá’í community to acquire legal status.

July 1930: Shoghi Effendi completed his translation of the Kitáb-i-Íqán, the first of his translations of major works of Bahá’u’lláh into English.

July 15, 1932: Bahíyyih Khánum, daughter of Bahá’u’lláh, passed away in Haifa, Palestine. She was chief steward of the Faith from the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá until Shoghi Effendi assumed the duties of his Guardianship.

July 21-26, 1953: Fourteen Hands of the Cause of God were among 374 Bahá’ís at the European Intercontinental Teaching Conference, one of a series of conferences that launched a worldwide expansion of the Faith at the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade.

July 4, 1964: The Bahá’í House of Worship in Langenhain, Germany, was dedicated.

June 22-23, 1968: The first National Bahá’í Youth Conference in the United States was held in Wilmette, Illinois.

June 18, 1983: Iranian authorities executed 10 women in Shiraz, including 17-year-old Múná Mahmúdnizhád. Her death became an international rallying point in the movement to press Iran to end persecution of Bahá’ís.

July 1989: Sean Hinton, the first Bahá’í to reside in Mongolia, was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh. His is the last name to be entered on the Roll of Honor at the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. ♦

Facts in the "Some significant dates" section compiled from A Basic Bahá’í Chronology

EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS[edit]

CONSTANCE CHEN, a Bahá’í in Palo Alto, California, was one of 30 people nationwide awarded a 1999 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, which recognizes notable accomplishments and potential of young people who are immigrants or children of immigrants. The Ohio-born daughter of a couple from Taiwan is pursuing a doctorate in medical anthropology at Stanford University, with considerable field research and a published book already to her credit. ♦

GLAYOL EKBATANI, a Bahá’í from New York City and English-as-second-language instructor at St. John's University, was cited in the 27th edition of Who's Who in America among educators who have made outstanding contributions in the field of language acquisition and assessment. ♦

JON GANDOMI, an 18-year-old Bahá’í in Mesa, Arizona, was one of 23 high school seniors in the state awarded a $42,000 Flinn Foundation scholarship, based on academic achievement, leadership, extracurricular activities and community service. ♦

JOHN MCGIMSEY, a Bahá’í in Charlotte, North Carolina, and an acupuncture and herbology practitioner, has been elected vice president of the North Carolina Acupuncture Association.

SHIRIN RENÉE NOSRAT, a Bahá’í in Houston, Texas, was named Teacher of the Year at Mark Twain Primary School, where she has been teaching for the past 10 years.♦

KAILAN OLIVA, a 6-year-old Bahá’í in Vallejo, California, was accepted to second grade when he was still a 5-year-old. His academic achievements continually astound his teachers, who say he is the best student in the class. ♦

ANGELITA REYES, a Bahá’í in St. Paul, Minnesota, was named to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the University of Minnesota. This honor gives the professor of Afro-American and African studies new faculty-mentoring duties and a stronger role in shaping the university's academic future. ♦

SAFA SADEGHPOUR, a Bahá’í in Santa Monica, California, graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a dual major in neuroscience and cybernetics. He received the only Phi Beta Kappa scholarship for graduate studies awarded to a member of his graduating class.

PETER KHAN, a member of the Universal House of Justice and formerly a professor at the University of Michigan, is a co-recipient of the 1999 Microwave Pioneer Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. During his 13 years in Michigan, he was part of a team that published groundbreaking research in 1971 on wave interactions between devices and circuits. This research is still widely cited by other researchers within the field, the institute reports. ♦

THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í[edit]

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES

Bahá’í National Center 847.869.9039

Office of The American Bahá’í 1233 Central St. Evanston, IL 60201 Tel/ 847.853.2352 Fax/ 847.256.1372

Managing Editor/Editorial Content James Humphrey

Managing Editor / Art Director Amethel Parel-Sewell

Associate Editor Tom Mennillo

Associate Editor Ramzia Duszynski

Print Production Specialist Aaron Kreader

Facilities Manager Artis Mebane

Contributors Judith Alamia, Jim Cheek, Linda Leeb Duper, Liz Dwyer, Omobowale Ayorinde, Tod Ewing, Marsha Gilpatrick, Mehrdad Kazemipour, DeWitt Tolbert

PUBLISHED ONCE EVERY 38 DAYS (plus one special issue) for a total of 10 issues per year by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611. Periodical postage paid at Evanston, IL and additional mailing offices.

ADDRESS CHANGES: Office of Information Services, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611

ISSN Number: 1062-1113 Canada: Publications Agreement # 1486683

SUBMITTING ARTICLES AND PHOTOS THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í welcomes news, letters or other items of interest from individuals and the institutions of the Bahá’í Faith.

ARTICLES should be clear and concise. Stories may be edited for length.

PHOTOGRAPHS may be color or black-and-white prints or slides. Please submit photos that are well-composed and in focus and identify people in photos when possible. If you wish photos returned, include a self-addressed envelope.

DEADLINES for upcoming issues: July 30 for the issue dated Sept. 8 Sept. 3 for the issue dated Oct. 16

PLEASE ADDRESS ALL ITEMS for possible publication to Managing Editors, The American Bahá’í, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611

Regional Councils elected for 1999–2000[edit]

Local Spiritual Assemblies nationwide gathered on May 22–23, the Anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb, to vote for members of the four Regional Bahá’í Councils.

These four consultative bodies help facilitate teaching and Assembly development in each of the regions delineated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets of the Divine Plan.

Members of the four Councils, with names listed in alphabetical order, are:

Northeastern States Nina Dini, Wilbraham, MA Robert P. Harris, Hamilton, NJ John F. Joyce, Sodus Point, NY Neal G. McBride, Amherst, MA Rebequa Murphy, Rochester, NY Joel S. Nizin, Ridgewood, NJ Vickie Rene Nizin, Ridgewood, NJ Nathan L. Rutstein, Amherst, MA William H. Smith, Sudbury, MA

Southern States Covey H. Cantville, Plantation, FL Jack Guillebeaux, Montgomery, AL Robert M. James, Durham, NC Ahmad Mahboubi, Smyrna, GA Carole Miller, Lithonia, GA Mahyar Mofidi, Chapel Hill, NC Karen E. Pritchard, Plantation, FL Kambiz Rafraf, Richardson, TX James Sturdivant, Greenbelt, MD

Western States Shad Afsahi, Anaheim, CA Fereshteh T. Bethel, Anaheim, CA Carol Brooks, Golden, CO Derek M. Cockshut, Santa Cruz, CA Shannon Javid, Edmonds, WA Charleen R. Maghzi, San Francisco, CA A. Habib Riazati, Anaheim, CA Erica P. Toussaint, Milwaukie, OR Elahe V. Young, Grants Pass, OR

Central States Caswell L. Ellis, Skokie, IL Elvora B. Jacobi, Madison, WI Paul A. Jacobi, Madison, WI Jena Khadem Khodadad, Winnetka, IL Curtis J. Russell, Royal Oak, MI Morris Taylor Jr., Evanston, IL June Manning Thomas, East Lansing, MI Richard W. Thomas, East Lansing, MI Lynn M. Wieties, Rolla, MO

Note: Lisa Anne Smits of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was among the nine people elected to the Regional Bahá’í Council for the Central States. She submitted her resignation, and the National Spiritual Assembly recognized Elvora Jacobi—who received the next-highest number of votes—to fill the vacancy on the Council. ◆

A visit from Ravi Shankar[edit]

Legendary musician Ravi Shankar of India (center) was the featured guest at a second anniversary celebration at the Bahá’í Center of South Orange County in San Clemente, California. About 300 people witnessed an onstage dialogue in which the master musician recounted stories from his life. The Spiritual Assembly of San Clemente presented Shankar with a plaque honoring his achievements. He had composed the music for the dedication of the Bahá’í House of Worship in India. Photo by Mehrdad Kazemipour, Laguna Niguel, CA

Bahá’ís gain a voice in efforts to help in Columbine aftermath[edit]

Quick action opened a door for Bahá’ís in the Denver area to take part in a meeting on disbursing money raised for victims of the Columbine High School tragedy in Littleton, Colorado.

Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas hosted the session. About 40 people in attendance represented 12 groups, the biggest of which was Mile High United Way.

Some groups had raised $2 million, others $250,000. The Bahá’í Columbine Fund, created by the Spiritual Assembly of Denver the day after the shooting tragedy, had raised only about $1,000 from all over the world.

But their effort had been recognized in news reports from the start.

Tim Danahey, the Bahá’í who had the idea to start the fund, and Javid Djalili, the Assembly’s public information representative, attended.

People responded to the Bahá’ís’ evident attitude that they were there to help, “not out to impress anyone,” Djalili said.

Several times, he said, Danahey “made us proud by returning everyone’s attention to the needs of the victims and the families. Everybody liked that.”

Danahey also put forward the favorably received idea of creating one umbrella fund for the sake of unity and easier administration.

“We stressed that we would like to give away the money we’ve raised as soon as possible,” Djalili said. “He really got the Bahá’ís noticed and hopefully admired in such a large group.”

Media coverage of the religious community’s efforts to succor the victims and other residents included a major feature in the Rocky Mountain News by staff writer Jean Torkelson.

To create the article, headlined “Congregations gather to deal with the violence,” Torkelson visited several places of worship. One was the Denver Bahá’í Center, “home to a Persian religion dedicated to finding world peace, but which struggled Sunday to make sense of what happened in Colorado.”

The writer noted that the Bahá’í devotional service “ironically had been dedicated beforehand to children” and quoted Shahrokh Sadighian as saying, “This is a spiritual disease we are seeing. The biggest challenge for America is racial harmony. I think God has chosen America as a testing tube for the whole world, for living in harmony.”

The article also described how 7-year-old Crystal Hoffman “bounced to the microphone and, without accompaniment, sang a song in a high, clear voice.”

Then, Torkelson wrote, “Linda Pomeroy rose to read the counsels from the ... founders of Bahá’í. On Sunday they sounded eerily prescient. ‘Take the utmost care to give your children high ideals and goals, so that they will not be defiled by passion ... and be harmful to others.’” ◆

**Enrollments**
May 1999	139
May 1998–April 1999	1,473

**THE FUND**
May 1–31, 1999
Contributions received by National Treasurer
Received since May 1, 1999:	Goal for entire year:
$1,390,644	$27,000,000
5.2% of year’s goal was met
8.3% of fiscal year has passed
April 30, 2000
Allocations to Other Funds
Arc Projects Fund $253,615
International Bahá’í Fund $140,689
Continental Bahá’í Fund $35,275
Other contributions: $18,292
Total cash-basis revenues and expenditures at Bahá’í National Center May 1, 1998–April 30, 1999 (the entire 1998–1999 fiscal year)
$22,322,592
Revenues (contributions, book sales, school fees etc.)
$22,665,257
Expenditures (operations, capital and debt payments etc.)
To avoid additional borrowing, some critical projects were deferred over the previous fiscal year. This also allowed revenues to nearly match cash expenditures.
Mail contributions to: National Bahá’í Fund 112 Linden Avenue Wilmette, IL 60091-2800 Please write Bahá’í ID # on check

[Page 4]

SPREADING the TEACHINGS[edit]

The next year for the National Teaching Plan[edit]

The National Teaching Committee’s report to the delegates at the 1999 Bahá’í National Convention

At the beginning of this Plan the Universal House of Justice presented the believers with the challenge “to mount a campaign of teaching in which the broad membership of our community is enthusiastically, systematically and personally engaged.”

The three years since have seen notable progress in this regard. First, we have witnessed a great mobilization of individual and local community initiatives. Among the most wonderful things to observe has been the trend toward multi-faceted and healthy patterns of local community life, illustrated in the use of the arts, a sustained emphasis on activities to promote racial unity, burgeoning activities on college campuses and the now-widespread practice of regular devotional meetings. The Bahá’í community has shown itself to be wonderfully vibrant and dedicated to sharing the Message. The generosity of spirit of the Bahá’ís and their enthusiasm for service in the Cause will bear a rich harvest in the near future. We are extremely optimistic because of this, and thankful to Bahá’ís for their readiness to rise to the challenge.

Second, we have seen progress in building the necessary infrastructure for sustained growth. The Regional Councils, all of which are acting with great energy, and the two dozen regional training institutes, most of which are offering programs, are two of the most outstanding examples. We applaud the efforts of the Councils, which have inspired the believers and led to more systematic approaches.

Third, the series of national media experiments have also been well-rewarded. The early results of the national media campaign, after very limited tests, demonstrate that there are large numbers of people who are potential or active “seekers,” with whom our Message resonates. We are now to begin our greatest national outreach effort ever. There can be little doubt that the stream of people who investigate the Faith will become a torrent as our outreach—national, regional and local—becomes broader and more refined.

It is extremely heartening to know that the Universal House of Justice has directly encouraged our national plan. Its themes have been endorsed, and the overall integration of proclamation, expansion and consolidation activities has been called “highly exemplary.” In one message, addressed to the delegates of last year’s Convention, the House of Justice assured us of its conviction that “great victories hover on the horizon” of our community. All in all, we can be confident that we are essentially on the right track, and that what is required of us now is sustained and confident action.

Our belief at this juncture is that growth is now an issue that can be mastered with knowledge, intelligent initiative and thoughtful cooperation. Successful teaching will require of us not only the qualities of faith, perseverance, unity and courage; but also analytical discipline and the skill to apply useful knowledge to our strategies. Although the National Teaching Committee has particular responsibilities in this regard, this is an exercise that, in one way or another, should involve every believer and every institution.

Now let us briefly review some things we have learned this year.

The teaching plan encompasses activities at the national, regional and local levels. It is designed to facilitate the teaching work in a number of definable ways:

By targeting susceptible audiences and addressing them effectively.
By bringing forward interested seekers.
By providing local opportunities for action.
By creating a sense of national unity.
By promoting intercommunity cooperation to address specific opportunities.
By encouraging initiative to create welcoming and loving local communities.

As you know, we have already received some 12,000 seeker calls and hope to see that number increase dramatically this year. In several regions the Councils and NTC have begun to integrate their efforts in metropolitan teaching campaigns that feature use of the media, in conjunction with an array of other initiatives. These campaigns, with all senior and local institutions involved and supportive, may soon provide breakthrough environments that will demonstrate the potential inherent in the combination of new methods and unified action.

We will soon face the challenge to attend to the spiritual needs of large numbers of people who will be coming into direct contact with the Bahá’í community. Our success in this regard will depend to a great degree upon our capacity to deal with their diverse backgrounds and interests with understanding and sensitivity.

We know, from surveys of those who have responded to the national broadcasts and from research conducted by others, that seekers are not a random lot. Most of them come from definable groups, and they describe specific needs for religious fulfillment. Their issues provide a window to the types of challenges that local communities will have to face in order to achieve growth.

Here’s what we know about seekers:

They are as interested in the life of the spirit as they are in social issues.

Most of them grew up in religious households.

They are not satisfied with their current practice because people don’t live up to religious standards, such as appreciation for diversity.

Nearly half are not affiliated, and the majority have never switched religions.

Most have a strong sense of what defines religion. For them, religion is:

God-centered,
Defined by worship,
Based in scripture,
Rooted in community, and
Concerned with family and children.
It is involved in good works.
It is joyful.
It is moderate, non-authoritarian and participatory.
It is inclusive and also non-political.

The seekers are also educated and progressive. Women predominate; they lead families into faith. In general, women are more likely to change religions.

Most seekers are from mainstream religions. The majority are Christian, but some 10% are Jewish, more by far than the 3% or so in the population. There are significant numbers of evangelicals and fundamentalists in the mix. Even so, because most are African-American, they show themselves to be progressive on social issues.

In all of these respects they are a close reflection of the present membership of the American Bahá’í community.

Proportionately, there are more minorities, more students, more singles and more divorced individuals among those responding to our broadcasts than in our general membership.

Nearly 40% have been racial minorities, whereas three-fourths of our community is Caucasian.

More than a quarter are youth—a bright spot, which supports the growing evidence that students, particularly women, are expressing greater social consciousness. We may soon see a significant upsurge in membership coming from campuses as the children of Baby Boomers enter adulthood. This underscores the importance of being attentive to youth in our teaching strategies.

Many of the groups responding have special needs that are not well-served in American religious communities. Addressing their expectations of religion and religious community will require understanding and thoughtful effort, particularly at the local level where seekers will come to inquire.

The response we are experiencing incorporates dimensions of diversity that transcend race and ethnicity. This is the issue of diversity—a diversity of temperaments and personal needs, influenced not only by race, but also by age, gender, education and profession, marital status, national origin, class, religious background and the like.

Certain overarching characteristics of our community, however, can complicate efforts to welcome and integrate diversity and must be thoughtfully addressed through consultation.

For example, like the broad American middle class, many of us place higher emphasis on the private expression of religious faith than on communal and public interactions. It is particularly so of the majority, and stands in contrast to needs of others not so numerous but definably different.

As in most mainstream religions, the majority of us are married and about half of married households contain children. The general orientation of American faith communities toward families and

Devotions grow swiftly[edit]

Children’s classes thrive in association with a weekly public devotional program in Corvallis, Oregon, which has grown to attract so many seekers that in less than three years it has outgrown its facility. The community regularly plans outstanding speakers and presenters, focuses on hospitality and service, and publicizes the event through newspaper and Web coverage. [Page 5]

MEDIA, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1[edit]

Plan that will benefit local communities in their efforts to share the healing message of Bahá’u’lláh with a wide array of Americans.

In other notes:

In May, the first month of the latest wave of national cable broadcasts, an estimated 3,000 people responded by phone or on the Web to the 30-minute program The Power of Race Unity and an assortment of brief TV ads.

Broadcasts on Lifetime, BET, Court TV, Odyssey and the International Channel were scheduled to continue through June.

A temporary setback became an unexpected bounty, as the Lifetime cable TV network postponed all the spot ads they had scheduled for May because of “overbooking.”

The highly popular network, with a reach of 72 million households in the United States alone, agreed to double the number of Bahá’í spots it was to broadcast during evenings in June—providing an even more visible proclamation of the Faith in that month.

The national Bahá’í Web site for seekers and inquirers (www.us.bahai.org) was redesigned in early June to be more direct in its presentation and thus more immediately useful to inquirers.

The new half-hour programs on prayer and family, produced by SIDCorp and U.S. Bahá’í Media Services, continue to present themes of the National Teaching Plan.

They show Bahá’ís in everyday activities, conveying their own spirituality and love for each other in their words and deeds.

Direct presentation of Bahá’í teachings are given in between “story” segments, following the format that succeeded so well in The Power of Race Unity.

A future 30-minute program presenting Bahá’í teachings on the equality of women and men is still in the works. Other videos in the planning stages are to address the Bahá’í message to American Indian and Hispanic perspectives.

VIDEO BROADCASTS[edit]

All times EDT; please adjust schedules for your time zone.

The Power of Prayer

Court TV: 9:30 a.m. Sundays

7/4, 8/1, 8/29, 9/26

Bravo: 10 a.m. selected Tuesdays and Fridays through Sept. 24; final schedule pending.

The Power of Race Unity

Court TV: 9:30 a.m. Sundays

7/18, 8/15, 9/12

Bravo: 10 a.m. selected Tuesdays and Fridays through Sept. 24; final schedule pending. ◆

TEACHING, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4[edit]

children makes it easier to overlook the special religious needs of non-traditional households—now the majority in America—and harder to maintain certain categories of people in membership.

This challenge of complexity involves attracting and holding not just racial and ethnic minorities, but young people, single men and women, the divorced, the widowed and elderly, the less-educated and others as well.

Indeed, balancing various needs for individual fulfillment is our principal task, especially at the level of local community, as this campaign evolves.

What does this suggest for our national growth strategy?

The Universal House of Justice has listed three developmental objectives in this Plan. The reality of diversity in all its dimensions, among seekers and within our present membership, must be acknowledged in pursuit of each of them.

The training of individual believers needs to incorporate attention to the issue of sensitivity to diversity. After all, it is already well-established that the most successful teachers are those who are most able to address the concerns and feelings of the seekers, with love and with skill. Training programs should now include sharing of the knowledge that is being gleaned from our outreach efforts. We believe that such knowledge will increase the confidence of teachers and help to address the challenge for them to spiritually and mentally accept the possibility of entry by troops.

For the institutions, approaches that accommodate, even encourage, human diversity will foster both vibrancy and viability in Bahá’í community life, thereby ensuring that masses of people will have a meaningful experience as they come into association with us. The proper assessment of membership needs, as defined by the membership itself, and the self-sacrifice necessary for such a practice, must become a hallmark of Bahá’í leadership.

Our community life must also grow stronger. All growth is local in one sense. Conversion of seekers will be determined in large measure by the perceived quality of Bahá’í life within community. There are encouraging indications that the believers are indeed very interested in building diverse and united communities, and that as individuals they strive to put into practice the high ideals of our Faith. This trend needs to accelerate.

Effective community development for us will require a more focused, informed and consistent effort to accommodate legitimate differences among us, which seekers illustrate. The changing demographics of the country make attention to these priorities more urgent. Non-traditional households have already eclipsed the traditional family in numbers. And over the next generation or two, the proportion of minorities of every kind will grow dramatically. By the middle of the next century Caucasians will become a bare majority in the population. Certain key states—Texas, Florida, New York, to name a few—will reach this milestone even sooner. California, for example, which has the largest Bahá’í membership, has already become the first state on the mainland in which Caucasians are less than half of the population.

At the national level efforts are being made to reach more diverse audiences. This spring we have programming and commercials airing on Odyssey, Black Entertainment Television, the International Channel, CourtTV and Lifetime Television. The latter, Lifetime, will have broadcasts of three different commercials. That network reaches virtually every home that has cable, some 72 million households, representing a potential viewing audience of more than 200 million. We will add new channels as they become available. For example, WGN cable has approved our programming, but is sold out until later this year.

As the efforts with media progress we will address different audience segments with different videos. We are working toward completion of a film directed at conservative Christian audiences and other projects are under way to address Native Americans, Hispanics and women. The next release will be of a video titled The Power of Prayer. This production has received the greatest acceptance yet in tests with non-Bahá’í viewers.

In addition to materials for broadcast, we are working with NSA agencies and others to vastly expand our Internet presence—in part to reach large numbers of receptive youth—and to implement a plan for a sustained presence of Bahá’í literature in the retail book trade. In these ways, and with the principle of sensitivity to audiences as our guide, we will reach out to larger and larger numbers of our countrymen.

A vast increase in interaction with seekers will inevitably change the realities of community life, will alter the priorities of the Institutions, and will refine our sense of what it will take to achieve sustained expansion. Our ability to know local community dynamics at any given point in time, and to apply that knowledge toward practical outcomes, will assist the process of entry by troops.

April 26 marked the 80th anniversary of the unveiling of the Tablets of the Divine Plan. That unveiling took place in 1919, at the end of the First World War, at that memorable 11th Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Convention, designated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the “Convention of the Covenant” and held at the McAlpine Hotel in New York City. The war-torn world was at last momentarily at peace!

Concurrent with that gathering, in Paris, the Peace Conference was convening to address the resolution of the political, economic and social conditions of the postwar world. That resolution could only provide temporary peace. However, the call of the Master, raised through the Tablets of the Divine Plan for the spiritual conquest of the planet, set in motion a process which will, over time, culminate in a lasting peace!

That call of the Beloved had such potency that it set on fire the souls of those present and generated a response so passionate that it has continued ever since, bringing the redeeming Message of Bahá’u’lláh to a suffering humanity. And now that we are in the fourth year of the Four Year Plan, the latest stage in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan, we beseech the beloved Master to bless our endeavors and guide our steps toward the realization of the day “which ... will witness the entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá’í world.” ◆

Serving and promoting the teachings[edit]

Bahá’ís and their friends from the Orlando, Florida, area display their Bahá’í-inspired “No room in my heart for prejudice” T-shirts in which they appeared on a public television as volunteers for a fund drive on Naw-Rúz. Pledges during the Bahá’í stint, which came during children’s programming, exceeded the fund-raising goal for the segment. Photo by Judith Alamia, Winter Springs, FL [Page 6]

Who is Writing the Future?[edit]

Reflections on the Twentieth Century: Part 2 of 3

As printed in the issue of May 17, 1999, the first section of this statement noted that:

The world is increasingly recognizing the worth of the message of Bahá’u’lláh, even though that message has aroused sometimes-deadly opposition.
The spiritual view of reality proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh clarifies that the human race as a whole is maturing, and that wars and prejudices are signs that this maturing process is still incomplete.
Unification of the earth's inhabitants is the next, inescapable stage in the process of social evolution. Thus, for all its disasters, the 20th century is seen by Bahá’ís as the "century of light" because of changes in how people around the world regard one another.
Formation of the United Nations was a great historical benchmark at the midpoint of this century, laying the foundation for international peacekeeping and bringing human rights to a forefront of attention never before achieved.
At the same time, economic life became more globalized, with several agencies created to rationalize and advance the material prosperity of the planet.
Education has been increasingly brought to the masses worldwide, through the efforts of national and local governments and international agencies, as well as the information technology explosion.

This process of structural reorganization on a planetary scale was animated and reinforced by a profound shift of consciousness. Entire populations found themselves abruptly compelled to face the costs of ingrained habits of mind that breed conflict and to do so in the full glare of worldwide censure of what were once considered acceptable practices and attitudes. The effect was to stimulate revolutionary change in the way that people regard one another.

Throughout history, for example, experience seemed to demonstrate and religious teaching to confirm that women are essentially inferior in nature to men. Overnight, in the historical scheme of things, this prevailing perception was suddenly everywhere in retreat. However long and painful may be the process of giving full effect to Bahá’u’lláh's assertion that women and men are in every sense equal, intellectual and moral support for any opposing view steadily disintegrates.

Yet another fixture of humanity's view of itself throughout past millennia was a celebration of ethnic distinctions which, in recent centuries, had hardened into various racist fantasies. With a swiftness that is breathtaking in the perspective of history, the twentieth century saw the unity of the human race establish itself as a guiding principle of international order. Today, the ethnic conflicts that continue to wreak havoc in many parts of the world are seen not as natural features of the relations among diverse peoples, but as willful aberrations that must be brought under effective international control.

Throughout humanity's long childhood, it was also assumed again with the full concurrence of organized religion that poverty was an enduring and inescapable feature of the social order. Now, however, this mind-set, an assumption that had shaped the priorities of every economic system the world had ever known, has been universally rejected. In theory at least, government has come to be everywhere regarded as essentially a trustee responsible to ensure the well-being of all of society's members.

Particularly significant—because of its intimate relationship with the roots of human motivation—was the loosening of the grip of religious prejudice. Prefigured in the "Parliament of Religions" that attracted intense interest as the nineteenth century was drawing to a close, the process of interfaith dialogue and collaboration reinforced the effects of secularism in undermining the once impregnable walls of clerical authority. In the face of the transformation in religious conceptions that the past hundred years witnessed, even the current outburst of fundamentalist reaction may come, in retrospect, to be seen as little more than desperate rear-guard actions against an inevitable dissolution of sectarian control. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh, "There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God."6

During these critical decades the human mind was also experiencing fundamental changes in the way that it understood the physical universe. The first half of the century saw the new theories of relativity and quantum mechanics—both of them intimately related to the nature and operation of light—revolutionize the field of physics and alter the entire course of scientific development. It became apparent that classical physics could explain phenomena within only a limited range. A new door had suddenly opened into the study of both the minute constituents of the universe and its large cosmological systems, a change whose effects went far beyond physics, shaking the very foundations of a world view that had dominated scientific thinking for centuries. Gone forever were the images of a mechanical universe run like a clock and a presumed separation between observer and observed, between mind and matter. Against the background of the far-reaching studies thus made possible, theoretical science now begins to address the possibility that purpose and intelligence are indeed intrinsic to the nature and operation of the universe.

In the wake of these conceptual changes, humanity entered an era in which interaction among physical sciences—physics, chemistry, and biology, along with the nascent science of ecology—opened breathtaking possibilities for the enhancement of life. The benefits in such vital areas of concern as agriculture and medicine became dramatically apparent as did those brought about by success in tapping new sources of energy. Simultaneously, the new field of materials science began providing a wealth of specialized resources unknown when the century opened—plastics, optical fibers, carbon fibers.

Such advances in science and technology were reciprocal in their effects. Grains of sand—the most humble and ostensibly worthless of materials—metamorphosed into silicon wafers and optically pure glass, making possible the creation of worldwide communications networks. This, together with the deployment of ever more sophisticated satellite systems, has begun providing access to the accumulated knowledge of the entire human race for people everywhere, without distinction. It is apparent that the decades immediately ahead will see the integration of telephone, television, and computer technologies into a single, unified system of communication and information, whose inexpensive appliances will be available on a mass scale. It would be difficult to exaggerate the psychological and social impact of the anticipated replacement of the jumble of existing monetary systems—for many, the ultimate fortress of nationalist pride—by a single world currency operating largely through electronic impulses.

Indeed, the unifying effect of the twentieth century revolution is nowhere more readily apparent than in the implications of the changes that took place in scientific and technological life. At the most obvious level, the human race is now endowed with the means needed to realize the visionary goals summoned up by a steadily maturing consciousness. Viewed more deeply, this empowerment is potentially available to all of the earth's inhabitants, without regard to race, culture, or nation. "A new life," Bahá’u’lláh prophetically saw, "is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause or perceived its motive."7

Today, more than a century after these words were written, the implications of what has since taken place begin to be apparent to thoughtful minds everywhere.

To appreciate the transformations brought about by the period of history now ending is not to deny the accompanying darkness that throws the achievements into sharp relief: the deliberate extermination of millions of helpless human beings, the invention and use of new weapons of destruction capable of annihilating whole populations, the rise of ideologies that suffocated the spiritual and intellectual life of entire nations, damage to the physical environment of the planet on a scale so massive that it may take centuries to heal, and the incalculably greater damage done to generations of children taught to believe that violence, indecency, and selfishness are triumphs of personal liberty. Such are only the more obvious of a catalogue of evils, unmatched in history, whose lessons our era will leave for the education of the chastened generations who will follow us.

Darkness, however, is not a phenomenon endowed with some form of existence, much less autonomy. It does not extinguish light nor diminish it, but marks out those areas that light has not reached or adequately illumined. So will twentieth century civilization no doubt be assessed by the historians of a more mature and dispassionate age. The ferocities of animal nature, which raged out of control through these critical years and seemed at times to threaten society's very survival, did not in fact prevent the steady unfoldment of the creative potentialities which human consciousness possesses.

On the contrary. As the century advanced, growing numbers of people awakened to how empty were the allegiances and how insubstantial the fears that had held them captive only short years before.

"Peerless is this Day," Bahá’u’lláh insists, "for it is as the eye to past ages and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the times."8 In this perspective, the issue is not the darkness that slowed and obscured the progress achieved in the extraordinary hundred years now ending. It is, rather, how much more suffering and ruin must be experienced by our race before we wholeheartedly accept the spiritual nature that makes us a single people, and gather the courage to plan our future in the light of what has been so painfully learned.

Next: moral challenges of cooperation, justice and service; and a necessary change in how humanity views God.

Footnotes[edit]

6. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, section CXI. 7. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, section XCVI. 8. Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990), p. 79. [Page 7]

PROMOTING the PRINCIPLES[edit]

The advancement of women and race unity[edit]

BY TOD EWING

The Universal House of Justice in its Ridván 153 message called for North America to “strive to create a Bahá’í community which will offer to the entire world a vibrant model of unity in diversity” and also to “become renowned for its social cohesion. ...” Achieving these goals will take much wisdom and perseverance. At the same time, I believe the process will be greatly assisted as the equality of men and women moves closer to full realization.

Traditional leadership and conflict[edit]

Clearly our world is in a state of disarray and conflict. This is due, in no small measure, to the inadequacy of leadership in far too many arenas of life and particularly the adversarial nature of that leadership. The problems that have resulted from power-based, competitive, adversarial styles of leadership are too numerous to mention. However, I would like to discuss one of the consequences that I believe must be addressed and addressed rapidly if we are to successfully mitigate the suffering of humankind as the end of the century approaches and the Lesser Peace unfolds.

There exists a climate, affecting far too many arenas of life, that is characterized by distrust, hostility, suspicion, fear, impatience and intolerance. That climate is a feature of humanity dwelling in its adolescence. In that stage, the traditional styles of leadership mentioned above tend to dominate and prevail. However, I believe that approach has clearly reached its own particular “glass ceiling.” In other words, that way of conducting human affairs can go no further in advancing the best interests of the human race.

The Universal House of Justice has stated that “the entrenched pattern of conflict” must turn into “a world in which harmony and cooperation [will] prevail.” Such cooperation can only be based on the premise of the “unshakable consciousness of the oneness of mankind,” which calls for the abandonment of “prejudice of every kind. ...”

These changes will occur only when women and the qualities that women possess are catapulted forward in all areas of life. This is clear. The Writings state that “force is losing its weight” and that the new age will be an age “less masculine, and more permeated with feminine ideals. ...” They also explain that, until women advance, “the happiness of the world will not be realized” and “the highest social development of mankind is not possible.” Furthermore they state that “the greatness of this wondrous Age will be manifested as a result of progress in the world of women.”

These are powerful statements; but even further, the Universal House of Justice calls the “emancipation of women, the full equality between the sexes ... one of the most important though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace.” It then goes on to claim that “only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavor will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge.” This is a significant acknowledgment of the role of women in our society and a description of the conditions that we must bring to practical realization in our homes, neighborhoods, states, countries and the world.

Again, I believe the traditional approach to leadership described earlier has expended whatever usefulness it had and reached a “glass ceiling.” It is primarily women who must and will show the world how to break through into the age of maturity. The Writings state fundamentally that men can go no further without women achieving their “highest possibilities.” Therefore, the pattern of conflict, suspicion, distrust and fear that is prevalent in the world will quite likely remain until women, in fact, attain their “highest possibilities.”

The advancement of women and race unity[edit]

Let us now examine more specifically the relationship of the advancement of women and racial unity. In The Promise of World Peace, the Universal House of Justice identifies the elimination of racism and the equality of men and women as two elements that have “immediate relevance to establishing world peace. ...”

In its Three Year Plan, the National Spiritual Assembly of the ‎Bahá’í’s Bahá’ís‎ of the United States had two goals related to race. One goal called for Bahá’í communities to become “models of racial unity” and the other called communities to assist children and youth to be “the first generation free from all prejudices.” In the Four Year Plan, the National Spiritual Assembly added the advancement of women to these goals, thus creating twin themes to propel the American Bahá’í community’s efforts to further the process of entry by troops.

It is important to note that in the larger society, when women’s issues have been brought to the forefront, it has had the effect of minimizing attention to racial issues. In other words, it seems to many that the women’s movement, particularly as related to white women, has often usurped and taken priority over the race issue and even exacerbated it further, and that people of influence and power have sometimes pitted the two against one another.

Not so in the Bahá’í Faith. This cannot happen and would be a distortion of the holistic intent of our Teachings. On the contrary, the issue of the advancement of all women is inextricably bound up with the elimination of racial prejudice and the achievement of racial unity.

This commentary by Tod Ewing, member of the Continental Board of Counselors, is adapted from a letter originally written for a women’s conference held during the Three Year Plan. Mr. Ewing expresses special thanks to Alison Ewing and Nancy Songer for their invaluable feedback and editing.
Unless otherwise noted, quotations are from: A Compilation on Women. Pupil of the Eye. The Promise of World Peace. Readers are encouraged to refer further to those works as well as: Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men. The Advent of Divine Justice. Toward Oneness. Other material from the Bahá’í writings.

The need for feminine qualities[edit]

The Writings tell us that women possess qualities that will help create a climate in which peace can emerge. There is no problem in our country that needs a different climate more than the one that surrounds issues related to racial prejudice. This matter is so sensitive and the atmosphere so charged with tension, hostility and emotional pain, that if the qualities that women possess are not brought to bear in changing that climate, the eventual outcome will be, in the words ascribed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “the destruction of America.”

Specifically, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has stated that woman is “more tenderhearted, more receptive, her intuition more intense. ...” He further states that women should strive to show that “their hearts are more tender and susceptible than the hearts of men, that they are more philanthropic and responsive towards the needy and suffering, that they are inflexibly opposed to war and are lovers of peace.” In another passage He refers to the strength of women as it relates to “mental alertness, intuition and the spiritual qualities of love and service. ...” He also says that “woman has greater moral courage than the man; she has also special gifts which enable her to govern in moments of danger and crisis.” In the area of race relations we are in moments of danger and crisis.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá also asserts that women have evinced a “greater boldness when enlisted in the ranks of the Faith.” Shoghi Effendi has further stated that this “boldness” must, in the course of time, “be more convincingly demonstrated, and win for the beloved Cause victories more stirring than any it has yet achieved.”

The aforementioned qualities associated with women are essential in establishing productive racial dialogue and in creating environments where fairness and cooperation prevail. They are vital in creating the spirit of humility, self-sacrifice and perseverance necessary if race unity is ever to be achieved. They are also critical to helping overcome any sense of superiority, deep suspicion and distrust that prevent the races from weaving bonds of genuine fellowship and love. Such qualities must permeate the whole area of race relations if this bonding is ever to occur.

Finally, the National Spiritual Assembly, in a message to the Bahá’í community, reminded us that America is “groaning, dying to come to unity, to end

SEE EQUALITY, PAGE 8

A ‘greater boldness’[edit]

Cheryl Stull performs a dramatic monologue, The Passing of Exquisite Music, on the life of Martha Root—one of the women who, in the Master’s words, showed “a greater boldness” in the work of the Faith—recently in Everett, Washington. One of the 50 in the audience enrolled in the Faith afterward. [Page 8]

PROMOTING THE PRINCIPLES[edit]

Award presentation given extra dimension by Táhirih performance[edit]

Two recent Los Angeles performances of a musical drama based on the life of Táhirih celebrated National Women’s History Month and brought the Bahá’í principles of equality to many people of capacity.

The Táhirih Award for Service to Women was presented in conjunction with a March 6 performance of A Woman and Her Words: The Story of Táhirih by Muhtadia Rice and Parke McAlister. The award honored the family of Amy Biehl, a Fulbright scholar who was murdered in South Africa while preparing citizens for that nation’s first-ever open elections.

Accepting the award on behalf of her late sister was Molly Biehl Corbin, who gave a moving speech about her family’s forgiveness of the killers and their decision to carry on the work Amy started. The family said they were determined to carry on in the spirit of Táhirih, a Persian poetess and Bábí martyr.

In addition to a video presentation, letters of congratulations were read from South African President Nelson Mandela, and from the speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia, Mose Tjitendero, with whom Amy worked.

Dignitaries in attendance included state Sen. Diane Watson; the consul-general of South Africa; and a host of entertainers and civic leaders. Actors Tippi Hedren and Geoffrey Ewing served as emcees. Counselor Wilma Ellis presented the award to Molly Biehl Corbin on behalf of the Bahá’ís.

The evening before, Rice and McAlister presented the stage performance at the Bahá’í Center to an audience of 250, including a delegation of educators from the Culver City School District. Both performances also served as fundraisers for the MONA (Multicultural Organization for Neighborhood Arts) Foundation, which serves at-risk local children.

EQUALITY[edit]

"...its age-old anguish." Furthermore, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, many years ago, asserted that the unity of the "white and the colored would be an assurance of the world’s peace." It is clear, then, that we must as quickly as possible bring the "special gifts" of women to bear on this "most vital and challenging issue."

An appeal to women's cultural gifts[edit]

In addition to the qualities of women identified above, each brings from her respective background unique cultural gifts. African-American women have been doubly burdened, and so you are doubly blessed. The Writings refer to the members of your race as the "pupil of the eye," "the fountains of light" through whom "the light of the spirit shineth forth." Furthermore, they state, "God has richly endowed" you with "qualities of the heart" that are "much needed in the world today." What a blessing, and what a responsibility! The impact you can and must have on our communities and in addressing this issue is tremendous.

Unique qualities of other cultural groups have also been identified in the Writings. Asians (termed in this passage as Oriental) are noted for your "reverence, self-sacrifice, unquestioning obedience and complete devotion to the Cause."

To Latinos, you have been referred to as "gifted" and "sensitive," "distinguished for (your) intelligence and religious nature" and for being "so spiritual and so enthusiastic."

To Native Americans, your full embrace of the Faith, our Writings tell us, will cause you to "become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world...."

It was a white woman, with no particular experience in race issues, who was called upon by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to organize the first race amity conference, which no doubt required a newly stirred boldness and courage on her part.

To the Iranian women, a special note of encouragement is in order. The House of Justice in its Ridván 153 message urged the Iranian friends to "dedicate themselves, to an extent surpassing their past services, to the accomplishment of the goals of the Four Year Plan, under the leadership and guidance of the institutions of the Faith in North America."

The House of Justice then goes on to encourage the Iranian friends in a manner that also has implications for racial unity. It states, "The unity of thought and endeavor between the friends from East and West will offer a shining example of the power of Bahá’u’lláh to demolish traditional barriers and will be a powerful source of attraction to the Cause."

The "leadership and guidance" of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States has clearly identified racial unity and the advancement of women as major themes of the plan as well as the need to "demolish traditional barriers" between the races in and out of the Bahá’í community.

In addition, the House of Justice, in a letter to the Iranian believers throughout the world (154 B.E.), extols their response to the persecutions they have suffered and goes on to note the remarkable qualities they have displayed such as detachment, reliance on God, heroism and certitude. The House also refers to the rekindled "spark of Faith in the hearts" and how the Iranian friends became "oblivious of self" and demonstrated an "aloofness and detachment from worldly goods. ..." These qualities are admirable and moving of themselves; but because they have been demonstrated under duress, opposition and persecution, they have particular relevance to the work of eliminating racial prejudice and achieving racial unity.

Women in general have already been described as, among other things, "tenderhearted" and strong in the "spiritual qualities of love and service."

However, as Iranian women you have also been victims of wanton bigotry, persecution and suffering. Your painful experiences offer you the ability to have unique empathy and understanding of the problems faced by racial minorities in this country. Your efforts to understand the issues involved and your striving to build bridges of unity with and between people of all racial backgrounds and particularly the black and white, can dramatically assist the American community in achieving its spiritual destiny.

To women of every background, please feel supported and encouraged to embrace and cultivate all of the qualities our Writings clearly state you possess. Insist with boldness on the achievement of racial harmony, and "win for the beloved Cause victories more stirring than any it has yet achieved."

Assist our communities to end the polarization and prejudice that can subtly and overtly divide them. Know that our inability to come to grips with this issue within the Bahá’í community can, in the words of the beloved Guardian, have the impact of "insensibly retarding the flow of those quickening energies which can alone insure the vigorous and speedy development of God’s struggling Faith."

Know that our inability to address this issue in the nation as a whole, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated, "will cause enmity to increase day by day, and the final result will be hardship and may end in bloodshed."

The role of men[edit]

It must also be said that if the advancement of women is to occur without delay, as men we must, with the utmost humility, willingness and sense of urgency, arise and play our part. We need not feel anxious or in the least threatened by the advancement of women, nor think we will no longer have a significant place in society. The Writings clarify roles for everyone in building society anew, but in this day the roles of men and women have been redefined and we must all work to understand and operationalize this redefinition. The support we give women will help us in shaping our new role.

Let us "own" the issue of the equality of women and men, recognize the reality of the greatness that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has conferred upon women, dutifully examine any attitudes of superiority on our part, and ensure that, far from being an impediment to the advancement of women, we are a source of support and encouragement. May our hearts embrace the following words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when considering the unique role of women in our community:

"Blessed are ye, blessed are ye! Verily ye are worthy of every gift. Verily ye deserve to adorn your heads with the crown of everlasting glory because in sciences and arts, in virtues and perfections, ye shall become equal to men, and as regards tenderness of heart and abundance of mercy and sympathy, ye are superior."

Concluding thoughts[edit]

It is becoming increasingly evident that the advancement of women must play a much more significant role in our communities if we are to establish a "pattern of action" that will be a "shining example" and cause people to enter the Faith in "large numbers...." In that way we will create a healthy, loving and cooperative climate that nurtures growth and development—the same climate from which peace will emerge and the same climate that will help dissipate racial prejudice and unify the races. As swiftly as possible, then, the qualities women possess must be fostered and allowed to significantly influence all areas of our community life!

It therefore falls upon all of us, women and men alike, to fulfill our respective roles regarding the advancement of women, to do so with boldness, dignity and wisdom, and to feel honored and compelled to play the part God has assigned us in this vital arena of service to humanity.

These are just a few personal thoughts and perspectives on these matters. I hope they will stimulate further study of the Writings as well as consultation, and most importantly, greater efforts to achieve racial unity and the equality of women and men. Allow me to close with the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

"The handmaidens of the Merciful should seize the opportunities afforded in these days. Each one should strive to draw nigh unto the Divine Threshold and seek bounties from the Source of Existence. She should attain such a state and be confirmed with such a power as to make, with but the utterance of one word, a lowly person to be held in reverence, initiate him who is deprived into the world of the spirit, impart hope to the despondent, endow the portionless one with a share of the great bestowal, and confer knowledge and insight upon the ignorant and the blind, and alertness and vigilance on the indolent and heedless. This is the attribute of the handmaidens of the Merciful. This is the characteristic of the bondmaids of God’s Threshold."

Muhtadia Rice acts a scene from her drama A Woman and Her Words, portraying Táhirih’s rejection of the riches offered for her renunciation of faith in the Báb. [Page 9]

BAHÁ’Í • DISTRIBUTION • SERVICE[edit]

CALL 1-800-999-9019

Messages to Canada Shoghi Effendi $24.95 HC (MCAN)

This second edition of Messages to Canada contains the communications from Shoghi Effendi to the Canadian Bahá’í community, covering the years 1923–57. Addressed in this volume are: the character of Canada and the Canadian Bahá’í community, the struggles of that community to establish its identity, recognition of the community by civil authorities, tributes to historic figures, and many other areas of community and individual interest.

6" x 9", 220 pp.

Planning Progress Lessons from Shoghi Effendi June Manning Thomas $19.95 SC (PPLSE)

In the Ridván 155 B.E. message from the Universal House of Justice, we are encouraged to become more systematized in our planning processes. June Thomas, by providing an examination of Shoghi Effendi’s methods of planning, has given us a tremendous case study on how we may achieve objectives for the Faith as well as in our own lives. Essential reading for many reasons, this look into the workings of the Guardian’s planning and execution of the Ten Year World Crusade provides much needed insight for application in the present day. Includes a pullout reproduction of the map used by the Guardian to chart the progress of the Ten Year Crusade.

6" x 9", 186

Developing Patterns of Community Life The Process of Social and Economic Development for Bahá’í Communities prepared by Mottahedeh Development Services $16.50 SC (DPCL)

This practical manual presents both the supportive writings and a 10-step method for planning, initiating and managing social and economic development projects. Developed by those working in the field of social and economic development, it has helped practitioners from the Americas who have been involved in the most successful Bahá’í development projects. The manual is presented in a format that is suitable for training communities, Local Spiritual Assemblies or other consultative groups.

8 1/2" x 11", 132 pp.

How Different Religions View Death and the Afterlife edited by ‎Cbristopher Christopher‎ Johnson and Marsha McGee $23.95 SC (HDRDA)

This book presents the thoughts, doctrines and customs of some of the largest and fastest-growing Christian and non-Christian religious groups in North America and synthesizes their beliefs about death into one highly readable volume. Each chapter is written by a different expert or scholar, each of whom is a recognized authority on a particular faith. Unlike other books on this subject, the discourse is refreshingly objective and non-proselytizing.

6" x 9", 310 pp.

Explore! The Heart of the Bahá’í Teachings A Comprehensive Guide to the Fundamental Teachings of the Bahá’í Faith

1 copy	$19.00 (EXCDR)
2-4 copies	$15.00 each
5 copies and up	$10.00 each

Explore!, a Windows software program on CD-ROM, helps you gain well-rounded, in-depth knowledge of the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. It contains 63 carefully prepared compilations to provide answers to the questions, “What are the Bahá’í teachings on ... God, the Soul, Peace, Creation, Art, Marriage, Prayer, etc.” Dozens of topics are covered in a quick and easy-to-use format. It is a user-friendly and affordable teaching tool. Those interested in the Faith can select topics of particular interest to them, and best of all, they are researching these issues directly from the Writings.

requires 8MB RAM, color monitor, 386 processor or better

Bahá’í Shrine and Gardens on Mount Carmel Haifa — Israel Haifa Tourist Board $2.95 SC (BSG)

The Haifa Tourist Board developed this booklet to showcase one of the major attractions for tourists visiting the Haifa area, an attraction the mayor refers to in this booklet as “The Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Shrine of the Báb and the Bahá’í gardens on the slopes of Mt. Carmel. Full of beautiful photographs of the gardens and Arc and Terraces projects, this booklet is a stunning testament to the effect these projects are already having in the minds of those who see them. Unfortunately, only limited quantities will be available in the U.S. for distribution.

8 1/2" x 11", 20 pp.

A Special Regard For Agriculture A Compilation of the Bahá’í Sacred Writings and Related Works edited by Winnona J. Merritt $4.95 SC (SRA)

This booklet brings together references from the Bahá’í writings related to agriculture and development. An excellent resource and study guide for those interested in this fundamental human endeavor.

8 1/2" x 11", 32 pp.

The Journey of the Soul by John S. Hatcher

1 copy	$1.85 (JS)
2-9 copies	$1.65 each
10-49 copies	$1.55 each
50-99 copies	$1.45 each
100 copies and up	$1.30 each

A concise and thoroughly engaging explanation of the basic truths about the journey and the progress of the soul in this world and the next. Highly readable, this booklet is intended to give the seeker, and Bahá’í, a fresh look at an age-old topic from the Bahá’í perspective.

5 1/2" x 8 1/2", 14 pp. [Page 10]

BAHÁ’Í • DISTRIBUTION • SERVICE[edit]

Servant of the Glory The Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Mary Perkins $17.95 SC (SG)

A clear, straightforward and easily readable account of the remarkable life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith. A companion to Hour of the Dawn and Day of Glory, this book continues the story of the establishment and growth of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh as it spread across Europe and North America. 324 pp., 5" x 7 3/4"

Birds of the Heart by Galya Gunderson $9.95 SC (BH)

The key to unlocking the human heart is the word of God. Yet some of us have difficulty understanding the words of the Sacred Writings, recalling them exactly and applying them in our lives. Our appreciation, recollection, use and application of Sacred Writings can be greatly enhanced if we can find a way to make them more accessible to us. This book suggests a way that we can take the Sacred Writings into our hearts and provides a selection of verses centered on the fundamental principles of the Bahá’í Faith with which we might begin our endeavor. 112 pp., 5" x 7 1/4"

Literacy Some Practical Suggestions by Lily Ayman $8.00 SC (LSPS)

In response to the Universal House of Justice’s call to Bahá’ís to eliminate illiteracy in their communities, the author presents her experience as an international worker in literacy and adult education, and invests it with her vision as a Bahá’í. This material is certain to be of value and assistance to individuals, institutions and literacy programs throughout the world. 122 pp., 6 1/2" x 9 1/4"

A New Framework for Moral Education edited by Iraj Ayman $10.00 SC (NFME)

“Humanity is going through a major transformation—from the state of childhood and adolescence to maturity, from disintegrated nations to a global society, from disunity to unity. Education, in order to be holistic, and to be able to meet the needs of the time, should ensure a balanced development of the physical, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions of life.” Thus, this collection of essays delves into ways to build a solid foundation for defining and implementing such a curriculum, a curriculum that rises above “theoretical models and slogans.” 66 pp., 6" x 8 1/4"

The Light of Unity The Power of Prayer $1.25 SC (LUPP)

The Light of Unity The Equality of Women and Men $1.25 SC (LUEWM)

These full-color brochures are follow-ups to the first in the Light of Unity series Healing Racism. Developed to support specifics of the National Teaching Plan, these two booklets reflect the themes of new and upcoming video productions for the media initiative. They are bulk priced as follows:

1 copy	$1.25
2-9 copies	$1.00 each
10-99 copies	$.85 each
100-499 copies	$.65 each
500-999 copies	$.50 each
1,000 and up	$.40 each

16 pp., 3 1/2" x 5 3/4"

A Treasury of Bahá’í Prayers Selections from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá illustrated by Rob Hain $19.99 HC (TBPH)

A Treasury of Bahá’í Prayers is a delightful selection of prayers from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Echoing the richly detailed style of a medieval Book of Hours, award-winning artist Rob Hain has embellished every page with beautiful hand-painted borders and original illustrations that reflect the diversity of the world of humanity. 96 pp., 6 1/2" x 7 1/2"

God’s Big Book of Virtues A Treasury of Wisdom for Living a Good Life compiled by Juliet Mabey $11.95 HC (GBBVH)

From the sacred texts of ancient times to the spiritual writings of contemporary authors, from poets and philosophers, this thoughtful anthology for personal reflection offers a wealth of inspiration from around the world and down the ages. For all those seeking personal development and re-evaluation, this compendium of virtues offers timeless wisdom to inspire and enrich our daily lives. 160 pp., 6" x 6"

God’s Big Instruction Book Timeless Wisdom on How to Follow the Spiritual Path compiled by Juliet Mabey $11.95 HC (GBIBH)

Drawing on the rich diversity of humanity’s common spiritual heritage, God’s Big Instruction Book explores the eternal themes of the spiritual life: our relationship with God, the purpose of life and the way to spiritual consciousness. Together these gems of wisdom from the world’s sacred scriptures have transformed the lives of people all over the world for thousands of years. 160 pp., 6" x 6" [Page 11]

MUSIC[edit]

Love Setteth the World Aflame Roya Bauman $15.00 CD (LSWACD)

A collection of spiritually uplifting music in classical and folk styles. Features prayers and Sacred Writings of the Bahá’í Faith. Sung by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Roya Bauman, these tracks highlight the talents of 10 composers from three countries.

Red Grammer’s Favorite Sing Along Songs Red Grammer $15.00 CD (SASCD)

Once again Red is on a roll! This collection of favorites will have you and your child belting out these tunes together. Loads of fun for all ages (c’mon, admit it, you like singing along too!).

Bahá’u’lláh’s Way A Song Cycle The Doug Shaffer Project $15.00 CD (BWCD)

Warning! Music for Bahá’ís and seekers! An explosion of rhythmic pop (in the best sense of the word) with rock, soul, jazz and reggae influences, exploring the celebrations and struggles of the believer and the seeker. You will move your feet, and your spirit will follow.

Love Letters Trios for flute, viola & cello composed by Gwendolyn Watson $15.00 CD (LLCD)

This music is easy-listening, classical-sounding music to accompany you at work, play, rest ... wherever ... whenever. Many of the pieces were inspired by the Bahá’í writings. The performers are three women from three continents and of three faiths, yet united as musicians at the “Allegro Vivo International Chamber Music Festival” in Austria.

Love of Bahá II $15.00 CD (PLBIICD)

Five years in the making, Love of Bahá II was recorded in Hollywood, California, and enlisted the talents of well known Persian musicians, songwriters and sound engineers. Includes four Persian songs, three prayers, one Hidden Word and an instrumental featuring the santour.

Bahá’í Temple Choir Bahá’í Temple Choir, Australia $16.00 CD (BTCACD)

This recording, within the Bahá’í Temple Australia itself, takes advantage of the building’s acoustics to enhance the a cappella singing. The choir was joined for this recording by Gary Sterling, a professional singer from the United States.

Selections from the Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh Remembrance Ensemble $16.00 CD (HWBCD)

This is a new recording of original a cappella settings of several of the Hidden Words. Drawing on a variety of choral traditions, Remembrance Ensemble’s flowing, chant-like melodies stir the heart, and their rich contemporary harmonies reflect the unifying message in a sound that is both accessible and ethereal.

SHIP TO ____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

DAYTIME TELEPHONE # ( ) ________________________________________________

PAYMENT METHOD

CHECK OR MONEY ORDER ENCLOSED
CREDIT CARD
- VISA
- MASTERCARD
- AMER. EXP.
- DISCOVER

CREDIT CARD # ______________________________________________________________

EXP. DATE ________________ SIGNATURE _______________________________________

NAME AS IT APPEARS ON CREDIT CARD ___________________________________________

CODE	TITLE	QUANTITY	COST EACH	TOTAL






UNITED STATES: ADD 10% (MIN. $2.00, MAX. $10.00) CANADA: ADD 15% (MIN. $3.00) INTERNATIONAL: ADD 40% (MIN. $5.00, VIA AIR MAIL ONLY) SALES TAX: SHIPMENTS TO GEORGIA ADDRESSES APPLY APPROPRIATE SALES TAX			SUBTOTAL
			SHIPPING
			SALES TAX
			TOTAL

Bahá’í Distribution Service • 4703 Fulton Industrial Blvd. • Atlanta, GA 30336 [Page 12]Dancers form a “flower” at the Celebration of the Oneness of Humanity. Photo by Omobowale Ayorinde, Rochester, NY

Indiana visit brings visibility[edit]

Fort Wayne friends invite author

A visit by author/lawyer Layli Miller Bashir helped Bahá’ís in Fort Wayne, Indiana, make invaluable connections with like-minded souls in the area of equality of women and men.

Bashir, a lawyer and co-author of Do They Hear You When You Cry, told more than 200 people March 27 about the fight to help Togo native Fauziya Kassindja win her asylum claim based on gender discrimination—as well as the warm friendship that developed between the two young women. She also spoke of how the effort led to formation of the Táhirih Justice Center, a non-profit legal agency helping women around the world.

The Women’s Studies Department of Indiana Purdue University at Fort Wayne co-sponsored the on-campus event with the Bahá’ís in honor of Women’s History Month.

The department’s involvement helped bring in funds for travel expenses from inside and outside the university, as well as room arrangements, contacts with women’s service clubs and incalculable help with publicity.

The Bahá’ís provided logistical support, hospitality, public information tasks and prayers.

Bashir’s lecture was part of a whirlwind of activity that day:

Philanthropist Mimi Rolland hosted a luncheon at her home. She was delighted to learn the Bahá’ís in Fort Wayne meet at the East Wayne Street Center, a facility she and her husband founded to promote literacy and education.
A news conference was held at the childhood home of the late Carole Lombard, a Bahá’í who was one of Hollywood’s foremost comic actors in the 1930s.
More than 40 people attended an evening fireside at the university rounded out with a Persian dinner. A song written for that event by Adrienne Stengel of Lafayette told the story of Bashir and Kassindja’s quest.

Rochester artistically celebrates oneness[edit]

INFORMATION FROM BAHÁ’ÍS OF ROCHESTER

More than 800 people joined in the Bahá’í community’s second Celebration of the Oneness of Humanity, an evening of ethnic food, fellowship and performances Feb. 27 at the School of the Arts in Rochester, New York.

Performers were truly flowers from the garden of humanity: the Trinidad and Tobago Steel Drum Band, a Ukrainian dance troupe, traditional Taiwanese dancers, a folk singer-songwriter, the Kingdom Bound Gospel Kids, a Bahá’í youth workshop, a group of developmentally disabled dancers and an African drumming and dance group.

