The American Bahá’í/Volume 4/Issue 7/Text
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The Hand of the Cause of God Mr. Sears chats with Bahá’ís outside Fairgrounds Arena, where the conference was held.
A registration line on the first day of Youth Conference.
Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference held
Conference Largest Ever in Americas[edit]
The Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference was a conference of superlatives. It was the biggest Bahá’í gathering ever held in the Western Hemisphere, attended by more than 4,000 persons, and was probably also one of the longest, lasting five days and four nights. It was one of the best-executed, and longest-planned conferences on record. The National Teaching Committee cranked up the machinery to prepare for this event more than nine months before Dr. Phil Christensen, the permanent conference chairman, welcomed the multitude at 8 p.m., Wednesday, June 20.
There were, in addition, a profusion of musical groups invited to perform in Oklahoma City. More than twenty groups and individuals were listed on the conference program alone, and many more performed informally during breaks, and at the Conference Trade Fair, operated by the National Teaching Committee to make available information on job and pioneering opportunities to Bahá’í youth. And on Saturday night, June 23, before a jubilant crowd estimated at more than 12,000 people, Seals and Crofts and a handful of other musicians gave a phenomenal concert lasting more than four hours.
Finally, throughout the entire period, the Bahá’í youth themselves were on their best behavior. Their conduct was so exemplary, by comparison to that of other youth, that one policeman assigned to patrol the Fairgrounds, when asked if there was any way in which he might be assisted, reportedly requested a pillow to lay his head on because things on his beat were so calm. Many observers noted that the police and guards were incredulous at the fine behavior of the Bahá’ís. The force of this example was so strong, in fact, that four policemen became Bahá’ís before the conference ended Sunday.
Pioneers and visitors from nineteen countries and territories were present, as were representatives from nineteen American Indian tribes. Nineteen radio stations were contacted for interviews; ten of them responded affirmatively.
The impact of the events on the participants was in many cases visibly pronounced, providing, perhaps, a tentative glimpse of the influence this event could have in assisting the continued growth of the Bahá’í community.
“I cry when I see so many Bahá’ís at such a big gathering,” said Mr. Nematollah Gandomi, a 78-year-old Iranian believer on his first trip outside his homeland. “The heaven that is prophesied in our Books is what I see here. I have always been looking for this: the unity of the whole world and the different souls gathered together,” he said. “This is the most beautiful gift I could take back to Írán.”
Mr. Gandomi is on two committees of the Local Spiritual Assembly of
continued on page 2
Conference purpose: reflection inner life[edit]
continued from page 1
Tehran, his native city: the teaching committee, and the pioneering committee. In Írán, according to Mr. Gandomi, one must often take a person to firesides for a year before he shows a real interest in joining the Faith. “Here everything is very open and the people are very willing to accept the Message.”
“Being at the Conference gave me a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God here on earth will be like,” Miss Providencia Maria Morillo, of St. Louis, Missouri, wrote to the National Teaching Committee. “As much as I love my parents and family, who are not Bahá’ís...yet, I didn’t want to come home. But I know now that it is up to me and all the other youths who were and were not at the Conference, and older youths too, to continue striving to build and make possible the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.”
She said she understood the importance and bounty of being a Bahá’í, and hoped that the “power of love” present at the Youth Conference would not dim and die out once the participants returned to their homes and to familiar ways.
“The diversity of entertainment was fantastic,” she said. “The play, the music, the speakers, the food, the dorms, everyone was just so very, very nice.”
A young man stopping in Wilmette to rest on his way home to the east coast related how his exuberant traveling companions, overcome with joy, would every few hours pull their car to the side of the road, disembark with their guitars and instruments, and burst into song and merriment. This scene, he said, was repeated time and again through the long night of driving that carried them to Wilmette.
Speaking on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly on the opening day, Mr. Glenford Mitchell, Secretary of the National Assembly, said the purpose of the youth conference was primarily to stimulate “the regeneration of the inner life.”