Between performances, readings on the unity of the human family from the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and the Bahá’í Faith were presented. An interpreter was provided for hearing-impaired guests.

Masters of ceremony for the evening were Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson and local television host Charlotte Clark.

At a pre-performance buffet, the friends dished out ethnic foods. Children were able to select their food from a special children’s section.

Round candlelighted tables were provided to encourage people who may not have known each other to sit together at dinner.

After dinner, guests mingled, talked and wandered among the tables and displays. Many stopped to draw themselves onto a 30-foot mural of the human family, staffed by child volunteers handing out markers and encouragement.

As guests left they were given invitations to upcoming events.

UN NGO conference promotes global view[edit]

The National Spiritual Assembly invites interested Bahá’ís to attend the upcoming Annual United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference Sept. 15–17.

This conference at U.N. Headquarters in New York City will examine the phenomenon of globalization and its impact on the peoples of the world.

Members of the U.N. community, including Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will address the conference, as well as academicians, the corporate sector and members of civil society.

Bahá’ís who wish to attend the conference must be registered by the National Spiritual Assembly through its United Nations Office in New York. Because the National Assembly may only register 20 participants, registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration deadline is July 31.

While there is no registration fee, conference participants must arrange their own travel and accommodations.

For more information on conference registration, contact the Bahá’í US/UN Office, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120, New York, NY 10017 (phone 212-803-2500, e-mail unoffice@usbnc.org).

Choose PI representative wisely[edit]

From the National Spiritual Assembly’s Office of Public Information

Editor’s note: The National Teaching Plan emphasizes the need for local communities to be ready to supply public information about the Faith. In fact, communicating about the Faith with society at large—including through news media—has ‎akways always‎ been important, because there are so many potential avenues to advance the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and increase respect for His Cause.

This column is intended to give practical answers to issues that Bahá’í communities face frequently.

Our Local Spiritual Assembly wants to appoint a public information representative. What kind of person should we consider? What are some qualifications that person should have?

The first thing we’d suggest is finding someone who wants the responsibility and is interested in working with communication media. In addition, the person should be comfortable talking with city officials and with representatives of other organizations.

Look for someone who:

Can provide knowledgeable and accurate information about the Bahá’í Faith in everyday English, and understands the importance of avoiding Bahá’í “jargon.”
Can convey information in an interesting way—without inserting personal opinions!
Is well-informed of current developments of the Faith, and willing to learn more.
Can take initiative.
Is comfortable speaking in public.
Is able to approach communication media wisely and deliberately, and to work systematically to cultivate relationships with editors, reporters etc.
Has the capacity to take on this responsibility for the long term, as it sometimes takes years before local media trust the Bahá’ís enough and become interested enough in our stories to want to give us coverage.
Understands the need to work on local issues only, and to report to the Local Spiritual Assembly.

In turn, the Assembly needs to have confidence that the person appointed has the capacity to be the spokesperson for the local Bahá’í community, and understands that she or he is the face of the local Bahá’í community and effectively defines the public image of the Faith.

This work is a labor of love. It can be exciting, very rewarding and extremely frustrating. When making your decision, we suggest you carefully consider the criteria above, so that the person you appoint as public information representative will portray the Bahá’í Faith to the public with accuracy, knowledge and wisdom. [Page 13]

ENGLISH	ESPAÑOL
Letter to the friends from the Latin-American Task Force Dear and Esteemed Friends in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh: To all the dear friends who have responded to our census, a million heartfelt thanks. It has been impossible for us to thank each one individually. Nevertheless, your desire to be counted symbolizes for us your desire to serve actively. We are still receiving forms and at times the friends send us their data by e-mail. Fabulous—thank you again! There remains little time to us before the Four Year Plan reaches its end. The words of loving optimism sent to the Bahá’ís of the world by our beloved Universal House of Justice and reflected in the Ridván message which our dear National Spiritual Assembly has sent to us, point beyond doubt to the transcendence of the present moment and the urgency of the task at hand: “Although the Bahá’í community has distinguished itself in race unity, all minorities are proportionately under-represented in the active core of the Bahá’í family when compared to the population at large. We must do more to reach out to and embrace our brothers and sisters of every color. Uniting the diversity of humankind is the mission of our community, and it is directly tied to the flow of spiritual blessings on which the progress of the Faith itself depends.” For some time now you and we alike have been embarked on the great task of “building bridges” between the Bahá’í community and the Latino population in the United States. On all sides we note enthusiasm and activity. We still have not achieved great victories in statistical terms, but we have been preparing the ground, which is essential for an abundant harvest. Inability to speak Spanish is often cited by the friends as the primary obstacle that impedes any initiative in this direction, and which leads inevitably to the failure on occasion of the efforts of consolidation among Latinos. Unfortunately our enthusiasm for teaching often overbalances our need to make a reasonable evaluation of the resources available within the community. That an individual who speaks Spanish should teach another individual who knows little or no English, is not the same as having a community in which there are no bilingual friends undertake the task of wishing to teach an entire community of Latinos in which nobody speaks English! It would perhaps be wise to study the situation of both communities before undertaking any activity. In other words: What are our resources? Who is available to carry out the delicate labor of consolidation? Even more important is to dispel the belief that we Latinos speak only Spanish: according to the United States Census, the majority of us speak English, some with a preference for Spanish. What happens is that at times our conception of who Latinos are does not include the professional class nor the highly educated people prominent in the community. This means that as a preparatory measure for entry by troops of Latino friends, among whom there will undoubtedly be many who will not know English but will need to be consolidated, the Bahá’í communities which are predominantly English-speaking must focus first on seeking the bilingual Latinos who will be their best resources for the consolidation of the future masses. If your community possesses sufficient Spanish-speaking resources to have success in the consolidation effort, go forward! We must be wise, dear friends, in the utilization of our present resources in looking to the formation of human resources for the future which is at our door. May Bahá’u’lláh bless us all and bless our efforts in His Cause. Lovingly, the Latin-American Task Force ♦	Carta a los amigos de la Comisión de Trabajo Latinoamericana Queridos y Estimados Amigos en la Causa de Bahá’u’lláh: A todos los queridos amigos que han respondido a nuestro censo, un millón de gracias de todo corazón. Nos ha sido imposible agradecer a cada uno individualmente, sin embargo, su deseo de ser contados simboliza para nosotros su deseo de servir activamente. Aun estamos recibiendo formularios y a veces los amigos nos envían sus datos a través del e-mail. ¡Fabuloso, gracias de nuevo! Nos queda poco tiempo para que llegue a su fin el Plan de los Cuatro Años. Las palabras de amoroso optimismo enviadas a los bahá’ís del mundo por nuestra amada Casa Universal de Justicia y reflejadas en el mensaje de Ridván que nos enviara nuestra querida Asamblea Espiritual Nacional, apuntan indudablemente a la trascendencia del momento presente y a la urgencia de la tarea entre manos: “Aunque la comunidad Bahá’í se ha distinguido por su unidad racial, todas las minorías están proporcionalmente ‎sub representadas subrepresentadas‎ en el núcleo activo de la familia Bahá’í en comparación con la población en general. Tenemos que hacer aun más para atraer y abrazar a nuestros hermanos y hermanas de todos los colores. La misión de nuestra comunidad es la de unir la diversidad de la humanidad, y está directamente ligada al flujo de bendiciones espirituales de las cuales depende el progreso mismo de la Fe.” (Mensaje de Ridván 1999 Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de los EE.UU., p. 3). Hace algún tiempo que venimos embarcados tanto ustedes como nosotros en la magna tarea de “construir puentes” entre la comunidad bahá’í y la población latina en los Estados Unidos. Por todas partes se nota el entusiasmo y la actividad. Aun no hemos logrado grandes victorias en términos estadísticos, pero hemos estado preparando el terreno lo cual es esencial para una cosecha abundante. El no hablar español es citado a menudo por los amigos como el obstáculo principal que les impide cualquier iniciativa en esta dirección, y que conduce inevitablemente a que fallen a veces los esfuerzos de consolidación entre los latinos. Desafortunadamente nuestro entusiasmo por enseñar, a menudo sobrepasa la necesidad de una razonable evaluación de los recursos disponibles dentro de la comunidad. No es lo mismo que un individuo que sabe español enseñe a otro individuo que no sabe mucho o nada de inglés, a que una comunidad en donde no hay amigos bilingües emprenda la tarea de querer enseñar a toda una comunidad de latinos ¡en donde nadie habla inglés! Quizás sea saludable estudiar la situación de ambas comunidades antes de emprender cualquier actividad. En otras palabras: ¿cuales son nuestros recursos: quien o quienes están disponibles para llevar a cabo la delicada labor de consolidación? Aun mas importante es disparar la creencia de que los latinos solamente hablamos español: según el Censo de los Estados Unidos, la mayoría hablamos inglés algunos con preferencia al español. Lo que sucede es que a veces nuestra concepción de quienes son los latinos no abarca a la clase profesional ni a las personas altamente educadas de prominencia en la comunidad. Esto significa que como una medida preparatoria a la entrada en tropas de amigos latinos de entre los cuales habrá indudablemente muchos quienes no sabrán inglés pero que requerirán ser consolidados, las comunidades Bahá’ís predominantemente de habla inglesa, deberían enfocarse en buscar primero a los latinos bilingües quienes serán sus mejores recursos para la consolidación de las masas futuras. Si su comunidad cuenta con suficientes recursos de habla hispana para tener éxito en la labor de consolidación, ¡adelante! Hay que ser sabios, queridos amigos, en la utilización de los recursos actuales con miras a la formación de recursos humanos para el futuro que está a las puertas. Que Bahá’u’lláh nos bendiga a todos y bendiga nuestros esfuerzos en Su Causa. Cariñosamente, La Comisión de Trabajo Latinoamericana ♦

Bahá’í presence at Town Meeting emphasizes spiritual side of development[edit]

The message of unity in the National Spiritual Assembly’s exhibit drew enthusiasm from participants at the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America, May 2–5 in Detroit, Michigan.

In a cavernous hall containing more than 300 educational, informational and technical displays, the Bahá’í exhibit was the only one emphasizing the spiritual aspects of sustainable development.

“Yes! I believe that!” was often heard from people viewing the exhibit, which emphasized that the oneness of humanity must be accepted as a spiritual principle. “Our social, economic and ecological well-being depend upon the realization of this principle,” the exhibit text explained.

Passers-by collected more than 1,000 pieces of Bahá’í literature on development issues.

More than 3,500 people attended the National Town Meeting in Detroit, including leaders from government, business and civil society. At the same time, affiliated events in 46 states drew 60,000 more people.

Sponsored by the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, the meeting publicized the need for an integrated approach to development that considers all social, environmental and economic factors.

Several Bahá’ís participated in the event. Peter Adriance, NGO Liaison for the National Spiritual Assembly and a member of the national conference planning committee, hosted the Bahá’í exhibit.

Two other Bahá’ís were part of the program as professionals:

June Thomas, professor of urban and regional planning at Michigan State University, was a speaker and exhibitor.
Ramin Abrishamian, chief executive of Living Technologies Inc., displayed his company’s system of plants and other life forms used to treat municipal and industrial waste water.

Many Detroit-area Bahá’ís enjoyed the exhibit hall and participated in an interactive project called “Box City,” where they built a Bahá’í Center as part of a model “sustainable city” made from cardboard boxes in a large room.

The Web site created for the National Town Meeting (www.sustainableusa.com) contains information about the Town Meeting sessions, plus a “tour” that includes the Bahá’í exhibit. It invites individuals to help reach the goal of garnering 2,000 commitments toward achieving a “sustainable” America. ♦ [Page 14]

Centennial pays tribute to early heroes in West[edit]

BY LINDA LEEB DUPER

Bahá’ís in the San Francisco Bay Area paid a debt of gratitude to the past and achieved a spirit that will carry them far into the future as they celebrated the Faith’s 100 years in the Western States.

The Spiritual Assemblies of Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley, California, co-sponsored the weekend-long observance April 30–May 2 at locations throughout the East Bay and San Francisco, which attracted believers and friends of the Faith from all over the western United States.

Oakland is considered the “seed community” of the region, founded in 1898 by Helen Goodall, of a prominent East Bay family involved in the shipping business.

Her daughter, Ella Goodall Cooper, was among the first North American Bahá’í pilgrims to the Holy Land in 1899. The trip confirmed the fledgling community and paved the way for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s historic visit to Oakland and San Francisco in 1912.

The centennial celebration began Friday with a dessert social attended by about 70. The evening was both festive—with poetry by Ijeoma Thomas, music by Ron and Carol Lyles, and drums by Michael Ingram—and reverent.

“It was a very special evening,” Ron Lyles said. “The love and unity and joy were amazing. It was truly a celebration of diversity.”

Special tributes were made to Robert Turner, the first African-American believer, and Kanichi Yamamoto, the first Japanese Bahá’í. The tributes were presented by Charleen Maghzi and Derek Cockshut, members of the Regional Bahá’í Council of the Western States.

Saturday morning and afternoon provided an opportunity to delve into the history of the Bahá’í Faith in the Bay Area in more detail with a lively and informative four-city historical tour. The tour featured a stop at Cypress Lawn cemetery in Colma for a special visit to the Goodall, Hearst and Turner gravesites.

“I was very moved at Robert Turner’s grave,” said Margaret Hoag, a descendant of another founding mother of the Faith in the West, Emogene Hoag.

The tour continued to San Francisco, with a stop at Lloyd Lake in Golden Gate Park, a favorite spot of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s during His visit. It went on to Berkeley and Old Town Oakland, with a look at the Jackson Street site of the Goodall home, which no longer stands but has been commemorated by the Oakland Bahá’ís with a memorial bench.

The tour was led by Oakland City Tours guide and Local Spiritual Assembly member Cindy Haines, who exhibited her detailed understanding of local and Bahá’í history. A banner bearing the words “Bahá’í Faith: 100 Years in the West” was fastened to the bus.

The celebration culminated that evening with a gala dinner dance in historic Jack London Square in Oakland. In a graceful pavilion at the water’s edge, about 250 people dined, viewed historic displays, and listened to keynote speaker Robert Stockman, Bahá’í historian and author.

After a moving roll call and slide show of early believers by Dick Groger and a presentation of Polynesian dance by local youth, the band struck up and dancing began.

The centennial observance ended on a reverential note with a special devotional gathering Sunday morning at the Oakland Rose Garden, in honor of all those tireless early Bahá’ís who created and nurtured today’s burgeoning Bay Area Bahá’í community.

“This weekend has been worth every dollar spent, every ounce of effort,” Haines said. “We are told that the blessed souls of those who have gone on to the next world are always ready to assist us, and this weekend really drove that point home for me. I know they were there every moment.” ♦

Cynthia Barnes-Slater (left) and Cindy Haines, both of Oakland, California, and members of the Centennial planning committee, display photos of early San Francisco Bay Area Bahá’ís Robert Turner and Kanichi Yamamoto, who were specially honored at the Western States Centennial celebrations.

‘Splendors’ conference eyes America’s destiny[edit]

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in one of His many descriptions of the favorable conditions for rapid growth of the Faith in North America, referred to this continent as the “home of the righteous, and the gathering place of the free” wherein “the splendors of His Light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled.”

“Revealing the Splendors of His Light: Exploring Spirituality in Bahá’í Life”—an Institute for Bahá’í Studies conference Aug. 7–8 in Evanston, Illinois—will consider the role of spirituality, individually and collectively, in fulfilling the destiny of America.

Presentations on this theme will pay particular attention to the ways in which spirituality effects social change, as the Universal House of Justice stated in its Ridván B.E. 155 message, through “the power of the Covenant, the dynamics of prayer, the inspiration and education derived from regular reading and study of the Holy Texts, and the transformative forces that operate upon [one’s] soul as [one] strives to behave in accordance with the divine laws and principles.”

See page 55 for more information and a registration form. ♦

Vietnamese friends plan outreach[edit]

Vietnamese Bahá’ís in Central California made March 6 a joyous occasion to plan teaching and consolidation work. A full-page ad for the Bahá’í Faith has been placed in the only Vietnamese yellow pages in the area, and ads have appeared in the Viet Mercury and the Viet Nam Thoi Bao, two area Vietnamese newspapers. Pictured are (from left) Cyrus Parvini, a U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office helper; Tru Chang, Simin Parvini, Quyen Nhan Banh, Huong Chang, Sylvie Nguyen, J.P. (a grandchild of the Nguyens), Sau Nguyen and ‎Phouc Phuoc‎ Banh. For more information about the work of the Refugee Office, please call 847-733-3525. Photo courtesy of U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office

Visit the Education and Schools Office’s new Web site![edit]

Log into the U.S. Bahá’í Administrative Web Site (www.usbnc.org) and click on “NSA Departments.” (You’ll need your Bahá’í ID number to log in.)

Get the latest information on summer school schedules for the regional and permanent schools.
Download the annual theme document “Citizenship in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: The Role of the Community in Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops.”
See a preview of the Special Edition of Brilliant Star.
Learn more about the Core Curriculum programs.
Get and share ideas about curriculum development and lesson plans.
Find out about the new Scouting Program. ♦

[Page 15]

Green Acre Bahá’í School 188 Main Street • Eliot, ME 03903 207-439-7200 greenacre@usbnc.org www.greenacre.org

School programs support community development[edit]

As the National Teaching plan draws the American Bahá’í community closer to entry by troops, come explore “Citizenship in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh” at Green Acre this summer.

Several other weeklong programs will feature sessions for youth ages 15 and up. The themes for these special youth classes will include race unity, building community, and working together to promote love and unity.

Meanwhile, Picnics on the Piscataqua will be held Aug. 1 and Sept. 5, after a kickoff of the series July 4 with the annual raising of the Peace Flag and gospel music by Artists-in-Residence Van Gilmer and Family.

Summer programs include:

July 24–28: “Investigate Reality” with Ronald Tomanio and Diane Iverson. This series of spiritual exercises will offer insight into how to improve our relationships with each other and the institutions. Also offered that week will be “Mass Conversion: A Modest Proposal” presented by author/lecturer Gary Matthews. Among topics will be how we may, having learned how to generate inquiries in great numbers, convert those inquiries into declarations in such a way that new believers become truly consecrated in the Faith.
July 30–Aug. 4: “It Is Not Rocket Science! Demystifying Training Institutes” with Bob Harris; “Wings for the Spirit: Music in the Bahá’í Community” presented by Martha Yazhari; and “Building Vibrant Communities through Diversity,” with Janet and Rodney Richards and Barbara Harris. Special classes for youth ages 15 and older.
Aug. 6–11: “Mystic Medicine: Health and Healing in a New World Order” with physician Babak Etemad, an examination of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh as they relate to health and healing; and “Unlocking the Power for Action” with Eugene Andrews, on how individuals and institutions can work together to advance the process of entry by troops.
Aug. 13–18: “The Transformative Power of Love in Our Personal, Family and Community Lives,” co-facilitated by Linda Meccouri and John Woodall. The week’s session will explore the various facets of love and how we can enhance its healing and redemptive power in our lives. Special sessions for youth 15 and older.
Aug. 13–18: Core Curriculum Teacher Training for Spiritual Education of Children. This 32-hour training session explores the spiritual reality of the child, the station of the teacher, the “child-development-centered community” and the first sections of the curriculum for ages 6–12.

Future sessions include:

Aug. 20–25: “Pathways to the Lesser Peace” with Stephen Karnik and “Greater Boldness: Seeking True Equality in the Bahá’í Community” presented by Sophie and Corey Tamas.
Aug. 27–29: “Managing with the Wisdom of Love: Applying Bahá’í Principles to Business” with author/consultant Dorothy Marcic.
Sept. 3–6: “Press on to Meet the Dawn” with William and Connie Davis.

Summer schools continue in every region of the country[edit]

“Citizenship in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: the Role of the Community in Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops” is the general theme of this year’s regional summer schools, presented in a curriculum outline produced by the Education and Schools Office. We are happy to provide electronic copies of the materials to interested people. Please e-mail your request to schools@usbnc.org

Here is a list of regional school sessions through Labor Day weekend.

NORTHEASTERN STATES[edit]

New York “SOLOMON R.G. HILTON,” Aug. 13–23 Program: Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops. Location: Poughkeepsie, NY Facilities: Classroom setting. Semi-private dorm rooms (bring towels and linens); dining hall. Gym, tennis, hiking available. Fees: Adult about $50/day, Child about $36/day. School committee at P.O. Box 355, Lincoln-dale, NY 10540 (phone 914-248-5963, e-mail [email protected]) has rates. Registrar: Phil Cabot, P.O. Box 122, Norwood, NJ 07648 (phone 201-767-5806, e-mail [email protected]). 10% late fee after July 17; 15% after July 31.

SOUTHERN STATES[edit]

Kentucky, Sept. 3–6 Program: Build Community with Unity. Location: Faubush, KY Facilities: Large and small meeting rooms. Rooms for 1–4 or cabins w/bunks; meals on site. Swimming, court sports, hiking, boat rides. Fees: School fee: $15 (Family $35). Meals per day: Adult/Youth/Pre-youth $17.75, Child $8.88, infant free. Lodging per night: Adult $6 in cabin or $30 in room, Youth $6 in cabin or $19 in room, Pre-youth/Child/Infant free with two paying adults. Registrar: Floyd Donley, Gilbertsville, KY 42044 (phone 502-362-4228, e-mail [email protected]). Pre-register by Aug. 26.

Maryland “DAYSPRING,” July 29–Aug. 1 Program: The Role of Community in Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops. Location: Frostburg, MD Facilities: Classroom setting. Sign language interpreter may be provided if need is identified. Campus housing and meals. Swimming, game room, gym. Fees: Family $450, Adult double occupancy $170 (single occupancy $200), Youth $140, Child $130 (sleeping on floor $80), Infant free. Discount if you lodge off campus. Registrar: Rob Chalmers, Laurel, MD 20707 (phone 301-725-5604, fax 301-725-0464, e-mail [email protected]).

Tennessee Bahá’í Institute, Sept. 3–6 Program: Entry by Troops: The Role of the Community. Location: Monteagle, TN Fees: Ask registrar. Registrar: Kaihan Strain, Hixson, TN 37343 (phone 423-842-1750). Pre-register by Aug. 15.

Texas NORTH, Aug. 5–8 Program: Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh; speakers to include National Spiritual Assembly member Jack McCants and Ahang Rabbani. Youth and children’s programs. Location: Bruceville, TX Facilities: Family camp facility. Swimming, outdoor recreation. Fees: Per day: Family of 4 $110, Adult $45, Youth $35. Information: Phone 972-780-1667, e-mail [email protected].

Virginia “HEMLOCK HAVEN,” July 9–11 Location: Hungry Mother State Park, VA Registrar: Sarah Jane Lee, P.O. Box 2156, Lebanon, VA 24266 (phone 540-889-0445).

Virginia “MASSANETTA SPRINGS,” Aug. 27–29 Program: Kindling a Fire that will Set Aflame the World: Developing the Spiritual Champion Within. With Counselor Tod Ewing, Ken Bowers. Location: Harrisonburg, VA Facilities: Camping or semi-private rooms; cafeteria-style dining. Outdoor sports, hiking. Registrar: Darren and Ruth Clements (phone 804-296-5238, e-mail [email protected]). Discount for pre-registering before July 15.

CENTRAL STATES[edit]

Minnesota “WILLIAM SEARS GREAT NORTH WOODS,” Aug. 11–15 Program: The Role of the ‎Comunity Community‎ in Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops. With Derek Cockshut and others. Location: Onamia, MN Facilities: Classroom setting. Semi-private rooms, meals on site. Swimming, playground, team sports, trails, canoeing. Fees: Adult $160, Youth $125, Pre-Youth $95, Child $60, Infant $20. Day rates available. Registrar: Ali Mahabadi, Plymouth, MN 55441 (phone 612-557-6039). Pre-register by July 15.

Nebraska “GREAT PLAINS,” July 29–Aug. 1 Program: Community Inspiration and Action. With Jilla Simmons and David Simmons. Please bring copies of The Seven Valleys and long Obligatory Prayer. Location: Peru, NE Facilities: Classroom setting. Dorm rooms (bring towels/linens), cafeteria. Swimming (fee), court sports, wooded grounds. Fees: Adult/Youth (11+) $92.70, Child (10 and under) $73.20 with bed or $49.20 in sleeping bag, Infant $15. Day rates available. Registrar: Colin Taylor, North Platte, NE 69101-4514 (phone 308-534-4939, e-mail [email protected]). Pre-register by June 29; late registration fee $5 per person or $10 per family.

Wisconsin “MARIAN STEFFES,” July 19–23 Location: Brownsville, WI Facilities: Double rooms; dining hall. Hiking, crafts, swimming. Registrar: Lisa Riemer, West Bend, WI 53095 (phone 414-338-3023, e-mail [email protected]).

WESTERN STATES[edit]

Montana “JOHN H. WILCOTT,” July 25–30 Program: Role of the Community in Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops. With Pierre-Yves Mocquais, Katherine Williams. Location: near Livingston, MT Facilities: A-frame meeting hall. Rustic cabins, hot showers; dining room. Swimming, horseback riding, hiking. Fees: Adult (18+) $145, Youth/Child (7–17) $120, Child (4–6) $85, Infant $10. Day rates available. Registrar: Sandi Marisdotter, Helena, MT 59601 (phone 406-442-7526, e-mail [email protected]). Pre-register by July 9.

New Mexico “FOUR CORNERS,” July 28–Aug. 1 Program: The Role of the Community in Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops. Location: Vanderwagen, NM Facilities: Indoor or outdoor classes. Dorm-style bunkrooms, tent/RV sites; dining hall. Playground, volleyball, basketball, hiking. Fees: Adult (19+) $65, Youth (15–18) $55, Pre-Youth (11–14) $40, Child (7–10) $25, (3–6) $20, Infant free. Day rates available. Registrar: Bill Bright, Gallup, NM 87301 (phone 505-722-0039). Pre-register by July 19.

Oregon EAST, Aug. 14–16 Location: Suttle Lake, OR Facilities: Church camp in Cascade Mountains. Canoeing, swimming, hiking, fishing, archery, volleyball. Fees: For cabins: Adult $100, Youth (13–17) $85, Child (6–12) $75, (5-under) $50. Lodge w/indoor bath higher; day rates available. Registrar: Dan Lincoln, Lyons, OR 97358 (phone 503-859-2390, e-mail [email protected]).

Oregon WEST “CARMEL,” July 31–Aug. 4 Program: The Role of the Community in the Four Year Plan. Location: East of Portland, OR Facilities: Retreat site; dorm-style cabins. Fees: Adult $110, Youth $90, Child $70, Family $330. Registrar: Sue Koos (phone 503-829-8423, e-mail [email protected]).

Oregon WEST “BADASHT,” Aug. 11–15 Program: The Role of the Community in the Four Year Plan. Location: 40 miles west of Roseburg, OR Facilities: Church camp; family or dorm-style cabins, tent and RV spaces. Fees: Adult $110, Youth $90, Child $70, Family $330. Registrar: Jim Smith (phone 541-259-1417, e-mail [email protected]).

Western WASHINGTON, Aug. 15–20 Program: Citizenship in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Creating and Cultivating a Community. Location: Easton, WA Facilities: Classroom setting. Dorm-style lodging, family meals. Indoor and outdoor recreation, lakes nearby. Fees: Adult $160, Youth $150, Pre-youth $100, Child $55, Infant $10. Registrar: Barbara Moses, Woodinville, WA 98072-8465 (phone 425-488-2673, e-mail [email protected]). [Page 16]

Wilmette Institute Update[edit]

Three levels of study

The Wilmette Institute is inaugurating a three-level learning plan to make future courses accessible to an increasingly wide range of people.

The introductory level is designed for learners who want to focus on becoming better teachers of the Bahá’í Faith without having to complete the requirements of a university-level course.
The intermediate level is designed for learners who want to be challenged to study more deeply, at the level of a third- or fourth-year undergraduate university course.
The advanced level is designed for learners who want to study deeply and rigorously. Designed at the level of a graduate course, it will involve completing a substantive written project.

Those who wish to pursue college credit for a course may find that the new levels facilitate the process. Those who have no interest in credit will be able to select a level to suit their needs.

Still room for students

There is still room for more students to attend the summer session of the Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program. The program begins Saturday afternoon, July 17, and ends Friday night, Aug. 6. This year’s program features classes in establishment of world peace, creation of a global economic system, the relationship of science and religion, environmental issues, agriculture, Bahá’í history and Bahá’í scriptural texts relating to social issues. Faculty include Dr. David Ruhe, Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Dr. Farhad Sabetan, Dr. Hoda Mahmoudi, Dr. Richard Thomas and Dr. Jena Khodadad.

Tuition is $825; dormitory accommodation and meals are extra. If interested in attending, contact Heather Gorman, Wilmette Institute registrar.

Registration is also open for two separate distance-learning courses that do not require any residential stay in Wilmette. Either may be taken on an introductory level:

The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, 1863–68, is a six-month course starting July 1; it will cost $225. The course is independent of the earlier course on Bahá’u’lláh’s 1853–63 writings; the four courses on Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation may be taken in any order.
Christianity for Deepening and Dialogue will begin Sept. 1; the two-month course will cost $100.

FOR REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION

You may use the automated telephone line (847-733-3595) or call the registrar (847-733-3415).
Information is on the Internet (www.usbnc.org/wilmette). ◆

Rising attendance shows desire to advance[edit]

“The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh marches on resistlessly, quickened by the increasing application of an approach to the development and use of human resources that is systematic. The further creation of national and regional training institutes has pressed this development forward.” —Universal House of Justice, Ridván 156

One of the central goals given by the Universal House of Justice during the Four Year Plan is the development of an increasingly systematic approach to spiritual education in the Bahá’í community.

The Universal House of Justice has emphasized repeatedly that advancing the process of entry by troops requires the further development of training institutes.

One tangible evidence of the community’s support for this critical goal of the Four Year Plan is the rising attendance at Louhelen Bahá’í School. In ever-increasing numbers people are arising to attend Louhelen sessions, demonstrating a growing understanding of, and commitment to, the importance of systematic spiritual education.

Louhelen attendance data for the past several years illustrate this development. Total full-time attendance at sessions has grown 34 percent in the past four years, and the total number of people attending Louhelen for at least a day (head count) has increased 26 percent.

This demonstrates the spreading influence of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, as more and more people come to Louhelen to experience Bahá’í community life, hospitality and service; deepen in the teachings of the Faith; and strive to learn to “live the life” more completely. This is the systematic development of human resources in action.

You can be a part of this exciting process. Attend a Louhelen session this summer. ◆

Jeff Jones from Canada sings during a recent “Teaching and the Arts” session at Louhelen Bahá’í School. Louhelen regularly schedules programs highlighting the importance of arts in teaching and the spiritual life. Photo by Jim Cheek

**LOUHELEN ATTENDANCE RISES**
	Total full-time attendance	Total head count
1995–96	10,477	15,442
1996–97	12,445	16,303
1997–98	12,761	16,989
1998–99	14,069	19,422

Council brings together musical ‘summit meeting’[edit]

Think of your favorite Bahá’í composers, musicians and choir directors. Chances are that at least some were at Bosch Bahá’í School May 1–9.

Eric Dozier, Van and Sean Gilmer, Red and Kathy Grammer, Tom Price, Dash Crofts, John Barnes, Louie Shelton, Lucie Dube, Brian Whitcomb, Parker McGee and Christina Quinn were the Bahá’í artists who came to work together in the inspirational and spiritually vitalizing environment at Bosch, pooling their talent and ideas in the creation of music.

Twenty-four of the new songs from this session will be produced and released in the near future. The incredible process of creativity was videotaped for a future Bahá’í Newsreel.

This gathering, a first of its kind, was sponsored by the Regional Bahá’í Council for the Western States. The great outpouring of music for the World Congress was an inspiration to the Bahá’í community and an effective means of attracting the hearts to Bahá’u’lláh. The creative power unleashed during this musical “summit” could well have the same effect. It is an outstanding example of the leadership provided by our newest institution in developing human resources.

Development of arts in our communities is the focus of the Summer Family Session 6, “Awakening the Arts,” Aug. 28–Sept. 1 at Bosch. A fun way to close the summer, this dynamic session will focus on storytelling, movement and visual arts as a way to revitalize teaching and spiritualize Feasts and deepenings.

Invigorating hands-on workshops will provide participants with the skills they need to use the arts to create interest in their communities.

Other outstanding Family Sessions will be offered this summer:

July 10–15: “Spiritualizing Community Life” will feature Dr. Dan Popov and Linda Kavelin Popov, creators of the award-winning Virtues Project. At the same time will be “Youth Issues: Teaching Oneness,” with Justin Yuille, Jennifer Day and Ben Marx. They will focus on looking to the Bahá’í Faith for solutions to gender and race inequality.

Aug. 7–12: “Preparation for Marriage and Family Life” is a session of great importance. In spite of Bahá’u’lláh’s strong counsels against divorce, the rate of divorce among Bahá’í couples is as high as among the general public. How do we apply the available guidance in our lives? For people ages 20–30, the program will be presented by Dr. Rabi Musa, Auxiliary Board members Marsha Gilpatrick and Farhad Sabetan, James and Joannie Yuille and marriage/family counselor Nahid Azad.

Our summer programs are filling quickly, so call or e-mail if you would like to spend time in the beauty of the redwoods, enjoy delicious food, loving service from the Bosch staff, and feel rejuvenated physically and spiritually. ◆ [Page 17]

RIDVÁN 1999[edit]

ANNUAL REPORT[edit]

of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States[edit]

1998–1999 MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES (in alphabetical order)

Juana C. Conrad, Assistant Secretary William E. Davis, Treasurer Robert C. Henderson, Secretary-General Firuz Kazemzadeh, Secretary for External Affairs Patricia Locke Jack McCants Dorothy W. Nelson, Vice-Chairman James F. Nelson, Chairman William Roberts

INSIDE THE ANNUAL REPORT

♦ REPORT OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY

External Affairs • page 19
Treasury • page 22
Huqúqu’lláh • page 24
Women’s Affairs • page 25

♦ REPORTS OF THE AGENCIES OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY

Secretariat • page 26
Teaching • page 28
Education • page 33
Properties • page 37
Publishing • page 38
Services • page 39
Social and Economic Development • page 41

♦ REPORTS OF THE REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCILS

Central States • page 42
Northeastern States • page 44
Southern States • page 45
Western States • page 46

RIDVÁN LETTER OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY[edit]

The fast approaching start of a new millennium prompted the Universal House of Justice to reiterate Bahá’u’lláh’s assurances that “World Peace, a hallmark of the emerging global civilization, will be realized as a tangible expression of the principle of the oneness of humankind. ...” “Such a peace,” it added, “will result from the culmination of two distinct but simultaneous and mutually reinforcing processes: one leading to the spiritual unity of the human race ... and the other to the political unity of the nations. ...” The Supreme Body explained that the spiritual conquest of the planet “is directly related to the efforts of the Bahá’í community in promoting the pivotal principles of their Faith.”

The House of Justice stated that our hopes of moving forward could be realized by concentrating on “the major aim of the Divine Plan at its current stage—that is to effect a significant advance in the process of entry by troops.” The requirement of the moment is to build the Bahá’í system and bring about “marked progress in the activity and development of the individual believer, of the institutions, and of the local community.” Persistent and patient efforts on these fronts will be rewarded with Bahá’u’lláh’s blessings and confirmations and will stimulate the release of “pent-up forces” that will, in turn, bring about the Bahá’í community’s growth and “change the direction of human affairs throughout the planet.”

At the outset of the Four Year Plan’s final year we pause to assess our progress and prepare ourselves to answer the challenge of the new millennium by responding to the call of the masses for righteousness, justice, and spiritual love with a fresh demonstration of Bahá’u’lláh’s spiritual vision.

NATIONAL TEACHING PLAN[edit]

The national teaching plan has been designed to help us exploit systematically “opportunities for the advancement of the process of entry by troops, the like of which presently exist in no other place on earth.” The plan’s foundation is an ongoing systematic analysis of patterns of spiritual hunger and search within the national population. This study reveals that tens of millions of Americans are actively seeking spiritual truth. The plan’s strategic aim is to foster interlocking and mutually reinforcing activities at the national, regional, and local levels to unite the friends in a single campaign of action. Its method of operation is to broadcast, on stations frequently viewed by our target audience, carefully crafted and tested video messages designed to stimulate a positive response. Simultaneously, on the regional and local levels efforts are ongoing to train and educate the friends through local and regional institutes and schools; to promote patterns of community life and activity that will attract and sustain the interest of seekers; and to coordinate a diverse array of spiritual assembly development, teaching, and proclamation activities.

Since the pilot-test phase of the media plan began last March, more than twelve thousand seekers have called our 800 number and another ten thousand non-Bahá’ís have searched the Bahá’í web site. Although our efforts to contact the callers reached only slightly more than half, newly installed telephone call relay systems and training will improve local follow-up. Tens of thousands of seekers have attended teaching events sponsored by approximately 80 percent of Bahá’í communities that carried out plans supporting the campaign. Most encouraging is the growing number of local communities that have initiated well-organized follow-up plans and trained their members in telephone protocol, such as those you have seen on the most recent Bahá’í Newsreel.

Surveys of non-Bahá’ís investigating the Faith indicate that 47 percent of them first heard of the Bahá’í Faith through the media. They identify themselves as seekers of spiritual truth who are not satisfied with their current religious practice. They are the receptive souls for whom we are searching. Our research and analysis of what those who are investigating the Bahá’í Faith want from religion has been helpful in setting the agenda for training and developing the Bahá’í community, its institutions, and its members. Our speech must be understandable by all, free of parochial language. Findings point clearly to Shoghi Effendi’s admonition that people “crave love, not an imitation but the embodiment of a bright and shining ideal.” To overcome their suspicions and cynicism and to attract their souls they must be able to see in Bahá’í community life joy, happiness, and loving care for all, involvement with the rest of society, and consistent demonstration of our principles rather than simply talking about them. Most important, “deeds not words” must be our adorning.

In the early stages of the teaching plan, we have been humbled and galvanized by the repeated encouragement and commendations of the Universal House of Justice. The Supreme Body conveyed its “immense pleasure” with the analysis on which the plan is based, the coordinated and systematic approach, the inaugural theme of race unity, and the high public response. Unequivocally it asserted the conviction that “great victories hover on the horizon of [our] community,” and it assured us that “you have only to reach for them in a thrust of action fit for champions.”

That action begins this month with the full-scale national implementation of the plan. This will include broadcasting The Power of Race Unity, The Power of Prayer, and Two Wings of a Bird plus a series of thirty-second and sixty-second commercials on stations that will ultimately reach 48 million American homes, much of Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America. We confidently expect that as the broadcasts continue, stimulating ever-increasing local teaching activities, thousands of people will call 1-800-22-UNITE each month, bringing the process of entry by troops to a new stage and placing unprecedented demands on the Bahá’í community, its members, and its institutions. One can easily imagine an ever-growing population of seekers, which is larger than the population of enrolled believers. With this vision planted deeply in our hearts, we must assess our readiness, spiritually and practically, cast off doubts that hold us back, and rush forward to answer the call of our Lord to lead His children to the Kingdom of Heaven.

A THRUST OF ACTION FIT FOR CHAMPIONS[edit]

The wise advice and intimate support of the Continental Counselors and their auxiliaries, for which we are profoundly grateful, are more important than ever at this critical moment in the advance of the Divine Plan. The work of the Counselors with the Regional Bahá’í Councils has been essential to the impressive inaugural activities of those new institutions. Moreover, their efforts in Bahá’í education through training institutes and other means, and their direct assistance to local spiritual assemblies, are indispensable to increasing our capacity to reach a new stage in the expansion and consolidation of our community.

The Regional Bahá’í Councils are [Page 18]rapidly winning the friends’ confidence. The new institutions are functioning as channels of love and encouragement and as regional centers for the coordination of the expansion and consolidation work. Each of the Councils has made impressive efforts to meet with assemblies and with the believers, to coordinate regional action in support of the national teaching plan, to facilitate Bahá’í training and education through institutes, and to advance spiritual assembly training. At this pivotal moment of the plan the inaugural guidance of the House of Justice to the newly formed Councils bears repeating: “In view of the acute urgency of advancing the process of entry by troops and the shortness of the time remaining to the Four Year Plan,” the House of Justice urges us “to press forward quickly in effecting sound action that will boost the thrust in the expansion and consolidation of the community. ...”

Our capacity for spiritual assembly training and development advanced significantly when the Regional Councils joined the National Assembly’s Office of Spiritual Assembly Development to execute their mandate “to promote strong spiritual assemblies.” Although this collaboration is new, we are confident that it will increase the effectiveness and speed with which the Spiritual Assembly Development Program is carried out within the community. Urgent and sustained action to increase the ability of spiritual assemblies to nourish communities with love and inspire them with servant leadership and support will affect directly our collective ability to grow from strength to strength.

The increasing number of assemblies that have acquired or are planning to acquire local Bahá’í Centers is also significant to our prospects for growth. This pattern is complemented by the expanding involvement of Bahá’í communities in the life of society, the impressive growth of “Sunday schools” and training institutes, and the increase of organized efforts to promote fellowship and social service within and outside of the Bahá’í community. Advancing the process of entry by troops requires a “new state of mind” among assembly members and those who elect them. Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order is “designed to canalize the forces of a new civilization” and requires constant expansion of membership and maturation of its institutions.

Our ambitious agenda requires adjustments in thought and action among all national and local institutions and their agencies and among individual Bahá’ís. The House of Justice has asked us to anticipate that entry by troops will act on us even as we act on it. How, then, shall we prepare?

The National Assembly’s offices and agencies are in the midst of rethinking their functions and services based on the assumption that ten to fifteen thousand seekers a month will be calling 1-800-22-UNITE in the near future. We anticipate a steady increase in the financial requirements of all of the funds to enable the community to respond appropriately to the expected tremendous growth of interest. Video production will increase and will be augmented by radio programs. A three-year plan is now underway to prepare a selection of Bahá’í books for the public trade. Our periodical publications and our training programs and materials will need continual refinement and expansion in the light of our need to reach a broader audience. At the local level every aspect of Bahá’í community and individual life will be transformed by a fast growing wave of interest in the Bahá’í teachings and Bahá’í life.

SIGNS OF GROWING MATURITY[edit]

We are greatly encouraged by signs of growing maturity and spiritual discipline among the friends. Careful studies of Bahá’í individual and community life, conducted over the past ten years, indicate that the vital signs of Bahá’í life are growing stronger. The number of believers who pray and read daily from the Bahá’í writings has more than doubled in ten years. Support of the teaching plan is widespread, as is general optimism about our prospects for growth. Teaching efforts are increasing dramatically among individuals and communities. Fund contributions by individual believers are more than three times greater than the average individual religious and charitable donations in our country. Almost half of the Bahá’í community has taken a training-institute course and reported that it has helped them become better teachers. Confidence in the institutions at every level is high.

Moreover, nearly 5,000 Bahá’ís have gone pioneering or international traveling teaching during the Four Year Plan, among them 168 African-Americans who responded to the Ridván 1996 call from the Universal House of Justice. Also, some 247 teacher trainers have graduated from the National Teacher Training Center at Louhelen and are now training teachers for local and regional training institutes.

CHALLENGES OF VICTORY[edit]

These and other signs of the growing strength of the Bahá’í community further reinforce our conviction that a great victory is within our grasp. Nevertheless, there remain serious challenges for us to face. Although the Bahá’í community has distinguished itself in race unity, all minorities are proportionately underrepresented in the active core of the Bahá’í family when compared to the population at large. We must do more to reach out to and embrace our brothers and sisters of every color. Uniting the diversity of humankind is the mission of our community, and it is directly tied to the flow of spiritual blessings on which the progress of the Faith itself depends.

Likewise, we must redouble our efforts to effect gender equality, both in dialogue and practice. Full acknowledgement of the requirements of this fundamental spiritual law of our Faith is necessary to the transformation we seek as souls and as a community.

By all measures, youth activity is growing. Moreover, youth initiatives show gratifying evidences of increasing maturity and spiritual discipline. However, spiritual assemblies and Bahá’í communities must do more to support and guide our youth, many of whom do not sufficiently enjoy their loving encouragement and support.

Noting the fundamental importance of assembly development to the success of our mission, we reiterate the seminal guidance of the Universal House of Justice: “Spiritual Assemblies must rise to a new stage in the exercise of their responsibilities as channels of guidance, planners of the teaching work, developers of human resources, builders of communities, and loving shepherds of the multitudes. They can realize these prospects through increasing the ability of their members to take counsel together in accordance with the principles of the Faith and to consult with the friends under their jurisdiction. ...”

By all accounts individual teaching, on which our entire enterprise depends, is rising. This encouraging trend must be nurtured and sustained, especially through increasing participation in local and regional training institutes. Moreover, the unity of the friends must be continually strengthened. Every single soul must struggle to become “keenly conscious of the fact that they are [members of] one spiritual family, held together by bonds more sacred and eternal than those physical ties which make people of the same family.” Every effort we make to “forget personal differences and to open our hearts to a great love for each other for the sake of Bahá’u’lláh” will vastly increase our powers, attract the heart of the public, and facilitate the rapid growth of our community.

Bahá’ís of Persian background make an extraordinary contribution to the strength and vitality of the Bahá’í community. With the certain advance of the process of entry by troops, we appeal to these precious friends, reiterating the words of the Universal House of Justice: “We urge all the friends of Persian background, who constitute a most valuable source of ability and experience, to dedicate themselves, to an extent surpassing their past services, to the accomplishment of the goals of the Four Year Plan, under the leadership and guidance of the institutions of the Faith in North America. The unity of thought and endeavor between the friends from East and West will offer a shining example of the power of Bahá’u’lláh to demolish traditional barriers and will be a powerful source of attraction to the Cause.”

As our mission expands so, too, must the funds required to support it. We anticipate growth and development on every front—from the care of the Mother Temple to the expansion of our properties and the production of materials and programs for seekers and new believers. The historic generosity and willingness to sacrifice so consistently demonstrated by the friends must grow in direct proportion to the demands of the work.

CONCLUSION[edit]

When the Supreme Body began construction of the “metropolis of the Kingdom of Heaven,” it explained that spiritual energies would be released with the completion of each stage of this “great enterprise.” These energies, it said, will transform the Bahá’í community and advance the Cause. The House of Justice explained that the “Faith advances, not at a uniform rate of growth, but in vast surges, precipitated by the alternation of crisis and victory.” Moreover, the Supreme Institution reiterated the prophecies of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi that a steady flow of fresh recruits “would presage and hasten” the advent of entry by troops. Entry by troops, they explained, would be a prelude to mass conversion, “as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature,” that will suddenly “derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength ... the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.” They concluded with the admonition: “This is the time for which we must now prepare ourselves; this is the hour whose coming it is our task to hasten.”

Dear friends, the Supreme Body has written that the “immense contribution” you are making to the advancement of the Cause inspired it to “look to the Bahá’í community of the United States to perform, during the Four Year Plan heroic deeds of service to the Cause, which will astonish and inspire their fellow-believers throughout the world.” The House of Justice stated that “your accomplishments have prepared the way for even more spectacular successes in the years immediately ahead. Now as never before should you strive mightily to free yourselves from the obstacles of apathy, attachment to worldly pursuits, and lethargy, which stand in the way of so glorious a realization. As the people around you yearn increasingly for a society in which rectitude of conduct prevails, which is animated by a nobility of moral behavior, and in which the diverse races are firmly united, your challenge is to demonstrate the efficacy of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh in ministering to their needs and in recreating the very foundation of individual and social life. The whole of North America stands in desperate need of the inspiring vision, the dynamic sense of purpose and the idealism, which can be provided only by those who are imbued with the spirit and truths of the Bahá’í Writings.”

You are ever in our hearts and prayers,

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States [Page 19]

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS[edit]

In its Ridván 1998 letter the Universal House of Justice called attention to “a mixed catalogue of world-shaking tribulations and world-shaping developments” and stated that “an unmistakable trend toward the Lesser Peace” could be discerned in the greater involvement of the United Nations in addressing urgent world problems and in a greater awareness of the interconnectedness of all nations. These trends had a significant impact on the external affairs work of the National Spiritual Assembly as it continued to pursue the twofold external affairs mandate given to all National Spiritual Assemblies by the Universal House of Justice in October 1994: (1) to defend the Faith, including the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran, and (2) to influence the processes toward world peace by focusing on such areas as human rights, the status of women, global prosperity, and moral education.

In Iran, the execution of Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani in July 1998 and the attempt to shut down the Bahá’í Institute of Higher Education, known as the Bahá’í Open University, signaled an intensification of the pressure on the Iranian Bahá’í community. The National Spiritual Assembly reinforced the Bahá’í International Community’s diplomatic efforts to defend the Faith through further cultivation of relations with the U.S. government, with national organizations, and with the media. The U.S. government responded immediately to the crises of the past year. The White House, the State Department, and the U.S. Congress made statements and held hearings to protest the execution and the attack on the Bahá’í Open University. There was excellent national and local media coverage of both events and an outpouring of support from prominent academics and educational institutions.

Dr. Wilma Ellis, a member of the Continental Board of Counselors in the Americas, continued to serve as the Bahá’í representative on the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, appointed in 1996 by the then Secretary of State Warren Christopher, which informs and advises the U.S. government on matters of religious persecution. The Committee completed its two-year mandate and presented its final report to the President in the spring of 1999.

The second area of external affairs activity—influencing the processes toward world peace—was likewise stimulated by the events that will lead eventually to the Lesser Peace. The National Spiritual Assembly continued to develop its ties to the United Nations and to collaborate with networks of like-minded organizations on issues such as the development and implementation of international human rights law, U.N. reform, and payment of United States dues and arrears to the U.N. It also continued its national leadership role, jointly with Amnesty International USA, in the effort to have the United States ratify the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In addition, under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, the National Spiritual Assembly began to work with other nongovernmental organizations to win the support of the United States government for the creation of an International Criminal Court. A treaty for the creation of the court was adopted at a United Nations conference in Rome in July 1998.

The National Spiritual Assembly continued its systematic effort to support the President’s call for a national dialogue on race. Bahá’ís participated in two Religion Forums hosted by the President’s Race Initiative to promote the role of faith communities in the healing of racism. The National Assembly’s Secretary-General, Dr. Robert C. Henderson, was a plenary panelist at one of the forums. The National Spiritual Assembly helped plan and participated in a summit of national religious leaders convened to help carry forward the work of the President’s Race Initiative.

The direct collaboration “with the forces leading towards the establishment of order in the world” increased in both quality and quantity not only on the national level but also on the local level. A growing number of local spiritual assemblies responded to the requests of the National Spiritual Assembly to participate in grassroots campaigns for the defense of the Bahá’ís in Iran, U.S. ratification of human rights treaties, U.S. funding of the U.N., and the commemoration of U.N.-special-event days. Also noteworthy were the activities of Bahá’í youth and college clubs in seeking the support of universities and academics for the Bahá’í Open University in Iran.

The National Spiritual Assembly continued to educate the Bahá’í community in the area of external affairs through responses to numerous requests for guidance and information from Regional Bahá’í Councils, local spiritual assemblies, and individuals. In a January 21, 1999, letter to the National Spiritual Assembly, the Universal House of Justice conveyed its decision that the Regional Councils should not have responsibility for the work of external affairs. Thus the responsibility will remain with the National Spiritual Assembly to guide the external affairs work of local spiritual assemblies and to decide on statewide and national external affairs policies and activities.

The National Assembly hosted the external affairs secretaries of two other National Spiritual Assemblies that are in the process of setting up their own external affairs offices. They visited the Washington, D.C., office to gain a deeper understanding of the external affairs work and the organization of the office.

HIGHLIGHTS OF ACTIVITIES, 1998-1999[edit]

DEFENSE OF BAHÁ’ÍS OF IRAN[edit]

The paramount concern of the National Spiritual Assembly in external affairs continued to be the defense of the Bahá’ís in Iran and other Muslim countries. The National Spiritual Assembly’s secretary for external affairs, Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, visited Washington, DC, regularly to meet with government officials in the State Department, the White House, and in the Congress. On these visits he was accompanied by Ms. Kit Cosby, the director of the Washington, DC-based Office of the Secretary for External Affairs. These and other visits throughout the year by the staff of the Washington, DC, office kept the U.S. government up to date on the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran. It is clear from the public statements made by the White House and State Department, in the annual State Department report on human rights in Iran, in Congressional hearings and statements read into the Congressional Record, and in other government actions that the government relied on the information provided by the National Spiritual Assembly.

On November 17 Dr. Kazemzadeh spoke about “The New Iranian Crisis” at the Center for Jewish and Christian Values’ Religious Liberty Forum held on Capitol Hill. The Forum was one of a series of briefings on religious freedom issues hosted by the Center and attended regularly by staff from the Washington office.

EXECUTION OF MR. RUHOLLAH ROWHANI AND CONFIRMATION OF DEATH SENTENCES[edit]

In testimony before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights of the House International Relations Committee on June 16, Dr. Kazemzadeh warned that recent events in Iran indicated a possible intensification of the persecution of the Bahá’ís and explained that the Bahá’í community had often been made a scapegoat during times of domestic stress in Iran. He expressed concern particularly for the life of Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani, who had been held in solitary confinement in Mashhad since September 1997 on the charge of converting a Muslim to the Bahá’í Faith. Mr. Rowhani was executed by hanging on July 20 without charges or a public trial. At the end of September two other Bahá’ís held in the same prison in Mashhad were informed orally by prison authorities that their death sentences had been confirmed, bringing the number of Bahá’í prisoners on death row to six.

ATTEMPT TO CLOSE THE BAHÁ’Í INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION[edit]

Between September 30 and October 3 Iranian intelligence officers launched a coordinated campaign of raids and arrests in an attempt to shut down the Bahá’í Institute of Higher Education. They plundered more than five hundred Bahá’í homes and arrested at least thirty-six Bahá’í faculty members who were pressured to sign a document stating that the Institute had been dissolved and that they would no longer support it. Iranian government officers confiscated classroom furniture, textbooks, scientific papers and records, computers, and personal household effects. Three of the arrested faculty members remain in prison in Isfahan.

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE[edit]

As a result of information provided by the National Spiritual Assembly, the White House press secretary and the State Department spokesman condemned the execution of Mr. Rowhani in July and stated that the treatment of religious minorities, including the Bahá’ís, would “play an important role in any future dialogue with the Government of Iran.” In October the White House and State Department made additional statements condemning the confirmation of death sentences and arrests of faculty members. The Voice of America covered the Bahá’í case extensively in radio and television programs and editorials broadcast internationally. On December 10, International Human Rights Day, the Voice of America devoted an hour-long radio program with a potential audience of eighty-five million to an interview on the Bahá’í Faith with Dr. Kazemzadeh, Ms. Cosby, and the consulting director of the Office of Public Information, Ms. Victoria Jones.

Thirty-seven members of Congress signed a letter addressed to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan calling on him to take action to protect the Bahá’ís. Several other members of Congress, including Representatives Tom Lantos and John Porter and Senator Sam Brownback, called attention to the plight of the Bahá’ís in statements in the Congressional Record. In March, Congressmen Joseph Pitts and Tony Hall and Senators Sam Brownback and Joseph Lieberman announced the formation of the Religious Prisoners Congressional Task Force to enable members of Congress to “adopt” prisoners held for religious reasons and to advocate to heads of state on their behalf. The Office of Senator Brownback contacted the National Spiritual Assembly for information about Bahá’í prisoners in Iran who could be included among the initial cases to be considered by the task force. The National Spiritual Assembly provided prisoner profiles for four Bahá’ís in Iran who were on death row accused of apostasy and for religious activities not sanctioned by Islam. A representative of the National Assembly attended the press briefing at which the formation of the task force was announced. [Page 20]

CAMPAIGN TO INFORM THE U.S. EDUCATIONAL SECTOR[edit]

At the end of October the Universal House of Justice asked several National Spiritual Assemblies to mobilize their Bahá’í communities to seek the support of the educational sector for the Bahá’í Institute of Higher Education, known as the Bahá’í Open University, in Iran. As a result of the nationwide concentrated efforts of local spiritual assemblies, campus clubs, and individual Bahá’ís who work in the educational field, the U.S. academic community gained a new level of awareness of the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran. Hundreds of university faculty and administrators pledged to support the Bahá’í Open University by writing letters of protest to the Iranian Minister of Education and UNESCO, the U.N. agency charged with protecting the right to education. At least eighty college or university presidents were contacted, and seven are known to have written letters of protest. Bahá’ís on nearly two hundred campuses reported a wide range of initiatives including faculty and student senate resolutions, articles in campus and local newspapers, radio coverage, mayors’ proclamations, candlelight vigils, information tables, public meetings, and petitions.

WORK WITH NATIONAL MEDIA[edit]

The execution of Mr. Ruhollah Rowhani, the confirmation of the death sentences of two Bahá’ís, and the crackdown by Iranian authorities on the Bahá’í Open University provided opportunities for major media coverage of the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran, including an editorial by the Washington Post, a feature story in the New York Times, and an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Office of the Secretary for External Affairs and the Office of Public Information contacted major media outlets, both national and regional, including the U.N. correspondents of U.S. newspapers and wire services. Several important stories appeared as a result including a news item on the PBS show Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.

DIPLOMATIC WORK[edit]

In January 1999 the National Assembly’s secretary for external affairs and the director of the Assembly’s Washington office, together with external affairs representatives from six other National Spiritual Assemblies and the Bahá’í International Community’s U.N. offices, participated at the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa in detailed discussions about the conduct of the diplomatic work, particularly aspects related to the defense of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

Together with representatives from twenty-eight National Spiritual Assemblies, they also participated in the Third Diplomatic Training Seminar convened by the Bahá’í International Community in Acuto, Italy, in September 1998. The meeting focused on fostering greater integration and coordination of the Faith’s diplomatic efforts internationally.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ABROAD[edit]

Dr. Wilma Ellis, a member of the Continental Board of Counselors in the Americas, continued to serve as one of twenty prominent religious leaders and scholars on the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. She chaired its subcommittee on outreach and dialogue. The Committee issued its final report to the Secretary of State and the President in the spring of 1999.

Staff from the National Spiritual Assembly’s office in Washington, particularly the assistant to the director, Mr. Dwight Bashir, attended several high-level meetings and consultations on behalf of Dr. Ellis. As a result of the Bahá’í presence on the Advisory Committee, the National Spiritual Assembly’s representatives were invited to take part in a number of meetings and conferences on religious liberty.

REFUGEES[edit]

Ms. Puran Stevens, director of the U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office (USBRO), and her assistant, Mr. Kevin Morrison, attended the State Department’s annual Office of Refugee Resettlement Conference in Washington, DC. They spoke of the status of the Bahá’ís of Iran in workshops and in question-and-answer portions of the plenary sessions with more than one thousand in attendance. They also discussed the status of the Bahá’ís of Iran with officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.S. State Department, and the State of Illinois. The Commissioner of UNHCR, Ms. Sadako Ogata, publicly condemned the persecution of Bahá’ís.

The collaborative relationship between the Bahá’í Refugee Office and UNHCR resulted in the resolution of many difficult cases of Bahá’í refugees in Japan and Turkey who were initially rejected, and later approved, for resettlement.

The Refugee Office continued to make available the latest information in immigration, refugee, and asylum matters to the Bahá’ís of Iran and other countries. The Office staff consulted with hundreds of family members of refugees and potential refugees, outlining U.S. government and UNHCR definitions of a refugee, policies in refugee resettlement, and options available to those who have a legitimate fear of persecution.

Over the course of the year several Bahá’í refugees who had used the underground routes to enter Turkey were not able to register with the Turkish government their claim to asylum within the prescribed five-day period. They were subsequently faced with deportation proceedings. The USBRO worked closely with the UNHCR and the U.S. State Department to appeal many of these cases, most of which were resolved successfully.

A very large number of Iranian Bahá’ís began arriving in the U.S. in June and July 1998, which overwhelmed a number of Bahá’í communities. The Refugee Office worked with the Spiritual Assemblies affected by this influx of Persian Bahá’ís, assisting in their immediate integration into Bahá’í community life and counseling the Assemblies on cultural differences.

The director of the Refugee Office was interviewed about the status of the Iranian Bahá’ís on Voice of America on a program broadcast to the Middle East, including Iran. She was part of a select group of representatives of various agencies invited by the Lawyers Committee for Preserving Asylum to participate in meetings about the restructuring of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The first of these meetings was held in February 1999. In addition, she attended a comprehensive six-day, forty-hour legal training, which outlined all the substantive changes in law, public benefits, and refugee, asylum, and immigration matters. The Refugee Office staff attended numerous other events, meetings, and symposia in the Chicago area on refugee, asylum, and humanitarian issues.

UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES: HUMAN RIGHTS, THE STATUS OF WOMEN, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT[edit]

Support for selected U.N. activities and collaboration with other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that participate in U.N. fora has proven to be the greatest avenue for Bahá’í entree into external affairs activities at the national level. Since its initial support in 1985 for U.S. ratification of the U.N. Convention on Genocide, the National Assembly has expanded its activities by working on the preparation for the U.N. conferences on the environment and development, human rights, social development, women, and human settlements. In recent years its staff has held positions of leadership within networks and committees that promote international issues and U.N. activities. The U.S. National Assembly supports and reinforces the Bahá’í International Community’s (BIC) activities in the international arena, and the BIC and the National Spiritual Assembly collaborate with many of the same organizations.

U.S. RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES[edit]

For the past several years the director of the Office of the Secretary for External Affairs has been the co-chair of the General Human Rights Working Group, which has organized NGO efforts to ratify U.N. human rights treaties since the mid-1980s. Current treaties under consideration include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights.

CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW)[edit]

The director of the National Assembly’s Washington, DC, office and Amnesty International USA’s chief legislative counsel continued to co-chair the Working Group on Ratification of the U.N. Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women, a group of more than 100 national NGOs engaged in outreach and education to achieve ratification by the U.S. of the U.N. treaty which bans discrimination against women. The National Assembly’s Washington office continued to serve as the secretariat for the working group, fielding questions and providing materials on CEDAW to Bahá’ís and to non-Bahá’í organizations and individuals working on U.S. ratification of the treaty. The director of the Washington office participated in workshops and made presentations on CEDAW ratification at several national and regional conferences.

The Working Group continued to encourage U.S. senators to pledge support for ratification of the treaty and to stimulate the passage of resolutions supporting the treaty at the state and local level. In July 1998 Bahá’ís attended and participated in the 150th anniversary of the first women’s rights conference in Seneca Falls. U.S. ratification of the U.N. Convention on Women was discussed on panels and in plenary speeches. The National Spiritual Assembly provided materials on ratification of the treaty.

UNITED NATIONS FUNDING[edit]

The National Spiritual Assembly continued to cooperate with other organizations in advocating full and on-time payment of all U.S. financial obligations to the United Nations. During the past year the U.N. ‎become became‎ increasingly threatened by a financial crisis precipitated in large part by U.S. failure to pay its accumulated arrears. In 1998 the U.S. narrowly averted the loss of its vote in the General Assembly by paying just enough to avoid implementation of Article 19 of the U.N. Charter. The article calls for a loss of vote in the U.N. General Assembly if a country’s arrears level equals or exceeds its regular dues for the preceding two full years.

The National Spiritual Assembly’s NGO liaison, Mr. Peter Adriance, worked closely with other NGO representatives on the funding issue. He participated in the activities of the Internationalism Working Group (INTWG) composed of representatives from some thirty organizations and coalitions of NGOs, including the United Nations Association. The Working Group met bimonthly for strategy meetings and organized NGO delegations that conducted numerous visits to congressional offices to advocate on behalf of arrears payment. The Better World Fund, in conjunction with the United Nations Association, announced a national effort to achieve payment of U.S. arrears to the U.N. by galvanizing U.S. citizens to contact their congressmen. [Page 21]

OFFICE OF THE BAHÁ’Í U.S. U.N. REPRESENTATIVE[edit]

The U.S. U.N. representative, Mr. Jeffrey Huffines, and his assistant, Mr. Carl Murrell, fulfilled daily requests for information and guidance from the Bahá’í community, attended weekly U.N. Department of Public Information briefings and occasional briefings at the U.S. Mission, and spoke to various student groups.

The U.N. representative served the final year of a two-year term as treasurer of the Committee of Religious NGOs at the U.N. and continued to serve on the Executive Council of the U.S. chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace. He also worked with the U.S. Committee for UNICEF to encourage Bahá’í communities in the United States and its territories to support the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign in October 1999.

After three years on the planning committee of the annual U.N. DPI/NGO conference, the U.N. representative’s assistant was elected to serve as chairman of the 1999 conference. He served as vice-chair of the 1998 U.N. DPI/NGO conference, “The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: From Words to Deeds.” He was also elected to the Coordinating Council of the Values Caucus founded in 1994 to sponsor values-related programs at the U.N.

The National Spiritual Assembly cosponsored the second annual interfaith “Service of Commitment to the Work of the U.N.” The U.N. Secretary-General attended the service, which marked the opening of the 53rd session of the U.N. General Assembly and commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR50). On December 10 the National Assembly also co-sponsored an interfaith service organized by The Temple of Understanding to commemorate UDHR50. The event featured the participation of the Northeast Regional Bahá’í Choir.

The U.N. Office encouraged local Bahá’í communities to commemorate United Nations Day on October 24, Human Rights Day on December 10, and International Women’s Day on March 8. The U.N. representative spoke at a UNA luncheon in Amherst, Massachusetts, for United Nations Day, and at a luncheon sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Ventura County, California, for Human Rights Day attended by more than 380 guests, including five mayors.

The U.N. Office collaborated with the Bahá’í International Community in establishing a joint internship program. Interns collaborated with the National Youth Committee to encourage Bahá’í college clubs to participate in U.N.-related activities and assisted the Wilmette Institute in preparing a comparative analysis of selected Bahá’í U.N. statements.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.N. DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (UDHR50)[edit]

The National Spiritual Assembly joined the Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and other national organizations to conduct local town hall meetings on Human Rights Day, December 10, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the U.N. General Assembly.

The National Assembly’s U.N. Office invited one local spiritual assembly in each state to help organize a town hall meeting to promote the understanding and practice of human rights on the local level. Several Bahá’ís attended the professional training offered by the Roosevelt Institute in Washington, DC, for the nationwide campaign. Bahá’í communities in such states as California, Maine, North Carolina, Idaho, and Vermont played key organizing roles to assist the campaign to achieve its goal of setting up fifty-two local town hall meetings nationwide. The Roosevelt Institute cited the National Assembly as one of eight organizations that made significant contributions to the campaign.

Staff of the Washington, DC, office attended a UDHR50 luncheon on Human Rights Day on Capitol Hill.

FOLLOW-UP TO THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN[edit]

The National Spiritual Assembly continued its commitment to implement the Platform for Action, the official document of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing. The director of the Office of the Secretary for External Affairs was the co-founder and co-chair of the Washington-based Working Group on the Human Rights of Women, a network of more than seventy-five organizations with over one-half million members that formed in 1994 to instill a human-rights framework into the Platform for Action. The Working Group continued to promote and protect the equality of women in places like Bosnia and Afghanistan on the basis of international human rights standards. Members of the Working Group frequently met with State Department officials at the Bureaus of the Human Rights and South Asian Affairs as well as with the Senior Coordinator for International Women’s Affairs particularly to encourage a strong U.S. position on the violations of the rights of women in Afghanistan. The Working Group also worked with the President’s Interagency Council on Women to implement the Platform for Action, including the U.S. human-rights commitments announced at the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Along with representatives of many other organizations, the director of the Washington office helped to found and develop U.S. Women Connect, a new national NGO to stimulate and monitor implementation of the Platform in the United States. The new organization will permit women and women’s organizations to communicate with each other and with U.S. government agencies at all levels that are responsible for implementing the Platform for Action. The National Spiritual Assembly’s new NGO liaison for Women’s Issues, Ms. Leila Milani, took on the responsibility for obtaining 501(c)(3) status for U.S. Women Connect. In an effort to inform both the national and international NGO community of U.S. Women Connect, staff of the Washington office were co-chairs of an informational meeting at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women in March 1999. The staff also attended a session of the Commission that served as a preparatory committee for the special session of the General Assembly in the year 2000, which will open the five year review of the Platform for Action.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT[edit]

The NGO liaison served on the national planning committee for the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America (NTM) to be held in Detroit in May 1999. Sponsored by the President’s Council for Sustainable Development and the Global Environment and Technology Foundation, the NTM is the largest event of its kind to date in the U.S. Attendees will include business leaders, NGOs, government officials, and academics, as well as individual citizens. Thousands of people are expected to become involved in affiliated events around the country. The NTM will focus on building awareness, exchanging ideas, and fostering partnerships to help communities, businesses and the nation as a whole to develop more sustainably into the future. The NGO liaison also served on the Outreach Working Group charged with attracting broad participation in the event and its related activities. He helped plan the National Spiritual Assembly’s exhibit for the event and encouraged local Bahá’í communities across the nation to consider holding affiliated events during the year.

The National Spiritual Assembly continued its involvement with the Alliance for U.N. Sustainable Development Programs. The Alliance monitored and evaluated the work of U.N. agencies in advancing sustainable development, undertook activities to broaden public understanding of sustainable development, and expressed its concerns and views on U.N. sustainable development initiatives to policy makers in Washington, both in the Administration and Congress. As a founder of the Alliance and a member of its National Steering Committee, the NGO liaison helped plan and carry out several programs including one on the Global Environment Facility held at the National Press Club and a day-long Forum on U.N. Sustainable Development Programs held at American University.

The NGO liaison also continued to serve as a member of the National Steering Committee of the Citizens Network for Sustainable Development. The Network, formed in 1990, is made up of organizations and individuals interested in advancing the concept and practice of sustainable development locally, nationally, and internationally. The Network planned NGO activities in preparation for the 1999 session of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development and worked to improve efforts to achieve sustainable development nationally and in communities throughout the U.S.

EARTH CHARTER[edit]

The NGO liaison continued to work with other organizations to help develop the Earth Charter—a document that attempts to express the ecological and human values required for living sustainably. The Earth Charter project aims at producing a “popular” document which will be circulated worldwide. It will ultimately be offered for endorsement by members of the United Nations and, if adopted, will serve as the ethical foundation for all decision-making on matters of environment and development.

The NGO liaison serves on the Earth Charter National Committee of the U.S., one of more than thirty national committees worldwide charged with helping to develop the Charter. In July 1998 he represented the Bahá’í International Community at an international conference on “Spirituality, Sustainability, and the Earth Charter” in Assisi, Italy. He also attended two conferences on World Religions and Ecology held in Boston and New York and sponsored by Harvard University in cooperation with the Center for Respect of Life and the Environment. Those conferences included the Earth Charter as a major focus.

UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES[edit]

The U.N. representative served as first vice-chair of the Executive Committee of the United Nations Association’s New York Council of Organizations. He also served on the UNA Convention Advisory Committee, which organized UNA’s biennial national convention in New York City in March 1999. Two representatives from the National Assembly’s Washington office attended the national convention. Other Bahá’ís from around the country attended the convention and visited the New York offices of the Bahá’í International Community and the National Assembly.

The NGO liaison represented the National Spiritual Assembly to the UNA-USA’s Council of Organizations in Washington, DC. He ended his service on the executive committee in June 1998, having served as a member and officer for the previous seven years.

RACE UNITY[edit]

PRESIDENT’S INITIATIVE ON RACE[edit]

The National Spiritual Assembly continued to collaborate with President Clinton’s year-long Initiative on Race, launched in July 1997 to stimulate a dialogue on race relations throughout the country. The Race [Page 22]Initiative hosted two Religious Forums to examine the role of religion in racial reconciliation, one in New Orleans on May 21, and the other in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 1. The National Spiritual Assembly’s Secretary-General, Dr. Robert C. Henderson, spoke on a plenary panel at the Louisville forum. The director of the Office of the Secretary for External Affairs attended both forums.

As a result of the Bahá’í presence at the two Religious Forums, the National Spiritual Assembly’s staff was asked to be on the planning committee for a summit of national faith leaders, which was held at the White House Conference Center on October 22 and 23. Dr. Henderson and Ms. Cosby represented the National Spiritual Assembly at the summit. At the request of the President, the summit was convened by the National Conference for Community and Justice to advise him on initiatives the faith community could undertake to advance racial justice in the U.S. The recommendations from the summit were to be incorporated into the President’s final report on the Race Initiative. At the year’s end the President announced the formation of a permanent White House Office on Race Relations to carry forward the work of the Race Initiative. The National Spiritual Assembly will continue to work closely with the White House office.

OTHER ACTIVITIES[edit]

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE[edit]

The director of the Washington, DC, office served on the Advisory Board of the International Development Conference, one of the premier international conferences for development agencies and professionals. The theme of the biennial conference, held in January 1999, was “The Global Meeting of Generations: Vision and Action for Development in the 21st Century.” The National Spiritual Assembly took a leadership role as co-theme leader for “Values and Ethics,” one of the conference’s 12 thematic tracks. The assistant to the director, Mr. Glen Fullmer, served as co-chair of the track, and Bahá’ís participated prominently in workshops on corporate ethics, ethics for leadership and governance, and the role of religions in promoting an intergenerational ethic.

The National Spiritual Assembly appointed several individuals to be its representatives to other national organizations such as the North American Interfaith Network and the National Council of Women.

OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION[edit]

Pamela Zivari retired as director of the Office of Public Information after taking maternity leave, and Victoria Jones assumed the role of consulting director in July 1998.

The Office of Public Information consulted with and advised communities and individuals on a number of media-related issues. Subjects ranged widely and included situations arising in TV, radio, and print. Members of the press are becoming better informed about the Bahá’í teachings, and there have been several instances this year of Bahá’ís facing questions on controversial issues and having to deal with questions they have never had to answer before. The Office assisted Bahá’ís on such issues as the millennium, the recent impeachment debate, and membership in the Universal House of Justice. Several media outlets interviewed the director on a wide variety of Bahá’í-related subjects.

The Office of Public Information received and responded to more than two thousand requests from public information representatives and others during the last six months. This significant increase from the year before was due in large part to the response by Bahá’ís and the media to the recent crises in Iran. The assistant to the director, Ms. Tonya Homan, played a vital role in managing the increased work of the office.

The director continued to participate in the Religious Communicators Council (formerly known as the Religious Public Relations Council) and the Public Relations Society of America.

She submitted the Bahá’í video The Power of Race Unity to the Religious Communicators Council awards contest. The winners had not been determined at publication time.

NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN[edit]

The Office of Public Information continued to collaborate with the National Teaching Committee, Media Services, and Information Services on the national media initiative. The director participated in the review of videos, attended focus groups, and worked with other Bahá’í media professionals giving input on videos and TV commercials. The director also joined the newly formed National Radio Task Force.

NETWORK OF PUBLIC INFORMATION REPRESENTATIVES[edit]

The Office of Public Information has continued to assist 1,260 public information representatives around the country to distribute materials to the media. The number of public information representatives who have access to e-mail increased, making communication more timely and efficient. The Office of Public Information continued to distribute sample press releases and articles to publicize Holy Days and celebrations. The Office encouraged representatives to write and distribute their own releases to increase their skills and to produce innovative, local stories. There was an increase in the number of requests for the Bahá’í Public Information Handbook and press kits, especially since the beginning of the media initiative.

The Office continued efforts to train public information representatives to increase their effectiveness in working with the media. Public information representatives in the Dallas metro region attended an intensive one-day training session, which included writing op-ed pieces and undergoing a mock interview on a series of controversial issues. One hundred of the most active public information representatives continue to receive copies of World Order magazine on a quarterly basis for use in their proclamation efforts.

US. BAHÁ’Í REFUGEE OFFICE[edit]

SOUTHEAST ASIAN TEACHING AND CONSOLIDATION[edit]

In addition to assisting in the relocation and settlement of Iranian Bahá’í refugees, the U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office (USBRO) continued to work on the teaching and consolidation of Southeast Asian communities. The Refugee Office continued to publish the quarterly Southeast Asian Helpers Bulletin, which relates news and success stories to five hundred subscribers. The Office redesigned this publication and made the necessary equipment upgrades to produce it in-house, which will realize substantial savings for the National Fund in the long term.

The Ninth Annual Southeast Asian Community Builders Roundtable Discussion Conference was held at Bosch Bahá’í School in August 1998. The conference focused on advancing the process of entry by troops in the Southeast Asian population. The majority of the presenters this year were Southeast Asians, and many were women. A separate conference focusing on the basic principles of the Bahá’í Faith was held concurrently for a largely non-Bahá’í youth audience.

The Refugee Office distributed complimentary copies of the Bahá’í Newsreel and of The Power of Race Unity video to selected Southeast Asian helpers who in turn shared these videos with Southeast Asian community members. The Office also produced a video on the equality of women and men in the English and Hmong languages narrated by Mr. Lao Chue Cha and his daughter, Ms. Mai Thao.

The director of the USBRO conducted numerous site visits to areas in the western states with large numbers of Southeast Asians to consult with leaders of several Southeast Asian tribes, stimulate local plans for teaching and consolidation, and meet with the helpers and their families.

The USBRO continues to maintain the largest inventory in the world of Southeast Asian Bahá’í materials, including videos. Recently, USBRO reproduced eighteen titles in the Vietnamese language received from the Bahá’í World Center.

TREASURY[edit]

Just as the community is engaged on a broad front with issues of vital importance, so has it engaged the challenging prospect of finding an expanding agenda at the local, regional, national, continental, and international levels.

The news is encouraging. The friends have responded to the needs of the Faith with generosity and alertness. At the same time more will need to be done as the process of entry by troops continues to accelerate and its requirements increase.

THE YEAR’S RESULTS IN BRIEF[edit]

Unrestricted contributions for the year are projected to reach $17.5 million by the end of the year, down 13% from last year’s $20.2 million. The 1999 total is also lower than the three-year average of $18.1 million. With earmarked contributions of $1.3 million, the estimated contribution total will be $18.8 million, as compared with the goal for the year of $27 million.

On the international front, the American Bahá’í community will likely register some sobering results as well as some admirable ones. The overall decline in contributions is expected to decrease the contribution to the Bahá’í World Center to about $3.6 million, or 20% of basic contributions, and to decrease the amount allocated to the Continental Fund to 1.4%, or $256,000.* These results would bring the average allocation to the Bahá’í International Fund for the Plan’s first three years to 33% of basic contributions, compared with the goal of 26%; in dollar terms, however, contributions will have dropped to about half the three-year average of $6.6 million. A bright spot was international financial collaboration: at the request of the Universal House of Justice, the National Assembly allocated some $100,000 out of unrestricted gifts to help purchase the new National Bahá’í Center in Honduras. The National Spiritual Assembly also allocated $10,000 for aid to Central American National Assemblies in the wake of Hurricane Mitch, while the friends spontaneously gave significant amounts in direct aid of their own.

Note: The base used for this allocation is total contributions of $18.8 million less $705,000 of miscellaneous earmarked gifts, or $18.1 million. The $3.6 million total remitted to the Bahá’í World Center for the year includes roughly $200,000 forwarded under the National Spiritual Assembly’s international financial collaboration goal, committed to the Universal House of Justice at the Plan’s outset.

[Page 23]

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS[edit]

April 30, 1999 (Projected), April 30, 1998 and April 30, 1997

	Fiscal Year Ended April 30
	1999	1998	1997
Contributions Received by the National Spiritual Assembly
Unrestricted*	$17,458,209	$20,179,076	$16,610,583
Restricted	1,343,791	2,150,456	3,927,662
Total Contributions	$18,802,000	$22,329,532	$20,538,245
Remittances to Other Organizations
International and Arc Funds	$ 3,440,947	$ 8,643,392	$ 8,121,651
Continental Fund	256,360	395,967	334,207
Other Bahá’í Funds and Deputization	846,434	806,371	747,260
Total Contributions to Other Organizations	$ 4,543,741	$ 9,845,730	$ 9,203,118
Capital Expenditures and Depreciation
Capital Expenditures	$1,900,597	$2,193,609	$1,392,152
Depreciation	1,532,207	1,548,585	1,477,025
Total Revenues	$23,088,209	$25,221,654	$23,796,999
Total Expenses	$21,234,428	$25,226,984	$21,689,371
Total Net Assets	$20,055,176	$17,871,737	$18,129,344

Note: “Unrestricted contributions” includes contributions with discretionary earmarking.

Total revenues, which in addition to contributions include earned income on book sales, school tuition, and investments, will likely be $23.1 million, a decrease of 8% from last year. Expenses are estimated at $22.4 million, a decrease of 16% compared to last year. Fiscal 1999 is expected to end with a surplus of $1.9 million, up from a $5,000 deficit last year.

Expenses are down despite significant new costs in several areas. Whereas last year the amounts invested in media proclamation were quite modest, this year will likely see media-related expenses reach some $500,000, while sizable increases are registered in departments that directly support the teaching plan: the Publishing Trust and the Bahá’í Distribution Service, where new materials were produced and new unit volume records were set; the Education and Schools Office, where new curricula and support materials were authored and trainers prepared in connection with The Power of Race Unity videotape; Media Services, which at the end of the year was finishing production on the third broadcast video; and the External Affairs/Public Information organization, which assisted with public relations and community training materials. The Regional Bahá’í Councils, which had only begun to function last year, are projected to have spent some $435,000.

That new activities could be accommodated implies a careful reallocation of human and financial resources. Plans and department budgets were changed as circumstances required, and the staff of the Bahá’í National Center and the other national agencies worked longer hours. Participants in the Weekend Visit program, a National Center program that entered its tenth year in 1999, were nearly unanimous in expressing their astonishment at how much is done by so few people with such limited resources. Their observations are both a testimony to the dedication of the friends who serve at our National Center and a commentary on a real limitation that must be considered as the Faith progresses.

THE NEXT THRESHOLDS TO CROSS[edit]

From the perspective of the Faith’s financial objectives, the first threshold has to do with the maturity of the American Bahá’í community. The process of entry by troops will accelerate, for there are more than 200 million Americans who still have not heard of the Faith. This growth will unavoidably require major investments at every level. Only wholehearted, unqualified, and universal support will serve the need of the moment. There can always be consultation about the Faith’s progress and the alternatives the community faces as we progress.

Feedback suggests, however, that there is a part of the community, albeit a small one, that harbors misgivings about how the National Assembly spends its resources or about the friends’ capacity to give. Now is the time to let such feelings go and to serve Bahá’u’lláh’s purposes with confidence, paving the way to give our best service to Him and to our nation in unity. With the community’s unity confirmed, the financial challenge becomes a soluble problem.

Our second threshold, our shared challenge, will be to balance our investments at the various levels at which we, as a community, are active. Local investments can either support or detract from our national and international responsibilities; it is our choice. Our recent history in contributing to the Arc and to sister communities in need tells us we have the capacity to meet all these obligations. Indeed, the American Bahá’í community is one of the main financial pillars of every international activity, a privilege given us through the special tenderness of our beloved Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The friends have been active this year at the local level: race unity activities, proclamation using local media, and a rapidly accelerating movement to acquire local Bahá’í centers are three of our main areas of focus. The decrease in contributions received at the National Center may be directly attributed to these causes; the fact that the decline has not been a steep one attests to the friends’ generosity. There is no question that local investment in centers and programs is integral to growth; our investments have to be made carefully, however, to obtain the greatest result and maintain the vital balance between local and national programs. Correspondence indicates that many communities are so enthusiastic about saving for their first Bahá’í Center, or about acquiring one, that they are not acting with enough care, thereby putting their unity and their resources at risk. The national administration is working, to the extent it has people available for the task, to create tools to help local communities with this process. During the coming year, the Office of the Treasurer hopes its preparations will yield results that will prove useful to the friends. Creating those tools, however, requires meetings, travel, phone calls and materials—additional but needed expenses.

Likewise, the Regional Bahá’í Councils will enter their second term of service and will, no doubt, extend the scope of their operations and of their collaboration with local spiritual assemblies. This will be expensive, and the lion’s share of that expense will be funded by local communities, not so much through special fundraisers but by partnering with the Councils to meet common goals that benefit all parties.

At the continental and international levels, our work will also accelerate. The completion of the Arc Projects in April 2000 will release energies that will change the worldwide Bahá’í community in ways no one can presently visualize. Our history indicates that every infusion of fresh spiritual potential translates itself into practical arrangements, and those, as Bahá’u’lláh Himself affirms, are “dependent on material means.”

The third threshold to cross concerns our own work as a national community. During the coming year the National Spiritual Assembly will work with the friends to conceptualize the further development of our own infrastructure as a national community and to mobilize the resources necessary to build that structure. This development will affect us, as the Cradle of the Administrative Order, as well as every other national Bahá’í community. The Temple in Wilmette, our great “silent teacher,” will require additional work and the expansion of some of its services. The teaching plan, and ‎especially ly especially‎ its media component, will be accelerated. The Bahá’í National Center staff will be judiciously increased. Public Information, for example, has two professionals, one of them part-time, as we prepare to embark on the greatest proclamation effort of our history. Services that make it easier for local spiritual assemblies to communicate, sharing their ideas and solving their common problems, will be launched, adding a whole new facet to our unity.

The community is strong and generous. Comparison of our giving patterns with those of other religious and charitable groups reaffirms that the sense of commitment the Baháís in America demonstrate far outshines that of their fellow citizens, and we have done so consistently for years. We have demonstrated, in time of need, that our capacity is much greater than we believe it to be, while growth in our numbers will only reinforce that capacity. The funds to accomplish all our goals are in the friends’ hands.

THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE BAHÁ’Í FUND[edit]

Contributing to the Bahá’í Fund on a regular basis is the sacred obligation and an integral part of the devotional life of every sincere believer.

VOLUNTARY NATURE

The amount given is voluntary and rests entirely with the individual—yet the amount is important. Every contribution is valued by the degree of sacrifice involved.

PRIVILEGE

Support of the Fund is a privilege reserved only for those who have declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh.

REGULAR AND SACRIFICIAL

Regular and sacrificial giving is a measure of a believer’s devotion to Bahá’u’lláh and a cause of spiritual growth.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS APRIL 30, 1999 AND 1998[edit]

OPERATIONS AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States (the Assembly) was established in 1927 as a voluntary trust and subsequently incorporated in October 1994 as an Illinois not-for-profit corporation to administer, teach, and further the Bahá’í Faith in the United States.

The accounts of the Assembly are maintained on the accrual basis. The financial statements of the Assembly include the assets, liabilities, fund balances, and financial activities of the National Bahá’í Fund, the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, and the Bahá’í Home.

The principal accounting policies used by the Assembly are as follows:

CONTRIBUTIONS

Contributions from members of the Faith, unless specifically restricted by the donor, are considered to be [Page 24]available for unrestricted use and are recorded as received. Contributions in kind are recorded at an amount representing the estimated fair value of goods and services received during the year. Items received of artistic or religious significance for which no value can be readily determined and which are not anticipated to be sold are recorded at nominal value.

Contributions from non-members may not be used to support the Faith and, accordingly, such amounts received are distributed for other humanitarian causes. Contributions restricted by the donor for particular programs and projects, or for property and equipment acquisitions, are earned and reported as revenues when the Assembly has incurred expenses for the purpose specified by the donor. Such amounts received, but not yet earned, are reported as restricted deferred amounts. Estate bequests are recorded when the funds are received.

TAX EXEMPT STATUS[edit]

The U.S. Treasury Department has held that the National Spiritual Assembly and all subordinate local spiritual assemblies are exempt from Federal income tax as organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) of 1986. Accordingly, contributions made to the National Spiritual Assembly and all of its subordinate local spiritual assemblies are deductible by the donors for Federal income tax purposes as provided by I.R.C. Section 170.

Bequests, legacies, devises, transfers, or gifts to the National Spiritual Assembly or its subordinate local assemblies are deductible for Federal estate and gift tax purposes as provided by I.R.C. Sections 2055, 2106, and 2522.

INVENTORIES[edit]

Inventories of books and special materials are valued at average cost.

INVESTMENTS[edit]

Investments are recorded at market value.

PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT[edit]

Property and equipment are stated at cost. The Assembly computes depreciation of fixed assets over their estimated useful lives using the straight line method. The estimated lives used in computing depreciation are as follows:

ASSET DESCRIPTION/ASSET LIFE[edit]

Furniture and Equipment: 5-10 years

Buildings and Improvements: 20-40 years

Bahá’í House of Worship: 75 years

COMBINING AND COMBINED STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES[edit]

April 30, 1999 (Projected) and April 30, 1998

	National Bahá’í Fund	Bahá’í Publishing Trust	Bahá’í Home	Combined Total April ’99	Combined Total April ’98
CHANGES IN UNRESTRICTED NET ASSETS
Revenues
Unrestricted Contributions	$17,448,209	$ 0	$ 10,000	$17,458,209	$20,179,076
Estate Bequests	1,061,208	0	0	1,061,208	538,559
Bahá’í School Tuition	1,008,683	0	0	1,008,683	958,796
Sale of Books and Materials	829,562	1,425,000	0	2,254,562	2,132,673
Resident Fees	0	0	325,000	325,000	351,706
Other Income	780,205	100,000	0	880,205	435,657
Assets Released From Restriction	100,342	0	0	100,342	625,187
Total Revenues	$21,228,209	$ 1,525,000	$ 335,000	$23,088,209	$25,221,654
Expenses
Contributions to International Funds	$ 3,058,028	$ 0	$ 0	$ 3,058,028	$ 7,563,526
Education and Teaching Activities	4,966,018	0	0	4,966,018	4,692,972
Properties Operations/Maintenance	2,327,811	150,000	60,000	2,537,811	2,752,912
Cost of Books and Special Materials	291,003	1,064,459	0	1,355,462	1,200,044
General Administration	8,271,917	670,093	375,099	9,317,109	9,017,530
Total Expenses	$18,914,777	$ 1,884,552	$ 435,099	$21,234,428	$25,226,984
Other Changes in Unrestricted Net Assets	(150,051)	150,051	0	0	0
Increase/(Decrease) in Unrestricted Net Assets	$ 2,163,381	$ (209,501)	$ (100,099)	$ 1,853,781	$ (5,330)

CHANGES IN TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED NET ASSETS
Contributions	$ 375,000	$ -	$ -	$ 375,000	$ 321,266
Investment Income	55,000	0	0	55,000	51,644
Net Assets Released from Restriction	(100,342)	0	0	(100,342)	(625,187)
Increase/(Decrease) in Temporarily Restricted Net Assets	$ 329,658	$ -	$ -	$ 329,658	$ (252,277)

Increase/(Decrease) in Net Assets	$ 2,493,039	$ (209,501)	$ (100,099)	$ 2,183,439	$ (257,607)
Net Assets, Beginning of Year	$17,426,887	$ 209,501	$ 235,349	$17,871,737	$18,129,344
NET ASSETS, END OF YEAR	$19,919,926	$ -	$ 135,250	$20,055,176	$17,871,737

ASSETS
Current Assets
Cash and Investments	$ 3,958,364	$ 116,694	$ 9,378	$ 4,084,436	$ 4,046,286
Due From/(To) Other Funds	1,654,557	(1,654,557)	0	0	0
Accounts and Notes Receivable	144,728	510,844	3,907	659,479	382,620
Inventories	493,165	715,742	0	1,208,907	1,023,087
Other Current Assets	876,844	54,645	0	931,489	643,896
Total Current Assets	$ 7,127,658	$ (256,633)	$ 13,285	$ 6,884,311	$ 6,095,889
Property & Equipment, Net of Accumulated Depreciation	$20,851,249	$ 296,006	$ 336,722	$21,483,977	$21,115,586
TOTAL ASSETS	$27,978,907	$ 39,373	$ 350,007	$28,368,287	$27,221,475

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable, Accrued Liabilities	$ 1,155,844	$ 39,373	$ 214,757	$ 1,409,974	$ 1,949,672
Demand Notes and Current Maturities of Long Term Debt	4,480,116	0	0	4,480,116	4,967,130
Other Current Liabilities	87,517	0	0	87,517	66,503
Total Current Liabilities	$ 5,723,477	$ 39,373	$ 214,757	$ 5,977,607	$ 6,983,305
Deferred Compensation	24,957	0	0	24,957	31,243
Long-Term Debt	2,310,547	0	0	2,310,547	2,325,190
Total Liabilities	$ 8,058,981	$ 39,373	$ 214,757	$ 8,313,111	$ 9,339,738
Net Assets
Unrestricted	$18,149,543	$ -	$ 135,250	$18,284,793	$16,431,012
Temporarily Restricted	1,770,383	0	0	1,770,383	1,440,725
Total Net Assets	$19,919,926	$ -	$ 135,250	$20,055,176	$17,871,737
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS	$27,978,907	$ 39,373	$ 350,007	$28,368,287	$27,211,475

HUQÚQU’LLÁH[edit]

Huqúqu’lláh (Right of God) is a law revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Obeying the law of Huqúqu’lláh purifies the material wealth we acquire throughout our lifetime by giving back to the Cause of God a portion of that which came from our Creator.

Payments of Huqúqu’lláh are deductible for federal income and estate tax purposes. Checks for Huqúqu’lláh should be made payable to “Bahá’í Huqúqu’lláh Trust” and sent directly to one of the following Trustees:

Dr. Amin Banani Santa Monica, CA 90402	Mrs. Sally Foo Orefield, PA 18069	Mrs. Elizabeth Martin Winnsboro, SC 29180
Dr. Stephen Birkland Arden Hills, MN 55112	Dr. Daryush Haghighi Rocky River, OH 44116	Note: The Trustees of the Bahá’í Huqúqu’lláh Trust have directed the Office of the Treasurer to return to the sender any checks it receives for Huqúqu’lláh.

[Page 25]

WOMEN’S AFFAIRS[edit]

During the first year of the Four Year Plan, 1996, the National Spiritual Assembly placed a laser beam focus on the issue of race unity, using the statement The Vision of Race Unity: America’s Most Challenging Issue and the two studies entitled Models of Unity as focal points for consultation and community education on this critically important topic. During the second year of the Four Year Plan, 1997, the National Assembly added a second focus, the equality between women and men, and released a statement on equality titled Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men. Upon the statement’s release, the National Assembly asked the community to study and present it to outside organizations, similar to those presentations and deepening sessions conducted by the community when the Assembly released The Vision of Race Unity. Now, two years later, the Office of Women’s Affairs observes that there is an immediate challenge confronting the Bahá’í community. Can the American Bahá’í community carry out the National Assembly’s direction to disseminate and study the statement with the same vigor and enthusiasm as has been shown for race unity?

The Office of Women’s Affairs was established by the National Spiritual Assembly to better inform the National Assembly of the activities in the community surrounding the issue of gender equality and to coordinate the various offices, agencies, and institutions of the Faith working for the advancement of women. It was surprised to receive calls and letters from many individuals asking if the release of the statement on gender equality meant that the American Bahá’í community was abandoning race unity. Of course, the answer to this question is a resounding “no,” but for some reason the community has experienced confusion. The National Assembly asked the community to focus simultaneously on two principles of the Faith—race unity and gender equality—during the remainder of the Four Year Plan.

It appears that the community is not giving sufficient attention to the issue of gender equality. The National Spiritual Assembly continues to believe that the statement Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men receives some attention by the American Bahá’í community, but that it lacks a serious study by local spiritual assemblies and individuals, whether alone or in groups. Although there have been some notable efforts to disseminate the statement, to study it, and to put into practice its contents, if we were to rank our efforts thus far we would have to say that we have barely begun the process.

Gender equality affects every human being, male or female, no matter what his or her national origin, culture, class, education, or economic status. Within the Bahá’í community, for example, the demographic report of local spiritual assemblies to the National Spiritual Assembly in 1997 indicated that although women are more likely to be elected to serve on the local spiritual assembly (56% are women), men are slightly more likely to hold an officer position. Men comprise 47% of all officers even though they comprise just 44% of all assembly members. Men are more likely to hold the following offices than women: Chair (64%), Vice Chair (58%), and Treasurer (68%). Women are much more likely to be elected Corresponding Secretary (79%) or Recording Secretary (78%). Although statistics are not in yet for 1998, the Office of Assembly Development will be conducting an analysis of the same information during the coming year. In addition, anecdotal information tells us that there appears to be a prevalence in the Bahá’í community of men as the keynote speakers at presentations to the public. It is also true that the vast majority of teachers of children at Bahá’í schools and Feasts are women.

Perhaps one of the major obstacles that prevents us from enthusiastically embracing the principle of equality is that we as a people have not developed the language to discuss the issue. Bahá’ís have been earnestly discussing and practicing race unity work since the visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to America in 1912. We have a much longer, sustained practice in discussing race relations, and we are becoming known in the greater community for our racial amity work. Yet the believers, whether male or female, do not feel comfortable discussing the subject of equality between women and men.

Although growth in this area is slow nationwide, in the past year there were significant activities undertaken in promotion of gender equality.

One of the most significant activities in which the Office of Women’s Affairs participated was arranging in February 1999 with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Taiwan for a delegation of legislators, judges, social workers and police from Taipei, Taiwan, to visit New York City to study the United States’ experience of handling domestic violence cases. Taiwan passed its first domestic violence laws in 1998 which are to go into effect in June of 1999. Among the events associated with the delegation’s visits to courts, police departments, and social institutions, were a reception held for the group in which our office participated and a dinner co-hosted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Taiwan and the U.S. National Assembly’s Office of Women’s Affairs. Another notable event was the arranging of a Bahá’í presentation at a hearing on the status of women in Illinois at the President’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History, held on November 12, 1998, in Washington, DC.

The study and practice of gender equality during the year included: the efforts of the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men to train females as speakers and to engage the community in a dialogue to focus attention on the important topic of equality; the Young Women’s Institutes at the Louhelen Bahá’í School; and the One Voice Campaign on college campuses across the country sponsored by the National Youth Committee. In March 1999, the National Assembly launched a nationwide campaign to disseminate the statement Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men and to study its contents in the Bahá’í community. During the coming year we will collect data from the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men and inform the community of the results. In addition, the Office of Assembly Development is launching a new local spiritual assembly development module on the topic of equality, titled Builders of Communities: Fostering the Equality of Women and Men, which should be completed in April 1999.

In June 1999, the Office of Women’s Affairs will be hosting an invitational meeting of women of diverse backgrounds at the Bahá’í National Center where papers will be presented on gender equality from the perspective of each person’s cultural background. The purpose of the meeting is to begin a dialog among women of diverse backgrounds who can make recommendations to the Office of Women’s Affairs for activities in the future.

The Office of Women’s Affairs has identified many areas that require urgent attention within the American Bahá’í community with regard to gender equality. There is a need to examine the traditional roles of women and men and to explore Bahá’í concepts of full partnership. Work must be done to raise consciousness about the status of women both within the Bahá’í community and in the society-at-large. Communities and individuals need to work to provide safe and loving environments where men’s feelings are encouraged and women’s voices are heard. Men and boys must be encouraged to develop a greater sense of responsibility for and involvement in the issue of the equality of women and men. Bahá’ís need to develop the skills necessary to eradicate violence against women. And there needs to be a greater appreciation for the sacred roles of motherhood and fatherhood.

The Office of Women’s Affairs is limited in the number of activities it can carry out successfully as it currently has only part-time staff. It earnestly desires, however, to see a wide variety of grassroots initiatives in support of the principle of the equality of the sexes either to begin soon or be developed to unprecedented levels where activities are occurring. Local spiritual assemblies, communities and individuals can begin by studying and disseminating the statement Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men. They also may contact the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men and the Regional Bahá’í Councils’ Committees for the Equality of Women and Men to learn about activities in their local areas or to get information about the principle. The Office of Women’s Affairs strongly urges the believers to write to the committees and to its office informing us of their plans and activities.

The Office of Women’s Affairs is hopeful that by next Ridván a ‎signifcant significant‎ number of activities related to the promotion of the principle of the equality of the sexes will be in full swing and that their momentum will increase as we enter the next century and a new millennium. For, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has admonished, “let it be known once more that until woman and man recognize and realize equality, social and political progress here or anywhere will not be possible. For the world of humanity consists of two parts or members: one is woman; the other is man. Until these two members are equal in strength, the oneness of humanity cannot be established, and the happiness and felicity of mankind will not be a reality.” [Page 26]

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE AGENCIES OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES[edit]

SECRETARIAT[edit]

OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT[edit]

The office consists of two sections: Community Administration and the Office of Assembly Development. Community Administration provides administrative support to the National Spiritual Assembly by offering guidance to local spiritual assemblies and individual believers concerning issues of community functioning and the application of Bahá’í principles and laws. The Office of Assembly Development provides resources, training, and analysis to assist local spiritual assemblies in their development. These resources are also available to assist Regional Bahá’í Councils, Regional Training Institutes, and other Institutions working to aid assemblies in their maturation.

COMMUNITY ADMINISTRATION[edit]

Community Administration faces an ongoing challenge to provide timely responses to the thousands of inquiries that it receives each year by mail, telephone, and e-mail. This year the task was made especially difficult when the National Center’s computer servers failed, seriously hampering Community Administration’s ability to access needed records over a three-month period. In turn, this led to a backlog in correspondence that is still being addressed. The primary task of Community Administration in the coming year will be to eliminate this backlog without compromising the standard of excellence that must characterize its work on behalf of the National Assembly. The friends can assist with this by turning to the guidance that is readily available to them on the local level before writing or calling the National Spiritual Assembly. For example, it is not unusual for Community Administration to receive a request for guidance that has already been provided in Developing Distinctive Bahá’í Communities: Guidelines for Spiritual Assemblies simply because the writer or caller felt that it would be easier to obtain such guidance by contacting the office or because they had not thought to contact their own or a nearby local spiritual assembly first. Local spiritual assemblies can assist by taking the time to educate the friends in their communities about the various laws of the Faith that are binding upon them at this time, answering their questions, and fostering a spirit of genuine love and concern for each member of their community. If assemblies will nurture such an environment in their communities, drawing upon the resources of the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, whenever possible, the friends will turn to them with respect and confidence, and seek their guidance before choosing to write or call the Bahá’í National Center.

OFFICE OF ASSEMBLY DEVELOPMENT[edit]

As in past years, the development of local spiritual assemblies has been the central focus of the work of the Office of Assembly Development. The office has devoted itself to producing training materials for assemblies, such as Developing Distinctive Bahá’í Communities: Guidelines for Spiritual Assemblies and the new and revised modules, conducting training sessions at Bahá’í schools and area gatherings of assemblies known as forums, and hosting Weekend Visits of local spiritual assemblies to the Bahá’í National Center.

Working from a base of ten modules developed a decade ago, the office has produced six new and revised modules. The titles of these workshops are: A Sense of Partnership: The Individual and the Local Spiritual Assembly (new); Channels of Divine Guidance: The Spiritual Nature of the Local Assembly (revised); Channels of Divine Guidance: Consultation Part One: Developing the Requisites of Consultation (revised and expanded); Channels of Divine Guidance: Consultation Part Two: Consulting in Unity and Harmony (revised and expanded); Builders of Communities: Stress Management and the Bahá’í Community (revised); and Loving Shepherds of the Multitudes: The Application of Spiritual and Administrative Principles (revised). Additional workshops that will be available in the coming year include: Builders of Communities: Fostering Racial Unity; Builders of Communities: Fostering the Partnership of Women and Men; and Developing a Stronger Sense of Community.

In the coming year, a major challenge will be both to extend the range of training topics available to local spiritual assemblies and to promote their usage by a wider number of assemblies. Many local spiritual assemblies have never participated in a module workshop, and when they do participate they usually take only one or two. Efforts will be made to increase both the number of assemblies participating and the number of modules they take. Local spiritual assemblies are encouraged to use the services of trained Assembly Development representatives, where available, as module facilitators. The representatives received updated training on the facilitation of the new modules, and they receive constant feedback and updates to assist their performance. In addition, evaluation forms from module presentations are reviewed for feedback on the effectiveness of content and quality of presenter skills.

Another challenge will be to find a way to conduct more Assembly Development forums in areas where there are large concentrations of assemblies. The forums have been well-received wherever they have been presented, with assemblies commenting on the practical information they have gained from participating in them. But the staff and resources of the Office of Assembly Development are limited, making it difficult for the office to schedule and conduct as many forums as it would like. Assistance has been sought from the Regional Bahá’í Councils, however, and it is hoped that ongoing collaboration between the office and the Councils will result in more and more assemblies having the opportunity to partake in a forum.

Last year, a number of assemblies participated in several of the Weekend Visit programs to the Bahá’í National Center, where they had the opportunity to visit with the National Spiritual Assembly, hear from its members and agencies about the progress of the Four Year Plan, share their concerns, and develop a deeper appreciation for and understanding of the various offices at the Bahá’í National Center. The opportunity exists in the coming year for more assemblies to participate in this program, and it will be another challenge of the Office of Assembly Development to ensure that each assembly is aware of how it can take advantage of this valuable and inspirational experience.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY—CONVENTIONS[edit]

The Conventions Office, staffed by one person and operating within the Office of the Secretary, plans and coordinates the National Convention; serves as a liaison to assist the Regional Bahá’í Councils with their daily work; coordinates semi-annual briefings for the National Spiritual Assembly and the Regional Bahá’í Councils; maintains a review process of the number of eligible voters in each electoral unit; prepares recommendations for boundary changes to ensure equitable apportionment of delegates, as well as educating the American Bahá’í community on the purpose and principles of reapportionment; and serves as assistant to the Office of Women’s Affairs.

Last year the office planned and coordinated the 89th National Convention and planned the 90th National Convention. It organized the mailing of the election call to all adult believers eligible to vote at the Unit Conventions and assisted the Regional Bahá’í Councils in preparing logistical and educational materials and in arranging for 167 Unit Conventions. Following the Unit Conventions, this office processed tellers’ and secretaries’ reports and conveyed Unit Convention recommendations to the National Spiritual Assembly. Other responsibilities included the coordination of the work of the Redistricting Task Force which compiled data about the distribution of Bahá’í population and made recommendations to the National Spiritual Assembly regarding electoral unit boundaries.

The 91st National Convention, which will fall in the upcoming year, marks the end of the Four Year Plan. In its 1996 Riḍván Message the Universal House of Justice indicated that at Riḍván 2000, “the Bahá’í world will look back in appreciation at the extraordinary developments and dazzling achievements that will have distinguished the annals of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh during that eventful period,” a period which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called the “century of light.” The 91st National Convention will be open to all who wish to attend and will require special arrangements and much time to plan.

A national redistricting will be done with the dual goals of aligning electoral unit boundaries with the boundaries of regions served by the Regional Bahá’í Councils and of creating electoral units that provide for equitable representation of voters for each of 171 delegates to be elected. The new electoral units are to be in place for the Unit Conventions to be held in October of 2000.

The Conventions Office’s work in assisting the Regional Bahá’í Councils increased steadily in volume over the past year. The office organized incoming and outgoing communications with the Regional Bahá’í Councils and prepared monthly reports for the National Spiritual Assembly regarding the Councils’ communications. It coordinated two meetings for the National Spiritual Assembly and members of the Regional Bahá’í Councils. It assisted the Councils in preparing logistical and educational materials and in arrangements for 167 Unit Conventions as well as assisting the Councils in preparations for their own elections to be held on May 23, 1999. It is likely that the expectation of the Regional Bahá’í Councils coming to Wilmette for semi-annual briefings will be realized. Such briefings will have a significant impact upon the work of this office.

In addition to daily support to the Office of Women’s Affairs, the Conventions Office will assist that office to plan and host an upcoming conference in June for nearly fifty participants. It also will compile the papers presented at the conference for the future use of the Office of Women’s Affairs. It is anticipated that these activities, as well as the upcoming video on the equality of women and men, will increase significantly the workload of the Conventions Office. [Page 27]

BAHÁ’Í ENCYCLOPEDIA PROJECT[edit]

The primary assignment of the Editorial Board for the Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project is to compile a comprehensive, authoritative, and easy-to-use encyclopedic reference work on the Bahá’í Faith for Bahá’ís, the media, students, scholars, diplomats, and others.

In the past year the Editorial Board continued a twofold process of (1) reassessing and enlarging the pool of articles in hand with the goal of bringing a spectrum of articles to editorial conclusion and (2) preparing to publish interim volumes. At its June 1998 meeting, the Editorial Board gave particular attention to developing a plan for interim publications containing articles on important aspects of the Bahá’í Faith approved for possible publication in A Short Encyclopedia of the Bahá’í Faith. Work on a selection of articles and on the format for an interim series is proceeding. The editors have also commissioned a number of new articles and worked with authors on revising draft articles. The editorial office continued to develop its database and to maintain contact with contributors throughout the world. In addition to working on the Encyclopedia, the three members of the editorial team provided human resource support to the Wilmette Institute.

The Editorial Board anticipates major progress in the coming year toward the goal of publishing interim volumes and gradual progress toward the compilation of a Bahá’í Encyclopedia.

PERSIAN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS[edit]

NATIONAL PERSIAN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS OFFICE[edit]

In addition to managing the executive functions of the National Persian-American Affairs Task Force, the Office undertakes various activities to help promote the integration of Bahá’ís of Iranian descent and assists various Bahá’í administrative agencies in matters related to Iran.

The activities of the Office have included: sending the Persian translation of several press releases about the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran to Persian language media outlets in the U.S.; supporting the Friends of Persian Culture Association and organizing its eighth annual conference; supporting the publication of Bi-Yád-i Dúst (In Memory of the Friend), a 206-page tribute in Persian to the Hand of the Cause of God Abu’l-Qásim Faizí; helping to translate the Ridván 155 message of the Universal House of Justice and six other messages from the Bahá’í World Center; translating Feast letters and other messages of the National Spiritual Assembly; publishing the bilingual quarterly Tabernacle of Unity; preparing the Persian pages of The American Bahá’í; coordinating the work of the Persian Reviewing Panel; helping to organize the Persian session of ‘Irfán Colloquia; conducting an intensive Persian language course in conjunction with the residential session of the Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program of the Wilmette Institute; and assisting the Institute for Bahá’í Studies and the Wilmette Institute.

NATIONAL PERSIAN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS TASK FORCE[edit]

The National Persian-American Affairs Task Force is charged with increasing the activities of the more than ten thousand Bahá’ís of Iranian origin in the United States in support of the goals of the community, as directed by the Universal House of Justice in its Ridván 153 message to North America.

The challenge faced by the Task Force is the diversity of circumstances and backgrounds of the Persian-American members of the U.S. Bahá’í community. They range from longtime residents of this country or those born or raised here to several hundred newly arrived believers each year. An added complication is the varying level of deepening these friends have.

The Task Force used the directives of the Universal House of Justice in its message to Iranian Bahá’ís throughout the world, dated B.E. 154, as guidance for efforts to revitalize and activate the Bahá’ís of Persian descent. This message exhorted them to demonstrate, in every aspect of their lives, the high ideals of the Bahá’í Faith; to pay attention to the spiritual education of children and youth; to teach the Faith in the name of their brothers and sisters in Iran; and to teach their children the Persian language. To accomplish this goal, the National Spiritual Assembly appointed sixteen Area Task Forces. It also organized meetings with Bahá’ís of Persian background in seven areas of concentration of Persian-American Bahá’ís to discuss the messages of the Supreme Institution and to identify ways in which the friends could better serve the goals of the Four Year Plan. The National Task Force disseminated hundreds of copies of the B.E. 154 message of the Universal House of Justice, in Persian and English, along with study guides. The Area Task Forces also were asked to organize small gatherings of several families each in different parts of their areas for the study of the messages. Additionally in each area, the National Task Force met with representatives of local spiritual assemblies in order to explore ways in which collaboration could lead to the activation of the Persian-American friends. According to reports received from Area Task Forces, numerous meetings, seminars, and workshops were organized around the country for studying the messages and developing personal action plans. Therefore, the future plans of the Task Force include:

a) conducting surveys to gather more reliable information;

b) focusing programs and activities on various aspects of Bahá’í life, such as honesty and trustworthiness, the rights of women and children, race unity, chastity and morality, obedience to Bahá’í institutions and to civil authority, spiritual rejuvenation, intergenerational issues, and biculturalism; and

c) preparing the Area Task Forces for ultimate transfer to the jurisdiction of the Regional Bahá’í Councils, as directed by the National Spiritual Assembly.

The National Task Force feels that it needs to obtain data more reliable than anecdotal reports about the involvement and services of Persian-American members of the community. Therefore, the future plans of the Task Force include:

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND REVIEW[edit]

The Research and Review Office, established in 1989, has a staff of two and provides a variety of services to the National Spiritual Assembly. It assists Bahá’í agencies and individuals with some of their research needs as well as coordinates the prepublication review of all manuscripts and special materials with Bahá’í content. It collects statistics for the National Spiritual Assembly’s report to the Universal House of Justice and prepares other reports as assigned. It assembles, edits and publishes the annual report of the National Spiritual Assembly. It is the host office of the Institute for Bahá’í Studies, which assists Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í academics with their Bahá’í-related research and sponsors small scholarly conferences and seminars. It also is the host of the Wilmette Institute, which gives courses on aspects of the Bahá’í Faith. Finally, it cooperates closely and collaborates with the Encyclopedia Project, World Order magazine, the National Bahá’í Archives, the Haj Mehdi Arjmand Memorial Fund and the Association for Bahá’í Studies.

The unexpected focus of the past year was the letter-writing campaign to protest the Iranian government’s attempt to close the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education. Part of the campaign was coordinated by the Research Office, which made an emergency appeal for the e-mail addresses of Bahá’ís who teach at universities. This activity resulted in the creation of a database of about 250 Bahá’í academics. By the end of three months, efforts had been reported on 176 college and university campuses; eighty Presidents or deans of professional schools had been asked to write letters of protest; five faculty senates and three student senates had passed resolutions condemning the attack on the Open University; thirty-nine newspaper articles had appeared about the attack; twelve petition drives had collected well over a thousand signatures; and several very successful public meetings and candlelight vigils had been held, attracting attendance of or attention from prominent non-Bahá’ís.

Last year, the Research Office sent a total of 7,191 outgoing communications, mostly attributable to the Wilmette Institute’s distance-education courses and the flow of communication necessitated by the Open University campaign. It completed prepublication reviews on 126 literature items and on 205 special materials items. A decrease in audiocassettes needing review was particularly noticeable, as was the generally higher quality of such items submitted. Prepublication review was completed in a more timely manner most of the year, and a necessary policy was established of focusing on special written reports and other writing projects twice a year (March and August), leaving items for review to accumulate at those times.

Efforts to interact with academics continued. Bahá’ís attended two meetings of the Cooperative Congregational Survey project, helping to plan a survey of 30,000 religious congregations in the United States early in the year 2000. The Research Office assisted in creating a Bahá’í program and book display at the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting, attended by 8,000 professors and students of religious studies. Letters were written to correct errors about the Bahá’í Faith in two publications. A review of a Bahá’í historical work was submitted to Nova Religio, a professional journal. A non-Bahá’í filmmaker was given assistance in his efforts to create a documentary video about the Faith.

Research on the Bahá’í Faith by Bahá’ís was also fostered in that Bahá’ís writing books, articles, theses, and college papers on Bahá’í topics received assistance. The Office initiated plans for a conference on Bahá’í spiritual life and considerable support was provided to the ‘Irfán Colloquia, including the creation and publication of the program booklets. The Office provided support for the Religious Studies Seminar meeting at the annual Association for Bahá’í Studies conference. In addition, about twelve In Memoriam articles for The Bahá’í World series were collected and sent to Haifa, and the Research Office’s Library was organized with most of its books entered into a computer database.

Collaboration with other agencies of the Faith continued. Research Office staff served on committees or editorial boards of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, the Journal of Bahá’í Studies, World Order, the Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project, the Institute for Bahá’í Studies and the Wilmette Institute.

The Research Office recognizes that a lack of human resources is a persistent issue. In 1998–99, shortness of staff prevented the Institute for Bahá’í Studies from sponsoring any conferences and limited the number of letters that could be written to non-Bahá’í authors correcting errors in their works. It is hoped that during the coming year staff support can be increased to take advantage of the opportunity to network people with similar research interests and foster more specialized study of the Faith; to write letters to the authors of ten to twelve publications correcting erroneous information about the Faith; and to ‎collaboration collaborate‎ with non-Bahá’í researchers through the Cooperative Congregational Survey Project and the American Academy of Religion needs to be continued. [Page 28]

TEACHING[edit]

NATIONAL TEACHING COMMITTEE[edit]

The national teaching plan encompasses activities at the national, regional and local levels. They are interlocking and mutually reinforcing. Together they provide a means for stimulating the energies of the friends in their individual and collective efforts, while also uniting them into a single, effective campaign of action.

Early results show that we have begun to reach beyond the traditional boundaries of friendship and kinship networks in promising new ways. We are also establishing new emerging patterns of community life that are more “seeker friendly.” The Bahá’í community has shown extraordinary support for the national initiative, as evidenced by the level of local community activity in direct support of the campaign. Moreover, the community as a whole is highly active and committed to teaching.

In sum, we have vast potential for growth based upon our own level of teaching activity and our increasing capacity to attract people to the Faith. This report will deal with specific achievements and challenges.

THE MEDIA INITIATIVE[edit]

SUMMARY OF RESULTS[edit]

Since the national media campaign began last March, we have received more than twelve thousand phone calls on the 1-800-22-UNITE line. We also have had about ten thousand non-Bahá’í user sessions on the web site which have yielded about seven hundred inquiries for information.

We also estimate some tens of thousands who have attended locally organized events. In some cases we know of enrollments as a direct result, but we do not yet have a firm count. A survey to determine this is now under way.

We continue to get information that indicates a high degree of support and continued enthusiasm about the national teaching plan. About 80% of communities have made and executed plans in conjunction with the campaign.