“It is the inner life we are concerned with,” he said. “If we take care of the inner life we will win all of the external victories.”
He proclaimed the resounding victory of the Five Year Youth Program, launched in 1968 to involve youth in teaching activities, and said its success contributed largely to the overwhelming accomplishment of the Nine Year Plan.
In 1968, when the youth program was launched, there were 2,400 youth in the American Bahá’í community. In 1973, there are more than 10,000.
“With this victory in your palm, with your numbers greatly reinforced, wonderful challenges, golden opportunities are open to you, the youth of America,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Therefore, do not rest for a moment on your accomplishments. There is really no time for relaxation...The multitude of your peers await the news that only you can give them. Let there be an assessment of our vastly increased youth resources and a regeneration of spirit in preparation for yet greater achievements. This assessment, this regeneration, calls for an inner look by everyone, of those qualities of character which assure success of the purpose of God for man.”
On each of the five days, specially prepared talks were presented, and consultation on their significance and import was conducted by the youth. The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears spoke on five separate occasions. Auxiliary Board member, Dr. Peter Khan, and various members of the National Spiritual Assembly also addressed the Conference. Five of the principal speeches were made by Bahá’í youth. On the first day Miss Amy Seidel spoke on “The Individual and God.” Following this, Mr. Robert Henderson spoke on “Work is Worship”; Miss Ilham Deloomy and Gary Worth presented thoughts on “The Administrative Order”; and Miss Eva Kahn spoke on “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.”
But it was perhaps in their enthusiastic and heartfelt response to the musical programs designed for the Conference that the youth most clearly showed how deeply the purpose of the Conference was felt. Joyful outbursts were frequent and prolonged; and often the mood created by the interplay between the musicians and their audience was noble and elevated.
In expressing the satisfaction of the National Teaching Committee with the musical program, Mrs. Erma Hayden, a member of the NTC, said that music and the arts are more important to youth than we sometimes imagine, because of their kinship with the spirit and the importance of this realm to the youth.
She said the presentations by the Bahá’í performers were symbols of human interaction, representing the total expression of human beings. She said she felt they were genuinely more interested in imprinting musical ideas upon the consciousness of their audience than in showing themselves off in public.
“The arts let you see the total human being at work,” she said, trying to explain the affinity the youth demonstrated for the performances, “and they contributed greatly to the experience the youth had at the Conference.”
A high point of the Conference was the performance of a new musical play written by Mrs. Mildred McClellan, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The play was titled “The Education of Henry Halifax,” and treats humorously—in both word and song—the problems encountered by a new Bahá’í—Henry Halifax—in his efforts to deepen in the Cause of God.
The play was such a roaring and unequivocal success during the premiere performance Thursday evening, June 21, that a second command performance was scheduled the following night, to be viewed by The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears and the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Vacancy Filled on National Assembly[edit]
Richard D. Betts, former Secretary of the National Teaching Committee, was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly in a by-election, July 18.
The by-election was called to fill the seat vacated by Dr. Sarah Pereira, who was recently appointed a Continental Counsellor by The Universal House of Justice.
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THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. Material must be received by the 15th of the month prior to publication. Black and white glossy prints should be included with material whenever possible. Articles and news written in a clear and concise manner are welcomed from individuals as well as assemblies and committees. Address all mail to: The American Bahá’í Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. |
In keeping with Bahá’í electoral procedures, the ballots were cast by mail by the delegates to the last National Bahá’í Convention held in Wilmette, May 17–20.
Mr. Betts was born in Lima, Peru, in 1938, and moved to New York State in 1945. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Metallurgical Engineering.
He was appointed Secretary of the National Teaching Committee in 1969 by the National Spiritual Assembly.
Counsellors for North America named[edit]
Two new appointments to the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America have been announced by The Universal House of Justice.
The new Counsellors are Dr. Sarah Pereira, a long-time member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, and Mrs. Velma Sherrill, a member of the Auxiliary Board.