Two things are clear from these results. First, the aggregate response from non-Bahá’ís has been very good. This is an encouraging result considering the limited extent of the broadcasts and the limited life of the campaign to date.

The second major result of the campaign has been the degree to which the friends in general have responded to it and undertaken local teaching and community activities. There is clearly a new level of enthusiasm about teaching. The types of activities show attention to the guidance from the Universal House of Justice which prescribes a wide array of specific actions. This demonstrates an increasing capacity to accommodate a variety of necessary and complementary initiatives. Several months ago a survey was taken to determine the nature and extent of local activities related to the national campaign. Here are some data from the survey:

Communities sponsoring race unity events of some kind: 79%
Communities sponsoring Race Unity Day: 68%
Neighborhood race unity dialogue: 36%
Healing Racism Institute: 20%
Public meeting(s): 66%
Campaign to promote the national broadcasts: 77%
Campaign to promote local broadcasts: 66%
Other types of events: 58%
Collaboration with non-Bahá’í organizations on race issues: 68%

A KNOWLEDGE-BASED PROCESS[edit]

For nearly three years the National Teaching Committee and others have been working together to find effective ways of addressing audiences with the Bahá’í Faith using the media. This process has featured systematic analysis of potentially receptive audiences and the crafting of high-quality materials that underwent successive tests with non-Bahá’í viewers.

This approach is different in significant ways from the activity conventionally referred to as proclamation. The key objective in proclamation, as historically practiced, has been to impart information about the Faith to large numbers of people. The size of the audience has been the measure of effectiveness. The concept of audience has been undifferentiated; it has been viewed as a “mass.” The informational content has been approached from a Bahá’í perspective only and conveyed to an audience for its edification.

There are important distinctions between “old-style” proclamation and the current efforts. Audiences are more precisely defined. We forgo the fanciful idea of “mass” as it relates to audience in favor of the more useful concept of distinctive segments with differentiated interests. We rely more heavily on research to help define these segments. We are interested initially in those that appear to be most likely to be responsive to a religious alternative like the Bahá’í Faith. We use a disciplined process to generate messages for targeted audiences. Programming content addresses the needs of audiences as defined by them, and not by us. We have built in systematic audience feedback mechanisms through focus groups and on-line surveys to keep the effort focused on the intended audience. Effectiveness, therefore, is measured by response and not by reach. If there is no response, there is arguably no communication.

FOCUS GROUP TESTS[edit]

This process of research and testing has yielded a great deal of information about how to effectively communicate the Message to people who, for the most part, are hearing about the Faith for the first time.

Fundamentally the issue is one of sensitivity to our audience. The first goal is not so much to impart specific information as to build trust.

We have published one article in a recent edition of The American Bahá’í that summarized some basic lessons we have learned which would have implications for teaching of all kinds. We are now growing in confidence about some basic points, which are worth reviewing here.

There can be a great deal of suspicion and cynicism about the Faith, especially on first hearing about it. The tendency on the part of viewers is to want to define the Faith as a cult, so we have to take great pains to establish that it is not. Among the ways we do this are to show people in the videos who are clearly “mainstream,” in that they appear happy, balanced, involved in society, kind to their children, and so on.

There is a tendency to react against anything perceived as “foreign,” which is taken as an indication of a cult, or at the very least as an indication that the Faith is not for “regular” people.

People are not nearly as interested in what we say as in what we do. We have to show our principles in action. Not to do this is to invite skepticism and scorn. At the same time, we cannot come across as having an attitude of superiority to others, as if we have actually solved our problems, whether about race, spirituality, or anything else. What comes across well is to present ourselves as people who struggle to implement high ideals, and who have achieved promising results, but not total success.

We have to demonstrate that we are actively involved in the world around us, not isolated from others. In particular, it is essential to show that we do not consider the Faith as superior to other religions, nor Bahá’ís as morally superior to other people. Presentations should give a clear sense of the essentially spiritual nature of our religion, even when addressing “social” issues.

We need to offer a clear sense of the participatory nature of the Faith, emphasizing its democratic elements and the full involvement of the members in all activities. People seem to be very intrigued by our lack of a clergy.

The sense should be conveyed, within acceptable limits, that there is room for personal choice and opportunity for diversity and differences. This helps to portray us as a progressive, accepting and nonjudgmental religion.

It must be completely clear that we are a community of faith and that we worship God in ways that are recognizable and attractive to religious people.

It is essential to emphasize the commitment to children, marriage, and family life. The primary audience is women, and we have to connect with these issues in order to attract them.

Whenever possible, it is important to offer testimonials of respected non-Bahá’ís who acknowledge and appreciate our contributions to society.

We have to avoid the use of parochial language, including any expressions that might not be understood by nonbelievers. Some of these expressions are obvious; others are less so but can be seen to have a great effect.

We need to express that the Bahá’í community has joy and to be a member is a happy experience. People want to be part of a group that is happy and welcoming.

These are among the more important lessons. Fundamentally the issue is sensitivity to our audience.

Over the course of the near future we may very well observe the emergence of a significant group of people who are friends of the Faith. These people will be quite aware of us, will understand and appreciate our principles, and will often be closely involved in our activities. Yet they may not become believers right away. Our present tendency is to want people to accept the Faith quickly, and we often have little patience for those who fail to do so within what we consider to be a “reasonable” period of time. It will be a challenge for us to sincerely value the contributions of those who are attracted to our community, welcome association with them, and not display too great anxiety over their conversion.

PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS[edit]

For the first few months of the campaign, our primary means of learning about the respondents were: focus group tests; profiling some of the callers who responded to the broadcasts in June 1997 in Atlanta; analysis of incoming calls and seeker addresses showing geographic distributions; random surveys of local communities to obtain more information about the seekers; and analysis of seeker names to determine gender. Seekers often indicated their own race as well, when they left messages on the phone system.

We have now added two new means of learning about our audience. One is an on-line survey of users who visit our public web site. The other is an on-line survey of callers to 1-800-22-UNITE.

In the past we have reported some of the main characteristics of those who indicated interest in the Faith after having seen The Power of Race Unity and videos on other themes. They have tended to be: women (60% or more); primarily baby-boomers aged 33 to 52; racially diverse, but mainly African-American and white; parents; better educated (college or higher); concentrated in the caring professions (education, health, etc.); and both urban and suburban.

These characteristics are a mirror image of the Bahá’í community itself.

The web survey has added some important new information. Some of the [Page 29]results are quite interesting. For example:

47% of non-Bahá’ís say that they first heard of the Faith through some form of media, as compared with 5% of the general Bahá’í community.
41% of non-Bahá’ís say that they have known of the Faith for one month or less; and 53% for six months or less.
62% of non-Bahá’ís describe themselves as seekers for spiritual truth; 49% are members of a faith community, and 51% are not.
Only 16% of non-Bahá’ís indicate that they are satisfied with their current religious practice.
Although mainly baby-boomer-aged, there are also many users who are college-aged. This is normal for Internet, but nevertheless an important indication that we can reach this audience. Women predominate (52%), which is very significant given that general use of the Internet is only 40% by women.
Non-Bahá’í users tend to be well educated and indicate high levels of involvement in social issues.

These data make for interesting comparisons with the current Bahá’í membership.

The advertisements on the Internet conducted last June yielded data that allowed us to measure the exact number of people who inquired for more information as a proportion of those who were exposed to the Faith. The Yahoo! ads received response at a rate of 0.5% of those who saw them. This is exactly the same as the industry standard. Based on this, we believe that it is reasonable to assume that about 2,400,000 individuals have been exposed to the Message at least once during the past year.

SURVEY OF PHONE RESPONDENTS[edit]

We have also begun to survey people who called the 800 phone line, starting with those who called during the month of October. We have received 10% response to our survey of about 800 individuals. From this a few things are worth mentioning. Thirteen percent of the respondents reported that they have already attended a Bahá’í meeting since calling. Fifteen percent reported that they were satisfied with their current religious practice; 46% are members of a faith community and 54% are not.

Most had received their requested literature at the time of the survey, but nearly half of those who asked for phone calls had not received them yet. We clearly need to be more vigilant in ensuring local follow-up. The present system allows us to tell whether local communities are checking their phone-mail boxes; however, we do not know how effectively believers are dealing with the calls once they are downloaded. This will require more study and refinement.

The profile of the seekers is very similar to that of the non-Bahá’í visitors to our web site, including the relatively high number of youth respondents. This is quite significant, since youth are under-represented in our current membership. In addition, the proportion of ethnic minorities, singles, and divorced people is higher than in the Bahá’í community.

NATIONAL TEACHING PLAN[edit]

CARRY THE MESSAGE OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH TO THE AMERICAN NATION

National Media Initiative
Regional and Local Initiatives
Individual Initiatives

DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE BELIEVERS

Training Institutes
Devotional Gatherings
Daily Prayer
Core Curriculum/Fundamental Verities
Ruhi Institutes

FOSTER THE MATURITY OF THE INSTITUTIONS AND COMMUNITY

Promote Race Unity
Promote Equality of Women and Men
Social and Economic Development

FUTURE MEDIA EFFORTS[edit]

We began airing thirty- and sixty-second commercials on Black Entertainment Television starting in December. These have done very well in getting response.

We are working with NSA agencies and other believers to continue the development of the national media initiative. Here is an outline of some other upcoming media-related activities.

We should have at least three new broadcast-quality tapes available by spring of 1999. We are now researching availability on national channels, and we will also release tapes for local use. In addition, we will have a new series of thirty- and sixty-second commercials. The three new half-hour tapes will be one targeting Christian audiences, entitled We Are One; The Power of Prayer; and Two Wings of a Bird. A tape addressing indigenous peoples and an introductory tape in Spanish will be done in 1999. Each of the themes will have complementary training and dialogue materials, such as those produced for The Power of Race Unity. We have already consulted with the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men about materials it will publish in conjunction with the women's video.
Our seeker capture and distribution system is now greatly improved. A database has been created that will allow us to generate automatic reports to local communities, the Bahá’í Distribution Service and the Regional Bahá’í Councils. This will contain all pertinent information on seekers, tracked by a wide range of data fields, and a system for monitoring follow-up efforts.
The new 800 phone system is now operating and still includes routing to local communities, but at far less cost.
The Office of Public Information (OPI) is developing a plan to target the mainstream media by presenting noteworthy items for press coverage.
We are interested in adapting current materials as interactive educational tools for the Internet. In the not-too-distant future we would like to have courses on the Faith, and on various specific aspects of the Faith, available to non-Bahá’ís in this format. We are developing this with some friends who have professional experience in this field.
The Bahá’í Publishing Trust is now developing its plan for getting Bahá’í literature into the retail book trade. The National Teaching Committee has been and will continue to be intimately involved in this process.
We are also working with the Regional Bahá’í Councils to develop test projects in specific areas where media experiments will be done in conjunction with organized teaching campaigns.
We hope that media efforts will be valuable not only for generating response, but also for stimulating local activity. At this point about 85% of the communities on the system are checking regularly for seeker information. We also send regular statistical information to the Regional Councils, who have agreed to help ensure quality follow-up.
We also hope to have a sustained broadcast schedule beginning in the spring and continuing through the final year of the Plan.

COSTS FOR RESPONSE[edit]

One of the issues about which we have been most concerned is that media efforts yield response at a sustainable rate in terms of the funds invested. Since the time of the first broadcasts in Atlanta we have steadily decreased the average cost for each response from about $50 per inquiry to around $10. Recent tests have sometimes been less efficient and sometimes more efficient than the $10 rate. We hope to improve still more over the course of time, which will necessitate a variety of new experiments with content, format, channels, times, and so on, as well as with new media.

The most efficient medium that we have been able to track so far has been the Internet site, which steadily yields a high number of non-Bahá’í user sessions and inquiries. The ads on Yahoo! in June yielded about one inquiry for every $8 spent. This means requests for more literature or a phone call, not just visiting the site.

As we improve our system for tracking and surveying seeker response, we should be able to glean insights that will help us to achieve greater and greater efficiencies.

SURVEYS OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS[edit]

We reported some of the results from surveys of the Bahá’í community, which began last year. A few more points are worth summarizing.

The rate of reported individual teaching activity is high, with 76% reporting that they teach the Faith to friends and acquaintances at least once per week. Fifty percent teach the Faith to colleagues at work at least once per week; 34% teach strangers at least once per week; and 28% teach relatives at least once per week. Forty-four percent report that they have hosted a fireside within the past year; 36% say that they have done so four times or more. Forty percent state that they have taken training institute courses to help make them more effective teachers.

Bahá’ís are very optimistic about the prospects for growth in the near term. Eighty-one percent report optimism, and only 7% are pessimistic. They also believe that other believers are optimistic, but somewhat less so than themselves. Seventy-two percent rate the national media campaign as either good or excellent, with only 2% rating it as poor. The believers have a high opinion of the Bahá’í administrative institutions and those who serve on them. In particular, 61% agreed that the institutions are good at supporting individual initiative, while only 16% disagreed. Seventy-six percent feel that their own local communities take seriously the [Page 30]responsibility to teach the Faith.

Membership in the Bahá’í Faith appears to have a highly positive impact on social activism. Thirty percent of believers report that they were involved in one or more kinds of activities for social change before enrolling in the Faith (these include education, human rights, women, environment, etc.); and 58% report that ‎have they have‎ become involved in such activities since becoming Bahá’ís.

The survey confirms that we have tended to draw our membership from the more educated and socially progressive elements of society. They fit the same profile as those who are responding to the media campaign.

Upcoming surveys will explore these issues: interracial contacts and friendships; a study of factors affecting fund contributions; individual involvement and satisfaction with Bahá’í community life; issues related to the advancement of women; volunteerism and activism; minority participation in community life; and religious practices, such as prayer, deepening, and so on.

A system has been put in place to survey automatically new believers on issues related to their experiences in becoming Bahá’ís. The survey questionnaire has been drafted and will be implemented soon. Results will help us to monitor the people who are actually enrolling as well as the factors that led to their conversion.

INDIVIDUAL TEACHING PATTERNS[edit]

It is often said that relatively low enrollment figures in recent years are evidence that the believers don’t teach the Faith. Our work so far suggests a complex, but hopeful, reality.

The evidence that we have in hand indicates that enthusiasm, activism, and engagement are not insurmountable obstacles. Training that addresses skills, and not only motivation, would appear to be in order.

It is important to state once again that the real value of the media effort is to increase opportunities for individual teaching. There are natural limits to individual activities, no matter how dedicated our teachers are. One possible means of aiding those who wish to teach would be to engage seekers on a large scale and give them the opportunity to get in contact with the friends. We also believe that greater general awareness of the Faith will lead to more teaching opportunities and result in higher growth.

MEDIA WITHIN THE NATIONAL TEACHING PLAN[edit]

The strategies of the Four Year Plan are interlocking and interactive. No single factor is sufficient for victory. The stream of seekers will accelerate. Meeting their expectations, however, will require broader engagement by all of us in the individual, community, and institutional development objectives of this Plan.

NATIONAL LEVEL[edit]

The activities at the national level include the development of new materials for the media and of training programs for specific needs, such as public information and Core Curriculum; ongoing research and testing with audiences and capture and distribution of seeker information; monitoring activities and developments within the Bahá’í community; the provision of strategic advice to various institutions; and the communication of important news to the community.

REGIONAL PLANS[edit]

Regional plans were described by the Universal House of Justice as comprising these strategies:

1. Development of human resources 2. Promotion of individual teaching 3. Launching of campaigns of various kinds 4. Strengthening of local communities (LSAs in particular) 5. Establishment of local and regional projects 6. Assisting with traveling teachers and homefront pioneers 7. Distribution of literature and audio-visual materials 8. Holding of conferences

We hope that such activities will be tailored to directly support the national themes and media campaign. For example, Regional Bahá’í Councils can be quite helpful in encouraging local usage of the 800 number, monitoring local follow-up with seekers, increasing attention to relevant themes such as race unity and advancement of women, and the development of training programs that address relevant skills.

LOCAL ACTIVITIES[edit]

Activities at the national and regional levels should foster the emergence of sustained patterns of activities at the local level, featuring local use of media materials and other teaching and proclamation tools; a wide array of teaching activities, such as firesides, public talks, and campus activities; regular devotional gatherings; training and deepening; effective functioning of local spiritual assemblies; increasing individual participation in community life and teaching; and a broad foundation of community life, including Nineteen Day Feasts, social functions, youth and children’s programs, service projects, and use of the arts, adapted in each community according to local resources.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES[edit]

ACHIEVEMENTS WITHIN THE BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY[edit]

The tempo of teaching, as indicated by locally organized activities, has accelerated notably, and there is an increase in enthusiasm and optimism about prospects for growth. National, regional and local teaching approaches are more systematic and complementary. We have widened the range of activities, through proclamation, public relations, devotional meetings, and other activities, producing more harmonious patterns that are also “seeker-friendly.” Local efforts at community building are lending vitality to this accelerating process. This is shown in recent surveys of the community.

ACHIEVEMENTS IN MEDIA OUTREACH[edit]

The media responses and the surveys confirm these points: we are attracting inquiries at a significant rate. The results are only a prelude to the vast potential before us. The audience we have reached is the right one. They describe themselves as seekers and as dissatisfied with their current practices. They fit the profile of those who, according to all existing research, are the ones most likely to consider an alternative religion such as ours. They also fit the profile of our historic constituency—those who have actually enrolled in the Faith over the past generation or more.

Media is an efficient means for going beyond the circle of friendship and kinship networks. It can vastly enhance teaching opportunities by bringing others within our circle who might never be reached otherwise, due to the natural limitations on individual effort.

There is no such thing as a mass audience. In reality there are many audiences, only some of whom are susceptible to the Bahá’í message at any point in time. These people can be identified, effective messages can be crafted, and predictable response can be generated, through a systematic process of experimentation and refinement. Although it is but one element among many that are necessary to achieve entry by troops, use of the media is indispensable if we are serious about this goal.

AMONG THE CHALLENGES[edit]

First and foremost is the need to swell the ranks of seekers and to provide for them the gift of teaching. This is not only a function of the media. Special attention must be given to training programs designed to produce more effective teachers and better planners and administrators. We must align these training programs more closely with national, regional, and local objectives, so that the friends can effectively apply their unparalleled enthusiasm.

Community development and the strengthening of local spiritual assemblies are prerequisites for sustainable growth. The need for enriched experience of community drives the quest of seekers. There is no religious fulfillment beyond community. In particular, we have the challenge of dealing with the diversity of backgrounds and temperaments that seekers will represent.

We must communicate the plan to the Bahá’ís. Our experience indicates that while enthusiasm for the media campaign remains high, there is very little real appreciation of the process by which the campaign was developed, nor of the assessment of opportunities that led to its adoption as part of the national plan. Moreover, there is little awareness of how the media efforts complement regional and local efforts. We are publishing articles in every edition of The American Bahá’í and will be publishing a video soon. But real progress in this respect will require intelligent advocacy of the plan on the part of all institutions.

We will continue to focus on race unity and on the advancement of gender equality. The Faith’s dedication to interracial unity has been the centerpiece of the American Four Year Plan. A sustained effort has been made to bring our views on racial harmony before a wider audience and much more will be done in the years ahead. In the United States all minorities remain underrepresented within our active Bahá’í family. At this moment every racial minority is present within our active core in a smaller proportion than in the population at large. This deficiency cannot be allowed to persist, for it strikes at the heart of our credibility as a community. It must be vigorously addressed in the remainder of this Plan and beyond.

As already stated, we will soon add a component to our national outreach that addresses women’s issues. This will be complemented by educational and other materials for use at the regional and local levels. Again, the importance of women to the growth and development of the community cannot be overstated. Women are the majority of our active membership, they are the majority of our new enrollments, and they are the majority of our seekers. Their needs must be met if we expect to move forward.

The two themes of race unity and advancement of women will long stand as pillars of our strategy. Needless to say, success in all of the above categories will depend upon an unprecedented degree of institutional unity. We must all be determined to make unity a reality, from which all future blessings will flow.

CONCLUSION[edit]

In successive waves over the next year, the national teaching campaign will impact the fundamental dynamics of community development and activism. It will create upwelling response from specified audiences and generate a new surge in awareness of the Faith among our fellow Americans. It will continue to stimulate an array of activities that over time will emerge as more permanent patterns of community action. The national plan is realistic and systematic, yet also audacious and inspiring.

As to the Bahá’í community itself, the believers report very high degrees of activism in teaching, participation in community life, faith in the institutions, and optimism about the future. No issue can be taken with the level of commitment that is clearly evident around us, even though the goal will always be to improve participation and performance.

Moreover, the remarkable growth of the American Bahá’í community within this very century bespeaks a divine and mysterious process at work. By any measure the Bahá’í Faith here has been a high growth religion. Since the beginning of the beloved Guardian’s ministry we have grown fifty-fold in America. And we cannot doubt the accumulating evidence for the insight of the Supreme Body, the Universal House of Justice, that opportunities for growth in North America are greater than any place on earth. [Page 31]

MINORITY TEACHING COMMITTEES[edit]

NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN TEACHING COMMITTEE[edit]

The National African American Teaching Committee (NAATC) spent most of its second year focusing on its mandate to enhance the process of entry by troops and maintaining communication with three of its four pilot sites: Atlanta, Georgia; Los Angeles, California; and Detroit, Michigan. Simultaneously, while monitoring the growth and potential of teaching activities in these pilot areas, the committee began a dialogue with the respective Regional Bahá’í Councils.

The current goal of the Committee is to urge all Regional Bahá’í Councils to establish regional African American Teaching Committees. In support of this theme, the National Committee held extensive consultations with members of the Southern and Northeastern Regional Councils, monitored the progress of the first Regional African American Teaching Committee established by the Regional Bahá’í Council for the Central States, and plans to meet with the Regional Bahá’í Council for the Western States. These consultations have had a favorable impact, and it is anticipated that such a decentralized approach will directly influence the process of reaching people of African descent.

Among the regional activities monitored and supported by the Committee were a successful fireside and commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Nashville, Tennessee; extensive research and consultation with friends in the New York City area; the participation of two members of the Committee in the “Vanguard of the Dawning” satellite initiative in Los Angeles, entitled “Uplifting The African-American Family”; and the continued support of the highly successful teaching and proclamation activities in Detroit.

The Committee was involved in the Black Men’s Gathering, held at Green Acre Bahá’í School, which resulted in several members of that gathering traveling to Africa to teach in response to the call of the Universal House of Justice, as well as in stimulating service to local communities by those who participated in the gathering.

In monitoring these activities, the Committee has recognized a high potential of service in the community united under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh. In acknowledging the enormous progress that has been made, it has become clear that much progress still is needed. Research by the Committee has shown that there is urgent need to improve our community’s ability to retain active members of African descent in the Bahá’í community. Towards this end, the Committee is strongly promoting the study of the workbook Spiritual Significance of Being a Person of African Descent in the Bahá’í Faith, compiled by Richard Thomas. It is an effective tool for inspiring, motivating and educating the friends about the level of commitment, perseverance and dedication of the African-American heroes of the Faith. The workbook already has impacted many local communities and continues to infuse a greater understanding and appreciation for the heroic acts of Bahá’ís of African descent. Securing the distribution of this material and encouraging its effective use in firesides, conferences and gatherings was one of the major efforts of the NAATC during the past year.

NATIONAL CHINESE TEACHING TASK FORCE[edit]

The Chinese Task Force has identified three significant issues for reaching and befriending the Chinese in this country. First is the need to assist communities and college clubs in university areas to befriend Chinese students and scholars on campuses and encourage consistent individual and community support for these efforts. There is an ongoing need to raise the consciousness in the American Bahá’í community that reaching the Chinese is a priority and to enhance awareness of the special sensitivities involved for those from the People’s Republic of China. Second, it is important to encourage Chinese-‎focus focused‎ study groups in each of the four regions and to promote the use of specially developed Chinese materials, including the initiation and promotion of a regional system for facilitator training in their use, with a vision to eventually incorporate such focused courses and activities in regional institute programs. It is envisioned that this process of the study of the Creative Word will raise up Chinese and others who will be deepened, committed, and active workers for the Faith. Finally, a greater effort must be made to encourage and facilitate the development of human resources for creating articles and literature in the Chinese language about the teachings and principles of the Faith, especially as they compare with Chinese culture and thinking.

To address these three primary goals, the task force is focusing its attention on identifying at least two target university communities in each of the four regions with which to work directly to establish ongoing, consistent support for Chinese teaching. This will involve consultation with college clubs, local spiritual assemblies, assistants to the Auxiliary Board members and other interested individuals in these areas. The Task Force has identified several successful community efforts around the country which can be featured as models.

The Task Force also needs to identify Chinese-focused study groups which are currently functioning well, individuals in other areas who are interested in beginning such study groups, and individuals who have been trained as facilitators using either the Ruhi or the Macau Institute materials to help initiate regional training systems. The Task Force hopes to convene a core group of Chinese writers and scholars to meet in Chicago in April 1999 to consult on the process of developing Chinese materials for the press and other possible audiences. In the meantime, the Task Force has begun a series of such articles in English for The American Bahá’í.

The Task Force hopes that by focusing on establishing a foundation for these three primary initiatives, it can most effectively facilitate the transition of the coordination of Chinese teaching activities to the four Regional Bahá’í Councils. It will continue to be in consultation with the Regional Councils throughout this process.

NATIONAL LATIN-AMERICAN TEACHING TASK FORCE[edit]

The National Latin-American Teaching Task Force has made a concerted effort to meet with the Regional Bahá’í Councils to provide them with data that will assist them in the Latino teaching efforts in their regions. Even though the Task Force has been unable to meet with all four Regional Councils, it has maintained a close contact with the Councils and carried out some consultation on an informal basis.

A limited budget impacted the Task Force’s ability to meet regularly as a group or with communities around the country. The Task Force held three plenary meetings last year: one in New York City in May, one in Boston in July, and one at Bosch Bahá’í School in February. These meetings were scheduled around larger meetings with the believers and institutions in those areas, or were scheduled to accommodate other activities, such as workshops and presentations to the friends. In all other instances, the meetings either with institutions or with the friends were carried out mostly at the local level by one or two Task Force members at a time. The Task Force has presented its vision of Latino teaching and has consulted with friends and institutions at the following localities and events around the country: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Livingston, Texas; Kingsville, Texas; the Southern Texas Convention; the Grand Canyon Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, and Tucson, Arizona; Santa Barbara, Oceanside, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Bishop and Glendale, California; Chicago, Highwood, Rogers Park and Wilmette, Illinois; New York City; Albuquerque, New Mexico; the Northern Virginia Bahá’í School in McLean, Virginia, and Chantilly and Herndon, Virginia; and at the National Thanksgiving Youth Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Task Force maintained a page in The American Bahá’í during the year; carried out a census of Latino Bahá’ís in the United States; and produced a bilingual prayer book that was published by Palabra Publications.

Individually, each of the Task Force members continues to assist the friends and local institutions to the best of their abilities with consultations about teaching and with guidance about materials and other resources. The Latin-American Teaching Task Force wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the National Spiritual Assembly for the enormous privilege of service given to it.

NATIONAL YOUTH COMMITTEE[edit]

The primary work of the National Youth Committee is to provide expert study and strategic advice on youth to the National Spiritual Assembly, its ‎agenciac, agencies,‎ the Regional Bahá’í Councils and their regional Youth Committees; to collaborate with institutions to advance the role of youth in achieving the major aims of the Four Year Plan; to rally Bahá’í youth in support of the goals of the National Spiritual Assembly; and to develop a national architecture for youth activity that will help to foster united action.

The Committee’s role is shifting from implementing grassroots activity to increasingly providing a research foundation about youth for institutions. One challenge has been to discern which tasks fall within the Committee’s purview; at times, the friends expect the Committee to perform work that in actuality should fall under the aegis of regional institutions. In the coming year, the Committee will work to inform the community about its changing role in light of the advent of the Regional Bahá’í Councils and will also be collaborating closely and regularly with the Regional Bahá’í Councils.

The National Youth Office responded to the needs of Regional Bahá’í Councils, regional and local Youth Committees, Youth Workshops, Campus Associations, Youth Service Corps applicants, and individual youths and adults across the country. There are approximately 15,000 Bahá’í youth in the United States between the ages of 12 and 25. The Committee receives up to 1,000 communications per month—evidence of a high level of activity in a relatively small youth community.

Such a volume of communications presents a challenge, however, as the Committee struggles to respond to all requests for information and guidance in a timely manner. Its work at present is often reactive. Also, it is difficult to keep accurate records of youth contact information. Strategies for improving the turnaround time and quality of information sent include delegating correspondence to other institutions where appropriate, augmenting the efforts of the sole Youth Office staff person by drawing on volunteers, and systematizing records.

There are approximately 350 Bahá’í Campus Associations (BCAs) in the United States. Again, accurately assessing total numbers and contact information for BCAs is a constant challenge. Some steps to remedy these patterns in the coming year include the systematization of registration through a national web site, dissemination of a comprehensive new BCA training manual, and increasing decentralization of BCA activities.

Campus Association weekends, held at the permanent Bahá’í schools, were aimed at connecting Bahá’ís on campus with national goals, building a much-needed loving and supportive network of Bahá’í youth, and developing more systematic [Page 32]methods for proclamation, expansion and service. Feeling the urgency of increasing capacity amongst the youth, the Committee employed creative methods in its BCA weekend activities to explore the ways in which they conceive of their work and deliver the Message on campus. Each year shows an increase in the maturity and spiritual character of the participants.

Major challenges surrounding these annual gatherings include the need to increase the racial diversity of the participants, to develop programs that will stimulate both new and veteran believers, to sponsor weekends in the coming year at the Bahá’í Institutes and/or in the South, Southwest, and Northwest. Strategies for improvements include the continued use of media, arts, and participatory methods at the gatherings, the increased stewardship of the weekends by Regional Youth Committees, and greater recognition on the part of local communities of the importance of these gatherings and the need for deputization.

The Committee collaborated with the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men on its One Voice Campaign and encouraged race unity initiatives such as Campus Race Unity Dialogues and screenings of The Power of Race Unity. Challenges surrounding these efforts include determining the true impact of these campaigns on campuses, as results are hard to gauge, and the need to encourage systematic follow-through on these events. Strategies for improvement include sponsoring dialogues and helping Bahá’í youth envision the powerful impact they can have if they arise en masse as leaders of the race unity and gender equality movements.

Subscriptions to Fertile Field, the Campus Association Newsletter, more than doubled to over 700. In the coming year, the newsletter will increasingly become an engaging, unifying vehicle for ideas, national goals, and the development of a shared Bahá’í identity.

The assessment of the status of Bahá’í Youth Workshops (BYWs) continues, and although some BYWs are going through a period of transition, many continue to thrive, with new Workshops developing nationwide. There are approximately one hundred Workshops in the United States and Workshop members from America have helped to found dozens of BYWs abroad. Challenges include communicating to the greater community the true purpose of Bahá’í Youth Workshops, the need for training materials to raise up functioning Workshops, and to track down constantly changing contact information. The Committee is working with experienced individuals to create a BYW training manual, to help encourage training institutes for Workshop coordinators and members, and to publish a national BYW newsletter.

Two national campaigns were initiated to track existing efforts and to encourage new activity. The Heroic Deeds of Service project was designed in response to the Universal House of Justice’s call “to perform, during the Four Year Plan, heroic deeds of service to the Cause which will astonish and inspire their fellow believers.” The several hundred pledges received will be sent as a gift to the Universal House of Justice. The 500 Firesides campaign was intended to educate youth about firesides, and to stimulate youth energy on a national level. Two hundred firesides were reported by youth in response to this campaign. In both cases, collecting responses and getting an accurate picture of the true level of activity was a challenge.

Committee members attended gatherings in all regions to learn more about the status of youth and to better inform youth about the national vision. In activities such as the youth forum at the 155 B.E. National Convention, the Vanguard of the Dawning Conference, the DC Conference, Green Lake, Badasht 150, a conference in Nebraska, and several Northeast Regional Bahá’í youth conferences, Committee members had the opportunity to meet individuals, groups, and local and regional youth committees. While effective as a means of learning about the hopes and challenges of youth around the country, this presented the challenge that five volunteer members cannot go everywhere they would like to on the Committee’s behalf. This circumscribes the Committee’s understanding of the diverse issues facing the community and the need for research systems to gather this information when members are unable to be physically present in all locales.

The process of placing Bahá’í Youth Service Corps (BYSC) volunteers at domestic posts continues to be refined and includes increasing the number and diversity of service posts, making the program accessible to a wider range of youth, and educating the youth about the importance of service. The permanent Bahá’í schools and institutes continue to be desperate for BYSC volunteers, however, and the challenge persists of finding committed applicants with supportive families.

The monthly Youth Page in The American Bahá’í includes national, regional and local news, announcements and photographs, but the Committee is unsure of how many read and benefit from the page. The page would improve with submissions by a diverse range of youth in every state.

Work has begun on the National Bahá’í Youth Web Site, which will serve as a central location for national, regional, and local Bahá’í youth news, stories and administrative information. The site’s purpose will be to provide resources, increase systematization, share photographs and stories of youth activities, and reduce a feeling of isolation and separation amongst the youth of the country.

OFFICE OF PIONEERING[edit]

The purpose of the Office of Pioneering is to facilitate the desire of Bahá’ís to serve the Faith internationally. It is responsible for all travel and settlement of the friends, including Bahá’í Youth Service Corps, from the forty-eight contiguous states of the United States to any other area of the world. Through communication with institutions, pioneers in the field and others, as well as references and publications, the Office of Pioneering receives a continuous flow of information regarding employment, health needs, service opportunities, conferences and schools, and so on, all of which may enhance consultation with prospective international traveling teachers and pioneers. The Office of Pioneering is responsible for introducing the friends to the National Spiritual Assemblies of the countries they choose to travel to or settle in, transferring their membership as appropriate, and maintaining correct addresses as well. Pioneer Training Institutes, hosted by this office, are a critical part of the preparation for these friends and are essential to facilitating the success of pioneers at their post.

In the past year, the Office of Pioneering embraced the decentralization process more fully, given the new structure of the national community into four regions serviced by the Regional Bahá’í Councils. The staff evaluated its work and consulted on the level of decentralization that could be undertaken immediately. In preparation for working with the Regional Councils, the office found that it was able to have international consultants for the Northeast and Central Regions, the South, and the West, with the fourth international consultant serving special projects. This change broadened the scope of each international consultant so that each would have the responsibility to consult with individuals on all kinds of international service, rather than on just one as in the past. In addition, the call of the Universal House of Justice for particular populations to serve specific areas of the world was distributed among the three regional consultants, giving each an additional focus in the work to meet the goals of the Four Year Plan.

The Office of Pioneering’s vision is for every prospective pioneer to be trained prior to leaving the United States. Consequently, great consideration was given to the development of its Pioneer Training Institutes. Significant strides were made in creating a program that includes the use of the arts throughout the curriculum, which covers the spiritual and practical preparation of the friends. Key to this was the development of a manual containing the plans for each of the classes of the Institute, which will serve to assist in the decentralization of these sessions.

The assigned goal of sending 5,700 believers internationally in the Four Year Plan is steadily approaching fulfillment. Last year 274 pioneers left the country, making a plan-to-date total of 811 pioneers. The number of traveling teaching trips undertaken was 732, making a plan-to-date total of 4,108 as of March 1, 1999. Thus, the total number of believers who have served internationally, of which the Office of Pioneering has been informed, is 4,919. A slow but steady increase in the numbers of inquiries into international service has been observed. The Northeast and Central states have averaged approximately thirty new inquiries per month, compared to four per month last year. The Southern states have had approximately twenty-five inquiries, up from seven, per month, and the Western states have had about forty-three inquiries per month compared with fourteen last year.

With an increased decentralization of our functions as consultants and trainers of individuals, the Office of Pioneering sees its role moving in the direction of serving the local and regional institutions as a source of reference information and resources. The evidences of the increased maturity of the local assemblies in assisting the friends to prepare to serve internationally has supported efforts to further decentralize these processes with ever-increasing success. The Office is confident that through these efforts it will come ever closer to the goal that each prospective pioneer will be fully prepared and trained before leaving the United States.

BAHÁ’Í HOUSE OF WORSHIP ACTIVITIES OFFICE[edit]

The role of the Bahá’í House of Worship in pursuit of the goals of the Four Year Plan involves providing within that sacred edifice services which teach the Faith and foster the development of the existing Bahá’í community. Activity centers on creating environments to cultivate the personal development of the souls of both declared believers and seekers through learning activities, service venues, and opportunities for prayer, meditation, and inspiration. While many longstanding commitments have been maintained by the Activities Office this past year, continual review of the current effectiveness of each process is necessary. Projecting methods which will meet escalating needs is an ever-present concern. The crusade to initiate new, society-responsive activities and to engage and maintain an increasingly broader base of volunteers to implement these varied missions currently consumes tremendous amounts of staff energy. Time, space, matter and human resource constraints now challenge management, yet current growth foreshadows greatly expanded demands in the very near future.

Communications initiatives generated by this office acquaint the friends with a wide range of opportunities to serve and be enriched by inspirational activity here. Further, they foster a more clear understanding of the nature of the facility and its role in teaching and community life. Specialized training seminars have been offered to develop personal skills and to increase the numbers of believers participating in guiding, devotions, programs and the choir. Implementation of new volunteer documentation systems has opened wider possibilities for recruiting, recording and celebrating growth in this area with efficiency and love. Intense efforts in the area of Music Services have resulted in a strong and growing choir that contributes to inspirational programs. Choir readiness to accept outreach engagements has been facilitated by the [Page 33]rapid expansion of a diverse repertoire of various genres and languages.

Programming for public appeal has grown this year to include more firesides in various languages, an introductory class on the Faith in Spanish, more Story Festival afternoons for children, and regular Sunday programs. The growing area of special projects in this vein includes choral concerts and special interest events such as “Spirituality at Work,” a presentation by author Dorothy Marcic, on healthy attitudes and practices in business management. Volunteer project management teams have been formed to address the need to expand teaching while maintaining minimal staff size. An increased commitment to include cultural diversity in the Sunday devotions is evident through regular inclusion of prayers in several languages. Community enrichment activities grew with the increased offering of three Special Visit Weekends for visiting believers. Efforts to support and collaborate with other institutions’ initiatives yielded several projects, most conspicuously, the Badasht 150 Conference for youth, a mission of the Regional Bahá’í Council for the Central States. Expansion of inventory in the book shop serves both deepening and teaching needs and supports special events themes.

In the coming year, continuing and escalating challenges surely will include a number of very human concerns, such as maintaining the sacredness of the site while hosting many tourists; generating wider participation in enrichment and teaching activities; recruiting and maintaining membership and unifying skill levels among choir members; maturing widespread interest in collaborating on quality children’s activities; providing guides/teachers at all times, especially those with special language skills; and incorporating more believers in specific projects. Material issues involve the effective use of inadequate space for activities; the need to update teaching displays in the Visitor Center; maintaining the aging equipment used for the various audiovisual teaching presentations; and developing a rich bookstore resource within the guidelines of the House of Worship. Communication ambitions include increasing House of Worship visibility to the public and an awareness of the spiritual resource it constitutes. One means lies in the generation of a House of Worship web site. The Activities Office will strive to balance all variables, cultivating a timely responsiveness to the rising demands for service, teaching and community building.

NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN[edit]

During this past year, the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men (NCEWM) has been actively engaged in promoting greater awareness of the spiritual principle of the equality of women and men within the Bahá’í community and in seeking avenues to bring this transformative and healing message to the larger United States population. It has focused on four major goals: transforming the attitudes, assumptions and behaviors of men and women; raising up a new generation committed to gender equality; promoting the development, well-being and prosperity of women; and encouraging the rapid dissemination and broad discussion of the statement Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men within and without the Bahá’í community.

Some of the major issues the Committee faced while working on these goals included: a) the perception of some communities and individuals that gender equality was a “women’s issue,” b) the limited human resources within the Bahá’í community, c) the lack of information about the seriousness and urgency of addressing the problems caused by gender inequality, d) the need to present Bahá’u’lláh’s healing message to the larger community, e) the need to find cost-effective ways to communicate with Bahá’í institutions, communities and individuals throughout the country, and f) extensive coordination with other administrative committees and institutions.

Some of the major activities undertaken to address the perception of gender equality being a “women’s issue” were a name change for the committee; a greater effort to encourage men to attend and participate in the gender equality activities sponsored by the committee and local communities; more presentations and information regarding the role of men in “owning the equality of women” as encouraged by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; and consistent modeling of gender balance by providing male and female co-presenters as often as possible.

To help address the issue of limited human resources, the committee coordinated four Training Seminars (one in each region) to develop and/or improve the public speaking and workshop facilitation skills of women and men in order that after the training they would, on their own initiative, plan deepenings, workshops, and firesides on the issue of gender equality in their own communities; be resources to whom the committee could refer Bahá’í communities and committees requesting speakers on this topic; serve as resources for the NCEWM for giving speeches and act as advisors to the committee; disseminate the Two Wings of a Bird statement in their own communities as widely as possible; and make contact with like-minded organizations.

To increase its knowledge of the serious social ramifications to individuals, families, and communities brought on by the absence of gender equality, the committee convened the first conference of Bahá’í therapists to address these issues. The Committee is coordinating the writing of follow-up materials that will serve as resources to local spiritual assemblies and could help them handle some of the relevant issues that come before them. In addition, the committee continued meeting with local assemblies and community members to discuss their concerns for gender equality issues. These meetings were held in several major metropolitan areas: Dallas, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; and Nashville, Tennessee.

The Committee undertook three major initiatives to bring Bahá’u’lláh’s message of gender equality to the larger society: the dissemination of the Two Wings of a Bird statement at the Seneca Falls conference; the repeat performance of the One Voice project, a week-long series of activities on college campuses across the country; and the coordination of the National Campaign for the Dissemination of the Statement, a call for local communities to present the Two Wings of a Bird statement to their respective mayors and city councils by April 1999. In addition, the committee worked closely with the National Teaching Committee to prepare for and to promote the upcoming video campaign on gender equality and members of the Committee served on the Media Task Force.

The committee utilized an array of methods to communicate with Bahá’í institutions, communities, and individuals to create greater interest in and support for the equality of women and men including: high-visibility articles in The American Bahá’í; community meetings around the country; presence at major events, such as the Friends of Persian Culture, Social and Economic Development, and Association for Bahá’í Studies conferences; a presentation at the National Convention; the creation of a web site; and utilization of e-mail lists.

Most of these projects required extensive coordination with other agencies and institutions of the Faith, such as the Office of Women’s Affairs, the Office of External Affairs, the National Teaching Committee, the National Youth Committee, the Regional Bahá’í Councils, the regional committees for gender equality in the Northeast and Central regions, the Education Task Force, The American Bahá’í, the Office of Assembly Development, the Publishing Trust, Media Services, Management Information Services, the Bahá’í Schools, and local spiritual assemblies and registered groups. The committee was enabled to proceed with these activities in large measure by our staff associate, Leila Milani, who joined us this year.

In looking at the last year of the Four Year Plan, the most significant challenges facing the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men are the lack of awareness throughout the Bahá’í community that gender equality has been designated as one of the “twin foci” of the Four Year Plan and the urgent need to address this subject. The Committee needs to find ways to reassure the local Bahá’í communities that racial unity and gender equality can and must be addressed side-by-side and that they are complementary aspects of the same issue.

Other major issues facing the committee include: dissemination of the Two Wings of a Bird statement to national and state officials and to national organizations that promote gender equality; coordination of a program to address the needs of youth and children; and greater coordination with the Regional Bahá’í Councils and the Regional Training Institutes.

EDUCATION[edit]

NATIONAL EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS OFFICE[edit]

The National Education and Schools Office coordinates and supervises the work of the five permanent Bahá’í schools and institutes, WLGI Radio Bahá’í, the thirty-three Regional Bahá’í Schools and the National Education Task Force. It participates in the interdepartmental Executive Board of the Wilmette Institute and the interdepartmental Task Force of the Institute for Bahá’í Studies. The office facilitates representation of the Faith with the Board of Directors of the Religious Education Association and maintains a consulting service in program development for the permanent schools. It also provides the National Spiritual Assembly with advice on educational issues.

The Education and Schools Office ensures that the work of the schools is coordinated and consistent with the National Spiritual Assembly’s educational mandates on programs and facilities. The office acts as a resource for education for individuals, institutions, and communities. The encouragement of expansion and consolidation of the Regional Bahá’í Schools is also carried out by this office. In addition, it serves as a key member of the interdepartmental work on training conducted by departments at the Bahá’í National Center.

The Education and Schools Office coordinates the budget development of all the schools and institutes, Radio Bahá’í, the Regional Bahá’í Schools, and the Education Task Force. It works closely with the Properties office at the Bahá’í National Center to develop comprehensive, long-range plans for the permanent facilities and properties at the five Bahá’í schools and institutes.

In addition to the daily routine maintenance and coordination work, work has been done on the creation of an educational web site with the Education Task Force to assist the work of the numerous Bahá’í teachers, educators, and school committees. The office anticipates this web site will be available in the next few months.

The office produces and distributes the annual theme document—a curricular framework particularly for the summer schools—as well as the Special Edition issue of Brilliant Star magazine each year. [Page 34]and serves as its advisor. The office coordinates the content of the Special Edition issue with the annual theme document. Greater alignment of vision and activities among the schools and institutes is fostered and encouraged. This was particularly apparent in regards to the programs presented at the regional and permanent schools where last year’s theme, the role of the individual in advancing the process of entry by troops, was widely used. The theme for the coming year is the role of the community in advancing the process of entry by troops.

During the past year, five new regional Bahá’í school committees were established: Western Washington, Eastern Oregon, Indiana, Georgia and Louisiana. The Education and Schools Office co-hosted three regional school committee gatherings in Colorado, Oregon and Kentucky, involving a total of thirteen committees. A new and revised regional schools manual was produced and distributed to the committees. A list server established for the regional schools has increased communication between the committees.

The Bahá’í Scouting Program, “The Unity of Mankind,” is now coordinated by the Education and Schools Office, and a substantial revision of the program is under way. In collaboration with the National Teaching Committee and the Education Task Force, the office produced and distributed a series of workshops to complement the video The Power of Race Unity. With the sponsorship of a local spiritual assembly, the office conducted a Core Curriculum Teacher Training program for interested staff of the Bahá’í National Center and local believers.

With the advent of the Regional Bahá’í Councils, a major shift in focus by the National Spiritual Assembly for its national agencies and committees compelled the decentralization of some of the work historically carried out by them. Consequently, a number of changes have occurred in the supervision of the permanent institutes. In a continuing effort to decentralize, the National Spiritual Assembly changed the mandate of the Native American Bahá’í Institute (NABI) to a regional training institute and appointed a Board of Directors with programmatic responsibility to the Regional Bahá’í Council of the Western States, while maintaining its coordination with and supervision by the Education and Schools Office. Similarly, the mandate of the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute is under a revision that will enable it to better serve the surrounding communities. Its supervision has been assigned to the Regional Bahá’í Council of the Southern States.

Additionally, the challenge of balancing the expansion of facilities and services at the permanent schools and institutes with the availability of funds continued to be a major focus in the past year. All the permanent schools and institutes struggled to provide continually the best possible programs and services with, at times, significant staff shortages.

Next year activities and projects collaboratively undertaken with other agencies and departments will continue to be a major emphasis of the Education and Schools Office. Regular maintenance of the web site, which will provide lesson plans for children’s teachers and articles on education, will be conducted. The office will continue to collect, organize, and develop educational materials as it evolves into a resource bank for educators. The evolving coordination of the work at the permanent Bahá’í institutes will be a major focus this coming year. The office is assisting Louhelen Bahá’í School in continuing four programs originally devised and proposed by the consulting service of this office and starting two new annual programs at Bosch and one at Green Acre Bahá’í School. The Education and Schools Office will render special assistance to the Wilmette Institute for increasing and expanding its distance learning programs, will conduct coordinator/instructor training programs for the Regional Training Institutes, and will develop outreach activities through other Bahá’í educational institutions.

NATIONAL EDUCATION TASK FORCE[edit]

The National Bahá’í Education Task Force fosters the development of the human resources necessary to manage the many tasks of expansion and consolidation by developing and disseminating spiritual education and training programs for children, youth and adults. The training programs, mainly conducted through the National Teacher Training Center at the Louhelen Bahá’í School, build the community life necessary to attract large numbers of seekers. At the National Teacher Training Center, the Education Task Force conducts trainings for the believers who will serve their regional or local training institutes as teacher trainers, race unity trainers, marriage and family life facilitators, or as parenting facilitators. The National Teacher Training Center supports these training programs and others offered throughout the country, which are conducted by newly-trained and veteran trainers, by offering an annual advanced seminar to foster the continuous self-development of trainers serving in all programs; encouraging trainers to offer individualized follow-up workshops to the training programs conducted for teachers, race unity workers, married couples, and parents; providing for the systematic long-term development of teachers; responding to requests from regional institutes to train believers as facilitators for the Fundamental Verities courses; and responding to hundreds of requests for training, information about training programs, and materials from individuals and institutions throughout the U.S. and from numerous other countries.

As of February 1999, Bahá’ís who have been trained to serve local and regional training institutes in the United States include 247 teacher trainers, 156 race unity trainers, 112 parent facilitators, and 76 marriage and family life trainers. An additional 106 believers from 26 countries have been trained to serve as trainers in their home countries.

The systematic training programs for new and veteran believers offered by the Education Task Force develop the knowledge, insights, and skills necessary to carry out the national teaching plan. Training materials have been made available through the Bahá’í Distribution Service. Among those available are Every Believer Is a Teacher, which assists individuals and communities to carry out the injunction to teach; To Serve the Covenant and A New Civilization, which establish fundamental spiritual practices within the context of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh and assist the individual to contribute to Bahá’í community life; and the course for new believers, From New Believers to New Teachers in the Cause of God, which provides a comprehensive introduction to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

In addition, the Education Task Force conducts International Core Curriculum trainings, collaborates with the Louhelen Bahá’í School to conduct International Dialogues on Education, prepares and presents workshops for the Religious Education Association, and collaborates with numerous national committees, offices, and agencies to develop training programs and materials.

In collaboration with the National Teaching Committee, the Education Task Force developed workshop instructions to support the videos (The Power of Race Unity and Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men) produced for the National Teaching Plan. These instructions for firesides or spiritual gatherings were designed to enable Bahá’ís to present the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh to those who become interested in the Faith through the media initiative. In addition to conducting two sets of workshops for teacher trainers, race unity trainers, and marriage and family life trainers, one set of workshops for parent facilitators, one advanced Core Curriculum seminar, one international Core Curriculum training, and one international dialogue at the National Teacher Training Center during the past year, the Education Task Force published a book of learning activities on the life and teachings of the Báb to accompany the activity book on the life and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. The Task Force also developed and published a curriculum booklet, Institutions of the Faith, to accompany curriculum booklets on Bahá’u’lláh, The Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Principle of Oneness and Race Unity, The Covenant, and Huqúqu’lláh and the Bahá’í Funds. The Education Task Force anticipates developing a web site of lesson plans for teachers and continuing to create, critique, revise as necessary, and publish curriculum materials and training manuals.

Looking to next year, the Education Task Force plans to develop further the system of regional curriculum advisors to better support the decentralization process. It also anticipates continuing research on the effectiveness of the training programs and materials and the development of a training video to further support the long-term development of teachers. Other projects include collaborating with the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men to develop and disseminate a training program and supporting materials to implement the principle of equality and collaborating with the National Youth Committee on developing and disseminating a training program and supporting materials to assist youth to increasingly live up to the Bahá’í standard and to teach the Cause of God.

The rapidly increasing number of requests for training in the programs available, for assistance in adapting training programs or creating new ones, and for information about training programs developed by the Education Task Force and elsewhere consistently exceeds the ability of the Education Task Force and the National Teacher Training Center to respond in a timely fashion. The Task Force has requested the addition of a staff position at the National Teacher Training Center to address the increasing backlog of requests for service.

BOSCH BAHÁ’Í SCHOOL[edit]

The Bosch Bahá’í School exists to provide for the spiritual and intellectual growth of the American Bahá’í community and the realization of “a significant advance in the process of entry by troops,” by incorporating the triple themes of the Four Year Plan—consecration of the individual, flourishing of Bahá’í communities, and maturation of the Institutions—in the programs offered at the school. This is done by providing an environment that encourages participants to internalize and put into action the moral and spiritual principles of the Faith, thereby facilitating individual transformation and the accomplishment of the goals of the National Spiritual Assembly. A key issue involves striking a balance between delivering programs that are unique and distinctive, especially in light of the proliferation of regional and local training institutes, while increasing the accessibility of Bosch to people of limited financial means. In addition, there is a critical need to develop competent trainers of the Fundamental Verities courses.

Among the major activities undertaken in the past year in support of the Four Year Plan were ones held cooperatively with other agencies of the National Spiritual Assembly. A Pioneering Institute, Youth Service Corps Training, and SITA Training were held in collaboration with the Pioneering Office. A session on Islam, in collaboration with the Wilmette Institute, was conducted as part of the World Religions Mini-Series. A new three-weekend training institute series on the Fundamental Verities was designed and offered, utilizing the curriculum developed by the National Education Task Force, which trained individuals to present the course in their own local communities. For this particular institute, Bosch targeted people of capacity in the local community; all participants had to be recommended either by their local spiritual assembly or Auxiliary Board member. This course was offered at no cost to the participants, with all funding [Page 35]coming from local spiritual assemblies. Bosch also hosted a Southeast Asian Leadership Roundtable Conference with the U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office and the Two Wings of a Bird training conference with the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men.

Other significant activities included a Regional Association for Bahá’í Studies Conference; a West Coast conference with the Bahá’í Network for Aids, Sexuality, addictions and Abuse; a Racism/Race Unity Conference; the annual Marriage Enrichment Retreat, along with a new two-weekend session for married couples called Turning on the Light, which blended spiritual and psychological principles for creating and sustaining strong marriages; two LSA Team Development weekends, intensive sessions held with twelve local spiritual assemblies participating in a series of trust-building activities; Summer and Winter schools; and sessions for youth and children, including a Summer Youth Institute, a Junior Youth Institute, two Children’s Academy sessions, a College Club Weekend, and a Youth Training Conference.

Bosch continued to expand its program calendar for greater facility utilization, with sessions offered year-round. The Bahá’í program calendar included 45 separate sessions, including a ten-week summer schedule, two winter sessions, and one four-day spring session. Many weekends included two or more programs running concurrently to increase overall attendance and facility utilization. In addition, the number of outside rentals was up significantly from last year, including thirty-eight non-Bahá’í and four Bahá’í-sponsored rentals. Despite one of the most ambitious program schedules ever undertaken at Bosch, several sessions were cancelled due to low registrations.

Attendance at Bahá’í sessions was down approximately 19% year-to-date (YTD), while outside rental attendance was up over 300%. Bahá’í program fees were down approximately 10% YTD and are projected to be more than $300,000 for the year; outside rental fees are up $78,000 YTD at $102,000. Total YTD fee revenues are up approximately 15%. Year-to-date revenues from the Bookshop/Cafe were $121,000, down 19% from last year-to-date. The Bosch Bookshop was once again responsible for book sales at the Green Lake Conference in September 1998, generating over $27,000 in book sales. Bosch benefited from the contribution of over 25,500 volunteer hours in fiscal year 1998–99, with more than twenty Youth Service Corps volunteers serving at Bosch over the course of the year, along with two long-term volunteers. In addition, more than 150 local spiritual assemblies and groups contributed more than $10,800 in scholarship contributions to sponsor attendees for the Fundamental Verities Training Institute series.

No major new construction projects were undertaken, due primarily to Bosch being understaffed in maintenance personnel. A major, campus-wide road repair and repaving project was initiated just prior to the beginning of winter rains; it will end in late Spring 1999. The resignation of Bosch’s registrar in May 1998, followed by the unexpected departure of its office manager, created a significant staffing crisis for several months at the end of the summer. A new office manager was hired in November 1998, along with a part-time administrative assistant in January 1999. The sixteen-month vacancy in the maintenance position was filled finally in November 1998, allowing a significant backlog of projects to be addressed.

Although Bosch is at capacity during more than 65% of its sessions, basic upgrades made to the facilities have not addressed the three primary capacity constraints, namely: limited dining space, insufficient cabin accommodations, and inadequate Bookshop/Cafe space. Planning is needed in the coming year to develop short- and long-term strategies for facility expansion and new construction.

There is an ongoing challenge of being accessible to all people while minimizing the level of subsidy from the National Fund. An emphasis on outside rentals has generated an additional revenue stream that “subsidizes” other activities and programs. It is critical, however, that a balance is struck between Bahá’í programs and associated fees and pursuing outside rentals. Continuation and expansion of the “no-cost” Fundamental Verities training courses will be determined by the level of ongoing financial support from local spiritual assemblies, individuals, and, potentially, the Regional Bahá’í Council.

GREEN ACRE BAHÁ’Í SCHOOL[edit]

Historically, Green Acre’s main goal has been to “become a great center, the cause of the unity of the world of humanity.” For more than one hundred years it has been called upon to promote spiritual transformation, world peace, race unity, and gender equality. Because of its longstanding history, associated not only with the visit of the beloved Master but with many of the early heroes of the Faith since the turn of the century, it has become an inspiring historic and spiritual center, ever striving to become a more perfect “reflection of the plain of ‘Akká,” where visitors of all ages and backgrounds may become more conscious of a heroic past while developing the vision, skills, and qualities necessary for advancing the process of entry by troops and the dawning of the new world order.

To fulfill this mission, Green Acre has worked on a number of priorities over the past year. Race unity activities have been one major focus. Green Acre has collaborated with activists and race relations organizations in co-sponsoring a regular series of public “Conversations on Race,” stressing the appreciation of diversity and strengthening its relationships with people of capacity. To further develop programming on this theme, Green Acre included sessions on images of Bahá’u’lláh in African-American music, the Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory’s contributions to race amity work, and studies of The Vision of Race Unity statement and the Toward Oneness compilation. The diversity of school staff has been enriched by an ongoing exchange program with the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, involving this year eight participants who came to serve as teachers, volunteers and participants in our summer and winter school programs. Other representatives of diverse racial backgrounds have come to serve in year-of-service, summer service, and adult volunteer programs. African-American music was highlighted in a series of gospel concerts by the Northeast Regional Bahá’í Choir and the Voices of Glory; Eric Dozier taught a program on spiritual traditions in African-American Music. A major highlight of the year was the privilege of hosting the Annual Black Men’s Gathering for the first time, allowing Green Acre to welcome 114 men of African descent for eight days and culminating in an interracial march of about 250 people to the grave of the Hand of the Cause of God Louis G. Gregory for a deeply moving devotional ceremony.

Green Acre was especially blessed to be chosen as the site of a historic international meeting from October 10 to 18, 1998. Representatives of fifteen National Spiritual Assemblies from the five continents gathered to study ways of encouraging their governments and Bahá’í communities to support human rights education. The weeklong Human Rights Education Training Seminar, called for by the Universal House of Justice as a significant step in leading the world to the Lesser Peace, was conducted by members of the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office in New York, along with representatives of the Offices of External Affairs of the United States and of Canada.

Another important priority has been the issue of the equality of women in partnership with men. This past year, courses and public programs on the Two Wings of a Bird statement were held in which the participation of men has grown significantly. A skill-building session also was held in the areas of workshop facilitation and public speaking, sponsored by the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men.

The education of children and youth and their integration into community activities was another highlight of the year. Activities associated with this effort included ten special institutes and programs for children and youth, and six other programs designed especially to integrate all age levels—adults and young people—“in spiritual, social, educational and administrative activities.” These activities included a study of how to find joy in Bahá’í learning for youth and adults, a parent-child Holy Days weekend, two Core Curriculum teacher-training programs and our family-oriented Winter School with its extensive intergenerational activities.

Green Acre also developed as a historical center. For the first time, a course on the history of Green Acre was offered. The school produced a moving slide presentation and other informational materials to inform its visitors more thoroughly about the history of this blessed spot. Historical tours were conducted regularly, especially of the Monsalvat area where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá envisioned the second House of Worship in North America and an outstanding international university.

In its efforts to advance the process of entry by troops, Green Acre offered eighteen programs related to individual transformation and skill building, including two training institutes; twelve programs related to various institutions and administrative committees; and fourteen programs related to community development. Attendance was up by 40% during the summer and 25% during the fall. Participatory modes of learning characterized the majority of the programs, increasing their effectiveness and skill-building dimensions. A Green Acre web page (www.greenacre.org), with basic information about the school and its programs, made the school’s programming even more accessible to a growing public.

In the coming year, one of Green Acre’s major challenges will be handling an increasing number of visitors. The school foresees an increased need for human and physical resources to serve a steadily-growing clientele of adults, youth and children. Staff will be concurrently working on the systematic development of curriculum and instructional methodologies, leading to a more formal program of integrated academic and spiritual studies.

The Master Plan for Green Acre facilities will be furthered, and hopes are high that construction of a new classroom building will begin. Finally, Green Acre will proclaim and teach the Faith by planning a major celebration of the anniversary of the election of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada at Green Acre in 1925.

LOUHELEN BAHÁ’Í SCHOOL[edit]

Louhelen offers well-organized, formally conducted courses on a regular schedule for families, youth, adults and children relating to goals of the Four Year Plan such as: studying the fundamental verities of the Faith; assisting individual believers to arise to teach and serve; promoting the maturation of local spiritual assemblies; stimulating confidence and initiative; and fostering firmness in the Covenant. All courses emphasize the central underlying principles of Bahá’í belief and living, such as advancing the work for race unity; promoting the true partnership of women and men; strengthening Bahá’í families and marriages; assisting Bahá’í youth to respond to the troubling issues they face in current society; deepening individual and community spiritual life; and fostering the raising up of the first prejudice-free generation.

Louhelen also serves as the home base of the National Teacher Training Center and provides operational support to the rapidly increasing training programs offered through the auspices of the NTTC.

Louhelen Bahá’í School developed and sponsored, or provided facilities for, over 300 programs in the past year. The school was attended by more than 11,000 Bahá’ís who participated in programs related to the overall theme of advancing the process of entry by troops through the spiritual development of the individual, the annual theme selected by the [Page 36]National Spiritual Assembly for the year 155 B.E. In addition, more than 4,000 non-Bahá’í guests benefited from Louhelen service during the past year. This is a primary avenue of proclaiming the Cause, which regularly results in requests for presentations on the Faith to visiting groups, and has resulted in guests later attending firesides. It also provides a significant source of additional revenue.

As the media campaign and national teaching plan bear fruit, the need to provide effective education and training programs will continue to increase at a substantial rate, thus requiring additional human resources. The increasing education and training needs of the Bahá’í community require the development of additional courses, training materials, and programs. Providing effective education and training programs requires a significant amount of high-quality human resources; however, financial and human resources are currently insufficient to fully pursue these needs as rapidly as would be desirable.

Another challenge Louhelen faces is that more and more of the courses and training programs offered receive larger enrollments than can be optimally accommodated in current Louhelen classrooms. Increasing attendance requires additional classrooms. Last year the school raised more than $100,000 in self-generated contributions to provide a financial foundation for a new classroom building project and saved more than $200,000 in wage costs by receiving more than 20,000 hours of volunteer service in school operations. Louhelen anticipates that friends of the School will complete raising all of the funds necessary to begin construction of an urgently needed large classroom in the coming year, with little or no additional funding requested from the Bahá’í National Fund.

Louhelen continuously strives to become increasingly self-reliant financially, while balancing efforts to achieve this goal with other important goals such as assuring wide access to school programs and meeting the substantial financial costs of the maintenance and development of the Louhelen property.

LOUIS G. GREGORY BAHÁ’Í INSTITUTE AND RADIO BAHÁ’Í WLGI[edit]

The Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute and Radio Bahá’í WLGI serve as resources for the training, teaching and consolidation of Bahá’ís and provide support to groups and institutions throughout the state of South Carolina for the purpose of accelerating the process of entry by troops and promoting the goals of the Four Year Plan in a loving, spiritual environment. Institute activities are conducted in response to direction from the Universal House of Justice to significantly increase the number of trained believers and trainers, while WLGI programming seeks to stimulate increased inquiries about the Faith through broadcasting the Creative Word. Both the Institute and WLGI are working toward consolidation goals and on having a dynamic impact on transformation.

In the past year significant changes in staffing and leadership have occurred both at the Institute and at WLGI, resulting in a reduced work force. However, programs, activities, administrative responsibilities, and all scheduled sessions have been held and have been maintained at a high standard.

Services provided to the community last year included continued community development work in conjunction with the advancement of the sustainable agricultural project; the utilization of local human resources; and working with women and training non-Bahá’í children in classes. Bahá’í children have concurrently participated in ongoing children’s classes which have grown significantly from eleven to fifty-six students, and which have incorporated into their activities memorization, crafts, music, and presentation, integrated with virtues and writings from the Sacred Texts. The number of teachers has increased from two to six, and some local parents have come as volunteers. More than one hundred children, youth, and junior youth were trained as part of the summer academies. These sessions facilitated transformation, preparation for traveling teaching, and the development of a capacity for spiritual leadership. The academies were held in a secluded, remote wooded setting and featured intensive study of the Creative Word.

The Institute continued a successful collaboration with the Green Acre Bahá’í School during both the summer and winter. Local youth were sent out of state, many for the first time, for program participation and service at Green Acre, an experience which has had an indelible impact on their lives. The 14th annual Peace Fest was held and attracted believers and the TV news media to a day-long festival of the arts where performances, vendors, food, and a Bahá’í booth were featured. The Institute successfully held regular Sunday Unity Worship services, which inspired the formation of a children’s choir that has performed at both public and Institute programs. Also, monthly Race Unity Dialogues were conducted, with communities and agencies invited, to facilitate and foster collaboration while problem-solving and working toward a common goal.

The physical facility and grounds remain in excellent condition and have been maintained without incident and with no improvements throughout the year, as activities and events have continued. Generally, ongoing systematic programs have been maintained as part of our roster to train believers, in spite of challenges resulting from a lack of human resources, and Radio Bahá’í WLGI has remained on air with quality programming despite reduced staffing and the loss of its station manager. Training volunteers for on-air broadcasting has successfully produced several new announcers and a new music director was hired. The radio station remains the widest-reaching teaching activity in the state. WLGI continues to provide an excellent quality of service to its surrounding communities.

In the coming year the Institute and the radio station have a goal to continue to provide the quality of service which has been established, given staff constraints, as well as to embrace the possibility of transition in our current mandate which may entail an alteration in regional and local focus. There is a great need for skilled trainers, staffing, broadcasting volunteers, and full-time (Year of Service) volunteer assistance to support the consolidation and community activities. The hiring of a station manager is needed to refine the structure and focus of Radio Bahá’í WLGI’s wide-reaching teaching work and media support. The Institute plans to expand the community agricultural project to include collaboration with area farmers and to begin a farmers market. Along with maintaining the socio-economic and community development work, the Institute has self-sufficiency as a goal for its operations as well as implementing projects, now aimed at the local population, that will expand to greater areas of the state to increase the teaching work through the incorporation of the spiritual principles in action. It is likely that improvements to the physical facility will be needed in order to provide for greatly increased capacity, for housing, and for adequate kitchen space as the close of the Four Year Plan brings new believers and numerous inquiries to the campus.

NATIVE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í INSTITUTE[edit]

The Native American Bahá’í Institute (NABI) celebrated its 20th anniversary with a dramatic surge forward in the quality, effectiveness, and reach of its services as the center of learning uniquely fashioned to meet the training needs of the Faith in Navajoland. It began with three significant actions taken by the National Spiritual Assembly: the appointment of a new Board of Directors, the designation of NABI as a Regional Training Institute, and the appointment of Alice and Jerry Bathke as NABI administrators.

At the core of the Institute’s new array of services and programs is the powerful yet emerging method of the Navajo Learning Circle. Designed by and with Navajo Bahá’ís in collaboration with the Four Corners Bahá’í Summer School, it is a place of shared learning and inclusive consultation centered on the Creative Word as translated into the Navajo language. Past Navajo language materials were recovered and reproduced for use as a text in the Circles, and “learning kits” of materials reproduced in both Navajo and English, along with cassette tapes of selected Bahá’í prayers in English and Navajo, were used. Veteran and new believers alike, along with friends and seekers, experienced the Circle as a comfortable, non-threatening, and empowering context for learning together, for hearing the words of Bahá’u’lláh in their native tongue, for making new friendships, for gaining confidence in their knowledge of the Faith, and for strengthening their ability to express themselves about spiritual topics. Since late summer, NABI trained sixteen indigenous Learning Circle trainers and hosted more than thirty sessions involving sixty Native believers.

These core training programs are complemented by “traditional” adult course offerings, children’s classes and community service programs. NABI currently averages seven adult classes, five children’s virtues classes, seven community service functions, and three community unity events per month, in addition to ongoing outreach and hospitality. Focused adult course offerings include Local Spiritual Assembly Development, Core Curriculum, Pioneer Training, NLC Trainers Orientation, Children’s Summer School & Camp, The Covenant, The Bible and the Bahá’í Faith, and Volunteer Orientation.

NABI’s simple goal for the past year was to reconnect the hearts to Bahá’u’lláh and to clear the pathway to relationship building. The Board was eager for the reconfigured NABI to foster healing and unity among the hearts, and to re-establish NABI as a place of welcome, fellowship and collaboration. The major issues confronting progress included disunity, estrangement, discontinued programs and disconnection from the community. In recognition of the need for unity and healing, the Board instituted unity-building gatherings, including the traditional Blessingway, the Reunion weekend, Summer Schools, Open House, and links with the surrounding local spiritual assemblies. The need for inclusion and empowerment led to the Board offering Learning Circles and a Women’s Conference, adapting the Core Curriculum to local culture, and initiating programs which served the educational, social and spiritual needs of children and youth. The resurgent peyote issue and proximity to predominantly Christian communities gave birth to compilations on prayer, consultation, deepening, and recommitment; courses on the Covenant; courses on the Bible; and the opportunity to demonstrate NABI’s hospitality, love, and commitment to building inclusive social and economic developments for the community. By making the community accessible to the community, sharing water, hosting community leukemia walks, hosting weekly community prayer gatherings (as well as hosting Feasts and Holy Days), and creating an Inter Faith Council, the Institute has built good relations with neighbors, tribal officials and the religious community.

In the year ahead, the Native American Bahá’í Institute will be challenged to add depth to its training curriculum, expand the teaching work, form and develop more local spiritual assemblies, and “shed light to all regions” while assisting people to develop further their spiritual and intellectual capacities. The NABI Board has decided to meet these challenges with Navajo Learning Center Curriculum Development; more written, audio and video material in the Navajo language; use of the radio; continuing Core Curriculum adaptation; an expanded youth program focus; advancing more training and organization towards teaching outcomes; delivering more training at local community sites; more individualized local spiritual assembly training; the establishment of regional, national and possibly international traveling teaching teams; and the creation of local social and economic [Page 37]development projects. Together these initiatives are intended to make the Army of Light victorious, galvanize the steadfast, rekindle the reluctant, and open the awaiting souls to the promise that the Blessed Beauty holds forth for all.

WILMETTE INSTITUTE[edit]

The Wilmette Institute was established in 1995 to offer courses and other educational programs. It is a national-level training institute that seeks to raise up diverse, knowledgeable, articulate teachers and administrators of the Bahá’í Faith by imparting knowledge; developing various skills, particularly teaching skills; and fostering Bahá’í identity. It receives no direct financial support from the Bahá’í National Fund, but funds its programs through tuition fees and donations. It has one full-time staff member.

Expansion of the Institute and creating more courses better able to help Bahá’ís become teachers and administrators of the Faith were central concerns all year. The Institute began the year with an administrative reorganization involving fewer meetings of the Wilmette Institute Board and more responsibility devolving to task forces. The result has been greater efficiency in making and implementing decisions.

Thirty students registered for the 1998–99 Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program, which conducted its third year of classes on the theme of “Community and Governance.” (The program is taught over a four-year period). They attended three weeks of intensive classes in Wilmette and completed ten months of home study work. Students reported bringing at least six people into the Faith, founding one spiritual assembly and two groups, and helping establish one Bahá’í center. Plans for the fourth year’s courses will be finalized soon.

The Wilmette Institute established a second educational program, “Studies in the Bahá’í Faith,” consisting of distance-education courses requiring no residential requirement. Two series of courses were offered: “Exploring Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation” and “World Religions: An Integrated Approach.” Three courses were completed in 1998, four were started in early 1999 with five more planned for later that year, and five more were scheduled for early 2000. Approximately 250 students took distance education courses in 1998–99. Many reported increased enthusiasm in and greater efforts at teaching the Faith. As the administrative machinery and policies for distance-education courses are standardized, more courses will be initiated.

The Institute launched a major publicity plan for its programs, including publishing two pamphlets and mailing 5,500 copies of them to Bahá’ís and Bahá’í institutions, systematically submitting articles to The American Bahá’í, expanding the Wilmette Institute’s web site by updating its twenty-four-hour information line, and further developing The Lamp, its newsletter.

As a result of the generosity of a Bahá’í family, the Institute established the Afsharian Scholarship Endowment. The Institute’s other endowment funds grew modestly.

The Wilmette Institute is constantly planning for the future. Its course schedule is already set for 1999–2000, and it plans to develop courses in Bahá’í history and the life and writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for 2001. It is studying the new educational possibilities created by the World Wide Web and is looking at eventual accreditation.

PROPERTIES[edit]

HOUSE OF WORSHIP CONSERVATION[edit]

The National Spiritual Assembly’s plan for the conservation and continuous care of the Mother Temple of the West is progressing firmly and with clear direction. The ongoing challenges of conserving the Temple with finite resources and the current status of technology have been met through dedicated efforts and research to develop a program which can set an example of the highest standards of workmanship and preservation.

To guarantee steady progress, a key member—a Project Manager—was added to the in-house staff to coordinate day-to-day conservation activities. The addition of this experienced architect/contractor to the staff provides the type of capacity needed to meet the growing volume of specialized maintenance and repair needs at the Temple.

The continuous care program has proceeded with inspections, documentation, and the development of on-site resources, including a specialized library of reference material for the Temple Conservation Group. The ongoing care and maintenance activities of the Properties staff have been supplemented by various projects such as the fireproofing of structural steel bracing around Foundation Hall and strategic repairs to copper flashing and membrane roofing materials on the upper levels. Planning and preliminary engineering work have started on the monumental stairs, the terraces and the gardens in anticipation of their upcoming renovation. In addition, plans have been started to facilitate the renewal of the heating, plumbing, electrical, roofing and weathering systems of the building.

Other activities included providing technical support for the development and maintenance of other Bahá’í properties, as well as conducting the summer youth program with thirteen individuals who assisted with cleaning, concrete repairs, documentation, and bird protection tasks.

The Conservation staff will continue to research new and innovative techniques for the conservation of the ornamental concrete. Current challenges include locating quality quartz materials and ascertaining the critical technical details of the Earley Studios process to best restore the concrete surfaces. These techniques continue to exceed the current standards for concrete restoration and will provide a rich source of information for future generations.

The success of these activities has been measured not only in the quality of the care that the Temple and other Bahá’í properties receive, but also in the positive image of the Faith in the preservation industry and community at large.

BAHÁ’Í PROPERTIES OFFICE[edit]

Over the past year the Properties department has maintained the Bahá’í House of Worship, the National Center administration building, the Hazíratu’l-Quds, the Publishing Trust, the Bahá’í Home, the Properties buildings and two residences in the Wilmette/Evanston area. It provided management assistance for eighteen other properties in the United States, including the three permanent schools, the Wilhelm Properties, plus the Louis G. Gregory and Native American Bahá’í Institutes. Inspections and consultation with local property administrators and facility managers helped to assure consistent standards for maintenance, repair, additions and new construction at all properties and facilities owned by the National Spiritual Assembly.

The scope of management and maintenance included: the sale of surplus property; cleaning, repairing, and construction tasks; designing replacement parts and material; grounds maintenance; and so on. Each property is a spiritual trust that must be maintained with the highest standards of quality workmanship, maintenance, repair, and expansion in a manner that is befitting of property owned by the National Spiritual Assembly and used for the progress of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

Consultation with the Treasurer’s Office revealed that substantial important projects had to be deferred this past year due to inadequate fund contributions. The heating and air conditioning systems at the Bahá’í National Center have exceeded their useful life. Replacing these systems will cost in excess of $100,000. Replacing the steps on the circular walkway around the Temple with sloping sidewalks to accommodate handicapped persons had to be postponed. Air conditioning for the House of Worship will cost in excess of $500,000 and has once again been deferred. These are only a small sampling of important projects that are deferred year after year because fund contributions continue to be well below the goals set by the National Spiritual Assembly.

The Properties department supports the teaching efforts of all departments by insuring that their immediate work environments and support facilities are maintained in a pristine condition. The Properties department makes every effort to insure that physical conditions do not hamper the ability of fellow employees to provide support services to and for the National Spiritual Assembly and its agencies, Bahá’ís and other visitors, and other organizations that are guests of the National Spiritual Assembly.

The following services were provided during the last year: the construction and installation of an equipment console in the Media studio; management of the contract to install a fire sprinkler system in the Bahá’í Home; maintenance of walk and driveway surfaces during fair and inclement weather; maintenance and repair of the Hazíratu’l-Quds and its associated grounds; management of a contract to replace fifty-year-old deteriorated plumbing and to upgrade facilities at the Assistant Secretary’s residence to acceptable standards; and maintenance and upgrade of security systems.

Routine daily custodial maintenance of all facilities in the Evanston and Wilmette area consisted, in part, of cleaning 300 plus windows each quarter year; cleaning and resupplying restrooms at least 1,850 times; stripping and waxing all hard-surfaced floors semiannually; cleaning 1,700 chairs in the House of Worship Auditorium and in Foundation Hall; and over 570 hours spent setting up meeting and activity rooms. More than 1,050 work orders, ranging from making keys to maintaining the electric, heating, and ventilating systems to carpentry tasks, were successfully completed.

During the summer months, when the House of Worship is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. daily, there is an additional requirement for personnel to perform necessary maintenance. Last year two seasonal employees were hired for custodial maintenance. Since summer weather causes weeds to grow faster than the flowers, it also causes greater demand for grounds and garden maintenance. Last year four seasonal employees were hired in the grounds maintenance section. One seasonal employee was needed for the facilities maintenance section, but, unfortunately, no one could be located who had the skills required. The Properties department anticipates a much larger number of visitors to the House of Worship in the coming year. This will result in a greater need for additional custodial and facilities maintenance staff, and it has become increasingly difficult to find qualified people to fill these seasonal staffing needs.

The Properties department will continue to provide the highest quality level of service to maintain all facilities and grounds for the National Spiritual Assembly. Its desire is to demonstrate that Bahá’í institutions are setting an example for others to follow. [Page 38]

PUBLISHING[edit]

BAHÁ’Í PUBLICATIONS[edit]

Bahá’í Publications is a primary means of communications for the National Spiritual Assembly. These communications come in the form of books, magazines, newsprint, audiotapes, videotapes, broadcast programming, audio/video technical support for live events, audiovisual archives and library services, and, most recently, use of the Internet. Bahá’í Publications comprises the activities of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, the Bahá’í Distribution Service, Media Services, Subscriber Services, The American Bahá’í, Brilliant Star, and World Order magazine, whose purposes are to inspire and to inform, to educate, and to unify.

The most significant issue that emerged during the past year was the unity of vision of Bahá’í Publications with the National Teaching Committee in advancing the process for entry by troops. This heightened level of interagency cooperation produced six significant activities:

1. The production of broadcast videos in support of the national teaching plan in collaboration with the National Teaching Committee.

2. The honing of the design and content of Bahá’í periodicals and special communications that better reflect the intended message of National Spiritual Assembly.

3. The increased publication and distribution of Bahá’í teaching materials.

4. The physical move of the Bahá’í Distribution Service from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Fulton County, Georgia, to be prepared for the final year of the Four Year Plan.

5. An increased emphasis on marketing, with the creation of an e-commerce web site, to make available Bahá’í Distribution Service products over the Internet, and a greater collaboration with NSA-owned retail sales outlets at the national Bahá’í schools and at the Bahá’í House of Worship.

6. The development of a new publishing organization designed to establish a presence for Bahá’í literature in general trade bookstores and public libraries.

MEDIA BROADCASTING[edit]

The American Bahá’í community is in the midst of a rapidly changing, multifaceted outreach for the hearts and souls of America. The driving force is the national teaching plan using the media, a plan designed to reach the general public with the message on a scale never before realized in the United States. After collaborating with the Satellite Initiative Development Corporation to produce The Power of Race Unity last year, Media Services initiated production of a major thirty-minute broadcast video for the media campaign entitled Two Wings—The Equality of Women and Men for the media campaign.

Media Services is following a path traced by the convergence of various digital technologies occurring in the world today and is better learning how to integrate its audio, video, print media and telecommunications capacities. In light of unfolding technological advances, Media Services has acquired the tools—SoftImage D/S non-linear edit system—and upgraded facilities as needed to generate better and more dynamic television content. Demographic research provided by the national media campaign facilitated better decision-making with regard to content. In its fourth year of resource building, Media Services now has personnel who are able to implement changes quickly, thereby converting strategic choices into concrete actions.

PERIODICALS AND COMMUNICATIONS TO THE BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY[edit]

Collaboration between Media Services and the National Teaching Committee has never been more consistent or systematic. As a result of the national teaching plan using the media, Media Services also has improved its internal communications capability.

The National Teaching Committee, as the chief executor of the plan, has engaged Media Services to assist it in accomplishing the following objectives:

1. To acquaint the Bahá’í community with the components, structure and aims of the plan.

2. To update the Bahá’í community frequently on the accomplishments and victories.

3. To help the friends identify intimately with its goals.

4. To assist in the production and promotion of proclamation materials.

Communications products developed during the past year included the broadcast programs already mentioned, three Bahá’í Newsreels, support materials such as the national teaching plan reminder card, and special communications such as the Bahá’í Temple restoration video, two NTC update videos and the Bahá’í International Convention video.

The American Bahá’í and Brilliant Star magazine have honed their designs and editorial content to clearly reflect the direction of the National Spiritual Assembly and to be more attractive to readers.

World Order magazine has included features on spirituality and on the equality of women and men, reflecting themes of the national teaching plan. The Editorial Board is being expanded by three persons, and a new design and concerted marketing approach are planned. Remaining true to its purposes, World Order strives to stimulate, inspire, and serve thinking people in their search to find relationships between contemporary life and contemporary religious teachings and philosophy and to focus on topics of broad social concern from a Bahá’í perspective. The National Spiritual Assembly’s Office of External Affairs, the Office of Public Information, and the U.S. United Nations office continue to send 300 copies of each issue to selected mailing lists to aid in external affairs work. Local spiritual assemblies are encouraged to do likewise.

BOOK PUBLISHING[edit]

The Bahá’í Publishing Trust published a total of thirty-six projects—eleven new titles, three new editions, and twenty-two reprints. For the first ten months of the financial year, 35% of BDS sales were from U.S. Bahá’í Publishing Trust titles and 65% were from other publishers. This was a significant increase over last year when only 27% of total dollar sales were BPT titles. This is due to three factors: first, more publishing projects were completed during the past year than ever before in the history of the Publishing Trust; second, new titles from other major publishers were fewer in number than in previous years; and, third, there has been an erosion of sales of distributed items. A trend has emerged for assemblies and individuals to purchase directly from publishers rather than through BDS. Despite the falling off of distributed sales, Publishing Trust sales remain strong. The Trust is looking at the best sales year ever for BPT titles in terms of units sold and the second best year in terms of revenue.

During the past year, publishing priorities were reset, the publishing agenda was clarified, and processes were simplified. The publishing priorities of the Publishing Trust reflect the direction and urgency of the Four Year Plan. The publishing priorities are:

1. Directives and statements of the Universal House of Justice and the National Spiritual Assembly.

2. Sacred and authoritative Texts.

3. Teaching materials.

4. Most popular titles.

5. Other titles that fall within the publishing agenda.

The overarching publishing agenda emphasizes two major themes: individual spiritual transformation and influencing the life of society.

In 1998 the Editorial Boards of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust completed their two-year term of service. Because of the change in publishing priorities, the need to simplify processes and the need to reduce expenses, the editorial boards were not reappointed.

The new titles and new editions published between May of 1998 and April of 1999 include: Issues Related to the Study of the Bahá’í Faith: Extracts from letters written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice; Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men (new general ed.); A Guide to Studying Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963–1986; Quickeners of Mankind; “The Light of Unity: The Power of Prayer”; “The Light of Unity: Equality of Women and Men”; “The Straight Path”; Bahá’í Date Book BE 156; Bahá’í Calendar BE 156; Love, Power and Justice; The Divine Art of Revelation; Like Pure Gold; A Prayer for Fluffy; and Ali’s Dream.

DISTRIBUTION[edit]

As of March 1, 1999, year-to-date gross sales were $1.21 million. This represents a 9% drop from the same period last year. Total units shipped, however, increased a staggering 21% to 299,057. Again, this represents a major shift in the type of materials being purchased through the Bahá’í Distribution Service. Sales will be further dampened with the National Convention held in Foundation Hall this year, as attendance will be restricted.

Total revenue for each unit sold averaged $4.08, a significant drop from $5.48 per unit for the first ten months of the last fiscal year. This drop is due to a shift in the type of materials purchased through BDS. As the teaching campaign has intensified, the friends have purchased fewer books and more teaching materials. This development is significant because it reflects widespread response to the teaching initiative. However, the National Spiritual Assembly faces a continuing challenge in the form of financially supporting production and distribution of these materials, which are costly to produce, expensive to distribute, and yield a much lower return than full margin books. In response to the drop in sales and lower revenue per unit, greater emphasis will be placed on marketing and sales, and approval has been given to hire a marketing-oriented assistant manager for the Distribution Service. A greater degree of collaboration with the bookstores at the national schools and at the House of Worship has been achieved, and this is bound to reap positive results as well.

In August 1998, the National Spiritual Assembly instructed Bahá’í Publications to accelerate plans for selecting a site and relocating the Bahá’í Distribution Service in order to be well-situated before the final year of the Four Year Plan. BDS responded by analyzing a wide variety of possible sites, recommending the optimum location, obtaining approval, moving, and restarting the distribution operation in less than five months. With the valuable assistance of the National Center departments of Information Services, the Office of the Treasurer, Properties and Human Resources, BDS was up and running in its new facility in Fulton County, Georgia, by January 5, 1999. All but two staff members chose to move to the new location in order to continue service for the Faith. [Page 39]

INTERNET COMMUNICATION AND COMMERCE[edit]

The Bahá’í Distribution Service and the Information Services department of the Bahá’í National Center have collaborated to create a web site that will become the Internet retail sales location for Bahá’í books, tapes, and related material. This site will be online by April 1999 at http://www.bahabook-sandmusic.com. This site will support the teaching initiative, increase sales, reduce pressure on telephone sales and customer service, and establish a legitimacy that is associated with maintaining an attractive web site. The BDS web site, as a complement of the media campaign strategy, will give customers the opportunity to browse BDS products, see the images, read descriptions of books, and spend whatever time is needed to make a decision. Shopping cart technology will allow visitors to order as they browse.

PUBLISHING FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC[edit]

In October 1998, the National Spiritual Assembly voted to initiate the planning for the creation of a new publishing entity to provide Bahá’í-inspired publications to trade bookstores and libraries. A senior industry consultant was hired, and development is under way. A full plan will be presented to the National Spiritual Assembly in July 1999. The National Spiritual Assembly also approved the immediate recruitment of staff, the selection of a name and logo, and research for key trade marketing and distribution relationships. This new entity will likely operate under the umbrella of Bahá’í Publications. It will be separate from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust and Distribution Service, which are geared toward a Bahá’í audience. The National Spiritual Assembly understands that this is a long-term undertaking. This enterprise will require at least two years of development with a very high investment over the next four to five years to make a positive impression on the very competitive and expensive commercial book trade.

Among the anticipated issues that face Bahá’í Publications in the coming year, the four most important are:

1. The production of a wider array of media materials in support of the national teaching plan, including video programs for the home and cable markets and Internet resources for seekers.

2. The need to develop further internal communications products to better inform, educate, and inspire the friends—particularly youth and new believers—using the full range of communications media.

3. The uncertainty of demand for Bahá’í Publications as we approach an unprecedented influx of seekers and new believers, which may exhaust supplies, strain customer service, and require rapid investments in inventory.

4. The low circulation of subscription-based Bahá’í periodicals. This is creating a budgeting problem when many other projects of the National Center also need funding. It suggests that the periodicals must become more attractive to their target audience.

The future overall looks bright with the prospect of new markets for Bahá’í books being opened and the results of the teaching plan yielding fruit. Demand for Bahá’í literature should increase correspondingly.

SERVICES[edit]

NATIONAL BAHÁ’Í ARCHIVES[edit]

The National Bahá’í Archives is responsible for the acquisition, arrangement, storage and preservation of National Bahá’í Archives collections, including Sacred Writings and relics, the Guardian’s letters, National Spiritual Assembly records and other archival collections. It provides research and archival services to the National Spiritual Assembly and its agencies and to other Bahá’í institutions, local communities and individual researchers. It further works to maintain, develop and expand the National Bahá’í Library and to improve access to library material by Bahá’í National Center offices and scholars.

In the past year, the Archives worked to assist the maturation of Bahá’í institutions through research services offered to the Bahá’í World Center, the National Spiritual Assembly and its agencies, and to other national and local spiritual assemblies. These services provided historical and biographical information about individuals and communities, located requested files in inactive records, provided photocopies of documents and advice on the care of records, and supervised use of the National Bahá’í Library. In addition to responding to 171 research requests from various institutions of the Faith, the Archives provided historical information or photographs to several local spiritual assemblies that celebrated 50th or 100th anniversaries. An important task of the National Bahá’í Archives is to assist other assemblies with the development of their archives. Last year the Archives sent information on local records and archives to twenty-three local communities in sixteen states. It also established a close collaboration with the new archivist of the Canadian National Bahá’í Archives, as well as sending archival information to the National Spiritual Assemblies of Australia, Spain and Alaska.

In anticipation of entry by troops, when there will be a significant increase in the number of scholars who need assistance from the Archives, the department works constantly to expand the number of processed archival collections. During the past year thirteen new collections of personal papers were processed and opened. The Archives also provided publishers with thirty-seven copies of historical photographs for illustrations in various publications. It is gratifying to observe that growing numbers of publishers are realizing that the Archives has one of the largest collections of Bahá’í historical photographs in the world. The collection was increased last year by 1,246 photographs, making a total of 15,404 photographs on file. In addition, since the National Bahá’í Library is an important reference source for the Bahá’í National Center, the Archives worked to expand its literary collections, adding 3,327 items. Furthermore, in an effort to provide assistance to future Media Service productions, the Archives Motion Picture Film Collection was organized and currently contains sixty-two different films.

The Archives encourages, where possible, the transformation of individuals through its support of Bahá’í scholarship, historical publications, and the appreciation of Bahá’í history. The resources of the Archives—used by scholars to increase the historical and biographical literature of the Faith—often assist in teaching and consolidation activities. Last year fourteen scholars visited the Archives, researching topics concerning five local communities, four individual Bahá’ís, and other topics, such as the Shrine of the Báb. One Bahá’í artist used information about Dorothy Baker to prepare a dramatic presentation to add to her repertoire. Another ambitious project involved researching the early history of the Faith in Central and South America in the Archives’ Inter-America Committee Records. Three books and one World Order article were published last year, all of which used research from the Archives.

The Archives also assisted local communities with local race unity activities by supplying, on request, sets of biographical sketches of prominent Bahá’ís from minority backgrounds. Last year the sketches were revised, and a chronology of race unity activities in the United States was added. To reinforce use of the biographical sketches, the Archives also provided fifty-two copies of historical photographs for race unity or other local community displays or publicity.

The work of the National Bahá’í Archives probably will not undergo any major changes in the coming year beyond working with Information Services to implement new digital technologies to preserve the Archives collections of audiotapes and electronic records. One challenge we expect to face in the future, however, is providing fast and efficient service without an increase in staff, since requests for services from the Archives have been gradually increasing.

HUMAN RESOURCES[edit]

The Human Resources department serves the needs of the National Spiritual Assembly in the areas of new staff recruitment, the administration of staff benefits, and management of employee relations. This office also provides staffing for the main switchboard and reception area, through which thousands of phone calls and many visitors are received at the Bahá’í National Center each year.

This past year, the offices at the National Center experienced a need to recruit staff with ever greater degrees of technical and professional skills. Human Resources sees a benefit to establishing youth/adult internships through contact with college clubs and universities who may be able to provide a list of graduates or potential graduates who may be interested in serving at the Bahá’í National Center. A vigorous effort will be made in the coming year to recruit youth, retired professionals, and those who may wish to take sabbaticals from careers, ranging from approximately three months to two years, to take advantage of such believers’ specialized capacities.

In the area of employee orientation, the Human Resources department has worked and will continue to focus on helping the staff to understand its spiritual purpose as servants of the National Spiritual Assembly. Human Resources intends to provide monthly orientations and will make available excerpts from the Sacred Writings on service, humility, trustworthiness, unity, trust and other subjects of importance in the workplace. Tours of the offices at the Bahá’í National Center will be included in such orientations, as well as guidance regarding appropriate attire for those serving the National Center and the House of Worship. The challenge has been to put a system in place which will insure the smooth daily operations of the office so that more time may be devoted to the development of an overall Human Resources strategy.

Human Resources anticipates making advances in the area of employee development by making training programs and career development opportunities available in areas such as effective communications, management and other administrative work done on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly. [Page 40]

INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT[edit]

Over the last few years the Bahá’í National Center’s usage of and dependence upon technology have grown substantially.

Whereas before there were only a few computers that helped with certain tasks, now computers are everywhere, used by everyone on a daily basis. Computer network technology has contributed directly to increases in efficiency in the work of the National Center. The use of e-mail has skyrocketed in the last few years. One project undertaken by Information Services (IS) has been the migration to MS Exchange Server and Outlook Mail throughout the organization. The National Center office building has been converted and the House of Worship will be converted as soon as the connectivity to the National Center building has been improved with a new wireless connection. The MS Exchange conversion will be conducted next at the Office of External Affairs in Washington, DC, and at the Bahá’í Distribution Service in suburban Atlanta. Other sites will then follow.

LSAI (Local Spiritual Assembly Integration) software has been through several changes during the past year. Some of the challenges in this area are the rapid changes in the Internet and in the software that takes advantage of the Internet. The LSAI Project has been restructured to take advantage of the new software in a more “off the shelf” way. The project has a two-tiered approach: the original design specifications called for both a “thick client” and a “thin client,” but it had been progressing down the “thick client” only. We now have both “thin” and “thick” clients close to beta testing.

During the past year a review of the National Center’s Y2K compliance was conducted. Information Services already has modified or verified as correct most major systems. The membership database, all Internet-based systems, all servers, and the network equipment are Y2K compliant. Upgrades and conversions were made to the accounting software used by the Treasurer’s Office to Y2K compatible versions. Y2K compliance testing and upgrading will continue. Information Services does not expect much impact from Y2K problems on systems internal to the National Center.

In the past year the Information Services department faced numerous challenges, both in human resources and with equipment reliability. Shortages in qualified personnel have been a major hurdle. In the coming year, the department will focus both on increasing the number of staff and on obtaining personnel who possess high qualifications. The challenge will be to bring this new group of people together as a team.

In addition to serious staff shortages, there were numerous computer and telephone outages during the past year. There were several incidents where equipment just wore out. For example, the connection points of the network at 1233 Central had to be replaced as they were no longer working reliably. Several such circumstances were due to external forces—most were weather-related as several storms knocked out both the electrical power and telephone service to the building. Early in the year the local electric utility lost the main power feed (cable) into the National Center office building, resulting in fourteen hours of out-of-phase power. One phase was out completely; another phase seemed to work; and the third phase worked intermittently, causing harm to some of the computer and telephone hardware. This contributed to problems with computer network equipment later in the year. Hard drives in our main network server were lost three times in the fall. The server is set up to survive hard drive failure. The first and second times the drives were lost, the server was only down for a matter of an hour or so, and no data was lost. The third time, though, when the hard drive was replaced, the server did not come right back up as it was supposed to do. It had additional problems that, once they were fixed and the server was brought back up, rendered the system unreliable. Consequently, it was necessary to replace the system with a new NT-based server.

The outage taught the IS department that better backups and more redundancy of service were needed. All systems in the network have been reevaluated, and strong emphasis is being placed on reliability and “uptime” in the computer network. IS has identified which services are more necessary than others and has started to put into place “redundant” systems for these services. Additional servers that run as “redundant” servers to our mission-critical servers have been added. This real-time replication software is being set up on two servers which are in-house already. This solution provides nearly instantaneous takeover if a server that it is set up as a replicated server stops functioning.

Another of the issues that came out during the network outage last fall was the lack of documentation of what systems are in place and how they interact together. A project is underway to document every facet of the IS department and will include in-depth disaster planning.

To increase connectivity and reliability, frame relay circuits are being installed between the National Center and its distant offices. This year we are connecting the Bahá’í Distribution Service, offices in the suburbs of Atlanta, and the Office of External Affairs in Washington, DC. In the future this will be expanded to include the Bahá’í Schools, the Regional Bahá’í Council offices, and other offices as appropriate.

Challenges that face Information Services in the next year include continuing to improve the reliability of the computer network and phone systems. The computer network at the National Center campus will be expanded to include the Hazíratu’l-Quds, the 121 Linden Avenue property, the Bahá’í Home for the Aged and the Bahá’í Publishing Trust. The network will be beefed up to increase the bandwidth between the House of Worship and the National Center building by the installation of a wireless network between those properties.

MEETING PLANNING AND TRAVEL SERVICES[edit]

The Meetings and Travel Office provides the National Spiritual Assembly and its committees and agencies with meeting planning services, loving hospitality and welcome, and travel services. Its goal is to provide these services in the most loving and caring way, but with an efficiency and cost-effectiveness that protects the funds.

To improve its services, a major reorganization was undertaken during the past year. New departmental procedures for the handling of travel requests and new guidelines for on-site meetings were introduced. A new corporate volume discount of 5% for air travel was negotiated with United Airlines, representing a potential savings of $20,000 annually. A new corporate charge-card program was initiated with a waiver of all individual charge card fees. A new travel agency agreement was negotiated, which resulted in the elimination of service fees and an arrangement to share commissions paid by vendors. The ground transportation provider to the Evanston/Wilmette area was changed, resulting in a 15% savings.

With these major operational improvements completed, the Meetings and Travel Office’s goals will be to further improve the way our guests are welcomed, to provide for the meeting needs of committees, agencies, and departments, and to respond to travel requests, while developing more efficient and cost-effective ways to provide these services.

PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICE[edit]

The Public Safety department is responsible for safety and security at the Bahá’í National Center. It serves the staff, volunteers, visitors, special guests and members of the National Spiritual Assembly. The security of all properties, including the House of Worship, the National Center offices, the Publishing Trust, the Bahá’í Home, the Hazíratu’l-Quds and other properties must be maintained.

In order to provide for the safety and security of the House of Worship, Public Safety officers regularly patrol both the interior and exterior of the building every day, accomplishing approximately 16,800 patrols yearly. The officers also have the honor of greeting and serving all late-night visitors to the House of Worship. This past year there were 8,143 late-night visitors. Officers enjoy greeting them all, answering their questions about the building and the Faith, and inviting them to return when the House of Worship reopens.

All of the remaining properties, the Hazíratu’l-Quds, the Publishing Trust, the Bahá’í Home, the National Center and two residences require constant vehicular patrols and foot rounds to ensure their safety and security. To meet this challenge, officers provided approximately 7,500 vehicular/foot rounds last year to these properties.

Providing service to the staff, volunteers and visitors is accomplished in many different ways. Officers responded to approximately 2,500 calls for service, including transportation of staff and/or materials, lockout of autos, traffic direction, personal injury accidents and so on. Public Safety monitors and maintains the access control to buildings and the alarm and video systems for all Bahá’í properties, as well as providing for the safety and security of all special events and meetings on Bahá’í properties. This often includes assisting in setting up the event, traffic direction on the parking lots and streets, assisting visitors to appropriate parking, and assisting physically challenged individuals into the events. Public Safety also has the distinct honor to serve the members of the Continental Counselors, the National Spiritual Assembly and the Regional Bahá’í Council members by planning and providing for their transportation when they are in town.

The department is faced with the challenge of providing a safe and secure environment for everyone at the Bahá’í National Center while coexisting in a society that has crime, accidents, injuries and special community events or needs. Public Safety officers respond to and investigate all accidents, incidents, injuries, alarms, suspicious situations and unusual circumstances that occur on Bahá’í properties twenty-four hours daily and regularly interact with the police, fire, and other agencies in the local community. Furthermore, the department constantly trains to ensure its officers are able to meet any challenge.

In the past year the Public Safety department experienced three vacancies in its ten-member staff. This resulted in many hours spent advertising, interviewing and conducting background investigations to attract qualified persons for service at the National Center. The department is confident, nevertheless, that it will be able to provide the necessary services for the safety and security of the ever-increasing numbers of Bahá’ís and other visitors who will visit the National Center in the coming year. [Page 41]

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT[edit]

HEALTH FOR HUMANITY[edit]

Health for Humanity (HH) celebrated its seventh anniversary on Naw-Rúz 1999, continuing to strengthen its operations each year. Domestic and international development projects are ongoing. In addition to its headquarters office in the Chicago area, which conducts a preschool literacy project that receives grants from three foundations (including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation), regional Health for Humanity Networks are established in eight other locales across the country. These HH Networks manage their own operations with guidance from the national office, and they conduct a variety of SED programs such as marriage enrichment, smoking cessation, wellness clubs, new mother training/support, after-school tutoring and so on.

Health for Humanity volunteers travel to all continents providing service and training in the health and community development arena. This tax-exempt, nongovernmental organization has focused on long-term projects in Albania, Guyana, Honduras, Cameroon and China and is expanding international work in Bolivia (partnered with Universidad Núr), the Central African Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia and the United States, among others. The Health for Humanity Board is particularly interested in exploring a wider range of options in China.

Support from the Soros, the Mary Jane Crowe, and the Saul and Deborah Sherman Foundations provided a significant portion of HH’s international operating budget this year, while an annual fund-raising event (raising $40,000 in August 1998) and member contributions continue to grow each year. Health for Humanity is entirely self-funded. During the last fiscal year HH provided over $454,000 worth of assistance to projects and programs in the United States and across the globe. An elegant annual report, “The Joy of Service,” is available free of charge from the Health for Humanity office (467 Jackson Ave., Glencoe, IL 60022 USA).

MOTTAHEDEH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES[edit]

The mission of Mottahedeh Development Services (MDS) is to promote Bahá’í social and economic development (SED) to stimulate action in the spirit of service to humankind. Its vision is a Bahá’í community in which active service to the larger community is an immediate and organic expression of Faith, leading to the strengthening and expansion of the Bahá’í community. The past year saw MDS continue its support for specific demonstration projects, but emphasized its role in providing training and resources to stimulate local communities in their efforts to initiate social and economic development projects as a strategy of service essential to the development of vibrant Bahá’í communities.

To help communities engage in this process, MDS has established training workshops throughout the United States whereby the friends can obtain a basic understanding and initial experience needed to promote SED in their own home communities. Thus far, a few training workshops have been held, and more will be set up in different parts of the United States during the coming year. MDS invites individuals and assemblies to sponsor individuals to attend future MDS SED Facilitator Training Workshops being planned in each of the four regions of the United States. Workshops have been given at Louhelen, Bosch, and Green Acre Bahá’í Schools, with upcoming workshops scheduled for Atlanta, Georgia, and Brighton Creek, Washington.

MDS has appointed a network of regional coordinators and facilitators. The coordinators are individuals who have already been trained as SED facilitators, or who have significant skills in this area, and who can serve to coordinate the training of additional facilitators within one of the regions. These coordinators may conduct the training or organize and plan the training. The coordinators will identify—with the assistance of the Regional Bahá’í Councils, the Counselors and Auxiliary Board members—individuals to be trained as facilitators within their regions. The coordinator will act as a team leader, developing a team of facilitators to serve the Regional Councils, Assemblies and Training Institutes within the region. The coordinator will communicate with the Regional Bahá’í Councils and serve to identify facilitators to assist specific communities or to conduct specific training. In order to do the above, the coordinator will evaluate the skills of the facilitators to consider who is best able to fulfill different tasks.

MDS just published Developing Patterns of Community Life—A Guide to Consultation on The Process of Social and Economic Development for Bahá’í Communities. This practical manual presents both the supportive Bahá’í writings and a ten-step method for planning, initiating and managing social and economic development projects. The guidebook has been developed by practitioners from both North and South America who have been involved in some of the most successful Bahá’í development projects. It is presented in a manner that can be used either in training communities or by local spiritual assemblies or other consultative groups as they go through their planning process. MDS has arranged for the translation and publication of this manual in Spanish by Núr University, and translations into Portuguese and French are also being discussed on the initiative of communities that speak those languages. MDS is now working on a supportive facilitators guide to assist the facilitators with their skills in conducting workshops, consulting with communities, and managing projects.

MDS continues to support the Family Unity Institute in DeKalb County, Georgia. However, it seeks to transfer responsibility for program development to the local community. This program is highly successful, incorporating a number of SED projects, such as Dawnbreaker Toastmasters, parenting classes, and a Friday night basketball youth program. During the school year 1998-1999, MDS continued to support the Star Program, an after-school tutorial and basketball program, involving fifty families. During the first few years the after-school program was supported by grants; the program is now primarily self-supporting, needing little assistance from MDS.

The Bahá’í community and the community at large are rich in social and economic development resources. However, communities seeking to initiate SED projects often are unable to locate helpful resources. MDS now finds itself in the position of and will continue to serve as a resource broker. Its office will continue to connect capabilities to needs through its web page and newsletter. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has renewed the registration of MDS as a private voluntary organization. The agency focuses on creating strategic partnerships that leverage financial and programmatic support for development education and training.

Last year MDS, at the request of individuals interested in a business forum, appointed a Leadership Team for the Bahá’í Business Forum of the Americas (BBFA). There are three important initiatives that the BBFA Leadership Team is pursuing. One is the Internet forum that provides an opportunity for discussion among those interested in this topic. The second is the development of Local Enterprise Advisory Boards that will serve as support networks for Bahá’ís seeking to develop enterprise. These are to serve as business “incubators” and a support/learning system for Bahá’ís at the local level. The third is the development of an educational/training process that will include the development of a curriculum on Bahá’í Centered Management and the presentation of this curriculum on an on-going basis at one or more Bahá’í schools. BBFA has appointed a Curriculum Development Team and is collaborating with the Green Acre Bahá’í School to develop an education process that can serve Bahá’ís in business, administrators, and eventually serve the community of like-minded individuals. Members of the Leadership Team are closely collaborating with the European Bahá’í Business Forum, presented at their annual conference this year and are scheduled for next year, and have agreed to share all training materials and programs developed.

MDS is a member of the Micro Credit Summit Council and was asked to present an Institutional Action Plan Summary. Mr. Hillary Chapman presented the plan, which included goals for Micro-credit services and public awareness. The goal of the Summit is to raise one million women out of poverty by the year 2005 by giving loans to individuals. Several MDS members presented projects at the Rabbani Charitable Trust Conference for the Americas in Orlando, Florida, presenting several case studies on MDS projects in McLean, Virginia, and South DeKalb County, Georgia, related to health, families, and parenting.

MDS collaborates with Núr University in Bolivia through the efforts of board member Dr. Beth Bowen. MDS has assisted educators and specialists to develop a common vision of social and economic development and to apply this knowledge in the development of appropriate local projects. Computers were donated to Senegal and Poland through a project in which MDS served as a resource broker to provide computers to Bahá’í institutions in several countries. MDS assists with Indian youth scholarships to study rural agriculture in Colombia. The training will take place at FUNDAEC, an institution dedicated to serving rural and urban people in Colombia, in the fields of education, environment and the promotion of small enterprises.

MDS plans to continue all of the above initiatives and to focus on expanding assistance to local communities in their efforts to build vibrant Bahá’í communities. MDS believes that its mission is entirely consistent with the directives of the Four Year Plan and that its contribution to this plan is the development of Bahá’í communities that meet the diverse needs of its members to be of service to humanity, an expression that is essential to confirming one’s Faith. Through a process of training that will be made available to all Bahá’í schools and Training Institutes, and through the development of facilitators to assist local communities, MDS will assist in fulfilling the Guardian’s requirement for large-scale growth: “Until the public sees in the Bahá’í community a true pattern, in action, of something better than it already has, it will not respond to the Faith in large numbers.” [Page 42]

ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCILS[edit]

REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCIL OF THE CENTRAL STATES[edit]

THE PROGRESS OF THE TEACHING AND CONSOLIDATION WORK[edit]

The primary task of the Council was the development and implementation of an expansion and consolidation plan that contained all the elements of the national teaching plan. The Regional Expansion and Consolidation Plan was developed following study of the Tablets of the Divine Plan specific to the Central States, the Ridván 153 and Ridván 154 messages of the Universal House of Justice, an assessment of the region through reports of the Regional Committee, and in consultation with member of the Continental Board of Counselors Stephen Birkland, as well as consultation and dialogue with local spiritual assemblies and individuals in the region.

Following the approval of the National Spiritual Assembly, the plan was released to all local spiritual assemblies and registered groups in the region on August 5, 1998. The five major goals of the plan are advanced through correspondence with the communities in the Central States, meetings with communities and assemblies, and appointments of agencies of the Regional Bahá’í Council of the Central States.

During the course of the last year, the Council or its representatives met with members of each national committee. The purpose of these meetings was to glean an understanding of the work of the committees and receive their thoughts and concerns about the Central States region, to identify ways to work together, to share the intent of the Council to form regional committees, and to seek input regarding appointments to these committees. The Council has met with the National Teaching Committee twice, the first time in early 1998 when the regional plan was in the early stages of formulation, and again in December 1998 for the purpose of collaborating on a media project. The media project now is in the early stages of development. The National Teaching Committee and the Regional Bahá’í Council also collaborated on a conference focusing on Regional Training Institutes.

To advance the regional plan further, Council representatives have made an effort to attend a variety of seasonal schools and conferences and focused their presentations on this topic.

On August 5, 1998, the Council sent a letter and plans to all local spiritual assemblies and registered groups with goals and plans. This action could be viewed as the start of the community-building process among the Bahá’ís of the Central States. The Council then met with local spiritual assemblies, communities, and individuals to discuss regional plans and goals. These meetings proved to be both informational and relational, in that they provided opportunities for Council members and local Bahá’ís to share ideas and form loving and caring relationships. Tremendous value was found in meeting the friends face-to-face, as this allowed the opportunity for them to see and relate to the institution in a more personal way.

The Council has established four regional youth committees composed of Bahá’í youth representatives from throughout the region. These youth have been selected carefully based upon their service and potential for spiritual leadership. As with all selection for committees, the Council extended every effort to assure gender, race and cultural diversity. The youth committees’ mandate is to “encourage youth to become teachers, administrators, and full members of the Bahá’í community.”

Prior to the establishment of the regional youth committees, the Council hosted its first and only conference to date. The Conference of Badasht 150 was held at the Bahá’í House of Worship in July 1998. This regional conference was attended by 250 youth, and every state in the region was represented. A feature of this conference was the collective study of the Ridván 155 message.

The Regional African American Teaching Committee is up and running. Its mandate is to “initiate further expansion of the Faith through advancing the process of entry by troops among African Americans of every stratum of society.” The Regional African American Teaching Committee had its orientation on November 21, 1998. Other committees will be appointed soon.

During all of its meetings with communities, local spiritual assemblies and registered groups, the Council has emphasized the media plan and encouraged communities to use the resources to promote the plan in their local communities. Systems to support local follow-up to inquiries are developing or are in place. To facilitate follow-up to 800-22-UNITE calls, the Council has identified “media reps” in every state. These reps manage seeker information from areas not connected to the national response system. Seeker information is forwarded to these key individuals, and they identify the nearest registered group or local spiritual assembly and forward the contact information. This system is considered only temporary as the vision is that all communities will, in time, be connected to the 800-22-UNITE system.

The Council has decided to initiate two major proclamation projects in the region in support of the national teaching plan, one in Columbus, Ohio, and the other in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both communities have a network of local media workers with appreciable experience. The Council has suggested to both communities that they form a working group consisting of three Council members and one or two members of the National Teaching Committee or its staff to oversee the proclamation projects. The projects will consist of three elements: 1) a proclamation campaign, 2) the utilization of research principles in design of the campaign, and 3) an evaluation of the success of the campaign.

Prior to establishing the Regional Committee for the Equality of Women and Men, Council representatives met with the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men. A draft of the regional mandate was shared with that body, and suggestions for a regional committee were obtained. This regional committee is now in the process of appointment. The mission of this committee is to “advance the Bahá’í principle of the equality of women and men” in the region of the Central States. It is the intent of the Council that this committee also will work closely with local spiritual assemblies and regional training institutes to fulfill its mandate.

PERCEPTION OF THE REGION’S STRENGTHS AND REQUIREMENTS[edit]

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá defines this region as ‘like unto the heart of America’ and if the ‘heart is strengthened, all the organs of the body are reinforced, and if the heart is weak all the physical elements are subjected to feebleness.’ The Council recognizes that the region of the Central States has many strengths and hopes to build on these to advance the momentum of the process of entry by troops. A very definite strength is the fact that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent significant time in the central states, visiting Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lincoln, Nebraska. It is interesting that these areas, or communities close to these areas, show great promise and have been identified as target areas in the regional plan. The target areas and several other regional strengths that are distinctive in nature are highlighted in this section.

It is the hope of the Council that through establishing loving and collaborative relationships with the institutions of the Faith that the opportunities to serve the national and regional plans through local initiatives will be strengthened. A regional strength is inherent in the evolving relationship between the administrative arms of the Faith. In September 1998, the Council met with Stephen Birkland and the Auxiliary Board members serving the Central States with focused consultation on the regional expansion and consolidation plan and the general distinction in the respective roles of the administrative arms in advancing key components of the plan.

In the effort first to build and then strengthen relationships between the Council and the local spiritual assemblies and friends, the Council took several initial steps. Following the December 12, 1997, inaugural meeting of the Council, a “love letter” was sent to every local spiritual assembly and group in the region. Simultaneously, every local spiritual assembly was called by a member of the Council to convey greetings, share highlights of the first meeting, and confirm the means to contact the Council.

The Council has a goal to enhance and increase efforts to train human resources in the fundamental verities of the Faith, with particular emphasis given to the development of knowledgeable and active teachers of the Faith. This goal is implemented primarily by means of the activities of Regional Training Institutes. At present there are four in the Central States region:

The Dorothy Baker Institute, Columbus, Ohio.
The Gateway Regional Institute, St. Louis, Missouri.
The Minnesota Bahá’í Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Milwaukee Metro Regional Training Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In addition, there are numerous local training institutes throughout the region in various stages of development.

The regional and local training institutes now are offering, at varying levels of regularity and sophistication, courses which strengthen teaching and administrative skills on the parts of the believers. In the Regional Council’s target areas where no regional training institute yet exists, there is growing clarity of understanding about the ways in which training institutes differ from, and go beyond, traditional Bahá’í schools and deepening activities.

The response to the national teaching plan using the media is a means of strength in the Central States. Goal three of the Regional Expansion and Consolidation Plan addresses this area, asking the friends to “strengthen and support participation of the national race unity campaign and the media campaign, and efforts to promote racial unity and the equality of women and men.” An example of response to the media plan follows, but please note that many communities in the Central States are responding wholeheartedly and using the video The Power of Race Unity in showings at libraries, schools, inter-faith activities, race unity proclamations, and on local cable television.

It is interesting that the communities that did not receive the transmittal via cable of The Power of Race Unity responded to the call to participate and are distinguished in their efforts to use the video as a means to share the Faith with the public with innovation and creativity. Springfield, Illinois, is one of [Page 43]these communities. As a result of their efforts to show the video to the mayor, they became leaders in the community in the area of race unity dialogues, have established a strong relationship with a group of Catholic nuns, and have been featured in local news and newspaper reports for their work in race unity. Most notable is the steady increase in the size of the community through these efforts, especially in the African-American population.

Activities that arise from initiative on the part of youth are taking place in Minnesota. The Minnesota Bahá’í Institute is consulting on developing a youth institute. Ohio has annual youth conferences and also is planning a youth traveling teaching project. At the same time there are very distinctive youth activities taking place that are a tremendous strength to the region, both in demonstrating the power of youth and the value of a systematic approach. Project Wildfire is an example of a consecrated effort of service to expansion and consolidation. This project is made up of ten youth dedicating one year to serving the region of the Central States. They are under the wing of the local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Little Canada, Minnesota. The Louhelen Bahá’í School meeting for Bahá’í College Clubs in the Central States, sponsored by the National Youth Committee, had an increase in attendance over the last year. The University of Minnesota has responded wholeheartedly to the Open University tasks assigned by the Office of the Secretary for External Affairs.

In the Tablets of the Divine Plan ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reminds us that traveling teaching is successful when done “systematically and enthusiastically.” The Regional Traveling Teacher Coordinator and State Traveling Teacher Coordinator have the responsibility to identify and place traveling teachers where they will advance the efforts of local plans. This also is an area of exciting human resource development.

The Council identified areas in the region for focused attention. To date, the Council, or representatives of the Council, met with 34% of the local spiritual assemblies in the region of the Central States, and specifically in the target areas of:

Pierre, South Dakota.
Lincoln, Nebraska.
Springfield, Illinois.
Chicago, Illinois.
Cleveland, Ohio.
Columbus, Ohio.
Detroit, Michigan.
St. Louis, Missouri.
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

These key areas were chosen because they have demonstrated a working relationship with the Auxiliary Board members, are involved in intercommunity collaboration, have teaching and consolidation plans in place, or the intention to develop and implement such plans, have firesides and devotional meetings, and are home to or have the potential to support a Regional Training Institute.

It is the hope of the Council that through a close, loving and collaborative relationship, implementing the components of the regional plan, these areas will become models of Bahá’í community life. The Council is in the process of developing specific strategies for each targeted area. These strategies will include helping to create a new vision of growth by encouraging support of current regional training institutes or new regional training institutes, and encouraging spiritual assemblies, groups, task forces and individuals to develop teaching plans and initiatives and to become linked directly with training programs.

The Council has met separately and collectively with all four of its training institutes. In April of last year, prior to the management of the training institutes transferring to the Council, the National Teaching Committee, Regional Training Institutes and Auxiliary Board members met together to advance understanding on the institutes’ role and process.

As the Council continues to work to advance the regional plan, there are areas that will require ongoing strategic and systematic development. One challenge that is common among all the institutes is establishing close working relationships with the local spiritual assemblies and friends. In part, the Council believes that as assemblies develop their teaching plans and establish teaching projects, the training institutes will be viewed as a means to acquire skills to better serve those plans and projects.

An additional challenge that has been identified and seems connected to community development, facilitating training programs, and institutional activities is the establishment of a local center. This issue is considered critical by a number of urban communities and in some cases becomes the focus of the teaching plan rather than one strategy approached systematically within the scope of community expansion and consolidation plans.

Improvement of the quality of unit conventions is another important focus for the Council. Historically, attendance and voting in unit conventions has been poor. Information gleaned from previous years indicates that voting percentages in the twenty-eight units in the Central States have been low, leading the Council to the belief that this issue is serious and these percentages (seen as a reflection of the function of conventions) must be improved significantly.

The Council selected four electoral units from the list of twenty-eight units in the Central States. The four units consisted of two with the highest voting percentages and two with the lowest voting percentages, as indicated in 1997. The Council decided to use these as models to implement measures for improving unit conventions. Individual Council members were assigned to work closely with each of the four electoral unit host assemblies in order to implement measures so these unit conventions would be able to attract large attendance, be joyous experiences with focused consultation, and improve the election process.

The relationships of the local spiritual assemblies to the Council has been warm, loving, and responsive. The Council has responded to the local spiritual assemblies for expressions of support; however, it has been important at the same time to convey to the respective assemblies that the relationships of the assemblies to the Council is supportive and advisory rather than supervisory. The role of the Council is the strengthening and consolidation of the local spiritual assemblies and their respective communities. That consolidation entails empowerment of the local spiritual assemblies and fostering an understanding that the local spiritual assemblies are not under the authority of the Regional Bahá’í Councils.

Assembly development is an important area of the work of the Council. In view of the numbers of the local spiritual assemblies which have been lost and the number now in jeopardy, this matter presents an immediate concern.

The Council encourages the development of local expansion and consolidation plans. This area remains an important task. The Council must encourage the development and consolidation of local plans without the Council itself becoming the decision-maker. An intercommunity coordinating body with the appropriate relationship to the respective assemblies may be considered.

The need to systematically and energetically pursue the teaching work among the American Indian population has been a constant theme on the agenda of the Regional Council over the past year. With some of the largest concentrations of American Indian peoples in the entire country, the Council realizes that this region must play a pivotal role in advancing this important work during the immediate years ahead.

Over the past year, the Council has endeavored to acquaint itself fully with the challenges and immediate conditions of the Indian teaching work. A visit by a Council member to meet with the local Spiritual Assembly of Pierre, South Dakota, in February 1998 was followed by the participation in March of two Council members at the Spring Bahá’í School held in Grand Forks, North Dakota. As a result of the information that was gathered during these two visits, the Council met as a body with the National American Indian Teaching Committee in July in Chicago. During four hours of consultation, the National Committee shared its perspective on the state of Indian teaching in the United States as well as some of its goals. In this meeting, the Council also gleaned a fuller understanding of the National Committee’s work with its regional task forces. Largely as a result of this consultation, the Council determined that it would be wise to move slowly in taking a prominent role in pursuing this initiative and subsequently made plans to gather more firsthand information by holding one of its future meetings in the Dakotas. This plan came to fruition in October of last year when the Council traveled to Bismarck, North Dakota, and Pierre, South Dakota. In a series of four separate meetings with the local believers, the Council became intimately acquainted with the hopes and needs of the friends in that part of the region.

In addition to the clear challenge of regaining the momentum that has been lost in recent years in the area of Indian teaching, the Council has also dedicated itself to identifying American Indian believers who can serve on its other committees and assorted agencies. The success of this effort thus far has been limited, but the various American Indian contacts which have resulted from the various visits and assorted networking efforts of the Council in recent months have given it reason to be hopeful in this regard.

INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNCIL[edit]

The Regional Bahá’í Council of the Central States has tried to apply the guidance of the Universal House of Justice to “press forward quickly in effecting sound action that will boost the thrust in the expansion and consolidation of the community” and not “expend too much time on formulating new procedures or refining the mechanics of their operations.” At times the challenge has been to find the balance. For example, managing the process of unit conventions and, to a greater degree, the election of the Regional Bahá’í Council requires new procedures and refinement.

Currently, the Council meets every three to four weeks in a selected locality in the region. The area selected generally is a target area. The weekend is scheduled to allow time for the Council to meet as a body and then to meet specifically with the youth, regional training institute boards of directors, selected assemblies, groups, and individuals. The Council also uses phone conferences on a monthly and as-needed basis to conduct business. E-mail is relied upon heavily. E-mail messages are forwarded to the Council members on a daily basis. A weekly summary sheet of all incoming and outgoing correspondence as well as important documents are copied and mailed weekly to all members. A secretary’s report is included at each meeting, and every attempt is made to provide a written update on a weekly and as needed basis.

The treasurer maintains all original files as related to budget and financial management of funds. The Council receives an update at each meeting on the state of the budget. The Council has approved the hiring of a part-time assistant to the office of the treasurer.

The temporary office of the Council is housed in the home of its secretary, where its archives and files are maintained. The Council office is complete with computer, fax, copier, two phone lines and voice mail. The secretariat is staffed with one full-time assistant who handles general secretarial work, office [Page 44]maintenance and duties as assigned by the Council.

As mentioned earlier, there are four regional training institutes, four regional youth committees, a Regional African American Teaching Committee, a Regional Chinese Teaching Committee, a Regional Latin American Teaching Committee and a Regional Committee for the Equality of Women and Men. There are twelve state Traveling Teaching Coordinators and one Regional Coordinator of Traveling Teaching. Each committee has been or will be given orientation by Council representatives. Committee minutes and reports are sent to the secretary and copied to every member of the Council. Requests, questions, and issues identified by the committees are brought before the Council. Essentially, the Council members who provided orientation to a specific committee pay particular attention to the minutes of that committee, but at this time the Council members do not hold individual portfolios on agencies. A budget has been determined for each committee and the treasurer advises the committee treasurers on management and accountability of funds.

As the Council prepares the budget for the coming year, issues not covered in the first budget must be addressed. This includes financing related to the election of the Regional Bahá’í Council, printing and publication expenses, office maintenance with the possibility of renting office space, and costs of implementation of strategies in target areas.

The Council also must consider human resource needs and volunteer versus paid positions. As the responsibilities of the Council increase, and the local spiritual assemblies and the Council develop closer working relationships, the office work load increases, which will require additional staffing.

In conclusion, the Council struggles with time constraints as they affect the challenges before us and the frequency of our consultations. Sacrifices are being made, and still there remains so much to accomplish in ‎now so‎ short a time. The Council delegates what it can and will continue to do so.

REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCIL OF THE NORTHEASTERN STATES[edit]

THE PROGRESS OF THE TEACHING AND CONSOLIDATION WORK[edit]

“The growth of the Faith proceeds in an organic, evolutionary manner. Its rate of growth is, therefore, not necessarily uniform, rather, it advances in vast surges, precipitated by the alternation of crisis and victory.” (Promoting Entry by Troops: A statement prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, October 1993). Several methods have been employed to encourage this organic process in the Northeast.

The first method is an ongoing attempt to recognize and acknowledge each and every meritorious deed, just as a doting parent praises the first stumbling steps of the infant. Many letters of encouragement have been sent to children, youth, communities, groups, and local spiritual assemblies for this fundamental purpose.

A second method has been a series of “love letters,” including a Ridván message asking individuals to prioritize their busy lives. Other love letters have been addressed to our precious youth and to the Persian believers. An educational cassette was developed to teach the believers about training institutes. Another letter, devoted to individual teaching, was widely distributed and met an excellent reception.

A third method has been for the Council to travel extensively throughout the Northeast. Monthly weekend meetings have been held in different locations. For the first eight months, we met on Friday nights with youth, sharing a meal, deepening together, and listening to their concerns. Saturday nights were devoted to fellowship with local communities, including joyous praise of God with the Regional Gospel Choir. Since September 1998, we have begun our second tour of the Northeast, meeting in turn with all local spiritual assemblies.

A fourth method has been the establishment of trust and cooperation between the Regional Bahá’í Council, local spiritual assemblies, and individuals by openly sharing our hopes and plans and engaging in frequent and serious consultation.

A fifth method, devised to assist in the unlocking of human potential, was to establish an orderly means for individuals to express their creative energies. This was facilitated by the maturation of spiritual assemblies, communities, local and regional schools, training institutes, the use of the arts, workshops, and so on. We found that this process rapidly creates new associations, advances community spirit, and initiates deep, lasting friendships.

All of these methods set the stage for the advance of the process of entry by troops in the Northeast. Last year we saw numerous proclamation, teaching and consolidation efforts in the region, and the believers appeared more energetic and systematic in their efforts.

One measure of success is the number of groups and assemblies that have responded to the letter-writing initiative resulting from the closure of the “Open University” in Iran. Of the 519 groups and spiritual assemblies in the Northeast, 29% (150/519) responded to the call. Among that sample, 45% have been involved in one or more initiatives, including interactions with many prestigious higher institutions of learning such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton and Columbia Universities. The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New York City organized a training session to educate the believers about how to interact with people of capacity. A second measure of success is the continued effort to hold “Neighborhood Race Unity Dialogues”; 29% of the regional communities have engaged in this endeavor.

INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICES AND AGENCIES[edit]

Before November 1997, the nine members of the Regional Council had not lived in the same communities nor served together on the same divine institution. Many had been friends, some had served on the Northeast Regional Teaching Committee, and others were well known as authors, speakers, former Counselors, et cetera. From our first joint meeting in Wilmette in December 1997, bonds of love and friendship between the Council members have grown stronger and deeper. The fundamental requisite of unity within the Regional Bahá’í Council is a precious gift we are constantly guarding and nurturing by all our deeds and words.

It has been our bounty to consult with members of the Continental Board of Counselors Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian, David Smith and Tod Ewing on a number of occasions. Their insights and perspectives have greatly advanced our collective thoughts and consultations. Several meetings have also included the six Auxiliary Board members in the Northeast.

We have been able to consult with a number of National Committees and Task Forces, including the National Teaching Committee, the National African American Teaching Committee, the National Youth Committee, the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men, the National Latin American Teaching Task Force, the National Chinese Teaching Task Force and the National Persian-American Affairs Task Force. In addition, we have met with various national offices, including the Office of the Treasurer, the Office of External Affairs, and the Office of Assembly Development. Several other national offices have been extremely helpful to the Council, including the Office of the Secretary—Conventions Office, Mail Services, the Meetings and Travel Office, Human Resources and Information Services.

Joint efforts between the Regional Bahá’í Council and other national agencies have begun. We collaborated with the National Teaching Committee to establish a salaried media desk. We also worked on a major external affairs event in Boston, Massachusetts, for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day in cooperation with the National Teaching Committee, the Office of External Affairs and the Secretary-General of the National Spiritual Assembly.

A feeling of unity and respect has been central to all our meetings and consultations with our appointed representatives. Each agency that is appointed has the opportunity to meet with the entire Regional Bahá’í Council for consultation. A specific liaison is appointed to continue this loving interaction. Minutes are reviewed and a “latitude for initiative” is created, cultivating conditions necessary for growth. The following Committees and Task Forces report to the Council:

Four Regional Training Institutes, all offering courses on the Fundamental Verities, and all involved in the systematic development of facilitators, with a fifth Regional Training Institute being created for the Connecticut Valley; a Regional Training Institute Coordinator.
A Regional Committee for the Advancement of Women.
Regional Travel Teacher Coordinators.
A nascent Arts Traveling Teaching Task Force, with a deputization fund for the arts.
The CTeam for greater Boston, which is engaged in media activities.
A Media Desk co-sponsored by the National Teaching Committee.
A regional newsletter, the North Star.
A Unit Convention Task Force.
A Regional Youth Committee.
A Regional Gospel Choir.

One committee was not nurtured early in its existence and has suffered. The Regional Committee for the Advancement of Women is still struggling, but we have decided to pursue nurturing instead of starting fresh.

The Council’s Office of the Secretariat is currently expanding with the addition of a paid administrative assistant. The Office of the Treasurer has a volunteer assistant for the new computerized accounting procedures.

The Regional Bahá’í Council meets as a body every month and has one or two conference calls between these meetings. A large amount of work is accomplished by e-mail and the use of short-term subcommittees. For example, a subcommittee helped to advise the entire Regional Bahá’í Council on the best method of establishing a media desk. Another subcommittee is exploring a summer youth initiative at Green Acre.

REGIONAL STRENGTHS AND REQUIREMENTS[edit]

The Northeast is unique for the following reasons: it is a small area geographically where several Bahá’í communities date back one hundred years and many more have existed for sixty to eighty years. This region encompasses the Bahá’í International Community offices in New York City, the Green Acre Bahá’í School in Eliot, Maine, and a well-loved national property, donated by the Hand of the Cause of God Roy Cochran Wilhelm, in Teaneck, New Jersey. The area is richly endowed with many institutions of higher [Page 45]learning, vast cultural and arts resources, and a constant influx of new immigrants, diplomats and people of capacity. We are distinguished by great economic wealth and power, many medical schools and prestigious hospitals, and high-tech and bio-tech businesses that rival the Silicon Valley. Nine of the one hundred most populous cities are in the nine blessed states of the Northeast region. The area is excessively strong in material means; its spiritual aspects need to be cultivated. Life in the Northeast is highly competitive and frenetic in all but the very small towns. It seems as though very little time exists for teaching among all the other distractions that modern life provides. An attribute which has eluded our grasp is the territorial feeling more common to other parts of the country. For example, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Albany, New York, are separated by just 60 miles. Yet it might as well be 600 miles, as there is no interaction. This single illustration shows how the New England traditions of puritanism, home rule, town governments, and stoic individualism all contribute to the area’s unique characteristics.

Nevertheless, there are hopeful indicators, too. Within the Bahá’í community are many college clubs, highly educated believers, “retired” pioneers, and extensive human resources. These diverse elements are unified by the common desire to serve Bahá’u’lláh. There is a large Persian community which is only partially involved in the teaching and proclamation work. We are working with Counselor Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian and a special task force on this issue. There are numerous media avenues, including TV networks, newspapers and advertising agencies, and the national Spanish and Chinese press are nearby in New York City. There are 120 local spiritual assemblies. Many of them, however, are struggling due to small numbers in their communities. Greater emphasis must be placed on our mandate of local spiritual assembly development, and we feel also that a major emphasis on homefront pioneering would improve this situation.

OUR OWN SUPPORT NEEDS[edit]

The Council feels that the development of its Offices of the Secretariat, Treasurer and External Affairs are critical at this moment. Too many tasks fall on the shoulders of the Regional Bahá’í Council members that could be accomplished by a support staff.

The Quickbooks Pro accounting software, soon to be implemented in the Northeast, may prove inadequate for our needs. For example, it does not allow tracking of phone calls or travel by cost center, critical components of our record keeping.

The continued evolution of the national offices and committees to a decentralized model must be accelerated. A particular bottleneck for the Council has been with Information Services. This function must be rapidly decentralized with the necessary security measures in place.

REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCIL OF THE SOUTHERN STATES[edit]

THE PROGRESS OF THE TEACHING AND CONSOLIDATION WORK[edit]

The progress of the teaching work can be measured both in terms of numerical growth and in the demonstration of those actions that fuel growth. In all candor, the former measure indicates rather disappointing results: enrollments have not increased in the region since the Council’s inception. We sense that individual Bahá’ís are taking more certain steps to acquaint others with the Teachings, yet we also sense a need for more audacious and well-prepared action on their parts.

While an increased number of spiritual assemblies now report having adopted local teaching plans, and the Auxiliary Board members continue to promote this action, we are challenged to create a corresponding support of the individual Bahá’í for these plans. A key area to be addressed is that of community development—the fostering of attractive, magnetic communities that nurture and sustain and embrace diversity of all kinds.

The advance in the process of entry by troops in the South is being supported through a variety of strategies, some of which are reviewed below.

In a specific and focused effort to encourage large-scale growth, the Council has appointed coordinating teams in five metropolitan areas. These agencies (CTeams) work under the Council’s guidance to assist the urban/suburban assemblies in developing area-wide teaching campaigns and community development plans that tap into the collective and abundant resources of the member communities. It is an evolving process—one that we continue to foster in advancing the process of entry by troops in the region and one that allows our Council to indirectly aid in strengthening the local assemblies. We are confident that these CTeams can serve as catalysts for significant growth, both numerically and qualitatively, among the member communities. The Council is holding a conference for all CTeams to assist them with initiatives for the final year of the Four Year Plan.

Our Council also has established State Teaching Committees and tasked them to focus on stimulating teaching activity through promotion of the initiatives of the national teaching plan and the development of state-based campaigns of growth. Working with individuals, institutions, and communities, State Teaching Committees are assessing area needs and resources and channeling these resources into systematic and well-organized programs to bring about an increase in the ranks of believers. They also are contributing to the strengthening of groups and jeopardized assemblies.

A critical factor in bringing about growth is the mobilization of Bahá’í youth in the region. To aid this movement, we have formed a Regional Youth Coordinating Team that is preparing a 1999 summer initiative aimed at training youth for service in the teaching field and placing them in projects throughout the region.

As to the twin themes of the national teaching plan—race unity and the equality of women and men—the Council has placed a great deal of emphasis on the former theme. We have established a talented regional Race Unity Committee that has worked to develop and distribute dialogue materials to heighten the awareness of the “most vital and challenging issue,” particularly as it affects the Bahá’í community. The Committee also is undertaking the holding of Race Amity conferences throughout the South this year and serves as an advisor and a resource bank for local race unity initiatives. We have been pleased with the general response to our publication of a pamphlet, Walking the Talk, a teaching aid that targets respondents to The Power of Race Unity broadcasts. Our most recent publication is Uniting the Human Family, a teaching booklet that emphasizes the twin themes of the national teaching plan. The Council has not yet developed a core strategy for the advancement of women in the region.

To achieve effectively the growth we all desire, a new culture must be created in the South—one that views teaching as its primary and most essential activity. In our communications with our agencies and with the assemblies and believers, both during our community visits and in our correspondence, we continue to promote this essential concept. It has been stated that all of the elements for realizing large-scale growth are in place, and the Council’s evaluation is in accord with that view. Two key factors that we feel must continue to be addressed are:

1. The initiative, confidence and skills of the individual to share the Message of Bahá’u’lláh with receptive souls, and

2. The further development of the local community as a haven of love and diversity with an increased ability to attract, win, and maintain the allegiance of seekers.

The consolidation work in the South has been enhanced greatly by the establishment of training institutes, and our Council is carefully and systematically engaged in fostering their development. We are particularly grateful for the support of the institution of the Counselors in this regard. Eight Regional Training Institutes (RTI) and countless locally sponsored training institutes are now offering courses of study to veteran and newly enrolled believers with a focus on spiritual transformation and teaching skills development. We are confident that these new agencies will be prepared to meet more readily the challenge of welcoming scores of new believers, training them in the fundamental verities and skills necessary both to confirm their belief and to attract many more new recruits. A conference of the Southern RTI Boards of Directors recently was held by the Council with the participation of Alejandra Miller and Tod Ewing, members of the Continental Board of Counselors. It was a giant step forward in the fundamental understanding and application of the institute process, and, as a result, we anticipate a more accelerated program of intensive training in the region. The Council also recognizes the need to encourage local spiritual assemblies to take fuller advantage of the services of Regional Training Institutes.

In assessing the progress of the teaching and consolidation work we have come to understand that there is a yearning on the part of the friends to serve, often coupled with an uncertainty about how they can best serve the Cause. This has brought us to a realization that there is a vast amount of untapped, underutilized resources at the grassroots level. As we acknowledge and validate their value as individual servants of the Cause, they respond with increased energy and enthusiasm.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL OFFICES AND AGENCIES[edit]

The Council has established its offices in South Florida. The work of the Office of the Secretary is conducted largely by our elected secretary and assistant secretary, along with several occasional volunteers from the area. For the most part, the Council is able to meet the demands of record-keeping, reporting, correspondence and agency management, but it is evident that skilled staff soon will be needed to keep pace with the ever-increasing workload.

The work of the Office of the Treasurer also has kept pace with the demands, largely through the talents and efforts of our elected treasurer and selected volunteers. Here again, the anticipated increase in the work soon may require the hiring of staff. The treasurer has noted the loving and helpful response of the National Treasurer’s Office in setting up systems of accounting and record keeping.

The Council appointed a secretary for external affairs who conducts these activities in conjunction with the National Spiritual Assembly’s Office of External Affairs in Washington, DC.

The establishment of our own unity of thought is an evolving process. Our members are discovering, through test [Page 46]and reward, trial and error, an evolving sense of the Council as an entity that is to be carefully nurtured and lovingly developed. Each of us has had to make considerable adjustments in our lives to accommodate the demands of this service, and we are working to develop a standard for our collective participation. Communication has not always been easy, and rarely are things understood by all in the same way. We feel that we are making real strides to consult with care and candor, discipline and focus. Each of us brings a unique perspective and a wealth of experience to the council chamber, and we are learning to appreciate better the diversity we bring as we build a unity of vision. The bond of love shared by our members is a tangible reality—one that has been affirmed numerous times by the friends during our visits to various communities throughout the region. It is a love that is sustaining and fulfilling and is a source of joy and a true reward.

We have enjoyed the abundant and wise counsel of the members of the Continental Board of Counselors and, in particular, that of Mr. Ewing and Mrs. Miller. Their long-range and large-scale vision certainly has helped to elevate our own, and we are grateful for the ease of our exchange.

It should also be stated that our respect for the institution of the Regional Council has brought us a sense of collective empowerment. We have learned in this brief year a great deal about how institutions at every level should treat each other, with an emphasis on respect, reverence and courtesy. We also have been strengthened by the wholehearted support of the friends for this infant institution—a support for which the National Spiritual Assembly is to be credited in its dignified and exemplary introduction of the Councils.

Through the establishment of a number of agencies, the Council has engaged approximately 200 dedicated believers in the South. Our agencies each are mandated to carry out specified services, and we generally are very pleased with the quality and quantity of their work. This has been a very positive step for the region, engaging, as it does, the involvement of many talented Bahá’ís who are eager to demonstrate support for the newly-elected Council. While we have become more prudent in appointing more agencies, we feel that their establishment is a calculated risk. The Council has high expectations for its agencies and works closely with each to enhance their service. We also encourage a wide latitude in their decision-making and self-management. The Council does not expect that each of them will be entirely successful but senses that the overall motion and application of talent will yield a net result that will be ultimately beneficial to advancing the process of entry by troops in the region.

The management and maintenance of these various agencies has, at times, challenged our Council, and we are currently devising the means to more readily evaluate both their effectiveness and ours. Here again, the placement of staff is expected to aid this process, and several Council members have identified volunteer aides that assist us in this work.

The Council now is preparing a message to all of its agencies in the South, urging them to accelerate their efforts and to rededicate themselves to addressing their mandates as we move into the final year of the Four Year Plan.

OUR PERCEPTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN REGION’S STRENGTHS AND REQUIREMENTS[edit]

Immediately following our inaugural meeting, the Council arranged a special consultation to consider our first steps. We formulated a set of challenges that we felt must be addressed so that a more marked acceleration in the advance of the process of entry by troops can be realized in the South. These challenges were then conveyed to the local spiritual assemblies by a letter in which we asked that they consult to affirm the challenges. The response was an unqualified “yes.” The challenges were noted as:

Feeling a personal spiritual connection to Bahá’u’lláh.
Having a clear sense of mission.
Teaching with confidence and courage and acquiring effective teaching skills.
Nurturing an environment that is loving and accepting and embraces diversity of all kinds.
Ensuring effective and sustained collaboration between the twin arms of the Bahá’í Administrative Order.

Throughout our first year, we have reaffirmed these challenges over and over again. They have presented a core agenda for our Council and charged us to move forward in a proactive manner. It should be noted that, in their responses, many of the assemblies added that they are challenged by their inability to deal with the many demands on their time, and some asked for assistance with time and stress management. Several assemblies commented that, in a region primarily composed of Christians, there is a sense of real inadequacy in teaching the Faith to Christians.

Our meetings with the friends in various communities along with our consultation with members of the Continental Board of Counselors and agencies of the National Spiritual Assembly have brought us additional realizations. These include:

A real longing for acknowledgement and affirmation, and the smallest amount of praise and enthusiasm yields great results.
There sometimes exists a fear of reprimand among assemblies and individuals.
There is often a sense of disenchantment and of oppression among Bahá’ís of minority backgrounds.
There is an abundance of untapped talent and enthusiasm at the grassroots level, and the assemblies often lack the time and skills to channel these resources effectively.
The friends are very responsive to the call of the Council.
Operating on a sense of abundance is a self-fulfilling experience.
We need to celebrate and worship through music and song.
The development of local institutions and their ability to develop loving and attractive communities is essential for the Cause to flourish.

We especially are challenged by the development of the Faith in the state of South Carolina. The unique history of the state, the diversity it offers, and the sheer number of believers pose a real dilemma for our Council. How can we best address the needs of the individual, the institution and the community in our most populated state—one which holds such potential for growth? What can the Council bring to renew a vision of growth and raise up more mature local institutions? How can we best contribute to the revitalization and transition of the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute?

OUR OWN SUPPORT NEEDS[edit]

Information flow is critical to our continued progress, and while a great deal of information comes our way in the form of reports and correspondence, we struggle with our ability to incorporate the information and, as need be, to respond to it. Some of this can, no doubt, be addressed through the hiring of staff.

We recognize that the creation of the Councils has altered all the models of management we have become accustomed to and that, with time, the work between the national and regional levels will assume a better rhythm. We are hopeful that the offices and agencies of the National Spiritual Assembly will begin to more readily engage the Council’s input before initiating strategies on a large scale. A recent example is the “One Voice” program of the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men, which we learned about only after the initiative had been introduced.

On the other hand, we have recently benefited from a more open communication and exchange with the National Teaching Committee as we work together to advance the aims of the national teaching plan in the region. It has taken some time for us to understand our new and complementary roles, and the prospects for cooperation and collaboration are excellent.

As we work to strengthen local assemblies, we are appreciative of the services offered by the national Office of Assembly Development. The Council will be more actively promoting these services and programs in visits with local institutions and has already arranged for the metro-based CTeams and all of the regional training institutes to become more fully informed of the available programs.

The Council has been particularly challenged with a lack of information with which to manage and project our budget more effectively. The Treasurer’s ‎Offices Office‎ is working to develop the systems that will help us monitor how we are managing and allocating funds.

Overall, it has been a year of exploration and discovery for the Southern Council. The process of “becoming” a Council is both rewarding and challenging, and it has been eased by the loving guidance and patience of the senior institutions of the Faith. We are particularly appreciative of the wide latitude of action granted us by the National Spiritual Assembly. The discovery and the process will, no doubt, continue, and it is with a sense of anticipation and a spirit of adventure that we face our second year in service to the region.

REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCIL OF THE WESTERN STATES[edit]

THE PROGRESS OF THE TEACHING AND CONSOLIDATION WORK[edit]

The Regional Bahá’í Council has observed the same thing that the National Spiritual Assembly reports about the nation as a whole: there is strong activity everywhere. There appears to be an advance of the process of entry by troops, but significant growth is yet to be seen. Most metropolitan communities are engaged in some form of inter-assembly collaboration with an eye toward developing their capacity for efficient and effective growth; the use of assembly development courses is on the rise; the number of devotional gatherings is increasing; youth workshops and traveling teachers are rising up in greater numbers; systematic youth training is beginning to be implemented; Regional Training Institutes are developing; plans are under way to mobilize the Persian Bahá’ís, to strengthen Indian and African-American teaching, as well as reach the Southeast Asian, Hispanic and South Pacific Islander populations; the believers in the Navajo nation are showing new signs of strength with the refined approach to training using Navajo-language study circles; many communities have strategies to develop the arts; and the seeker response system is being fine-tuned. In short, much is in readiness.

In a few areas there is some change in the pattern of growth. Examples include Seattle, Washington, which has had seventeen enrollments this year, and the Boise, Idaho, metropolitan area, which has seen twelve new believers embrace the Faith this year. The Council has [Page 47]selected two sites for a focused media campaign assisted by the National Teaching Committee from among many possibilities: Tucson, Arizona, and El Dorado County, California. These two areas, one metropolitan, one rural, show promise in expansion and consolidation.

In September the Council wrote to all the believers at the Unit Conventions requesting that they consider pledging to arise in one or more avenues of service. While the office is still receiving commitment forms, to date it has received pledge forms from 1,365 believers. The breakdown of their commitments is as follows:

Help reduce the national deficit: 814
Homefront pioneer:* 146
Travel and teach: 563
Participate in local activities that model the oneness of humanity: 1,168
Increase the number of devotional gatherings: 1,060

Some of the friends have notified the coordinating office that they already have settled at their posts.

PERCEPTION OF THE REGION’S STRENGTHS AND REQUIREMENTS[edit]

The West has about 470 local spiritual assemblies and about 25,000 believers with good addresses. It has the teeming and resource-rich coastal communities and, we discovered, a state with no local assemblies at all! The region is characterized by large numbers of enthusiastic but mostly lightly deepened Bahá’ís who, overall, seem receptive and enthusiastically responsive to the Regional Bahá’í Council.

The strengths in the region include a cadre of great Auxiliary Board members; a large, active pool of eager youth; a diversity of populations including a large American Indian population, including the Navajo nation with over 300 Bahá’ís; large numbers of Persians, Hispanic peoples, and Southeast Asians and other Asian populations. We are fortunate that the region also includes the Native American Bahá’í Institute, Bosch Bahá’í School, and increasing numbers of communities with local Bahá’í centers. There is also a large number of experienced metropolitan local spiritual assemblies.

Confident in the overall vigor of the Bahá’í communities in the West, the Council quickly established several priorities:

To visit areas to explore ways to boost the thrust in expansion and consolidation;
To explore ways to mobilize the youth for a lifetime of service; and
To forge a close, intimate, and warm collaborative relationship with the assemblies in the region, ever keeping in mind the overarching requirement to create strong assemblies which are the focal centers of Bahá’í community life.

As a result of these visits and of our study of the ‘Tablets of the Divine Plan,’ the Four Year Plan documents and the national teaching plan, considerable attention has been focused in the areas of local and regional training institutes, assembly development, the strategic movement of traveling teachers and homefront pioneers, and youth.

Most of the metropolitan communities have some form of intercommunity campaign in place using a variety of coordinating systems. Our posture has been to encourage the continuing momentum while we learn which methods produce the greatest potential for creating strong assemblies and for boosting the thrust of the teaching work. Many assemblies have asked for guidance in this work, and the Council developed a working draft for inter-community collaboration, which it has shared with some metropolitan communities.

At the suggestion of Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, a member of the Continental Board of Counselors, the Council turned its attention to Montana because of its potential. Montana has become, in a sense, our “pilot” state. There is a warm reception to the Council’s interest by the Bahá’ís and though it is a huge land area, the Bahá’í community is small. In July we had a landmark statewide meeting at which we conducted a very effective consultation to determine the needs in the state. At that time we announced the creation of the State Committee and followed up with several “beta” projects, which boosted the activity and confidence in Montana. Activities included holding a statewide local spiritual assembly training weekend, using the assembly development modules, conducting the youth training/teaching program, and launching the Traveling Teaching-Homefront Pioneering Program. Montana is on the move, and the Council gained much needed experience. Based on this first experience, three additional state/area committees have been appointed.

The majority of even the veteran believers in the region are not confident teachers and many local spiritual assembly members are not well versed in administrative principles and vision. Both the expansion and consolidation of the Faith depend on skilled individuals who will arise to carry out the work. The Council realized that in order to increase the number of effective teachers, individuals need training; and in order to create strong assemblies, assemblies need training. The need for training of effective teachers and administrators in the Cause is urgent, and most of the training institutes in the West are still in the early development stage. It is clear that until there are fully functioning training institutes, we will be hampered in our efforts to respond quickly and effectively as the troops begin to enter the Cause. The Council has devoted a large portion of its consultation and study to training institutes, and its understanding of training institutes has become much clearer and sharper in the last few months.

DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICES AND AGENCIES[edit]

We have taken to heart the compelling directive of the Universal House of Justice “not to expend too much time on formulating new procedures or refining the mechanics of their operations.” And we have striven “to press forward quickly in effecting sound action that will boost the thrust in expansion and consolidation of the community.” The balancing act of a lean administrative structure largely devoid of procedures and refined mechanics and the demands of vigorous and mature communities that are eager to avail themselves of the guidance and partnership of the new institution has proved very challenging.

It has been an arduous year for the members of the Council. Establishing an institutional voice has been an ongoing need—every new question, of course, required consultative time to craft the answer, as we had no body of decisions and policies to guide our responses. Addressing the priorities of the national teaching plan while still in the early stages of assessing the region has created a tug-of-war on our attention. The administrative load quickly swamped the Council members, and the secretariat has been hard-pressed to keep up with the already large flow of correspondence.

We look forward to the time when we will have addressed adequately the needs of the secretariat; developed a depth of institutional vision that will allow the Council to respond more quickly to the requirements, needs, and questions which come to it; and fostered the maturation of our new agencies, which gradually will be able to carry out on our behalf much of the work that now demands our attention. The Council members often chafe at the slowness of our own process as we unavoidably take the time to develop our own systematic functioning.

On the positive side, the overall strategy of the Council and the communication it has achieved with the assemblies and the believers in the region is a source of satisfaction to this institution. The glitches in communication and implementation largely have been internal, or, regrettably, at times with the national offices. These will undoubtedly improve as the administrative efficiency gained through experience gradually takes effect.

The Regional Bahá’í Council quickly agreed that we wish to avoid creating layers of administration—we do not want anything to inadvertently come between the Council and the spiritual assemblies. After careful consideration, the Council has decided to appoint coordinators to carry out much of our work rather than appoint committees. These coordinators, who will draw on other volunteers to assist them, are our agents, doing our work in various areas.

An example is the network of Traveling Teaching-Homefront Pioneering coordinators in each state, assisted by a regional coordinator for traveling teaching and another for homefront pioneering. Our region is not “one size fits all,” so in some of the more rural areas where there are few assemblies and small communities we have appointed state and area committees. Currently there are four—Wyoming, Montana, Southern Idaho, and Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho. We also have established a Unit Convention Coordinator who was invaluable in looking after all the details associated with both administrating and strengthening the unit conventions. We have just appointed regional youth development coordinators and will appoint state coordinators. We are in the process of identifying possible members to serve on a Regional Training Institute coordinating team and continue to explore ways to provide administrative support to free the Council members of the myriad details that weigh them down.

Wishing to assure that all of the believers we appoint to carry out the work of the Council reflect a deep spirit of love and service as well as the vision of strengthening assemblies at all cost, we have launched our committees personally, modeled to a degree on the National Spiritual Assembly’s inauguration of the Regional Bahá’í Councils. We took the time to craft their vision as servants to the communities carefully by creating a bond of love with them and emphasizing the requirement for the development of strong assemblies to be ever present in their minds. At this early stage, it appears that the care and time given to this has paid off—the assemblies and communities seem to welcome the work our agents are carrying out, and we are assured of an open, loving flow of communication at all levels.

OUR OWN SUPPORT NEEDS[edit]

Our biggest challenge at the moment is the strengthening of administrative support for the Council programs at all levels and, most especially, for the secretariat. Developing a customized financial method and a method of budgeting is very desirable and would be very helpful for the work of the treasurer.

The Council wishes to be responsive to the needs of its committees and agencies and to facilitate the efforts of its working groups. We need a good membership and records system, allowing data to be retrieved, manipulated, and printed out as needed. Other challenges include long (but improving) synchronization time for e-mail systems and countless other e-mail challenges, an expensive leased copier which is finicky and requires high-grade paper to function well in our office environment, an inadequate phone system that has not been updated, awaiting further technical and implementation of the ISDN line, to name just a few.

In closing, the Council wishes to express its gratitude to the National Spiritual Assembly for its patient and loving support in this first term of the Council’s operation. We rely on the prayers of the National Spiritual Assembly, strive continually to meet its expectations, and have a greater appreciation of the enormity of its tasks than ever before. [Page 48]

ANNUAL REPORT • COUNCILS AND COMMITTEES[edit]

REGIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCILS[edit]

Central States[edit]

Caswell Ellis
Paul Jacobi
Jena Khodadad
Curtis Russell
Lisa Anne Smits
Morris Taylor
June Thomas
Richard Thomas
Lynn Wieties

Northeastern States[edit]

Nina Dini
Robert Harris
John Joyce
Neal McBride
Rebequa Murphy
Joel Nizin
Vickie Nizin
Nathan Rutstein
William Smith

Southern States[edit]

Lupita Ahangarzadeh
Covey Cantville
Jack Guillebeaux
Robert James
Ahmad Mahboubi
Carole Miller
Mahyar Mofidi
Karen Pritchard
James Sturdivant

Western States[edit]

Shad Afsahi
Fereshteh Bethel
Carol Brooks
Derek Cockshut
Shannon Javid
Charleen Maghzi
A. Habib Riazati
Erica Toussaint
Elahe Young

NATIONAL COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES[edit]

National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men[edit]

Layli Miller Bashir
Kambiz Kevin Rafraf
Michael Rogell
Homa Sabet Tavangar
Cynthia R. Thomas

National Bahá’í Education Task Force[edit]

Saba Ayman-Nolley
Richard Beane III
Beatriz Reyna Curry
Barbara Johnson
Ray Johnson
Kathy Penn
Joannie Gholar Yuille

National Teaching Committee[edit]

Kenneth Bowers
Ethel Crawford
William Geissler
Jena Khodadad
Alejandro Melendez

National African American Teaching Committee[edit]

Lana Bogan
Elarryo Bolden
Robert Carpenter
Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis
Oliver Thomas

National American Indian Teaching Committee[edit]

Angelina Albert
Sara Gustavus
Helen Kiely
Phil Lucas
Ina McNeil
Christian Norleen

Chinese Teaching Task Force[edit]

Albert Cheung
Hong Foo
Deborah Karres
Mara Khavari
Susan Senchuk

Latin American Teaching Task Force[edit]

Vera Berrio Breton
Fernando Huerta, Jr.
Lawrence Kramer
Elvia Ramirez

Special Materials Reviewing Committee[edit]

Eunice Braun
Mahvash Doering
Charles Nolley
Dixie Rouleau
Robert Stockman
Lynnea Yancy

National Youth Committee[edit]

Vesal Dini
Liz Dwyer
Eric Horton
Leili Towfigh
Martha Villagomez

SCHOOL AND INSTITUTE ADVISORY BOARDS[edit]

Bosch Bahá’í School[edit]

James Cardell
Carl Fravel
Traci Gholar
Terry Kneisler
Kambiz Petri
Gregory Rackley

Green Acre Bahá’í School[edit]

Nina Dini
Tom Hasegawa
Mara Khavari
Wendy Kvalheim
Chester Makoski
Mary Makoski
Barbara Markert
Farhad Rassekh

Louhelen Bahá’í School[edit]

Azar Alizadeh
Elizabeth Herth
Hoda Mahmoudi
John Mangum, Jr.
Susan Modarai
Katherine Penn

Native American Bahá’í Institute[edit]

Alice Bathke
Jerry Bathke
Alberta Deas
Charlotte Kahn
Jeff Kiely
Michael Lindsey
Brad Rishel
Victoria Yazzie

EDITORIAL BOARDS[edit]

Bahá’í Encyclopedia[edit]

Larry Bucknell
Betty J. Fisher
Firuz Kazemzadeh
Todd Lawson
Heshmat Moayyad
Gayle Morrison
Sholeh Quinn
Robert H. Stockman
Will C. van den Hoonaard

World Order[edit]

Howard Garey
Betty J. Fisher
Firuz Kazemzadeh
Robert H. Stockman
Jim Stokes

PERSIAN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS TASK FORCES[edit]

National Persian-American Task Force[edit]

Manuchehr Derakhshani
Guity Ejtemai
Sohrab Kourosh
Zabihollah Sabet-Sharghi
Guity Ghadimi Vahid

AREA TASK FORCES[edit]

Phoenix, Arizona[edit]

Farshad Agahi
Nasir Arefnejad
Marjan Sepehri Halstead
Shahrokh Haydarian
Paricher Khavari
Avid Navidi
Azita Rahimian
Taraneh Tadghighi

Los Angeles, California[edit]

Manijeh Ahouraian
Keyvan Geula
Shokouh S. Madjzoob
Hamid Rastegar
Farideh Shahriar
Shirinbanu Sohrab
Shidan Taslimi

Orange County, California[edit]

Houshiar Haghani
Mina Rassekh
Pouran Rahimi
Mahineh Shafizadeh
Elham Mona Taeed

San Diego, California[edit]

Manoochehr Haghani
Minoo Khadem
Saeed Khadem
Farzaneh Mobine
Arashmidos Monjazeb
Shokouh Rowshan

Northern California[edit]

Soehila Sobhani Afnani
Bahia Farahi
Mahzad Farhang-Mehr
Guity Jam
Nasrollah Maghzi
Forouhideh Asbagh Manavi
Kambiz Petri

Seattle, Washington[edit]

Ata’u’llah Arjomand
Nahid Eng
Iraj Khademi
Behnam Khoshkhoo
Roohangiz Mahanian
Pasha Mohajer-Jasbi

Chicago, Illinois[edit]

Roya Ayman
Ahmad Bastani
Mahvash Doering
Hermin Dinparvar Hoveydai
Farhad Ranjbar
Fariba Soheil
Shadan Tofighi
Fuad Ziai

Central Florida[edit]

Naser Mohajer
Minoo Nasseri
Mahvash Taghavi Rabban
Fahimeh Rouhani
Kambiz Rouhani
Behzad Shahidi

Atlanta, Georgia[edit]

Rouhollah Mahmoudzadeh-Kashi
Golnar Motahar
Bijan Motlagh
Rouhanieh Motlagh Sobhan
Parviz Tofighian

Dallas, Texas[edit]

Forouzan Afsahi
Homa Baher Badie
Pouran Eshraghi
Bahin-duct Hajbandeh
John Leonard
Jenny Sobhani
Soheila Zandi

Houston, Texas[edit]

Hormoz Bastani
Fereydiun Eghbali
Vafa Ghaemmaghami
Maryam Afnan Rabbani
Houshmand Tirandaz

Virginia/Maryland/Washington, DC[edit]

Mowhebat Ahdieh
Peyman Akhavan
Lameh Fananapazir
Mona Khademi
Kaveh Mehrnama
Jaleh Sadeghzadeh
Kiumars Yazdani
Soheil Zebarjadi

Jacksonville, Florida[edit]

Pari Bauman
Bahiyyih Toloui-Nadji
Bahman Venus
Nahid Mashhud Venus

Miami, Florida[edit]

Shohreh Hassan
Mahindokht Mohammad-Ghassem
Bijan Vojdani
Mahvash Vojdani

Boston, Massachusetts[edit]

Ramin Abrishamian
Behnaz Aghdasi
Shahan Missaghian Darvish
Hamed Eshraghian
Changiz Geula
Shahruz Mohtadi
Forooz Nader
Soroush Naderi

New York/New Jersey/Connecticut[edit]

Mahiyyat Ashraf
Foad Ghebleh
Ghamar Ghorbani
Habib Hosseiny
Vafa Mavaddat
Cyrus Tamaddon
Enayatollah Vossough
Mehrnaz Tirandaz Youssefian

[Page 49]

Module workshops aid Assemblies[edit]

Assembly Development Module Workshops can help your Assembly systematically develop a unified vision of its vital responsibilities and provide practical insights on how to achieve them. They comprise part of an ongoing process of Spiritual Assembly development.

Module workshops cover a variety of topics to suit a wide range of needs, including Assemblies at all stages of maturation and communities of every size. The following information on the modules is organized as responses to commonly asked questions.

How can these workshops help our Assembly function more effectively?

Assemblies have a wealth of guidance in the Writings to help them in carrying out their responsibilities, but they can find it challenging to locate this guidance and connect it to the situations they encounter. Modules help by presenting the most relevant Writings on a topic combined with commentary and activities that clarify how to apply these Writings.

Participant’s reaction: “It helped pinpoint solutions to work on, both on my own and on an Assembly level.”

Our real challenge is unity; how can these workshops help?

Participating in these workshops jointly as an Assembly or community has a unifying effect. Workshops provide a shared knowledge base drawn from the Writings, which reminds everyone of common goals. This contributes to unity, especially if the workshops are done in a retreat format.

Participant’s reaction: “It brought us all closer in the joy of service. We had time away from the pressure of completing an agenda to focus on what the Assembly was all about.”

Order these Module Workshops through the Bahá’í Distribution Service (phone 800-999-9019):

A Sense of Partnership: The Individual and the Local Spiritual Assembly
Builders of Communities: Developing a Strong, Vibrant Community
Builders of Communities: Fostering Racial Unity
Builders of Communities: Stress Management and the Bahá’í Community
Builders of Communities: The Equality of Women and Men, Part One: A Shared Responsibility
Builders of Communities: The Equality of Women and Men, Part Two: The Assembly’s Role in Fostering Partnership
Channels of Divine Guidance: The Spiritual Nature of the Local Assembly
Channels of Divine Guidance: Consultation Part One: Developing the Requisites of Consultation
Channels of Divine Guidance: Consultation Part Two: Consulting in Unity and Harmony
Loving Shepherds of the Multitudes: The Application of Spiritual and Administrative Principles
Teaching and the Spiritual Assembly
“That the East and West May Embrace”
Cultivating and Integrating the Arts in Our Bahá’í Community Life

When participating in a module facilitated by an Assembly Development representative, the Assembly only needs to purchase the participant handouts. If an Assembly is having its own facilitator conduct the workshop, they will also need a Facilitation Guide. ♦

“The resources at the disposal of the community must, as a result of its expansion, be continually augmented and carefully extended.” —Shoghi Effendi

PLANNED GIVING extends our options[edit]

There are a number of ways to support the Funds of the Faith in addition to our regular cash contributions: bequests through our wills, gifts of stock or other securities, gift annuities, etc. These methods—or any others that are not outright cash gifts—are commonly referred to as “planned giving.”

The National Spiritual Assembly has announced a Planned Giving Program that allows believers to make financial arrangements benefiting both themselves, through tax savings and, sometimes, increased income, while making a substantial gift to the Fund.

For a packet of information on how you might be able to plan a gift, please complete the form at right or contact the Office of the Treasurer (phone 847-733-3476, e-mail ).

CLIP OR COPY THIS FORM[edit]

I/we would like more information about planned giving. I am particularly interested in: ____ Providing for the Bahá’í Faith in my will ____ Making a gift of securities ____ Making a gift of real estate ____ Making a gift through life insurance

Receiving income from my gift: ____ Charitable Gift Annuities ____ Charitable Remainder Trusts

______________________________________________________ Name ______________________________________________________ Spouse’s Name (if Bahá’í) ______________________________________________________ Address ______________________________________________________ City ______________________________________________________ State Zip ______________________________________________________ Telephone ______________________________________________________ E-mail

____ I prefer that someone contact me by telephone.

Return form to: Development Department, Office of the Treasurer, Bahá’í National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201

TAB 6/24/99

Local TREASURER’S Corner[edit]

The Local Treasurer’s Corner is devoted to helping local treasurers, and others who have special interest in development of the Funds, by offering suggestions and ideas that might be helpful in this work. If you would like to offer stories or ideas that have increased your community’s understanding of and participation in the Fund, you are invited to share them with other communities through this column. Contact the Office of the Treasurer (phone 847-733-3472, e-mail ).

Treasurer’s Office Q&A from Convention

Beginning this month, the Local Treasurer’s Corner will share some of the questions and answers that were offered to the delegates at the National Convention in April:

What was the best Treasury news this year?

Bahá’ís who gave, contributed much more than Americans generally!
We avoided the “summer swoon” in giving!
Automatic contributions passed $330,000 monthly, or the equivalent of 23% of the National Fund’s contribution income!
The numbers of Local Assembly audits and goals submitted to the National Spiritual Assembly soared beyond last year’s levels!
The new planned giving program is off to a very promising start!

How close did we come to the $27 million annual goal?

Contributions totaled $18.8 million, down 16% from last year and about $8 million below the goal. We hit the monthly target two Gregorian months out of 12. The extent of local activity and investment is rising—that seems to be the main factor, according to many of the friends. To achieve all our goals, without neglecting some of them, will be a continual challenge. Our community is an organic system; development at one level promotes development at every other level; growth that is stunted in one place ultimately brakes growth everywhere.

How could we have a surplus if we missed the goal by so much?

The answer to this question lies in the accounting rules. The “surplus”—a $1.9 million increase in net assets shown in the Annual Report—is an operating result: it is the net difference between the revenues and expenses that flow from the programs of the national administration, all laid out in the “statement of activities.” There are additional cash outlays that the rules require to be handled in the “statement of position”—the “balance sheet”—and not in the operating results. Capital expenditures totaled $1.9 million for the year, and a half-million dollars of debt was repaid. The meaning of these figures is that a sizable piece of debt was paid off and our accumulated deficit did not increase.

How much did we spend on teaching?

The answer depends on the definition one uses. Teaching includes proclamation, expansion and consolidation, and that covers pretty much everything that is done at the National Center. Specifically, $5 million was invested in direct teaching and education, areas which are most directly related to “teaching.” That total includes about $500,000 for the media plan (up from almost no cost last year), covering production, air-time purchases and professional contract services. This amount is slated to increase, in the budget the National Spiritual Assembly is looking at now, to about $1.4 million.

More Treasurer’s Office Q&A from Convention next month.

“O My Servant! The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, the Lord of all worlds.” Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Word No. 82 from the Persian ♦ [Page 50]

1998-1999 COMMUNITY HONOR ROLL[edit]

The Office of the Treasurer is delighted to publish the Community Honor Roll for 155 B.E., a list of 825 Local Spiritual Assemblies and 191 registered groups who distinguished themselves by the diligence and care they displayed in financial support of the National Spiritual Assembly.

The Honor Roll criteria are the same as last year’s. To be listed, a community must have contributed to the National Bahá’í Fund:

15 times or more during at least 12 of 19 months of the Bahá’í administrative year, or
At least 10 of 12 Gregorian months through the Automatic Contribution System (ACS) between March 1998 and February 1999, or
With the same regularity through a combination of ACS and mailed contributions.

We are pleased also to recognize Spiritual Assemblies and groups that submitted their community goals for 155 B.E. (indicated by ♥) and audits for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1998 which were due June 30, 1998 (marked by ★).

Congratulations to these communities, which have demonstrated mature and unified action through consistency, responsibility and reliability.

ALABAMA[edit]

Birmingham♥, Florence★, Huntsville♥★, Jasper, Madison♥★, Montgomery♥, Tuscaloosa♥★

ARIZONA[edit]

Avondale★, Chandler♥★, Chino Valley♥★, Cochise Co SW, Coconino Co S, Coconino Co E♥★, Douglas, Flagstaff♥, Fountain Hills★, Ganado Chapter, Gilbert♥, Mesa♥★, Oro Valley♥★, Paradise Valley♥★, Peoria♥★, Phoenix, Pima Co N♥, Pima Co C, Pima Co E♥★, Pinal Co♥★, Prescott♥★, Scottsdale♥★, Sierra Vista, Sun City♥, Tempe♥★, Tucson♥

ARKANSAS[edit]

Fayetteville♥★, Little Rock♥, Rogers♥★, Russellville

CALIFORNIA[edit]

Agoura Hills♥, Aliso Viejo♥★, Altadena★, Anaheim♥, Antioch♥, Arcadia♥★, Arcata♥★, Arroyo Grande, Bakersfield♥★, Belmont♥, Berkeley♥, Beverly Hills♥★, Boulder Creek, Brea♥★, Burbank♥★, Burlingame♥, Calabasas♥, Camarillo♥★, Campbell♥★, Capitola, Carlsbad♥★, Cerritos♥, Chico♥, Chula Vista♥★, Citrus Heights♥★, Claremont♥★, Clovis♥★, Concord♥★, Corona♥★, Covina, Culver City, Cupertino♥★, Dana Point♥★, Danville♥★, Delta, Desert JD♥, Diamond Bar♥, El Cajon, El Cajon JD♥, El Dorado Co NW♥, El Dorado Co SE♥, Encinitas♥★, Escondido♥★, Eureka♥★, Fair Oaks-Orangevale♥★, Fairfield♥★, Fallbrook San Diego♥★, Fillmore♥★, Folsom♥★, Fremont♥★, Fullerton♥★, Glendale♥★, Glendora, Hanford♥★, Hayward♥★, Healdsburg, Hemet♥★, Inglewood♥★, Irvine♥★, La Canada Flintridge♥★, La Crescenta♥★, La Habra♥★, La Mesa♥, Lafayette♥★, Laguna Beach★, Laguna Hills♥★, Laguna Niguel♥★, Lakeside♥★, Lancaster♥, Lemon Grove, Livermore♥★, Lomita, Long Beach♥★, Los Alamitos, Los Altos, Los Angeles♥★, Los Gatos★, Madera Sierra JD♥, Manteca, Marin Co♥★, Mariposa Co♥★, Martinez♥, Merced♥★, Milpitas♥★, Mission Viejo♥★, Modesto♥, Monrovia, Monterey♥★, Moorpark, Moreno Valley♥★, Morro Bay♥★, Mountain View♥★, Mt. San Jacinto JD, Murrieta★, Napa♥★, Nevada Co C, Nevada Co SW♥, Newark♥★, Newhall JD♥★, Newport Beach♥★, North Fork, Novato♥, Oak Park♥, Oakland♥, Oceanside♥★, Ontario♥, Orange♥, Orange Co S JD♥★, Orinda♥★, Oxnard♥, Palm Desert♥★, Palmdale♥★, Palo Alto♥★, Paradise♥★, Pasadena♥★, Petaluma♥, Placerville, Pleasanton♥, Poway♥★, Prunedale♥★, Rancho Cordova♥, Rancho Cucamonga♥, Redlands♥★, Redwood City♥★, Richmond♥★, Ridgecrest, Riverside♥, Riverside JD♥★, Rocklin♥★, Rohnert Park, Roseville♥★, Sacramento♥★, Sacramento Co SE, Sacramento Co NW♥, San Anselmo♥★, San Bernardino♥★, San Bernardino MCD-Victorville, San Clemente♥, San Diego♥★, San Diego Co N JD♥★, San Francisco♥★, San Jose♥★, San Juan Capistrano♥★, San Leandro♥★, San Leandro-Hayward JD♥★, San Luis Obispo♥★, San Luis Obispo Co NW♥, San Luis Obispo Co S♥, San Marcos♥★, San Mateo♥★, San Mateo Co S JD♥★, San Rafael♥★, Santa Barbara♥★, Santa Clara♥★, Santa Clarita♥★, Santa Cruz♥★, Santa Cruz Co N♥★, Santa Maria♥★, Santa Maria JD♥★, Santa Monica♥★, Santa Paula♥★, Santa Rosa♥★, Santee, Saratoga♥★, Scotts Valley♥★, Seal Beach, Sierra Madre♥★, Simi Valley♥★, Sonoma Co SD4♥★, Spring Valley♥, Stanford♥, Suisun City♥★, Sunnyvale♥★, Temple City♥★, Thousand Oaks♥★, Three Lakes JD♥★, Tiburon♥★, Toro and Laguna Seca♥★, Tuolumne CJD♥, Tustin♥★, Union City, Upland♥★, Vacaville♥★, Vallejo♥★, Ventura♥, Ventura Co♥★, Victorville♥★, Vista♥★, Walnut, Walnut Creek, West Hollywood, Westlake Village♥★, Whittier♥★, Yorba Linda, Yosemite-El Portal, Yucaipa♥

COLORADO[edit]

Arapahoe Co♥, Arvada♥, Aurora♥, Boulder♥★, Boulder Co♥★, Colorado Springs♥★, Cortez♥, Denver♥★, Douglas Co★, Durango♥, El Paso Co E, Fort Collins♥★, Glenwood Springs, Golden♥, Jefferson Co★, La Plata Co♥★, Lafayette♥★, Lakewood♥★, Larimer Co♥★, Longmont♥★, Louisville♥★, Loveland♥, Montezuma Co♥★, Northglenn, Thornton★, Westminster♥

CONNECTICUT[edit]

Farmington Town♥, Hartford♥★, New Haven♥★, Norwalk♥, Oxford Town, Plainville, Ridgefield Town, Stamford♥★, West Hartford Town★

DELAWARE[edit]

Dover♥★, New Castle Co N♥★, New Castle Co W♥★, Sussex Co, Wilmington♥★

DIST. OF COLUMBIA[edit]

Washington♥

FLORIDA[edit]

Altamonte Springs, Atlantic Beach, Brevard Co♥, Broward Co S♥★, Charlotte Co, Citrus Co♥, Clay Co♥★, Clearwater♥★, Collier Co♥★, Cooper City★, Coral Springs♥★, Dade Co C♥, Dade Co N♥★, Dade Co S, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale♥★, Gainesville♥★, Gtr. Gainesville♥★, Gulfport♥, Hillsborough Co E♥★, Hillsborough Co NW♥, Hollywood♥★, Indian River Co♥, Jacksonville♥★, Key West♥★, Lake Co♥★, Lakeland, Largo♥★, Lee Co, Leon Co♥★, Manatee Co♥★, Marion Co♥★, Nassau Co, Orange Co E♥★, Orange Co W♥★, Orlando♥★, Osceola Co, Palm Beach Co C★, Palm Beach Co N♥, Palm Beach Co S♥★, Palm Coast, Pembroke Pines★, Polk Co♥, Pompano Beach♥, Sarasota♥★, Sarasota Co N♥★, Seminole Co E♥★, Seminole Co W♥★, St. Petersburg♥★, Sunrise♥★, Tallahassee♥, Tampa♥★, Wilton Manors♥★

GEORGIA[edit]

Atlanta♥★, Augusta, Cobb Co SW♥★, Cobb Co E♥★, Cobb Co NE♥★, Cobb Co S♥, Cobb Co W♥, Columbia Co E♥, Dalton, DeKalb Co N♥★, Fayetteville, Glynn Co♥★, Gwinnett Co N♥, Hall Co♥★, Lithonia, Peach Co♥, Roswell♥★, Savannah♥, Valdosta

IDAHO[edit]

Ada Co♥, Boise♥, Coeur d’Alene♥, Idaho Falls♥★, Lewiston♥★, Moscow♥★

ILLINOIS[edit]

Arlington Heights, Aurora♥, Bloomington♥, Bolingbrook, Champaign♥★, Chicago, Decatur♥★, Deerfield♥, Des Plaines♥, Downers Grove, East Peoria, Edwardsville♥★, Elgin♥★, Evanston♥★, Glen Ellyn, Glencoe♥★, Glenview♥★, Highland Park★, Hoffman Estates♥★, Joliet♥★, La Grange, Lisle♥, Lockport, Maine Twp♥★, Naperville♥★, Oak Park♥★, Park Forest, Park Ridge♥, Peoria, Rockford♥★, Roscoe Twp, Schaumburg, Skokie♥★, Springfield♥★, St. Charles, Urbana♥★, Waukegan♥★, Wheaton♥★, Wilmette♥★, Woodstock♥★

INDIANA[edit]

Angola, Bloomington♥★, Bloomington Twp♥, Fort Wayne♥★, Gary, Indianapolis♥★, Kokomo♥★, Mishawaka♥, Mount Vernon, Muncie♥★, South Bend, Vincennes♥★

IOWA[edit]

Ames♥★, Cedar Falls♥, Cedar Rapids♥★, Council Bluffs♥, Des Moines♥, Iowa City♥★, Mount Vernon, Sioux City♥★, Warren Co, Waterloo

KANSAS[edit]

Butler Co, Derby, Dodge City, Hutchinson♥★, Kansas City♥★, Lawrence♥, Olathe♥★, Overland Park♥★, Wichita♥★, Winfield♥

KENTUCKY[edit]

Boyle Co, Jefferson Co♥★, Jeffersontown, Lexington♥, Louisville

LOUISIANA[edit]

Avondale, Baton Rouge♥, East Baton Rouge Parish♥, Jefferson Parish E♥★, La Place♥★, Lafayette, Monroe, New Orleans♥★, Ouachita Parish, Shreveport♥★, St. Tammany Parish SE♥★, St. Tammany Parish W♥

MAINE[edit]

Auburn, Augusta♥★, Dexter Town, Eliot Town♥★, Gorham Town, Kingfield, Portland♥, South Berwick, South Portland♥

MARYLAND[edit]

Baltimore♥, Baltimore Co C♥, Baltimore Co W♥★, Calvert Co, Carroll Co♥★, Frederick♥★, Frederick Co★, Gaithersburg♥★, Greenbelt♥★, Howard Co♥★, Laurel♥★, Montgomery Co C♥★, Montgomery Co E♥★, Montgomery Co N♥★ [Page 51]

ADMINISTERING THE CAUSE[edit]

Montgomery Co NW♥★ Montgomery Co SE Montgomery Co S Montgomery Co SW♥★ Montgomery Co W Prince Georges Co N♥★ Prince Georges Co S♥ Takoma Park

MASSACHUSETTS[edit]

Amherst Town♥ Arlington Town Barnstable Town♥★ Boston Bourne Town Brewster Brookline Town♥ Cambridge Chelmsford Town♥★ Concord Town Dartmouth Town Easthampton Town Ipswich Lexington Town Longmeadow Town Lowell♥ Malden♥ Marlborough♥ Medford♥★ Milford Town Montague Town Nantucket Newton♥★ Northampton♥★ Salem♥★ Somerville South Hadley Town♥ Springfield♥ Wareham Town Watertown Town♥★ Westford Town♥ Wilbraham Town♥

MICHIGAN[edit]

Allen Park♥ Ann Arbor Big Rapids Bloomfield Twp Canton Twp♥ Clinton Twp Davison Twp Detroit♥★ East Lansing♥★ Flint Grand Rapids♥★ Holland♥★ Huntington Woods♥★ Kalamazoo♥ Lansing♥ Marquette♥★ Midland♥★ Niles Twp Oak Park Pittsfield Twp♥ Saginaw♥★ Saginaw Twp St. Clair Shores Scottville Southfield St. Joseph Troy♥★ Washington Twp

MINNESOTA[edit]

Aitkin Co Beltrami Co♥ Coon Rapids♥★ Duluth♥ Eagan♥★ Eden Prairie Falcon Heights Foley Golden Valley♥★ Grand Rapids Greenwood Little Canada♥★ Maple Grove May Twp♥★ Minneapolis♥★ Minnetonka♥★ Moorhead Plymouth♥★ Roseville♥★ Sartell St. Paul Stillwater West St. Paul Woodbury

MISSISSIPPI[edit]

Gulfport♥ Jackson♥ Vicksburg♥★

MISSOURI[edit]

Boone Co★ Columbia♥★ Jefferson City♥ Kansas City♥★ Lees Summit♥ Phelps Co♥ Rolla♥ St. Charles♥★ St. Charles Co♥★ St. Louis♥★ St. Louis Co S♥★ Springfield♥★ University City

MONTANA[edit]

Bozeman♥ Butte-Silver Bow♥★ Flathead Co♥★ Great Falls Helena♥★ Missoula♥

NEBRASKA[edit]

Aurora♥★ Bellevue Gering Grand Island♥★ Lincoln♥★ Nebraska City North Platte Papillion Scottsbluff Co

NEVADA[edit]

Boulder City Carson City♥★ Churchill Co Clark Co W Las Vegas♥★ North Las Vegas Paradise Town♥ Reno♥ Sparks♥ Sunrise Manor★

NEW HAMPSHIRE[edit]

Claremont Concord★ Exeter Town♥ Keene★ Lebanon Manchester♥★ Nashua♥★ Peterborough♥ Portsmouth♥ Wolfeboro Town

NEW JERSEY[edit]

Bloomfield♥ Clifton♥ East Brunswick Twp Glassboro Hamilton Twp♥★ Hopewell Twp Lakewood Twp♥★ Lawrence Twp♥★ Matawan Montclair Twp♥★ Piscataway Twp♥★ Teaneck♥ Trenton♥★ Ventnor City Wyckoff

NEW MEXICO[edit]

Alamogordo♥★ Albuquerque♥ Belen Farmington♥★ Gallup♥★ Hobbs♥★ Las Cruces Lincoln Co Los Alamos Co♥★ Los Lunas Rio Rancho♥★ San Juan Co♥★ Sandoval Co N Santa Fe♥★ Santa Fe Co♥★

NEW YORK[edit]

Albany Amherst Town♥★ Beacon♥ Brookhaven Town♥ Clarence Town♥★ Fishkill Town Geneva Greece Town♥★ Greenwich Hempstead Town♥ Hoosick Falls Huntington Town♥★ Islip Town♥★ Ithaca♥ Kingston Mount Vernon New Paltz New York City♥★ North Hempstead Town♥★ Perinton Town♥★ Pittsford Town♥★ Rochester♥★ Schenectady Smithtown Town♥★ Sodus Point♥ Tonawanda Town♥★ Utica Victor Town♥★ Webster Town♥★ White Plains♥★

NORTH CAROLINA[edit]

Asheville♥★ Buncombe Co♥★ Carrboro♥ Cary♥ Chapel Hill♥★ Charlotte♥★ Chatham Co Cumberland Co★ Durham♥★ Durham Co♥★ Greensboro♥ Guilford Co★ Hamlet Henderson Co High Point Kernersville♥ Orange Co♥★ Wake Co Wilmington♥★ Winston-Salem♥★

NORTH DAKOTA[edit]

Fargo♥★ Jamestown♥ Minot♥★

OHIO[edit]

Bainbridge Twp Bexley♥★ Bowling Green Bucyrus Centerville Cleveland Heights♥ Columbus♥ Dayton♥★ Delaware Harrison Twp Jackson Twp Kent♥★ Kettering♥ Macedonia Mansfield♥★ Mentor♥★ Miami Twp Poland Shaker Heights Stow Sylvania Toledo★ Urbana Warrensville Heights♥★ Weller Twp Yellow Springs

OKLAHOMA[edit]

Edmond♥ Midwest City Moore♥ Norman♥★ Oklahoma City♥★ Ponca City Sapulpa Shawnee♥ Stillwater♥ Tulsa♥★ Yukon♥

OREGON[edit]

Albany♥★ Ashland♥★ Beaverton♥★ Bend♥★ Benton Co♥★ Clackamas Co NW♥ Clackamas Co S♥★ Clatsop Co♥ Douglas Co♥ Eugene♥★ Forest Grove♥★ Gtr. Grants Pass★ Gresham♥ Hillsboro♥★ Jackson Co♥★ Klamath Falls La Grande Lake Oswego♥★ Lane Co C♥ Manzanita McMinnville♥ Medford♥★ Milwaukie♥ Pendleton♥★ Portland♥★ Roseburg♥★ Springfield♥★ Talent Tigard♥★ Tualatin♥ Wallowa Co Washington Co N♥★ West Linn♥★

PENNSYLVANIA[edit]

Allentown Altoona♥ Bethlehem♥ Buckingham Twp Elizabethtown Borough Harrisburg Lancaster♥ Lower Merion Twp Philadelphia♥★ Pittsburgh State College Susquehanna Twp Tredyffrin Twp♥ Warren

RHODE ISLAND[edit]

Hopkinton Town Warwick♥★

SOUTH CAROLINA[edit]

Adams Run Anderson Co♥★ Charleston Clemson♥ Columbia♥★ Conway♥★ Cross♥★ Florence♥ Gtr. Darlington Greenville♥★ Greenwood Co♥ Horry Co♥★ Kingstree♥ Lexington Co N♥★ Mauldin North Augusta♥ Pendleton♥ Pickens Co♥★ Richland Co N♥★ Rock Hill♥★ Spartanburg♥★

SOUTH DAKOTA[edit]

Custer★ Pass Creek District Pierre♥★ Rapid City♥★

TENNESSEE[edit]

Brentwood Chattanooga♥ Franklin★ Hamilton Co♥★ Hendersonville♥ Knox Co♥ Knoxville♥ Maryville Memphis♥★ Murfreesboro♥★ Nashville♥★ Rutherford Co♥ Shelby Co♥★ Williamson Co♥★ Wilson Co♥★

TEXAS[edit]

Addison Allen♥★ Arlington Austin♥★ Bedford♥★ Bellaire♥ Benbrook Bexar Co Carrollton♥★ Cedar Park♥ College Station♥★ Colleyville♥★ Commerce Coppell♥★ Corpus Christi★ Dallas♥★ Del Rio Denison Denton♥ Duncanville♥ Eagle Pass♥★ Edinburg♥★ El Paso♥★ Flower Mound♥ Fort Worth♥★ Frisco♥★ Garland♥★ Grand Prairie♥★ Grapevine♥★ Harris Co NW♥★ Harris Co SW♥★ Houston♥★ Hurst♥ Irving♥★ Kerr Co Lake Jackson League City♥★ Lewisville♥ McAllen♥★ McKinney♥★ Midland♥★ North Richland Hills♥★ Odessa Pasadena♥★ Plano♥★ Richardson♥★ Round Rock♥★ San Antonio♥★ Sugar Land♥★ The Colony♥★ The Woodlands Travis Co♥ Tyler♥ Victoria♥★ Waco♥ W. University Place♥ Williamson Co♥★

UTAH[edit]

Logan Salt Lake City♥★ Salt Lake Co Ogden♥ South Ogden

VERMONT[edit]

Bennington Town Brattleboro♥ Colchester Fairfax Town Norwich Rochester Town

VIRGINIA[edit]

Albemarle Co♥ Alexandria♥★ Arlington Co♥ Botetourt Co Charlottesville★ Chesterfield Co Fairfax City♥ Fairfax Co CS♥★ Fairfax Co E♥ Fairfax Co NW♥★ Fairfax Co W♥★ Falls Church♥★ Great Falls♥★ Gtr. Vienna♥ Hampton♥★ Henrico Co♥★ Loudoun Co♥★ McLean♥★ Mount Vernon♥★ Newport News♥★ Norfolk♥★ Reston♥ Richmond♥ Roanoke Scottsville Stafford Co Staunton★ Vienna★ Virginia Beach♥★

WASHINGTON[edit]

Aberdeen Anacortes♥ Auburn♥ Bellevue♥★ Bellingham♥★ Bothell♥ Bremerton♥ Edmonds♥ Everett♥★ Juanita♥★ King Co EC♥★ King Co NE♥ King Co SC♥★ King Co SE★ Kirkland♥ Kitsap Co C♥★ Kitsap Co S♥ Lakewood♥ Lynnwood♥★ Makah Reservation Mercer Island♥ Moses Lake♥★ Mount Vernon Mukilteo♥★ Newcastle♥★ Normandy Park Olympia♥★ Pasco♥ Pierce Co CD3 Pierce Co Peninsula♥ Port Angeles♥ Pullman♥★ Puyallup Raymond Redmond♥ Renton♥ Seattle♥★ Shelton Shoreline♥ Snohomish Co SE♥ Snohomish Co SW♥★ Snohomish Co N♥★ Spokane♥ Spokane Co CD1♥★ Spokane Co CD2♥★ Tacoma♥ Thurston Co C♥★ Thurston Co E♥ Toppenish♥ Tumwater University Place♥ Vancouver♥★ Walla Walla♥ Wenatchee♥ West Richland Whatcom Co CD3♥★ Woodinville♥ Yakima♥ Yakima Co CD1♥ Yakima Co CD3

WISCONSIN[edit]

Algoma Antigo Appleton♥★ Beloit♥★ Brookfield♥ Cedarburg♥ Chippewa Falls De Pere♥★ Delafield Eau Claire♥ Farmington Town Fond du Lac♥ Glendale♥★ Greenfield♥ Janesville♥★ Kenosha La Crosse♥★ Madison♥★ Middleton♥ Milwaukee♥★ Muskego New Berlin♥★ Oshkosh♥★ Portage Co Racine Sheboygan Stevens Point Sun Prairie♥★ Waukesha♥★ Waukesha Twp Wausau Wauwatosa♥★ West Allis Wilson Twp Winchester Twp Winneconne

WEST VIRGINIA[edit]

Charleston♥★ Jefferson Co♥ Morgantown♥ Princeton

WYOMING[edit]

Laramie♥ [Page 52]

Closer to home: Decentralization[edit]

Youth Summit seeks new ways of sharing[edit]

Since the advent of the Regional Bahá’í Councils in the U.S., the administrative institutions have entered a period of transition, the nature of which is only beginning to be revealed. Relationships between the institutions will soon be solidified, and coordination of activities and plans for Bahá’í youth will increasingly be decentralized from the national to the regional level.

In order to examine these issues, the National Youth Committee asked the Regional Bahá’í Councils each to send three youths to a “Summit” meeting at the Bahá’í National Center during the weekend of April 2–4. Eleven youths came for the Summit, representing all four regions.

The goals of the Summit were to share the love and encouragement that the National Spiritual Assembly consistently shows toward us, to develop unity and build upon it in our future work together, to connect the hearts of the youth from the regions to the Bahá’í House of Worship, to the national Bahá’í administration, and to each other. We discussed ways to establish an inter-regional network of youth and to increase national/regional collaboration, shared information about the work of the National Youth Committee, and talked about the effect of decentralization on our work, the mandates of the regional youth entities, the characteristics of the four regions, as well as the national community of Bahá’í youth as a whole.

Proceedings[edit]

A strong feeling of unity and love characterized the consultation among the diverse group of youth at the Summit. We began by speaking from our hearts about our passions and worries as Bahá’ís in this day. Many mentioned concerns about balancing all our duties, serving effectively, and winning the goals of the Four Year Plan. We explored our spiritual heritage, reaffirmed the urgency of the time in which we are privileged to serve, and highlighted the vital role that youth must play in the establishment of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. In discussing this vital role, we studied the words of the Universal House of Justice: “Indeed, the Guardian wrote of the Bahá’í youth that it is they ‘who can contribute so decisively to the virility, the purity, and the driving force of the life of the Bahá’í community, and upon whom must depend the future orientation of its destiny, and the complete unfoldment of the potentialities with which God has endowed it.’” —Letter from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’í youth of the world, June 1966

Differences between the regions[edit]

The youth representatives described the purpose and mandate of each new regional youth entity, and talked about the culture, successes and challenges of their respective regions. Here is a synopsis of the new regional youth structures and their contact information—watch this space in the future for more detailed information about the work of these new youth entities:

SOUTHERN REGION[edit]

Committee: Regional Youth Coordinating Team of the Southern States. First appointed in August 1998, the RYCT-S has six members from Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Mandate: In brief, the primary responsibility of the RYCT-S is to mobilize and sustain a movement of youth to bring about entry by troops. They have also been called to work with the Latino and African-American populations in the region.

Contact:

CENTRAL REGION[edit]

Committee: Four sub-regions in the Central States have their own regional youth committees:

Illinois and Indiana.
Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas.
Ohio and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

Mandate: In brief, the role of these sub-regional committees is to develop the capacities of youth as teachers, administrators and full members of the Bahá’í community.

Contact:

WESTERN REGION[edit]

Committee: Recently, the Regional Bahá’í Council for the Western States established a youth desk. It is staffed by two people to oversee and help implement the Youth Plan of the RBC-West.

Mandate: In brief, to implement the Regional Bahá’í Council’s plan to establish training institutes for youth by stimulating grassroots activity and through engaging Local Spiritual Assemblies and Auxiliary Board members in the plan.

Contact:

NORTHEASTERN REGION[edit]

Committee: The Northeastern Regional Youth Committee was first appointed in July 1998, with 10 members in two main areas, Boston and New York.

Mandate: In brief, to inspire youth, stimulate teaching and activity, and serve as the eyes and ears of the Regional Bahá’í Council regarding youth matters.

Contact:

Participants in the Youth Summit during April pose on the steps of the Bahá’í House of Worship. They included members of the National Youth Committee and two to three youth from each of the four regions of the continental United States. Photo by DeWitt Tolbert

In reflecting about the characteristics of each region, it became clear that an understanding of the regions based on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets of the Divine Plan is absolutely necessary in order to better cope with the challenges of ministering to the needs of youth in such vast and complex jurisdictions. ♦

If you have any questions or comments about the Bahá’í youth movement, your role in it, or the regional and national Bahá’í institutions for youth, please contact the National Youth Committee (phone 847-733-3499, e-mail ) or the regional youth entities listed here.

ANNOUNCING: Regional Bahá’í Youth Workshop Coordinator’s Training Institutes[edit]

To all veteran and aspiring Bahá’í youth workshop coordinators: You are invited to participate in an exciting series of Training Institutes for Workshop Coordinators!

The Bahá’í Youth Workshop Institute (BYWI), based in Los Angeles under the auspices of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles in partnership with the National Youth Committee, is designed to serve as a central resource for the systematic training and development of Bahá’í youth workshops.

In May 1999, the BYWI entered the pilot launch phase of a series of institutes in all four regions of the country. Training institutes that will be offered include a Member’s Training Academy for training workshop members, a Coordinator’s Training Institute for training new coordinators and providing further support to experienced coordinators, and a Coordinator Teacher’s Training Institute for training individuals to serve as facilitator/teachers of the CTI.

If you are interested in participating in any one of these training institutes, and think there would be enough interested participants in your area to make it one of the training sites, please contact the National Youth Committee Office in Evanston, IL (phone 847-733-3499, e-mail ) or Sina Mossayeb in Los Angeles (phone 323-933-8291, e-mail ). ♦ [Page 53]Youth Summit participants kept their business sessions at the Bahá’í National Center light-hearted but purposeful. Photo by Liz Dwyer

The business of the Summit[edit]

National Youth Committee’s role

Until recently, the National Youth Committee’s work has been focused on stimulating activity and implementing programs across the country. Some of that work will continue, such as providing national forums for communication, developing training materials, traveling to meet with the youth in person, and offering encouragement. However, the National Spiritual Assembly clarified that our primary role now lies in researching the U.S. Bahá’í youth community. We announced to the regional youth representatives that we are launching a systematic study of the American Bahá’í youth community, a process in which we hope the Regional Youth Committees will play a major part. Teams will examine the status of Bahá’í youth from several angles, and will compare this status with that of young people in America in general.

Here are some of the questions we are interested in:

The status of race unity among Bahá’í youth.
The status of equality of women and men among Bahá’í youth.
Successes and challenges of Bahá’í campus associations.
Successes and challenges of Bahá’í youth workshops.
The Bahá’í Youth Service Corps program.
Peer pressure and social issues such as drugs, alcohol, violence and abuse.
Youths’ relationship with the Covenant and with the institutions, especially Local Spiritual Assemblies.
Strengthening modes of communication for youth, such as e-mail, newsletters, Web sites and The American Bahá’í Youth Page.
Youth conferences and gatherings.
Feast, prayer and daily obligations.
Talents and skills of the U.S. Bahá’í youth community.

We would like to gather input from the community about these questions, so that we may get the most complete picture possible about who the Bahá’í youth in our community are. We hope that the regional youth entities will increasingly be thinking along similar research lines, gathering information that will help them guide the youth of their region, and contributing data to the national pool.

National youth movement

The group also discussed measures by which we can gauge the progress of the Bahá’í youth community. Can it be said that there is currently a Bahá’í youth movement in the United States? It is difficult to give tangible examples of what constitutes a Bahá’í youth movement. The aim of this conversation was to raise awareness that goal-oriented thinking is key in making plans and developing programs. We identified some prerequisites to the process of developing a movement:

Strengthening of individual faith and the spiritualization of our lives, including rectitude of conduct, chastity, and a freedom from prejudice.
Development of a collective consciousness and common vision on the part of youth who are involved in this process. Everyone should feel a part of a larger effort.

A national youth movement would in part be characterized by increased, constant activity, increased interaction amongst the youth, increased youth participation in training ‎insitutes institutes‎, personal teaching efforts, Holy Days and Feasts, and ultimately the achievement of entry by troops.

Systems and collaboration

Decentralization will require new levels of communication and collaboration between institutions. Determining a system for communication about youth affairs was one of the primary foci of the weekend. The National Youth Committee was really impressed with the maturity and spirituality of this consultation, the dominating theme of which was to learn to look at the Administrative Order as a family.

One of the proposals for such a system was the establishment of a network of youth “lieutenants” around the country who would facilitate the dissemination and gathering of information on regional and local levels. A prototype of this network has been established by the Southern Regional Youth Coordinating Team, and shows a lot of promise. Overall, the development of systems for interaction between youth entities is an ongoing process rather than a single, independent event. ◆

Open letter to Bahá’í youth[edit]

ages 17-25 living in the United States

Did you know...

That you are one of the greatest forces for good in the new millennium?

Shocking news assaults us every day, and many of us struggle to hold on to a vision of our nobility and spiritual power in the face of societal sicknesses. We wonder what we can do that is of concrete value when everything in the society around us seems to be crumbling. The Universal House of Justice acknowledged these troubles in the Riḍván 156 Message, and yet is welcoming the new century with a vision of hope and promise. You as a young person can play a very powerful role in making this hopeful vision of the new century a reality!

“The cause of Bahá’u’lláh marches on resistlessly, quickened by the increasing application of an approach to the development and use of human resources that is systematic. The further creation of national and regional training institutes has pressed this development forward.” —Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 156

The further development of training institutes is a powerful force in building a vision of hope for the 21st century. One of the ways you can contribute significantly to this process is to offer service at one of the five national Bahá’í schools and institutes, namely:

Bosch Bahá’í School.
Green Acre Bahá’í School.
Louhelen Bahá’í School.
Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute.
Native American Bahá’í Institute.

These schools and institutes are in urgent need of servants to help their work. While the numbers of students and seekers who benefit from these learning institutions are ever-increasing, some of the schools and institutes are at their lowest number of youth service volunteers in recent memory, which in some cases makes it difficult to function even on a basic level. Youth have enormous power to assist in the growth and development of these institutions.

Enormous power of youth #1:

The permanent schools and institutes are powerful tools of the Cause.

The Universal House of Justice tells us that the development of systematic education and training programs is one of the most important ways to advance the process of entry by troops. The national schools and institutes in the United States especially are designed to do this. As volunteers arise, the schools and institutes are able to function more effectively.

Enormous power of youth #2:

The capacity to help is in your hands.

The Universal House of Justice calls on us to “make your mark now, at this crucial turning point of a juncture, the like of which shall never return. Make that mark in deeds that will ensure for you celestial blessings—guarantee for you, and for the entire race, a future beyond earthly reckoning.”

Enormous power of youth #3:

Service offers a unique opportunity to grow spiritually.

Part of offering a period of service to the Cause is the special time you are able to devote to prayer, meditation and deepening. It is a time when you can form special friendships with everyone—co-worker, student, visitor—who crosses your path. It is a time when you are setting the pattern of your life’s service.

There is a pressing need for short- and longer-term youth volunteers and Bahá’í Youth Service Corps members now and throughout the coming months. A wide array of needs exists, so we are seeking a wide range of capacities and skills. If you are interested in arising to serve at one of the national schools and institutes, please contact the National Youth Committee as soon as possible (phone 847-733-3499, e-mail ). ◆

WANNA BE ON THE YOUTH PAGE?[edit]

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR RACE UNITY?

Have you hosted or participated in a Neighborhood Race Unity Dialogue? Have you made friends of different races or cultures? What challenges have you faced? What have been some victories? Let us know!

WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR EXCITING AND INFORMATIVE MATERIAL TO HELP ALL BAHÁ’Í YOUTH ARISE TO SERVE THE FAITH.

National Youth Committee Bahá’í National Center 1233 Central St. Evanston, IL 60201 phone 847-733-3499 e-mail [Page 54]

Convention visitors hear importance of openhearted intercultural teaching[edit]

BY JAMES HUMPHREY

Listening and learning are keys that open doors between races and cultures when we arise to teach, said members of three key teaching committees at a session for visitors at the Bahá’í National Convention in late April.

“We need a lot of sensitivity and a lot of education,” said Fernando Huerta of California, speaking for the National Latin-American Task Force, “because even though we are one, we are not the same.”

But even as we address these needs, “nowhere in this Faith does Bahá’u’lláh teach us that Hispanics teach Hispanics, blacks teach blacks, whites teach whites,” Huerta said. “Let us make mistakes, but let us move together. What ties us together is the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.”

On the morning when Convention delegates voted for the National Spiritual Assembly in closed session at the House of Worship, the visitors were treated to a program by the National American Indian Teaching Committee, the National African American Teaching Committee and the Latin-American Task Force.

Playing quiet host to the gathering in downtown Evanston, Illinois, was the National Teaching Committee.

Central to each presentation was a loving and practical gift to the friends in America, the past year’s fruits of each committee’s efforts:

Protocols for American Indian Teaching, a handbook containing general principles and specific guidelines for bringing the Teachings to the indigenous of this continent.

“This committee has been overwhelmed by the response worldwide by those who have requested the Protocols,” said Sara Bigheart of Oklahoma, a member of the American Indian Teaching Committee.

Ina McNeil of New York, also on the committee, said the 24-page document grew from years of consultation with many believers.

Exploring the Historical and Spiritual Significance of Being a Person of African Descent in the Bahá’í Faith, a workshop manual produced to encourage study and teaching.

Compiled by race relations scholar Richard Thomas, the manual includes excerpts from the Writings and from literature plus many biographical sketches. It also has exercises and a facilitator’s guide for group study.

“It is not just good reading, it is a workbook,” said Elarryo Bolden of Illinois, a member of the African American Teaching Committee.

A soon-to-be-published bilingual prayer book, with English and Spanish translations of selected prayers presented side by side.

Excerpts were available to give participants at the meeting an idea of how the gift-quality book will present prayers revealed by the Central Figures of the Faith.

Huerta noted in the Latin-American Task Force’s presentation that Hispanic Bahá’ís are in an especially good position to bridge the gaps the world presents, because many Spanish-descended people in the Americas also have indigenous and African blood lines.

Though not presenting an extensive program, the National Chinese Teaching Task Force lent members to an open forum at the end of the program. Their message was consistent with the tone of the morning: The way to unity and teaching is through listening and learning.

Hundreds of Chinese Bahá’ís in the United States need deepening and contact with the larger Bahá’í community, said task force member Albert Cheung of Illinois. “Talk to the local Chinese friends and find out what they’re interested in. Get to know them,” he said.

Providing an emotional centerpiece for the entire program was the African-American Teaching Committee, aided by an array of friends from across the country.

A dramatic offering of readings was drawn from material reproduced in the Person of African Descent manual. Overlaid with meditative music, interspersed with energetic ballet and folk dances, a call-and-response song and a poetry reading, the presentation ended with a spirited singalong as a multihued circle of people held hands around the conference room.

But most remarked-on that morning was the Protocols booklet, which won universal praise for its well-researched guidelines on respectful behavior by Bahá’í teachers who are guests of an indigenous nation.

Among other purposes, the booklet is meant to help prevent well-meaning teachers of the Faith from accidentally offending the people they are trying to reach. Entire American Indian nations have been “inoculated” against the Bahá’í Faith in some cases, the committee sadly reported.

Materials Available[edit]

The materials below are available through the Bahá’í Distribution Service (phone 800-999-9019)

Protocols for American Indian Teaching ($3)
Exploring the Historical and Spiritual Significance of Being a Person of African Descent in the Bahá’í Faith ($8)
Sacred Texts and other books and materials in traditional and simplified Mandarin Chinese (ask for prices).

The materials below are available through the National Chinese Teaching Task Force (phone 847-733-3506, fax 847-733-3509, e-mail):

Study materials developed by the Macau Bahá’í Institute, modeled on Ruhi Institute materials, developed by Chinese Bahá’ís for the Chinese. The series of courses represent a study of the fundamental verities of the Faith, based on the Creative Word (in both Chinese and English). Training for use of these materials is also available.
“Developing Your Teaching Message,” a course to help the friends develop the ability to present the Teachings in a clear and systematic manner to the Chinese.

CONVENTION REFLECTIONS[edit]

NASIF HABEEB-ULLAH, STONE MOUNTAIN, GEORGIA

Interview by Ramzia Duszynski Photo by Vladimir Shilov

THE PROCESS [OF CONSULTATION] here at the Convention is one of the greatest processes. It is very thrilling for me as a delegate to see the sensitivity of the National Assembly and the delegates and allowing the other delegates to address [the issue of the Thomas Jefferson portrait in Foundation Hall of the House of Worship]. ... To see the future of the world order is very exciting.

The most wonderful event that has happened in our community since the beginning of the Four Year Plan was the acquisition of the Bahá’í Center. The process of consultation that the Assembly went through, the unity of the Assembly, was great. It was a very thrilling and exciting moment in my Bahá’í life.

The whole idea of the center was the thought about the needs of the youth in the community. A youth got killed in the community, and then we decided that it’s time to do an intervention work.

Our center is serving the outside community. It has an auditorium that seats 300 people; a gymnasium, which is very well-used by a youth group on Friday nights. It has a computer class, and the Toastmasters club, another club designed primarily for young people. Most of the people in this club are not Bahá’ís.

I am involved with a group of African-American male Bahá’ís who have committed ourselves to the statement on the equality of women and men [Two Wings of a Bird]. My personal goal is to put all of my energy into this teaching issue.

CONVENTION NOTES[edit]

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ANSWERS QUESTIONS

In consultation on the National Assembly and agency reports, members of the national body were called upon at times to clarify issues such as the 800-22-UNITE seeker response line; the role of Mottahedeh Development Services in social and economic development efforts; publishing for a general audience; and the campaign urging the U.S. government to pay its arrears to the U.N.

Delegates also asked about the invalidation of results from three Unit Convention elections. Robert Henderson likened the decision to the Universal House of Justice’s ongoing nurturing to restore “paper” Local Spiritual Assemblies to active status. Development efforts have made headway but some Assemblies have had to be trimmed until they can rebuild.

The same is true of Units in which only one vote is recorded at election time, said the secretary-general. But he emphasized the action “does not mean abandoning souls who are not participating. It means starting anew to develop Bahá’í communities.”

HUQUQU’LLÁH TRUSTEES

The final report of this year’s National Convention came, as customary, from the Board of Trustees for Huqúqu’lláh.

In attendance were all five American trustees: Amin Banani, Stephen Birkland, Sally Foo, Daryush Haghighi and Elizabeth Martin.

Banani said response to the Right of God has been a true testimony that the friends are observing the law with joy and radiance. But he shared the Universal House of Justice’s concern that the significance of Huqúqu’lláh has not permeated the Bahá’í community, and he urged delegates to convey the need for a greater awareness that will elevate our endeavors to a spiritual level.

Haghighi praised the role of Huqúqu’lláh representatives, Assemblies and the Auxiliary Boards for their help in promoting ongoing education. He said the goal is for Huqúqu’lláh to become an integral aspect of Bahá’í family life. [Page 55]

BAHÁ’Í SUBSCRIBER SERVICE[edit]

800-999-9019

World Order[edit]

Your window to teaching, deepening, and external affairs

Fall 1998 issue: The Millennium Issues and A 1911 Meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Two articles designed to add to your understanding of millennium discussions:

Youli Iannesyan examines the concept of “the end” by looking at linguistic issues behind claims that the Bible predicts the end of the world. He demonstrates that the Bible is closer to Bahá’í scriptures than most of us have thought.
William P. Collins, in the first of a two-part article, explores the Millerite movement, the Bahá’í interpretation of biblical time-prophecy, and their importance.

Also: Ahang Rabbani’s translation of notes by two prominent Persians who met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris in 1911 makes available historic documents of historical and psychological importance, while revealing yet another glimpse of effect of the Perfect Exemplar on those around Him.

Plan now to get the Winter 1998–99 issue, soon to be published. Bill Collins, in the second part of his discussion of the Bahá’í interpretation of biblical time prophecy, illuminates how to use Bahá’í books on the topic in reaching American Protestants influenced directly or indirectly by Millerite views on the return of Christ.

Subscription type/fee: U.S. ($19 / 1 year, $36 / 2 years) Outside U.S. surface mail ($19 / 1 year, $36 / 2 years) Outside U.S. air mail ($24 / 1 year, $46 / 2 years) Single copies available on phone orders for $5 plus shipping/handling

One Country[edit]

Published quarterly by the Bahá’í International Community Subscription type/fee: U.S. ($12 / 1 year, $22 / 2 years) Outside U.S. surface mail ($16 / 1 year, $30 / 2 years) Outside U.S. air mail ($20 / 1 year, $36 / 2 years)

Brilliant Star[edit]

Bimonthly children’s magazine by the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly Subscription type/fee: U.S. ($18 / 1 year, $32 / 2 years) Outside U.S. surface mail ($18 / 1 year, $32 / 2 years) Outside U.S. air mail ($28 / 1 year, $52 / 2 years)

The American Bahá’í[edit]

10 times a year, available by subscription to Bahá’ís outside continental U.S. Subscription type/fee: Surface mail ($24 / 1 year, $45 / 2 years) Air mail ($32 / 1 year, $60 / 2 years)

Use a separate copy of this form for each subscription[edit]

Which publication?	____________________________________________________
Send to:
Address	____________________________________________________
City	_________________________ State, ZIP __________________
Country	_______________ Daytime phone or e-mail _______________
Sold to (if different from recipient):
Address	____________________________________________________
City	_________________________ State, ZIP __________________
Country	_________________ Is this a gift subscription? (Circle one) Y N
Home phone	___________________ Fax __________________________
Work phone	___________________ E-mail ________________________

If enclosing payment by check or money order, must be in U.S. dollars payable to Bahá’í Distribution Service. Please do not combine subscription payments with payments for back issues or other single items.

If paying by credit card, circle one: Visa MC Discover Amex

Credit card number _________________________ Exp. date _________

Cardholder signature __________________________________________

Phone orders: 800-999-9019 • E-mail orders: _______________________ Mail orders: Bahá’í Subscriber Service, 4703 Fulton Industrial Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30336 TAB 6/24/99

Revealing the Splendors of His Light: Exploring Spirituality in Bahá’í Life[edit]

Institute for Bahá’í Studies 1999 Conference Aug. 7–8, 1999 • Kendall College, Evanston, IL

Presenters represent a range of intellectual backgrounds and approaches to spirituality. The conference program includes:

A special opening address by Dr. David Ruhe, a former member of the Universal House of Justice.
Reflections on service by Margaret Ruhe.

And presentations on:

Spirituality in the Workplace
Shame, Guilt and Prayer
Spiritual Autobiography
Justice, Fairness and the Meekness of God
Consciousness as Causal and New Paradigms of Science

... as well as other experiential and theoretical explorations of spirituality. An effort will be made to incorporate the arts into the conference program.

Opening banquet[edit]

Friday, August 6 Ticket: $10

For those arriving the previous evening, a special opening banquet will be held with a keynote address by David Ruhe. The banquet also will feature a presentation about the Wilmette Institute and the accomplishments of its students, many of whom will have just completed the fourth residential session.

Registration and Accommodations[edit]

Pre-registration fee: $65. On-site registration fee: $75. This includes continental breakfasts Saturday and Sunday, dinner Saturday evening, and a conference packet. There is no day-student rate.

To register by mail: Use the ‎Mulitipurpose Multipurpose‎ Form below (a separate copy for each person). Enclose a check for all applicable fees, payable to the Bahá’í Services Fund (we are unable to accept payment by credit card). Under “Special Information,” state whether you have included the $10 fee for the Opening Banquet, and state any special needs you have.

Mail the completed registration form to: Institute for Bahá’í Studies 1999 Conference, Attn: Mrs. Lynne Yancy, Registrar, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201.

Low-cost accommodations have been secured at Kendall College, 2408 Orrington Ave. in Evanston. A block of rooms, at a special discounted rate, has also been secured at the Holiday Inn in downtown Evanston.

For complete program or more information on accommodations Please contact Lynne Yancy (phone 847-733-3548, e-mail _________________) or Kevin A. Morrison (phone 847-733-3522, e-mail _________________)

MULTIPURPOSE FORM[edit]

CLIP OR COPY AS NEEDED

For which event or activity? _________________________________________

Name _________________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________

City _____________________________________ State, ZIP ______________

Phone ____________________________________ E-mail _______________

Special information: ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

TAB 6/24/99 [Page 56]

Lawrence Hautz made his mark in Zimbabwe[edit]

Lawrence Albert Hautz, beloved pioneer and devoted servant of the Cause of God, died at his pioneer post in Zimbabwe on February 12, 1999. He was 90.

Born Aug. 19, 1908, Larry moved with his family from Ohio to Wisconsin at an early age. While at school, he was a well-known newspaper boy and a high school cheerleader.

Through the Boy Scouts he developed an interest in conservation, particularly in the study of birds. In 1929, he was awarded the Hornaday Medal for his six years’ work in creating a bird sanctuary and wildlife refuge at Pewaukee Lake. Larry and his troop planted 3,500 trees and 1,000 berry-bearing shrubs, erected birdhouses and squirrel feeding stations. He later helped establish a 2,000-acre wildlife sanctuary in Rhinelander. He was inaugurated into the Pueblo Indian tribe as Chief “leader of many song birds” for his work in bird conservation.

Larry began a successful insurance sales career at age 22. In 1939, he became a Bahá’í, something he shared with his wife, Carol.

One of Hautz’s most notable services came during a 90-day stay in the Holy Land right after World War II. He had intended to make a nine-day trip, but at the request of the Guardian he undertook delicate negotiations with the Israeli government that enabled the Faith to acquire vital Bahá’í properties.

In that mission, Hautz’s movement among people of prominence was greatly enhanced by the efforts of Labor Minister Golda Meir—a future Israeli prime minister who was from the same Wisconsin town as Larry, and who was impressed by the Faith and the Bahá’ís.

Hautz served the United States Bahá’ís on the National Youth Committee, the Temple Maintenance Committee and the National Reference Library Committee. This stage of service culminated in his election to the National Spiritual Assembly at Ridván 1953. That year he also served on the Local Assembly of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.

In 1954, after traveling to 16 countries throughout the world, Larry and his wife, Carol, settled in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in response to the call of the Ten Year Crusade. The couple established a motel 11 miles from Salisbury, the capital (now Harare). In addition to running the motel, Larry founded a snake park and established a school on the property which grew from an initial 20 students to over 400. Always aware of the teaching needs, the Hautzes witnessed the growth of their Bahá’í community and the Local Assembly there.

On a 1971 visit to the United States, Carol fell ill and discovered she had cancer. She died in California; fortunately Larry was able to be with her.

In 1980, when Larry was 72 years old, independence was established in Zimbabwe. That year, Larry sold the motel and moved into town. His health deteriorated over the last 10 years.

In a statement read at his funeral in Harare, the National Assembly of Zimbabwe noted, “In the height of racial discrimination in then Rhodesia, Larry took a bold step and against all odds established the first school on the supposedly ‘white owned’ property for the indigenous children.

“Larry loved Bahá’u’lláh and in his own way served His Cause with the best of his ability,” the statement said in part. “Many of the younger generation or new believers did not have the opportunity to meet Larry Hautz, but we have no doubt that the shining example of his dedicated services will be the guiding path for the present and future generations. May his pure soul rest in peace in the Abhá Kingdom.”

Message to the National Spiritual Assembly of Zimbabwe:

WE SHARE YOUR DEEP SENSE OF LOSS IN PASSING DEARLY LOVED LARRY HAUTZ, FAITHFUL, GENEROUS, ENERGETIC SERVANT BLESSED BEAUTY. HIS SIX DECADES DEVOTED ENDEAVOURS BEHALF CAUSE GOD MARKED BY NUMEROUS TEACHING TRIPS BOTH ON HOME FRONT IN UNITED STATES AND ABROAD, HIS UNSTINTING MATERIAL SUPPORT CAUSE, HIS MEMBERSHIP NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES, HIS PIONEERING TO ZIMBABWE FROM EARLY STAGE TEN YEAR GLOBAL CRUSADE. THESE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS WERE ENHANCED BY SPECIAL SERVICES HE RENDERED BELOVED GUARDIAN, INCLUDING HIS INDEFATIGABLE EFFORTS AT NEGOTIATIONS WHICH CULMINATED IN ACQUISITION VITALLY NEEDED PROPERTIES SURROUNDING AND SAFEGUARDING HOLY SHRINES. WE ARDENTLY PRAY FOR PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL THROUGHOUT DIVINE WORLDS.

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

Lawrence Hautz served for a year on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, and once handled sensitive negotiations for Shoghi Effendi.

Alexander Alexay, renowned pianist, found the Bahá’í Faith in later years[edit]

Concert pianist and accompanist to the stars Alexander Alexay passed to the next world April 20, 1999, in New York City. Born into a family of musicians on September 29, 1901 in Ottawa, Canada, Alex spanned the 20th century.

Alexay heard of the Bahá’í Faith many years before he enrolled in the Faith. In 1984 he met Hiromi Kubo, a Bahá’í. Within about three years the two were married and he declared his faith in Bahá’u’lláh.

At his memorial service April 24, Mrs. Alexay shared that it was the Sacred Writings that most attracted Alexay to the Faith. She said that for him the words of Bahá’u’lláh were music in their own right, and they were not enhanced by setting them to music or providing musical accompaniment.

In addition to his beloved wife, Alexay is survived by his son, Mario, of Green Valley, Arizona.

Alexay’s professional career as a concert pianist, vocal coach and accompanist to many world-famous opera singers and recitalists began in his teens in vaudeville and movie houses. After saving enough money to pursue formal studies in Europe, he was accepted as a student of Emil von Sauer, a pupil of Franz Liszt.

Highlights of Alexay’s distinguished career include working as a coach for composer Sigmund Romberg’s operetta productions, and serving as staff pianist and assistant to NBC Orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini.

Alexay performed at the White House for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Among the singers Alexay accompanied from the 1930s through the 1980s were Marian Anderson, Helen Traubel, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Richard Tucker, Jan Peerce, Jarmila Novotna, Roberta Peters, Jerome Hines, Robert Merrill, Mario Lanza, Anna Moffo and Renata Scotto.

Hines, the Metropolitan Opera bass with whom Alexay played in more than 2,000 performances, attended the memorial service.

IN MEMORIAM[edit]

Electa M. Alexander Portland, OR April 11, 1999	Elizabeth E. Clark Hutchinson, KS February 22, 1999	Louise A. Groger Los Gatos, CA March 22, 1999	Fariborz Sanai Jersey City, NJ March 19, 1999	Mark S. Spittal Seattle, WA March 4, 1999
James B. Allen Lincoln, NE March 21, 1999	Thomas D. Davis Peoria, IL January 1, 1999	John A. McMeekin Butte, MT April 2, 1999	Margery Scheidet Wading River, NY March 21, 1999	Mildred Sullivan Des Moines, IA May 6, 1999
Mary Jane Austin Beltsville, MD April 4, 1999	Katharine P. Dutton Worcester, MA April 29, 1999	Jerelyn R. Minnick Reno, NV May 9, 1999	Bernice Schreiber Nevada City, CA April 7, 1999	Chau Thao Portland, OR May 4, 1999
William D. Brown Des Moines, IA April 19, 1999	Frank Edmunds Jr. Eliot, ME May 9, 1999	Hedayatollah Nayersina Santa Monica, CA August 1998	Ziaeddin Shahparnia Redondo Beach, CA December 3, 1998	Erik T. Townsend Douglas, AZ March 18, 1999
Wallace H. Carter Jr. Temecula, CA March 10, 1999	Dean H. Fraser Tucson, AZ March 7, 1999	Frank Noble Brimley, MI January 1999	Edward M. Smith Oxnard, CA April 27, 1999	Elizabeth M. Trice Delray Beach, FL April 9, 1999
Joseph Centko Jr. Huachuca City, AZ March 19, 1999	Marjorie H. Greenway Manchester, NH October 2, 1998	Shirley R. Recks Laconia, NH April 20, 1999	Hermon Hovanessian Sobhani Mission Viejo, CA April 26, 1999	Edward M. Wininsky Jr. Sharon, PA November 17, 1998

[Page 57]Classified notices in The American Bahá’í are published free of charge to the Bahá’í community. Because of this, notices are limited to items relating to the Faith; no personal or commercial ads are accepted. Some of the opportunities have not been approved by the National Spiritual Assembly; the friends should exercise judgment and care in responding.

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES[edit]

AT BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY UNITED NATIONS OFFICE NEW YORK, NEW YORK Secretary to Chief Administrative Officer. Works closely with and provides administrative support to the Chief Administrative Officer. Should have excellent interpersonal skills; strong written and verbal communication skills essential. Knowledge of MS Word preferred. Position available in July. If interested, please contact Dorothy Longo, operations officer, Bahá’í International Community, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120, New York, NY 10017 (fax 212-803-2566).

Bahá’í National Offices service opportunities page 58

Archivist wanted (on a consulting basis) for U.S. Bahá’í Media Services in Wilmette, Illinois, for our audio and videotape library. Contact: Dolly Britzman, Bahá’í Media Services (phone 847-853-2352).

Wanted: Activities Director and Property Manager, two dedicated Bahá’ís (ideally a family team) who can put in the necessary hours to keep up and improve the Bahá’í Center of South Orange County in San Clemente, California. We just celebrated the center’s second anniversary and our goal is to make it a focal point for entry by troops before the end of the Four Year Plan. We offer housing and utilities, plus a stipend if needed. Please contact the Spiritual Assembly of San Clemente, P.O. Box 5181, San Clemente, CA 92674 (phone 800-293-2727, ask for Betty or Howard Tangler; fax 949-498-1863; e-mail sccenter@tfb.com; Web site www.bahaicenter.com).

INTERNATIONAL China: Numerous openings for English teachers and professionals willing to travel for service in this rapidly developing country. For more information contact Susan Senchuk (phone 847-733-3506, fax 847-733-3509, e-mail ssenchuk@usbnc.org).

PIONEERING / OVERSEAS[edit]

The Office of Pioneering is listing all positions sent to us by other national Bahá’í institutions. Soon, a compilation of Web site and e-mail addresses for job searches will be a standard feature.

BAHAMAS: Self-supporting couple to serve as caretakers for the National Center.

BELIZE: Couple or individual to serve as caretaker for Bahá’í Center in Belmopan, national capital.

COSTA RICA: Full-time service for 6–12 months for Spanish-speaking, self-supporting (preferred) youth to work with Bahá’í Youth Workshop.

EASTERN CAROLINE ISLANDS: Custodian/Caretakers (independent means).

GAMBIA: Permanent Institute manager.

HONDURAS: Elementary and secondary school teachers.

MACAU: The School of Nations needs qualified kindergarten, primary and secondary teachers.

SAMOA: Full-time caretakers for House of Worship with extensive practical skills (e.g. building maintenance, gardening, etc.); prefer those with independent means.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Self-supporting couple to serve as custodians of the Bahá’í Center in Honiara. Volunteer to train National Center office staff.

THAILAND: Volunteers needed in various areas of the country to help keep local centers open, assist with administrative tasks at the National Center, teach within hill tribe communities, etc. These opportunities are open to youth.

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS: Great need for medical personnel including family physicians with a variety of specialties: internist, obstetrician, health care service manager, clerical officer, biomedical technician, medical records officer.

VENEZUELA: Self-supporting couple (preferable) to serve as caretakers of the Bahá’í National Center and assistants to the National Assembly secretary. Pioneers are urgently needed in Mérida, a beautiful location in the Andes.

WESTERN CAROLINE ISLANDS: Custodian/caretakers (independent means). For additional information regarding jobs and study abroad, please contact the Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201.

If you live in:

Northeast or Central States, call Alex Blakeson (847-733-3511).
Southern States, call Sherdeana Jordan (847-733-3507).
Western States, call Aurore Ragston (phone 847-733-3512).

Or contact the Office of Pioneering (phone 847-733-3508, e-mail pioneer@usbnc.org).

PIONEERING / HOMEFRONT[edit]

Wyoming needs you. Whether you are a youth searching for a college, a family, retired or looking for employment, the Bahá’ís of Wyoming need you. At Ridván two Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed; before then the entire state had none. The forward momentum must continue! We have clean air, no traffic, safe schools, unlimited opportunities for service to Bahá’u’lláh. Wyoming is the least populated state in America. We also have fewer than 90 adult Bahá’ís. If you’d like to help us make a difference, contact Dru Hanich, P.O. Box 273, Thayne, WY 83127 (phone 307-883-2277, e-mail dahanich@juno.com).

Florence, South Carolina, needs deepened Bahá’í families to help us into the next stage of our development: full recognition in the community. Within broadcast range of Radio Bahá’í, Florence has the first Bahá’í Center in South Carolina owned by Bahá’ís. More than 400 people are on the membership list, and Bahá’í administration is stable, but there are golden teaching opportunities. Florence manages to be peacefully rural—farmland all around, both beaches and mountains nearby—while at an axis of commerce. Roche Carolina, GE Medical Systems, Amana and Honda Manufacturing of America have facilities in the area, and the health care industry is exploding. Francis Marion University and Florence-Darlington Technical College are nearby. Please contact Bret and Anne Breneman phone (843-667-1540, e-mail breneman@juno.com)

Berea, Kentucky, a town of about 12,000 in the Appalachian foothills, warmly invites you to help our group build a Bahá’í community in this naturally beautiful rural setting, which features Berea College, a tuition-free liberal arts college. The town is noted for traditional mountain arts, crafts, music, culture and hospitality. A welcoming town for students, families, retirees, Berea is 45 miles from Lexington, which has a full service airport, city amenities, medical services and an active supportive Bahá’í community. For information contact the Bahá’í group of Berea, Berea, KY 40403 (phone 606-986-1547 or 606-985-9160).

ARCHIVES[edit]

The National Bahá’í Archives is seeking, at the request of the Universal House of Justice, original letters written on behalf of the Guardian to the following individuals: Belle Costanten, Ben Costanten, Devora Costanten, Paul G. Costanzo, Joel Cotton, George W. Cottrell and Betty Covington. Anyone knowing family members or relatives who might have these Guardian’s letters is asked to contact the National Bahá’í Archives, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611 (phone 847-869-9039).

The National Bahá’í Archives has prepared a series of biographical sketches of prominent African-American, Native American, Hispanic and Asian Bahá’ís for the use of local communities in Black History Month, Race Unity Day and other special events observances. There is also a partial chronology of U.S. race unity activities. Any local community or individual wishing a set of these sketches is asked to send a request with a mailing address to the National Bahá’í Archives, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611 (phone 847-869-9039).

YOUTH[edit]

Youth Service Corps and young adult volunteers needed

AT BOSCH, LOUHELEN, GREEN ACRE, LOUIS GREGORY INSTITUTE, NABI If you can give a few weeks or months this summer, we need people at these permanent Bahá’í schools and institutes to provide:

office and registration help,
kitchen and cleaning help,
recreation and library help,
maintenance and grounds help,
children’s class teaching help.

We provide room and board. Contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430).

WANTED[edit]

Wanted: Stories of the lives of Bahá’ís who were imprisoned or martyred. I am a writer/director working in theater production on Broadway. I am conducting research for a new play based on the life of Bahá’ís in Iran during the Revolution, and am seeking individuals who served a prison term or have stories of others who were persecuted. I intend to open this play off-Broadway before the end of the Four Year Plan. Please contact Shidan Majidi (phone 212-726-2331, e-mail smajidi@aol.com).

BAHÁ’Í CHAIR, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1[edit]

poets and artists from several backgrounds and nations, great and small.” He went on to say, “Through a consultative process, a widespread agreement can be achieved and controversy avoided.”

The keynote talk by the former president—who was a voice for stability during some of Lebanon’s worst war-torn years—is a prestigious step in development of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, noted Suheil Bushrui, the University of Maryland professor who holds the Chair.

Other distinguished guests and speakers included Dorothy Nelson, representing the National Spiritual Assembly; C.D. Mote Jr., newly inaugurated president of the university; Irwin Goldstein, dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; and Ernest J. Wilson, director of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management.

In only its sixth year since the academic post was established in cooperation with the National Spiritual Assembly, Bushrui said, the Bahá’í Chair has made an indelible impact on the university community, with local, national and international effects.

Recently, the publication of two works has drawn considerable attention and praise to the Chair:

A monograph titled The Spiritual Foundation of Human Rights has captured the attention of institutions internationally and has introduced the concept of spirituality to the major global issue of human rights.
Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet, co-authored by Bushrui and colleague Joe Jenkins, has received favorable reviews in the U.S., British and Arabic press. Part of this work deals with Gibran’s relationship with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Also, the University of Maryland Parents’ Association recently nominated Bushrui as the most outstanding faculty member.

“This award really goes to the Bahá’í Chair itself,” Bushrui said, adding that it reflects the great impact the Bahá’í Chair has had on the lives of countless students and the academic community at the university.

Speakers and guests at the Bahá’í Chair Lecture included (from left) Dean Irwin Goldstein, Ernest J. Wilson III, Dorothy Nelson of the National Spiritual Assembly, university President C.D. Mote Jr., Lebanon’s former President Amine Gemayel, Bahá’í Chair holder Suheil Bushrui, Hormoz Hormozi, Mary Bushrui and Patricia Mote. ♦ [Page 58]

PAID SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES AT THE BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL OFFICES[edit]

AT THE BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL CENTER[edit]

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS

Executive Assistant, National Teaching Office. Helps secretary of National Teaching Committee carry out the work of the National Teaching Office. Coordinates projects relating to the national teaching plan; helps develop reports to National Spiritual Assembly, NTC and Regional Bahá’í Councils; serves as liaison between NTC and other agencies and administrative departments; prepares articles for The American Bahá’í. Needs knowledge of Bahá’í writings and Administrative Order; experience in project management; superior writing and speaking ability; strong analytical skills. At least bachelor's degree, good work history. Word processing, spreadsheet, desktop publishing, Internet skills needed. Some travel required.

Media Coordinator, National Teaching Office. Promotes Bahá’í understanding of the national media initiative, especially through The American Bahá’í, the Internet, Bahá’í Newsreel, regional training programs and other gatherings. Advises and assists local and regional media efforts. Maintains and monitors national 1-800 telephone system for seekers; sets up research and testing relevant to media efforts. Collaborates with various Bahá’í media organizations. Needs professional background in media, education and/or public relations, extensive experience with project management, knowledge of Bahá’í writings and Administrative Order.

Research Coordinator, National Teaching Office. Gathers and analyzes information on internal and external issues affecting growth and development of the Faith; communicates analysis and recommendations to National Spiritual Assembly and National Teaching Committee; conveys important information to Regional Bahá’í Councils and to the believers in general. Collaborates with various offices. Needs advanced degree in research-oriented field (social sciences and/or marketing preferred but not required); high organizational, analytical and interpersonal skills; extensive knowledge of Bahá’í writings and Administrative Order.

Concrete Artesan-Apprentice, Conservation. Assists Concrete/Stone Conservator in the ongoing conservation of the Bahá’í House of Worship and its surroundings. Must be competent in mixing, placing, finishing and curing concrete flatwork or architectural precast components; experienced in building forms or making molds. Familiarity with pressure or acid cleaning, sandblasting or pneumatic demolition an asset, as is experience in a leadership/supervisory capacity. Valid driver's license required. Must be comfortable working at heights wearing full or half-mask respirators. Must be able to interact with the public in a pleasant, friendly manner.

Conservation Coordinator, Conservation. Does inspection, recordkeeping, testing and research for the Conservation Program at the Bahá’í House of Worship; maintains information systems of the Conservation team; manages projects of limited scope. Duties require working at heights using roofs, catwalks, ladders, scaffolding, vertical lifts, bosun chairs, rope harnesses etc. Must have three years' experience in engineering technology and/or conservation work; degree in engineering technology, museum science or related field. Skill in sketching and word processing. Well-organized, accurate, thorough and patient. Cooperative, consultative and flexible. Preservation experience desirable.

Administrative assistant (part-time), U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office. Provides administrative support to the coordinator and assistant coordinator of the U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office. Prepares correspondence to refugees and to Bahá’í, government and other agencies involved in refugee resettlement. Helps prepare reports, maintains records, helps with information gathering, processing and computer input of the Southeast Asian Bahá’í refugees. Helps compile and write the Southeast Asian Helpers Bulletin, articles for The American Bahá’í and other publications. Proven ability to work with confidential information. Strong written and oral skills in English.

Administrative Assistants. Several openings possible. Will initiate and coordinate clerical and secretarial functions required to implement administrative needs effectively. Must be deepened Bahá’í well-grounded in the spiritual principles and administration of the Bahá’í Faith. Must perform administrative duties in a mature, efficient and professional manner; must be familiar with computer word processing applications (Windows 95, Word, e-mail and various databases extremely helpful); good communicator, highly organized, confident and capable of working steadily, often on many things at once. Must be able to speak, read and write English.

If interested in any of these positions, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430).

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED[edit]

to submit your résumé for one of these paid positions at the Bahá’í National Center and other agencies of the National Spiritual Assembly. These are full-time positions (unless otherwise indicated) with very good medical and dental benefits. We look forward to hearing from you.

IMMEDIATE NEEDS[edit]

Bahá’í Properties Office, Wilmette: Maintenance Technician. Responsible for preventive maintenance, inventory, inspection and coordination of repairs to Bahá’í properties. Needs general knowledge of building maintenance and operations; will work with electricity, plumbing, mechanical and masonry repairs.

Office of the Treasurer, Evanston: Accountant. Needs strong interpersonal and analytical skills and familiarity with integrated PC-based accounting software. CPA and experience in implementing internal control procedures are highly desirable. Must have degree in accounting or equivalent accounting experience. Some travel required. Must be able to maintain a sense of humor while working in a fast-paced, flexible environment. Appreciation for the importance of confidentiality essential.

Office of the Secretary, Evanston: Administrative Aide. Provides support for National Convention, prepares logistics of National Spiritual Assembly meetings, provides telephone support, types correspondence as necessary, orders office supplies, copies, files, runs errands. Must show ability to work with confidential material; ability to work as part of a team; excellent organizational skills. Must type 45-50 wpm accurately; needs basic word processing skills; valid driver's license.

Persian/American Affairs Office, Evanston: Program Assistant. Helps the office's manager and program coordinator follow up on execution of programs and projects; performs general office functions, including records management; handles correspondence in Persian and English; translates documents and letters as needed. Must be skilled in Persian and English written and oral communication skills, familiar with Bahá’í administrative practices, familiar with Iranian culture. Must type 30 wpm in English and Persian, and be able to perform detailed work with frequent interruptions.

Mail Services, Evanston: Clerk (2 positions). Performs general mail service duties, including efficient handling of incoming and outgoing mail plus shipping, receiving, distribution and storage. Must be computer-literate, especially in Microsoft Office programs. Must speak, read and write English; needs valid driver's license.

If interested, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430).

OFFICE OF INFORMATION SERVICES[edit]

BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL CENTER

Systems and support manager. Responsible for management of operations group, technical support team, applications group and help desk. Assigns work orders to staff and tracks their timely completion.

Applications developer. Provides high-level analysis, design and implementation of information systems. Familiar with a variety of technologies including Visual tools, database tools, and Web tools.

LSAI Support. Coordinates support activities for LSAI project. Provides training and support for LSAI. Handles initial requests for support, escalates support issues to support team when necessary (LSAI help desk). Develops training-related communications materials, assists promotion and education.

Database administrator. Coordinates all database development. Responsible for Enterprise SQL server including security rights, table design, normalization. Responsible for design and implementation of user and departmental applications as front ends to SQL using MS Access, VB, or other tools as determined.

Transfer desk, Membership Office. Strong data entry and communication skills required. Helpful if Persian speaking. Will cooperate with Refugee, Persian/American Affairs and Pioneering Offices.

Data entry clerk, Membership Office. Will transcribe contact information from the 800-22-UNITE voice-mail system. Needs transcription experience; will cooperate with the National Teaching Committee office.

If interested in any of these positions, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430).

AT BAHÁ’Í TRADE PUBLISHING[edit]

WILMETTE, ILLINOIS OR FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

Publisher. General manager and chief operating officer; public and legal spokesperson. Responsible for the product quality and financial results of the enterprise. Oversees general directions, policies, interdepartmental collaboration and business in a manner that achieves the wish of the National Spiritual Assembly to develop a presence for Bahá’í literature in retail bookstores and libraries.

Qualifications: Excellent written and oral communication skills; excellent presentation, negotiation and problem-solving skills; expertise in publishing and business management, including financial, personnel and marketing management; extensive knowledge of literature and Bahá’í principles; at least bachelor's degree with related work experience; knowledge of or experience in distribution and/or publishing business; service on Bahá’í administrative institutions in various capacities.

Office Manager. Supervises day-to-day operations of Bahá’í Trade Publishing with special focus on acquisitions, editorial and administrative functions. Helps the publisher develop and manage this new enterprise. Develops and maintains office management systems for smooth administration. Needs excellent written and oral communication skills; expertise in publishing and business management; high level of organizational skills and ability to meet deadlines; at least bachelor's degree with related work experience; expertise with spreadsheets, word processing, database management and other business software; knowledge of or experience in distribution and publishing business; knowledge of literature and Bahá’í principles.

If interested in either position, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430).

AT BAHÁ’Í DISTRIBUTION SERVICE[edit]

FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

Assistant Manager. Supervises day-to-day operations of BDS with special focus on marketing and customer service. Promotes sale of Bahá’í books, music, periodicals and special materials through the Bahá’í Distribution Service and Subscriber Service.

Qualifications: Ability to represent the National Spiritual Assembly and the Bahá’í Faith in a consistent and dignified manner in all communications; ability to apply Bahá’í principles and management skills to lead and develop people; varied expertise in communication: business reporting, correspondence, negotiating, consultation and facilitation; bachelor's degree with related work experience; familiarity with content and usage of Bahá’í literature; high degree of computer literacy with special focus on developing and maintaining Web sites; financial and business management experience; retail sales and marketing experience in a similar industry.

If interested, please contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430) or Ford Bowers (phone 800-999-9019 ext. 111). [Page 59]... دکتر سینا ثابت، آقای نیکان صادق‌زاده، آقای روح‌الله محمودزاده، خانم لیدا لؤلؤئی، آقای بهزاد خوش‌مشرب، مهندس منوچهر وهمن، آقای آرین رحمانیان، آقای کامبیز نصیرپور، آقای نیسان روحانی، خانم مرجان جباری، آقای فرزاد خزین، خانم روحا سبحانی، آقای منصور سبحانی، آقای حسام رحیمیان، دکتر پرویز موفق، دکتر الهام ضیائی، آقای کیومرث حقیقی، خانم کیلی حقیقی، خانم نرگس نوح‌نژاد، آقای شهرام شهریاری، آقای پیمان فروغی، مهندس بهروز سنائی، آقای بهنام قربان‌پور، آقای بدیع یزدی، خانم گلوریا روحانی، آقای هوشمند صدیقیان، آقای پناه نبیل اکبر.

رقص[edit]

برنامه‌های رقص هنری شامل رقص‌های محلی توسط گروه آذر به سرپرستی خانم آنیسا آذر و شاگردانشان که معمولاً از کودکان بودند اجرا، می‌شد.

شعرخوانی[edit]

در بخش‌های هنری که معمولاً عصرها اجرا می‌شد اشعار گوناونی نیز توسط افراد مختلف خوانده شد از جمله: خانم روحا سبحانی، خانم عزت‌السادات گوشه‌گیر، مهندس بهروز جباری، آقای وفا لاله‌زاری، آقای پناه نبیل اکبر و خانم پگاه نبیل اکبر.

برنامۀ فکاهی[edit]

در این کنفرانس برای سومین سال یک برنامۀ کمدی تحت عنوان "نکته‌های فکاهی" توسط خانم الهام جذاب به زبان فارسی و انگلیسی اجرا شد.

ناظمان[edit]

دوستانی که مسؤولیت دشوار نظامت جلسات کنفرانس را بر عهده داشتند عبارت بودند از: دکتر آذر موفق، دکتر فؤاد ضیائی، دکتر ایرج خادمی، مهندس بهروز جباری، خانم لیلی ایمن.

رویدادهای ویژه[edit]

شنبه ۲۹ می مصادف بود با سالروز صعود حضرت بهاءالله. بسیاری از شرکت‌کنندگان در کنفرانس از ساعت ۲ صبح با اتوبوس‌هائی که از قبل کرایه شده بود به مشرق‌الاذکار رفتند تا مراسم شب صعود را در آن معبد مقدس به جا آورند. این تجربه برای همۀ شرکت‌کنندگان در جلسۀ صعود به ویژه کسانی که پیش از آن ام‌المعابد غرب را ندیده بودند تجربه‌ای خاص و فراموش نشدنی بود.

صبح شنبه هم برنامه‌ای ترتیب داده شده بود که علاقه‌مندان از اماکن تاریخی امری در شیکاگو و حومۀ آن دیدار کنند.

مهندس هوشنگ سیحون معمار سرشناس و هنرمند ‎بنان بنام‎ بهائی در کنفرانس حضور داشت. شب شنبه برنامه‌ای برای بزرگداشت ایشان تدارک دیده شده بود که در ضمن آن هدیه‌ای از جانب انجمن دوستداران فرهنگی ایرانی به ایشان اهداء شد.

برنامه‌های جوانان[edit]

برنامه‌های جوانان شامل سخنرانی و موسیقی و برنامۀ فکاهی و یک میزگرد بود. موضوع سخنرانی‌ها عبارت بود از:

دکتر حشمت مؤید در حین سخنرانی

"برنامه‌های خدماتی بین‌المللی" آقای پویا آذر
"آیا محبت کافی است؟" کارگاهی به سرپرستی خانم می موزون و آقای سهراب مغربی
"انتخاب همسر" دکتر هما محمودی
"مهاجرت، تعصب و خانواده" دکتر احمد باستانی
"خانواده‌های دو فرهنگه" دکتر صبا ایمن نالی
"خانواده‌های چندنژادی" کمبا و هدا مظلومیان و کلسی و سیدا تیلر
"بزرگ شدن در خانواده ایرانی: یک تجربه شخصی" خانم منا موفق
"نقش جوانان بهائی در فرهنگ غرب" خانم گلوریا لول (Loehle)
"تساوی حقوق زن و مرد" به سرپرستی خانم نیلوفر و آقای شادان توفیقی

برنامه‌های به زبان انگلیسی[edit]

در این برنامه‌ها دکتر فرهاد ثابتان، دکتر صبا ایمن نالی، دکتر ژانت آفاری و دکتر هما محمودی موضوع صحبت خود را به انگلیسی نیز بیان کردند. بعلاوه خانم ندا صمدانی در بارۀ اهمیت خانواده در امر بهائی و دکتر مهرداد ایمن در بارۀ خانه در فرهنگ ایرانی، Dr. Craig Loehle در بارۀ شکوفائی استعداد اطفال و دکتر کریستاف بورگل در بارۀ "عدم خشونت در شعر حماسی نظامی" سخن گفتند.

برنامه‌های نهمین کنفرانس انجمن دوستداران فرهنگ ایرانی ظهر روز دوشنبه ۳۱ می با تلاوت مناجات خاتمه، پایان یافت.

خانم روحیه بگلی در حین تدریس به کودکان

پیشرفت زنان و وحدت نژادی[edit]

ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN AND RACE UNITY

جناب تاد یونینگ Tod Ewing عضو هیئت مشاورین قاره‌ای مقاله‌ای دربارۀ پیشرفت امور زنان و ارتباط آن با وحدت نژادی نگاشته‌اند که به علت اهمیت موضوع، خلاصۀ آن به زبان فارسی در زیر درج می‌شود.

بیت‌العدل اعظم در پیام رضوان سال ۱۵۳ بدیع فرموده‌اند که جامعۀ بهائی باید نمونه‌ای از وحدت در کثرت به جهانیان عرضه دارد. نیل به این هدف با تحقق تساوی حقوق زن و مرد تسهیل خواهد شد.

جهان ما غرقۀ آشوب و ‎کشمش کشمکش‎ است و یکی از دلایل این وضع روش رهبری سیاسی است که بر اساس ‎تمارض تعارض‎ استوار است. در جنبه‌های گوناگون زندگی انسانی نیز آثاری از بی‌اعتمادی و خشونت و بدگمانی و عدم مدارا به چشم می‌خورد. تا زمانی که زنان در همۀ میدان‌های فعالیت‌های بشر وارد نشوند این آثار از میان نخواهد رفت و معهد اعلی آزادی زنان و تساوی کامل زن و مرد را یکی از شرایط لازم حصول صلح ذکر فرموده‌اند.

همچنین بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی رفع تعصبات نژادی و تساوی حقوق زن و مرد را دو عنصری که اثر آنی در حصول صلح خواهد داشت نامیده‌اند. باید به خاطر داشت که در جامعۀ امریکا هر گاه مسأله زنان به میان آمده و اهمیت یافته، از اهمیت و توجه به مسأله نژادی کاسته است. در جامعۀ بهائی از این اثر متقابل باید بر حذر بود و باید دانست که ترقی امور زنان با رفع تعصبات نژادی رابطه‌ای ناگسستنی دارد.

در آثار امر آمده است که زنان خصائلی دارند که به ایجاد فضای مناسب برای حصول صلح کمک خواهد کرد. از جملۀ این خصائل رأفت و نوع‌دوستی و شهامت است که برای رفع تعصبات نیز بدان نیاز است.

همچنین باید به خاطر داشت که ترقی زنان بدون همت و حمایت مردان به تأخیر خواهد افتاد. مردان باید بدانند که پیشرفت زنان مانع از پیشرفت آنان نخواهد بود بلکه هر یک بر دیگری اثر مثبت و متقابل خواهد نهاد. اهل بهاء باید بیشتر از دیگران در حصول ترقی زنان و رفع تعصبات نژادی پیشقدم باشند زیرا این دو از جمله اساس ایمانی و روحانی آنان است.

بدین ترتیب روز به روز آشکارتر می‌شود که پیشرفت زنان برای ایجاد نمونه‌ای از وحدت در کثرت و ارائه آن به جهانیان بعنوان یک سرمشق اهمیتی اساسی دارد و با حصول آن فضائی ایجاد می‌شود که مناسب با رفع تعصبات نژادی نیز دارد. بر اهل بهاء است که با شهامت و وقار و حکمت این حکم الهی را به اجرا درآوریم. [Page 60]اما رأی بیت العدل اعظم این است که احباء اهمیت این حکم محکم الهی را چنان که باید دریافته‌اند. بدین ترتیب از نمایندگان دعوت شد که احبای حوزه انتخاباتی خود را از اهمیت این قانون الهی خبردار سازند.

دکتر داریوش حقیقی نیز از اهمیت نمایندگان امنای حقوق و خدمات آنان در آشنا ساختن احباء با آن حکم صریح الهی سخنانی ایراد کرد. دکتر حقیقی اظهار داشت که هدف این است که برای هر ایالتی یک نماینده معین شود. ایشان همچنین از همکاری محافل روحانی و اعضای هیئت معاونت و مساعدتشان در زمینه آشناسازی احباء با حکم حقوق‌الله قدردانی کرد. جلسات توأمین کانونشن ملی با بیانات مشاورین قاره‌ای که هر یک به نوعی برداشت خود را از کانونشن اظهار می‌داشت و در عین حال توصیه‌های لازم را برای سال جاری ایراد می‌کرد، پایان یافت.

از دفتر روابط عمومی محفل ملی[edit]

FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

از آنجا که چگونگی ارائه مطالبی درباره امر مبارک به رسانه‌ها موضوعی حساس و حائز اهمیت خاص است، دفتر روابط عمومی محفل روحانی کلیاتی را در این مورد به آگاهی یاران می‌رساند.

محفل روحانی باید برای انتخاب نماینده روابط عمومی خود از افرادی استفاده کند که در وهله اول مایل به قبول این مسئولیت و علاقه مند به آن باشند. این افراد باید ‎توانانی توانایی‎ آن را داشته باشند که با اولیای امور و نمایندگان دیگر ادیان به سهولت و راحتی صحبت کنند.

شرایط کلی برای نمایندگان روابط عمومی جوامع امری بدین قرار است که این افراد:

باید بتوانند اطلاعات دقیق و گسترده‌ای درباره امر بهائی به زبان روزمره انگلیسی فراهم آورند. باید از استفاده از اصطلاحات رایج بهائی احتراز کرد.
باید بتوانند اطلاعات لازم را به نحوی جالب عرضه کنند بدون اینکه نظریات شخصی خود را به عنوان موضع رسمی دیانت بهائی ارائه نمایند.
باید از تحولات کنونی امر مبارک آگاه باشند و مایل باشند دامنه اطلاعات خود را مدام گسترش دهند.
باید قدرت ابتکار و اقدامات شخصی داشته باشند.
باید به راحتی بتوانند در برابر جمعیت ایراد سخنرانی کنند.
باید بتوانند با حکمت و متانت با رسانه‌ها تماس حاصل کنند و به طور منظم با رؤسای رسانه‌ها و گزارشگران آن ارتباط برقرار سازند.
باید بتوانند مسؤولیت نمایندگی روابط عمومی را درازمدت بر عده بگیرند زیرا در برخی موارد چندین سال وقت لازم است که ارباب جراید و رؤسای رسانه‌ها اعتماد لازم را نسبت به احباء حاصل کنند که مطالبی درباره آنان درج رسانه‌های مربوطه درج نمایند.
باید بتوانند فقط بر مسائل محلی تمرکز کنند و گزارش فعالیت‌ها را به محفل روحانی محلی خود تقدیم کنند.

محافل روحانی نیز باید اعتماد داشته باشند که افرادی که به عنوان نمایندگان روابط عمومی خود انتخاب می‌کنند قابلیت آن را دارند که در واقع سخنگویان جامعه امری محل و نمودار وجهه عمومی امر بهائی باشند.

این مسؤولیت کار و وظیفه‌ای دشوار است که باید از عشق مایه بگیرد. نکاتی که در بالا بدان اشاره شد باید برای انتخاب نمایندگان روابط عمومی در مد نظر محافل روحانی محلی باشد.

کلاس‌های فشرده زبان فارسی[edit]

INTENSIVE PERSIAN COURSE

دفتر امور احبای ایرانی/آمریکایی با همکاری مؤسسه ویلمت در صدد تشکیل کلاس فشرده‌ای برای آموزش زبان فارسی در تابستان سال جاری در نزدیکی مشرق الاذکار است.

کلاس‌های فارسی تابستان امسال در سطح ابتدائی و در صورت وجود داوطلب در سطح متوسطه تدریس خواهد شد. برنامه کلاس‌ها از ۱۹ جولای تا ۹ آگست سال جاری ادامه خواهد داشت. برنامه درسی هر کلاس هفته‌ای ۵ روز و هر روز ۵ ساعت ادامه خواهد یافت. به علاوه فعالیت‌های فرهنگی خاصی در خارج از کلاس ترتیب داده خواهد شد تا به یادگیری درس‌های داخل کلاس کمک کند.

مبلغ ثبت نام برای هر کلاس فشرده فارسی طی سه هفته ۴۵۰ دلار و مخارج خوابگاه شبی ۲۲ دلار برای هر دانشجو خواهد بود.

علاقه‌مندان می‌توانند برای نام‌نویسی یا دریافت اطلاعات بیشتر با دفتر امور احبای ایرانی/آمریکایی تماس حاصل نمایند. شماره تلفن ۳۵۲۶-۷۳۳ (۸۴۷)

گزارش نهمین کنفرانس سالانه انجمن دوستداران فرهنگ ایرانی[edit]

THE NINTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE FRIENDS OF PERSIAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION

نهمین کنفرانس سالانه انجمن دوستداران فرهنگ ایرانی از ۲۷ تا ۳۱ می سال جاری در هالیدی این اُهر (Holiday Inn O’Hare) در شهر رُزمانت (Rosemont) در ایالت ایلینوی برگزار شد.

در این کنفرانس نیز به رسم گذشته برنامه‌های گوناگون سخنرانی و هنری و نیز نمایشگاه‌هایی از آثار هنرمندان درباره جنبه‌های گوناگون فرهنگ ایران ترتیب داده شده بود.

همچنین برنامه‌های ویژه‌ای به زبان انگلیسی برای کسانی که با زبان فارسی آشنا نیستند تهیه شده بود و برای آنان فرصتی فراهم می‌ساخت که با جنبه‌هایی از فرهنگ ایران آشنا شوند.

علاوه بر این دو برنامه همزمان هم برای استفاده نوجوانان از ۱۲ تا ۱۸ ساله و نونهالان از ۳ تا ۱۱ ساله تهیه شده بود.

نام‌نویسی کلی برای جلسات کنفرانس از ساعت ۲ بعد از ظهر روز پنجشنبه ۲۷ می شروع شد و جلسات رسمی نهمین کنفرانس غروب همان روز با تلاوت مناجات و سپس خوش آمد گوئی و پیام انجمن آغاز گردید.

پس از این خانم آنیسا آذر و جناب بیژن بیضائی برنامه‌های کنفرانس را معرفی کردند و بعد برنامه رقصی توسط کودکان به اجرا درآمد. سپس دکتر سینا ثابت و آقای نیکان صادق زاده برنامه موسیقی اجرا کردند و آنگاه خانم عزت السادات گوشه‌گیر قسمتی از نمایشنامه گل‌های سرخ برای سهراب را روخوانی کرد.

سپس خانم لیدا لؤلؤئی و آقای روح الله محمودزاده و آقای بهزاد خوش مشرب برنامه موسیقی اجرا کردند و بدین ترتیب جلسات شب اول با تلاوت مناجات ‎خاتمه پایان پذیرفت پایان پذیرفت‎.

برنامه‌های نهمین کنفرانس که موضوع اصلی آن خانه و خانواده در فرهنگ ایرانی بود با ذکر مجریان و هنرمندان در زیر درج می‌گردد:

جلسات سخنرانی عمومی

مدت جلسات سخنرانی عمومی ۴۵ دقیقه تا یک ساعت بود و در آن سخنرانان به بحث درباره موضوع ویژه‌ای می‌پرداختند. سخنرانی‌هائی که در جلسات عمومی ایراد شد به ترتیب زمان عبارت بود از:

«انتخاب همسر و تشکیل خانواده» دکتر هما محمودی
«خانه و خانواده بهائی» دکتر ایرج ایمن
«خانواده در ایران امروز: مطالعه‌ای از دیدگاه جامعه‌شناسی» مقاله دکتر شاپور راسخ که آن را خانم گیتی اجتماعی قرائت کرد.
«اقتصاد خانواده» دکتر فرهاد ثابتان
«طنزگوئی و طنزسرائی» مهندس بهروز جباری
«مثنوی جمال مبارک» مهندس موژان خادم
«بنیادگرائی: زن و خانواده در خاورمیانه» دکتر ژانت آفاری
«خانه در فرهنگ ایرانی» مهندس هوشنگ سیحون
«مقدمه‌ای بر شعر فارسی بهائی» دکتر حشمت مؤید
«دکتر هدایت الله نیر سینا استاد ادب و ارباب ترانه» دکتر ایرج خادمی
«تأثیر دو فرهنگی بودن خانواده در تربیت کودکان و نوجوانان» دکتر صبا ایمن نالی
«گفتگوئی درباره خانواده‌ها در ایران» مصاحبه خانم خانم گیتی اجتماعی با خانم گیتی وحید
«گفتاری درباره لسان الغیب» پرفسور کریستاف بورگل

برنامه‌های هنری

در نهمین کنفرانس انجمن دوستداران فرهنگ ایرانی نیز مانند کنفرانس‌های سال‌های گذشته برنامه‌های هنری گوناگونی گنجانده شده بود به شرح زیر:

موسیقی

هنرمندانی که در برنامه‌های موسیقی شرکت داشتند اعم از خواننده و نوازنده عبارت بودند از: [Page 61]

گزارش امین صندوق[edit]

جناب ویلیام دیویس که امین صندوق محفل روحانی ملی در سال گذشته بود، گزارش خود را بر مبنای رشد و توسعه ایراد کرد.

جناب دیویس در ابتدا به آگاهی حاضران رساند که با اینکه در ماه‌های تابستان معمولاً رکودی در تبرعات واصله حاصل می‌شود، در سال گذشته چنین رکودی رخ نداد. همچنین اظهار داشت که احبائی که به صندوق ملی تبرع می‌کنند با چنان سخاوتی تبرع می‌کنند که مبلغ آن سه برابر تبرعات دیگر اهل ادیان به صندوق‌های خیریه ادیان مربوطه آنان است.

۲۳ درصد کل تقدیمی‌های احباء، از طریق برداشت اتوماتیک از حساب بانکی یاران است و به رغم ۸ میلیون دلار کسر بودجه گذشته، کسر بودجه جدید بر آن اضافه نشده است. ۵۰۰ هزار دلار از بدهی محفل نیز پرداخت شده است.

از جمله مسائلی که باید با آن دست و پنجه نرم کرد عبارت است از:

کمک به احباء برای یافتن و کشف حس هویت ویژه بهائی خود و کاربرد اصول و تعالیم بهائی در زندگی خود
مسئولیت‌های جدید محافل محلی و امنای صندوق آن محافل جهت آشنا ساختن احباء با اهمیت رفع نیازهای مالی جوامع محلی و نیز جامعه جهانی.
ترتیب یک صندوق مال توسعه جهت برآوردن نیازهای مالی میان مدت و دراز مدت. فعلاً در نظر است که ۳۵ میلیون دلار در مدت ۵ سال برای افزایش سرمایه و طرح نقشه‌های تبلیغی و غیره تعیین شود.

گزارش روابط و امور خارجی[edit]

دکتر فیروز کاظم‌زاده منشی روابط خارجی محفل روحانی ملی وظائف دفتر خود را به طور خلاصه چنین تعریف کرد که دفتر روابط و امور خارجی جائی است که امر بهائی با مراجع قدرت تماس حاصل می‌کند.

دکتر کاظم‌زاده سپس مروری بر تاریخچه روابط خارجی امر در ایالات متحده کرد. در سال‌های دهه ۳۰ قرن حاضر حضرت ولی امرالله احبای این دیار را تحریض فرمودند که رهبرانی را که سرنوشت سیاسی جهان بدستشان است، با امر مبارک آگاه سازند. در زمان حاضر دولت امریکا می‌داند که نمی‌تواند نسبت به حضور احباء در مذاکرات و برنامه‌های خود غفلت ورزد.

به عنوان مثالی برای شرکت احباء، در برنامه‌های دولتی دکتر کاظم‌زاده از عضویت مشاور قاره‌ای خانم ویلما الیس در یک کمیسیون مشورتی یاد کرد که هدفش اشاعه آزادی دینی در جهان است. نمونه دیگر حضور یک هیئت مشورتی از جانب ایالات متحده در کمیسیون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد در ژنو بود. کار هیئت مذکور تشریح موضع امریکا در مورد حقوق بشر بود. دکتر کاظم‌زاده در سمت منشی روابط خارجی محفل روحانی ملی از جمله اعضای این هیئت بود.

در ادامه گزارش خانم کترین کازیبی Katherine Cosby مدیر دفتر روابط خارجی در مورد کوشش‌های احباء و جوامع محلی در مورد ارتباط با اولیای امور راجع به تضییقات احبای ایران سخن گفت.

دولت ایران چهار تن از کارکنان دانشگاه آزاد بهائی را به ۳ تا ۱۰ سال زندان محکوم کرده است. خانم کازیبی به آگاهی حاضران رساند که این حکم زندانی احباء مورد نکوهش و انتقاد رسمی سخنگوی کاخ سفید قرار گرفته است.

گزارش شوراهای منطقه‌ای[edit]

بعد از ظهر روز جمعه وقت گزارش شوراهای منطقه‌ای بود که توسط نمایندگان ارائه شد و خلاصه آن بدین قرار است:

ایالات غربی: وسعت ایالات غربی توجه شورای منطقه‌ای را به توسعه و تقویت محافل محلی و هماهنگ ساختن سفرهای تبلیغی معطوف کرده است. اقدامات دیگری نیز برای استفاده از کثرت فرهنگی احبای ایالات غربی مرکب از ایرانیان و سرخپوستان و زردپوستان و افراد اسپانیائی زبان در دست تهیه است.

ایالات مرکزی: شورای منطقه‌ای با ۱۰ نقطه اصلی رابطه بر قرار کرده است. در ‎فوریری فوریه‎ سال جاری یک کنفرانس برنامه‌ریزی در مدرسه بهائی لوهلن تشکیل شد و در دوم ماه می جلسه‌ای به مناسبت هشتادمین سالگرد اعلان فرامین تبلیغی حضرت عبدالبهاء انعقاد یافت.

ایالات شمال شرقی: شورای منطقه‌ای موضوع رشد و توسعه را بر مبنای توجه دادن احباء به نیاز به رشد روحانی و ایجاد ارتباط قلبی با حضرت بهاءالله و اهمیت مناجات در زندگی استوار ساخته است. شورای مذکور نامه‌ای به مناسبت عید رضوان به احبای منطقه فرستاد.

ایالات جنوبی: برنامه‌ای تهیه شده است که بر مبنای آن احباء، ذهن خود را برای پذیرش ورود دسته جمعی افراد در ظل امر مبارک آماده می‌سازند. توجه شورای منطقه‌ای در این برنامه معطوف بر مؤسسات آموزشی Training Institutes و توسعه و تقویت محافل روحانی محلی بوده است.

گزارش لجنات ملی[edit]

لجنه ملی نشر نفحات و دیگر لجنات ملی گزارش مشروح فعالیت‌های خود را در روزهای جمعه و شنبه به آگاهی حاضران رساندند.

لجنه ملی نشر نفحات (تبلیغ): خلاصه گزارش این لجنه بدین ترتیب بود که از جمله نشانه‌های پیشرفت امر مبارک این بوده است که:

اقدامات جوامع و افراد بهائی افزایش یافته است،
شوراهای منطقه‌ای و مؤسسات آموزشی در شُرف طرح ریزی شالوده رشد و تحولند،
تجربه‌هائی که در زمینه رسانه‌های همگانی داشته ایم امیدوارکننده بوده است.

نتیجه ای که می‌توان گرفت این است که نکات و روش لازم برای رشد جامعه را می‌توان با دانش و اقدامات عاقلانه و همکاری به خوبی فراگرفت. از جمله مطالبی که لجنه ملی نشر نفحات آموخته این است که:

بیشتر مبتدیان از گروه‌های معینی هستند و نیازهای دینی ویژه‌ای دارند،
با مسائل پیچیده‌ای در مورد جذب افراد مختلف به امر بهائی رو به رو شده ایم.

نقشه ملی تبلیغی جهت تشویق موارد زیر است:

آگاه ساختن احباء، از لزوم حساسیت در مورد تفاوت های افراد،
روش های مدیریت از جانب تشکیلات امری برای تشویق تنوع و وحدت در کثرت،
ادامه تقویت حیات جامعه،
مساعی لازم برای کاربرد رسانه ها در سطح ملی برای دسترس به گروه های گوناگون،
گسترش کارهای مربوط به شبکه کامپیوتری اینترنت Internet و ورود به بازار فروش کتاب از طریق آن.

لجنه تبلیغ سرخپوستان: اعضای لجنه اهداف بیست و نه گانه لجنه را برای تبلیغ امر مبارک توضیح دادند و همچنین گزارشی از دو کنفرانس مهم که برای تبلیغ سرخپوستان یکی در ایالت واشنگتن و دیگری در کرولاینای شمالی انعقاد یافته است، ارائه دادند.

لجنه ملی تساوی حقوق زن و مرد: نمایندگان لجنه اظهار نگرانی کردند که جامعه جهانی چنان که باید با موضوع تساوی حقوق زن و مرد و مشکلات مربوط به آن دست و پنجه نرم نکرده است. شرحی از نقشه مقدماتی برای کنفرانسی که احتمالاً در سال ۲۰۰۰ در دانشگاه مریلند تشکیل خواهد شد به آگاهی حاضران رسید.

لجنه ملی جوانان: دوتن از اعضای لجنه کوشش‌های آن را به شرح زیر به استحضار حضار رساندند:

تمرکزیزدانی و تحقیق. با تشکیل شوراهای منطقه‌ای توجه لجنه معطوف به جمع آوری اطلاعات درباره جوانان و نیازها و امیدهای آنان شده است.
تأثیر محیط و فشار اطرافیان جوانان را به طرف مسائل گوناگون و گاه متضاد می‌کشاند. جوانان بهائی لازم نیست برای ایفای وظیفه در میدان خدمت و تقلب جهان بشری منتظر دوره بزرگسالی خود باشند.
فعالیت های مثبتی که در سال آخر نقشه صورت خواهد گرفت مانند کلوپ‌های بهائی در مراکز آموزش عالی؛ کارگاه‌های جوانان بهائی.

گزارش امنای حقوق الله[edit]

آخرین گزارشی که به آگاهی شرکت کنندگان در کانونشن ملی رسید، به رسم پیشین، از آن امنای حقوق الله بود.

دکتر امین بنانی در بیانات خود اظهار داشت که پاسخ احباء به حکم حقوق الله گواهی بر این است که یاران به ادای این حکم با روح و ریحان توفیق یافته اند [Page 62]

گزارش نودمین کانونشن ملی[edit]

90th BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL CONVENTION

نودمین کانونشن ملی بهائی از ۲۲ تا ۲۵ اپریل سال جاری در ام‌المعابد غرب تشکیل گردید. نمایندگان کانونشن از سراسر ایالات متحده گرد هم آمده بودند که اعضای محفل روحانی ملی را برگزینند.

علاوه بر نمایندگان مذکور دیگر افرادی که در کانونشن ملی شرکت داشتند عبارت بودند از:

اعضای هیئت مشاورین قاره‌ای خانم ویلما الیس Wilma Ellis و جناب دیوید شمیت David Smith که برنامۀ یک روزه‌ای برای تزیید معلومات حاضران ترتیب دادند. مشاوران دیگری که در کانونشن حضور داشتند عبارت بودند از: خانم جکلین لفت‌هند بول Jacqueline Left Hand Bull و جناب استیون برکلند Stephen Birkland و جناب عبد‌المیثاق قدیمیان. همچنین عده‌ای از اعضای هیئت معاونت نیز در کانونشن شرکت کرده بودند.

اعضای محفل روحانی ملی که گزارش دفتر امین صندوق و دفتر روابط خارجی را به آگاهی حاضران رساندند؛ اعضای شوراهای منطقه‌ای بهائی؛ اعضای هیئت امنای حقوق‌الله؛ اعضای لجنهٔ ملی نشر نفحات، لجنهٔ تساوی حقوق زن و مرد، لجنهٔ جوانان و لجنهٔ تبلیغ بومیان ایالات متحده.

کارکنان و نمایندگان دفاتر و دوائر گوناگون دفتر محفل روحانی ملی و عده‌ای از احبای خدومی که به جهات مختلف در کانونشن ملی حضور داشتند.

پیام بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی که به مناسبت رضوان سال ۱۵۶ بدیع صادر شده بود در شب افتتاح کانونشن خوانده شد. نمایندگان کانونشن صبح شنبه، پس از دعا و مناجات، اعضای محفل روحانی ملی را انتخاب کردند. بلافاصله پس از اعلان اعضاء، اولین جلسه محفل روحانی ملی تشکیل شد و اعضای هیئت عامله آن انتخاب شدند.

اعضای محفل مقدس روحانی ملی برای امسال عبارتند از: خانم جوانا کانرد Juana C. Conrad معاون منشی؛ جناب ویلیام دیویس William E. Davis رئیس؛ جناب رابرت هندرسن Robert C. Henderson منشی؛ دکتر فیروز کاظم‌زاده منشی روابط خارجی؛ خانم پتریشا لاک Patricia Locke؛ جناب جک مک‌انتس Jack McCants؛ خانم درتی نلسن Dorothy W. Nelson نایب رئیس؛ جناب ویلیام رابرتس William L.H. Roberts امین صندوق؛ جناب دیوید یانگ David F. Young.

مشاورات نمایندگان در طول کانونشن بر مبنای حکمت و فروتنی و گاه به گاه آمیخته به مزاح بود. پیشنهادهایی که در طی مشاورات به تصویب هیئت نمایندگان رسید برای بررسی به محفل روحانی ملی ارجاع شد. این مشاورات گاهی بر مبنای گزارش تشکیلات بود.

موضوع مشاورات[edit]

ناگفته پیداست که نمایندگان کانونشن دربارهٔ موضوع‌های گوناگونی به مشورت پرداختند. نکتهٔ گفتنی اینکه تأکید و تمرکزشان بر این بود که چگونه افراد و جوامع و تشکیلات بهائی خواهند توانست فعالیت‌های منظمی صورت دهند که بیشترین اثربخشی را در ماه‌های باقی‌مانده نقشهٔ چهارساله داشته باشد. موضوع مشاورات نمایندگان کانونشن به شرح زیر است:

تبلیغ مسیحیان و بررسی اینکه "دلشان کجاست؟"
چگونگی "دعوت" مبتدیان برای دخول در امر مبارک
چگونگی ایجاد نمونه‌ای از "عدالت اقتصادی" در جامعه بهائی
افزایش حمایت از مؤسسات آموزشی
کاربرد علوم اجتماعی در رشد فردی
برنامه‌های توسعه اجتماعی و اقتصادی
دنباله گیری درخواست‌های تلفنی مبتدیان
تکمیل پخش برنامه‌های ویدیویی در سطح ملی با پخش آن در جوامع محلی
اقدامات جوانان و نوجوانان
دسترس داشتن مطالب راجع به امرالله در شبکه‌های کامپیوتری
تقویت رفتار مربوط به عبادات
تجزیه و بررسی افراد تازه تصدیق
مشارکت زن و مرد در امور جامعه و تأکید بر منحصر به فرد بودن اصل تساوی حقوق زن و مرد
رفتار خشونت‌آمیز نسبت به زنان سرخ‌پوست
نمونه رفتاری پدر و مادر برای فرزندان
تعیین روزی برای بزرگداشت اصل "تساوی حقوق زن و مرد"
استفاده از برنامه‌های آموزشی برای محافل روحانی
بررسی مسألهٔ طلاق به ویژه در میان بهائیان ایرانی
رفتارهای مثبت برای راهنمائی جوانان و نوجوانان
هدایت و در دسترس نهادن وسائل لازم برای جوانان و نوجوانان بهائی که در صدد کمک به هم‌سالان خود برای ترک رفتارهای زیان‌بار باشند
نیرو و تأثیر هنر و نیاز به پذیرفتن شکل‌های گوناگون هنری
نیاز به جلسات ویژه و فشردهٔ دعا و مناجات
ایجاد مجرائی برای فعالیت‌های جوانانی که تحت تأثیر کنفرانس‌ها و مؤسسات بهائی شور و هیجان روحانی یافته‌اند
احتیاج به جوانان و نوجوانان در نقاط روستائی
ارشاد کودکان به دست نوجوانان و ارشاد نوجوانان به دست جوانان نمونه
شرکت احباء در کانونشن‌های محلی
نیاز به جزوات تبلیغی برای یهودیان و مردم زردپوست
تحکیم اساس ایمانی بهائیان اسپانیائی زبان
همکاری با سازمان‌هائی که ارزش‌ها و هدف‌هائی مشابه ارزش‌ها و اهداف بهائیان دارند
تأمین مخارج تشکیل کانونشن از جانب نمایندگان
ایجاد مواد و وسائل لازم برای آشنا ساختن احباء با اهمیت حکم حقوق‌الله و وجوب آن
کمک احباء به پناهندگان Kosovo
نگهداشتن احباء و نونهالان بهائی در ظل امر مبارک

اظهارات مشاورین قاره‌ای[edit]

پیام معهد اعلی به مناسبت رضوان سال ۱۵۶ بدیع در غروب روز پنجشنبه به آگاهی حاضران رسید. سپس خانم ویلما الیس نظر حضار را به پیشرفت‌هائی که در پیام رضوان بدان اشاره شده بود، معطوف داشت و تذکر داد که معهد اعلی تأکید فرموده‌اند که خدمات جامعهٔ بهائی بر تهیه و اجرای برنامه‌های عمران و توسعهٔ اجتماعی و اقتصادی استوار باشد.

خانم الیس همچنین گوشزد کرد که احباء باید مدام بخوانند؛ منظور از خواندن فقط تلاوت آیات و مناجات نیست بلکه خواندن اخبار و پیام‌های گوناگون نیز هست تا بدین ترتیب با پیشرفت‌های چشمگیر امر مبارک آشنا شوند و بدینسان امیدوار گردند و باعث امیدواری و خوش‌بینی دیگران باشند.

جناب دیوید شمیت از حاضران درخواست کرد که پیام رضوان را جزئی از وجود خود کنند تا از آن انگیزه و الهام بگیرند. جناب شمیت اظهار داشت که اگر احباء، پیام رضوان را به دقت مطالعه کنند، این مطالعه سبب خواهد شد که احباء وحدت نظر داشته باشند و بر نکته واحدی تمرکز و تأکید کنند.

جناب شمیت نظر حاضران را به وضع وخیم جامعهٔ بشری که در پیام رضوان بدان اشاره رفته بود، معطوف کرد و اظهار داشت که هر چه زودتر باید پیام حضرت بهاءالله را به عالم بشری رساند مبادا که اشتباهات گذشته را تکرار کنند. جناب دیوید شمیت در پایان بیانات خود گفت که باید به یاد داشت که ما برای افزایش تعداد افراد جامعه بهائی نیست که تبلیغ می‌کنیم بلکه برای رهانیدن عالم انسانی از منجلاب یأس است که به ابلاغ کلمهٔ الهی برمی‌خیزیم.

صبح روز جمعه دکتر رابرت هندرسن و خانم جوانا کانرد نامه‌ای را که محفل روحانی ملی برای اولین بار به مناسبت رضوان صادر کرده است برای نمایندگان قرائت کردند. نامهٔ مذکور که گزارش سالانه محفل روحانی ملی با آن آغاز می‌شود در واقع کوششی است برای در میان گذاشتن هدف‌ها و نقشه‌ها و نگرانی‌های محفل روحانی ملی با احبای این سامان.

دکتر هندرسن اظهار داشت که در فاصلهٔ بین زمان نوشتن نامهٔ مذکور و قرائت آن در کانونشن تحولاتی صورت گرفته که خلاصهٔ آن بدین شرح است:

- در دو هفته گذشته ۱۰ نفر در حوالی مؤسسهٔ بهائی سرخپوستان به امر مبارک اقبال کرده‌اند.

- در نتیجهٔ یک رأی‌گیری، دکتر سهیل بشرویه استاد کرسی بهائی در دانشگاه مریلند به عنوان استاد برجسته دانشگاه مذکور انتخاب شد.

- در رضوان امسال ۳ محفل روحانی محلی در ایالت وایومینگ تأسیس شد. این ایالت در سال گذشته محفل روحانی نداشت.

- در زمان پخش بعدی برنامهٔ ویدیویی "نیروی وحدت نژادی" ۷۲ میلیون خانواده خواهند توانست آن برنامه را از نظر بگذرانند. [Page 63]

TEACHING[edit]

Greenland: The first-ever teaching trip by local believers within this territory brought two teachers to Sisimiut, on behalf of the Youth Wing of the Permanent Institute for the Bahá’ís of Greenland. Over three weeks, the team held a youth gathering, conducted Ruhi courses and explained the concept of deepening. “I know in the future I will look back and be grateful for the opportunity laid down by God to help deepen other fellow believers,” reported one of the teachers. “I could really feel the Hand of the Blessed Beauty guiding us both.”
Canada: An eight-province tour by William Hatcher, author and philosopher, helped the National Spiritual Assembly meet its goal of “organizing extensive lecture tours by distinguished Bahá’í scholars” and also helped 28 local communities develop the capacity to organize public events with media coverage and contact with people of capacity. Hatcher’s lectures on 30 campuses from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, on the themes “Proofs of the Existence of God” and “Authentic Morality,” consistently attracted audiences ranging from 60 to 300.
Australia: Months of collaboration among 42 Local Assemblies in the Sydney area sowed the seed of the Faith with hundreds of thousands of people through mass distribution of pamphlets, high-profile advertisement and outreach from the House of Worship, the Australian Bahá’í Bulletin reported in the spring. “It was about us stepping out of the closet and saying, ‘We are the Bahá’ís,’” said Ann Hinton, an Auxiliary Board member.

Groundwork was laid by five regional teams of Assemblies coordinating firesides and multicultural celebrations, culminating in a single “Feast for the Soul” that attracted more than 2,500 people for several public activities in and near the Temple. Immediate results of the campaign included 12 declarations of faith and nearly 200 requests for information. ◆

Youth at Africa’s Mother Temple[edit]

Bahá’ís from Rwanda, many in traditional dress, pose in front of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Kampala, Uganda, during an international youth conference earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Bahá’í International News Service

EDUCATION[edit]

Zimbabwe: “Onward with Confidence, Vigour and Speed,” more than 400 participants were exhorted at the international ‎suminer summer‎ school in Harare. Universal House of Justice member Adib Táherzadeh spoke on the Covenant to attendees from 25 countries, who also participated in sessions on advancing the process of entry by troops, unlocking the power of the soul, a Bahá’í view on economics, meditation and gender perspectives. Performances included “dramas about the life of Táhirih and the first Bahá’í martyr in Africa ... interspersed with beautiful classical performances, dances, songs and hilarious comedy skits,” a newsletter in the region reported.
Russia: Students, parents and teachers responded to a series of workshops on The Virtues Guide in the cities of Miass, Moscow, Perm, ‎Petrozovodsk Petrozavodsk‎ and St. Petersburg. Most of the workshops were aimed at Bahá’í participants, but two lectures were conducted for university classes and over a dozen for younger students. ◆

DEVELOPMENT[edit]

Bangladesh: More than 200 people received dental treatment within two weeks through dental camps in Rajshahi, Rangpur and Dhaka organized by a Bahá’í dentist and his assistant, Hedayatullah Mohebati and Sehail Azimi. They were helped by health workers trained at the National Bahá’í Development Institute. ◆

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS[edit]

United Kingdom: Tony Blair, prime minister of Britain, sent the following message to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom on March 21:

I congratulate the Bahá’í community on the centenary of its establishment in this country. I share your principle of equality between all people and welcome your encouragement of dialogue between those of different faiths and cultures. I hope your Centenary and New Year celebrations are a great success.

Eastern Africa: The leaders of several countries are acknowledging the ideals and services of the Bahá’ís in a variety of ways this year.

In Mauritius, President Cassam Uteem gave the keynote address at an interfaith World Religion Day observance at the Bahá’í Institute in Belle Rose, on the theme “Towards a Caring and Prosperous Community.”

In Mozambique, President Joaquim Chissanó and Justice Minister Jose Abudo took part in a World Religion Day observance in Maputo sponsored by the Religious Forum of Mozambique, with Bahá’í participation in the planning and the program.

In Uganda, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni accepted Bahá’í literature as the Bahá’í booth—exhibiting examples of business projects that women can use to ‎imprové improve‎ their situations—was one of several he visited at an International Women’s Day fair in Kampala.

France: More than 200 people attended an interreligious prayer gathering in Rouen, at which an independent peace organization honored 205 Bahá’ís martyred in Iran since the late 1970s. Offering prayers and scripture readings were the Catholic archbishop of Rouen, the imam of the Mosque of Rouen and a representative of the Jewish community. Only 20 at the gathering were Bahá’ís, including two National Assembly members. ◆

SOUTHEAST ASIAN, CONTINUED FROM PAGE I[edit]

Also in attendance were several short- and long-term pioneers to those fertile and spiritually receptive regions, plus numerous Refugee Office helpers whose sacrificial efforts ensured the attendance at this gathering of so many Southeast Asians.

Among the people drawn to declare their faith in Bahá’u’lláh at the conference are three prominent men who have worked to help Hmong youth in Central California:

Khu Yang, a former Baptist minister and the current coordinator of the Hmong Educational Opportunity Foundation. He has held weekly classes at the Fresno Bahá’í Center on the Hmong culture, whose origins are in Laos. He is also involved in numerous social and economic development programs, especially involving youth.
Jer Yang, the president of the Hmong Youth of Fresno organization.
Xao Yang, cultural education coordinator for the Hmong Educational Opportunity Foundation.

Another highlight of the conference was “A Celebration of Diversity,” an evening dedicated to preserving the rich cultural heritage of each of the participants, including songs, dances, poetry and other performances in their native tongues and in their traditional dresses.

Southeast Asian youth, under the direction of Refugee Office helpers, performed Pa’Ndau, a musical drama depicting the flight of refugees from Laos and Thailand to America. ◆

For more information on Refugee Office programs, contact:

U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office 1233 Central Street Evanston, IL 60202 Phone 847-733-3547 E-mail

A U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office helper (left) poses with three of the distinguished declarants at the Southeast Asian Community Builders Roundtable Conference, all active helpers of Hmong youth in Central California: (from center left) Khu Yang, Jer Yang and Xao Yang. A teaching and service effort in the area has brought the Bahá’í Faith to more youths since the conference. Photo courtesy of U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office [Page 64]

CALENDAR • OF • EVENTS[edit]

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT EVENTS sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly or its agencies at the Bahá’í National Center, please phone 847-869-9039 and ask for the relevant department. Numbers and e-mail addresses for the permanent Bahá’í institutes are: Bosch Bahá’í School, phone 831-423-3387; fax 831-423-7564; e-mail Green Acre Bahá’í School, phone 207-439-7200; fax 207-438-9940; e-mail Louhelen Bahá’í School, phone 810-653-5033; fax 810-653-7181; e-mail Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, phone 843-558-5093; fax 843-558-9136; e-mail Native American Bahá’í Institute (NABI), phone and fax 520-587-7599; e-mail

JULY[edit]

9–11: Hemlock Haven Bahá’í School, Hungry Mother State Park, VA. See page 15.

9–14: Youth Eagle Institute at Louhelen, for youth ages 15 and up.

9–14: Two sessions at Green Acre: “A Short History of the Bahá’í Faith” (enrollment limited); “Spiritual Descendants of the Dawn-Breakers: Our Glorious Heritage,” for grades 7–12.

10–15: Three sessions at Bosch: “Spiritualizing Community Life,” family session; “Youth Issues: Race and Gender”; and Youth Garden Project (limited; ages 12–16).

16–21: International Dialogue on Education at Louhelen: “Spiritual Hunger and Moral Dissatisfaction with Society: A Golden Opportunity for new Educational Approaches.”

16–21: “Teaching and Community Growth,” Friends and Families session at Louhelen.

16–30: Junior Youth Academy for middle/junior high school age students at Louis Gregory Institute.

17–22: Persian Session at Bosch’s. Special Persian language classes for children.

PAID SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES AT THE BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL OFFICES See page 58

19–23: Marian Steffes Bahá’í School, Brownsville, WI. See page 15.

23–Aug. 9: Children’s Academy at Louis Gregory Institute.

24–25: Work Weekend at Native American Bahá’í Institute.

25–30: John H. Wilcott Bahá’í School, near Livingston, MT. See page 15.

27–29: Heartland Bahá’í School, Galesburg, IL. See page 15.

23–28: Spiritual Empowerment Institute for Junior Youth at Louhelen, for ages 12–15.

24–28: “Investigation of Reality”/“Mass Conversion: A Modest Proposal” at Green Acre.

24–29: Youth Institute at Bosch, for students entering grades 10–12.

13–18: “Community Growth through Strong Families,” Friends and Families session at Louhelen.

28–Aug. 1: Four Corners Bahá’í School, Vanderwagen, NM. See page 15.

29–Aug. 1: Dayspring Bahá’í School, Frostburg, MD. See page 15.

29–Aug. 1: Great Plains Bahá’í School, Peru, NE. See page 15.

30–Aug. 4: “Community Growth Through Divine Civilization,” Friends and Families session at Louhelen.

31–Aug. 4: Carmel Bahá’í School, east of Portland, OR. See page 15.

31–Aug. 5: Junior Youth Institute at Bosch, for students entering grades 7–9.

AUGUST[edit]

1: Concert-Picnic at Green Acre.

1–14: Youth Academy for high school age and older at Louis Gregory Institute.

5–8: Texas North Bahá’í School, Bruceville, TX. See page 15.

6–8: Tonalea Council Fire at NABI.

6–11: “Spiritual Transformation and Spiritual Generalship,” Friends and Families session at Louhelen.

6–11: “Mystic Medicine: Health and Healing in a New World Order”/“Unlocking the Power for Action” at Green Acre.

7–12: Two sessions at Bosch: “Preparation for Marriage and Family Life” for people ages 20–30; “Bahá’í-Inspired Curriculum for Teachers.”

11–15: William Sears Great North Woods Bahá’í School, Onamia, MN. See page 15.

11–15: Badasht Bahá’í School, west of Roseburg, OR. See page 15.

13–18: Two sessions at Green Acre: “The Transformative Power of Love in Our Personal, Family and Community Lives”; Core Curriculum Teacher Training.

13–18: “Community Growth through Strong Families,” Friends and Families session at Louhelen.

13–23: Solomon R. G. Hilton Bahá’í School, Poughkeepsie, NY. See page 15.

14–16: Eastern Oregon Bahá’í School, Suttle Lake, OR. See page 15.

14–18: Children’s Academy at Bosch, for students entering grades 4–6.

15–20: Western Washington Bahá’í School, Easton, WA. See page 15.

16–19: Fundamental Verities teacher training Session I at NABI.

20–22: United Spiritual Gathering Council Fire, “Forging Enduring Bonds of Unity,” Neah Bay, WA. Small registration and camping fees apply. Please contact the Bahá’ís of the Makah Reservation, P.O. Box 306, Neah Bay, WA 98357 (phone 360-645-2153, e-mail ); see Web site (www.olypen.com/jensens/).

20–25: “Pathways to the Lesser Peace”/“Greater Boldness: Seeking True Equality” at Green Acre.

21–26: Bosch 25th Anniversary Reunion.

27–29: “Managing With the Wisdom of Love: Applying Bahá’í Principles to Business” at Green Acre.

27–29: 40th annual Green Lake Bahá’í Conference, Green Lake, WI. With David Ruhe, Counselor Stephen Birkland, Layli Miller Bashir and others. For program contact Lori Block (phone 920-432-7110, e-mail ). For housing/meals, call 800-558-8898.

27–29: Massanetta Springs Bahá’í School, Harrisonburg, VA. See page 15.

28–29: Work Weekend at NABI.

28–Sept. 1: “Awakening the Arts,” family session at Bosch.

The second annual Race Unity Poster Contest held by the Bahá’ís of Chandler, Arizona, reached out to 40 local schools and received more than 200 entries, including this prize-winner by Corbin Glendenning in the K-3 category. All entries were displayed at the public library during April, and the effort was honored by a mayoral proclamation March 25.

BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL CENTER 112 LINDEN AVE WILMETTE, IL 60091-2849

JUNE 24, 1999 RAHMAT, KALIMÁT • B.E. 156

CHANGE OF ADDRESS[edit]

To avoid unnecessary delays in receiving The American Bahá’í, send all family members’ names, new address and mailing label to: Information Services, Bahá’í National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611. If acquiring a Post Office box, your residence address (B) must be filled in. Please allow three weeks for processing. (This also updates the National Center’s database.)

A. NAME(S)

1.	ID#
2.	ID#
3.	ID#
4.	ID#

B. NEW RESIDENCE ADDRESS	C. NEW MAILING ADDRESS
Street Address	Street Address
Apartment # (if applicable)	Apartment # (if applicable)
City	City
State	Zip code	State	Zip code

D. NEW COMMUNITY	E. HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER
Name of new Bahá’í Community	Moving Date	Area Code Phone Number	Name

F. WORK TELEPHONE NUMBER(S)

Area Code Phone Number	Name	Area Code Phone Number	Name

G. WE RECEIVE EXTRA COPIES BECAUSE:	H. I WOULD LIKE A COPY
[ ] we do not have the same last name. We do not want extra copies, so please cancel the copy for the person(s) and ID number(s) listed above. [ ] the last names and addresses on our address labels do not match. We have listed above the full names of family members as they should appear on the national records, their ID numbers, and the corrections so that we will receive only one copy.	[ ] Our household receives only one copy of The American Bahá’í. I wish to receive my own copy. I have listed my name, ID number and address above.

More videos to aid teaching[edit]

Ex-president gives Bahá’í Chair Lecture[edit]

Southeast Asian conference attracts 15 into Faith[edit]

ALMANAC[edit]

Some significant dates in Bahá’í history[edit]

EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS[edit]

THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í[edit]

Regional Councils elected for 1999–2000[edit]

A visit from Ravi Shankar[edit]

Bahá’ís gain a voice in efforts to help in Columbine aftermath[edit]

SPREADING the TEACHINGS[edit]

The next year for the National Teaching Plan[edit]

Devotions grow swiftly[edit]

MEDIA, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1[edit]

VIDEO BROADCASTS[edit]

TEACHING, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4[edit]

Serving and promoting the teachings[edit]

Who is Writing the Future?[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

PROMOTING the PRINCIPLES[edit]

The advancement of women and race unity[edit]

Traditional leadership and conflict[edit]

The advancement of women and race unity[edit]

The need for feminine qualities[edit]

A ‘greater boldness’[edit]

PROMOTING THE PRINCIPLES[edit]

Award presentation given extra dimension by Táhirih performance[edit]

EQUALITY[edit]

An appeal to women's cultural gifts[edit]

The role of men[edit]

Concluding thoughts[edit]

BAHÁ’Í • DISTRIBUTION • SERVICE[edit]

BAHÁ’Í • DISTRIBUTION • SERVICE[edit]

MUSIC[edit]

Indiana visit brings visibility[edit]

Rochester artistically celebrates oneness[edit]

UN NGO conference promotes global view[edit]

Choose PI representative wisely[edit]

Bahá’í presence at Town Meeting emphasizes spiritual side of development[edit]

Centennial pays tribute to early heroes in West[edit]

‘Splendors’ conference eyes America’s destiny[edit]

Vietnamese friends plan outreach[edit]

Visit the Education and Schools Office’s new Web site![edit]

School programs support community development[edit]

Summer schools continue in every region of the country[edit]

NORTHEASTERN STATES[edit]

SOUTHERN STATES[edit]

CENTRAL STATES[edit]

WESTERN STATES[edit]

Wilmette Institute Update[edit]

Rising attendance shows desire to advance[edit]

Council brings together musical ‘summit meeting’[edit]

RIDVÁN 1999[edit]

ANNUAL REPORT[edit]

of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States[edit]

RIDVÁN LETTER OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY[edit]

NATIONAL TEACHING PLAN[edit]

A THRUST OF ACTION FIT FOR CHAMPIONS[edit]

SIGNS OF GROWING MATURITY[edit]

CHALLENGES OF VICTORY[edit]

CONCLUSION[edit]

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS[edit]

HIGHLIGHTS OF ACTIVITIES, 1998-1999[edit]

DEFENSE OF BAHÁ’ÍS OF IRAN[edit]

EXECUTION OF MR. RUHOLLAH ROWHANI AND CONFIRMATION OF DEATH SENTENCES[edit]

ATTEMPT TO CLOSE THE BAHÁ’Í INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION[edit]

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE[edit]

CAMPAIGN TO INFORM THE U.S. EDUCATIONAL SECTOR[edit]

WORK WITH NATIONAL MEDIA[edit]

DIPLOMATIC WORK[edit]

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ABROAD[edit]

REFUGEES[edit]

UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES: HUMAN RIGHTS, THE STATUS OF WOMEN, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT[edit]

U.S. RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES[edit]

CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW)[edit]

UNITED NATIONS FUNDING[edit]

OFFICE OF THE BAHÁ’Í U.S. U.N. REPRESENTATIVE[edit]

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.N. DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (UDHR50)[edit]

FOLLOW-UP TO THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN[edit]

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT[edit]