These appointments were two of seventeen announced by The Universal House of Justice on June 8, raising the number of Continental Counsellors throughout the world to fifty-seven.
In addition to these changes, The Universal House of Justice announced in its June 8 letter that it will take steps to reinforce the Auxiliary Boards in many parts of the world.
“The nature of the work differs from zone to zone and the Universal House of Justice is now consulting the Boards of Counsellors on this matter before making an announcement,” its correspondence said.
The public announcement of the new appointments for North America was made by Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, during the seventh session of the Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference in Oklahoma City, June 22.
A special election will now be held to fill the seat Dr. Pereira vacates on the National Spiritual Assembly. The electors will be the delegates to the National Convention held in Wilmette last May.
Dr. Pereira, in addition to being a member of the National Assembly for the past fifteen years, was a professor of Romance Languages at the District of Columbia Teachers College in the nation’s capital. For a decade, until 1964, she was also a member of the Auxiliary Board for the Hands of the Cause in the Western Hemisphere.
Dr. Sarah Pereira
Mrs. Velma Sherrill
Mrs. Sherrill was co-owner of Sherrill Associates, a personnel consulting firm in St. Louis, Missouri. Before her appointment to the Auxiliary Board, she was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. She served on the National Assembly in 1962 and 1963.
In the same correspondence, relating to the formation of the International Teaching Centre, The Universal House of Justice announced changes in the zones of the Continental Boards, as follows:
“The number of zones has been raised to twelve by the removal of India, Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Laccadive, Maldive, Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the zone of Western Asia to constitute the new zone of South Central Asia.”
“The Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau are transferred from Northeastern Asia to Southeastern Asia.
“The Caroline Islands and all other Pacific Islands lying north of the equator and between longitude
International Teaching Centre launched[edit]
The inaugural meeting of the International Teaching Centre took place on June 14, 1973, when the Hands of the Cause of God in the Holy Land, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, ‘Alí Akbar Furútan, Paul Haney, and Abu’l-Qásim Faizí, and the three Counsellor members, Hooper Dunbar, Florence Mayberry and ‘Azíz Yazdí, were invited by The Universal House of Justice to accompany all members to the Most Holy Shrine for prayers. Following this, a meeting was held in the Pilgrim House adjacent to the Shrine, where the terms of reference and general duties of the International Teaching Centre were discussed.
Other meetings of the International Teaching Centre took place during the week that followed. The Counsellor members are now transferring their residence to the Holy Land and will settle there as soon as possible.
(continued page 19)
National Assembly active in Oklahoma City[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly was abuzz with activity in Oklahoma City during the Youth Conference. Not only did it conduct its regular June meeting while the Conference was in progress, but its members also addressed the youth on several occasions.
On Friday morning Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Chairman of the National Assembly and a professor of history at Yale University, reminded the youth the old order in which we live cannot be repaired and is being rolled up before our very eyes.
“The moral decay and disorder convulsing human society must run their course,” he said. “We can neither arrest nor divert them. That is absolutely clear and unequivocal.”
He warned against becoming entangled in futile attempts to reform the current order. “The best attempts to change conditions are unavailing,” he said. “If you pin your hopes on the existing social and political institutions you are going to be bitterly disappointed. The Universal House of Justice has said that this world order cannot be patched up and cannot be saved.”
Of course Bahá’ís cannot stay away from charitable works, Dr. Kazemzadeh explained. But if Bahá’ís think these will lead to a fundamental change in the fortunes of mankind they will be terribly and bitterly disappointed, he said.
“There is no one more bitter than the person disappointed in his best sentiments,” he noted. “We Bahá’ís must have no illusions on this score. No matter what humanity does outside the scope of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, it simply will not work.”
He said the way to have the Will of God done on earth is for Bahá’ís to go out into the dying society and establish the new World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
On Friday afternoon Dr. Dwight Allen, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly and Dean of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, made an appeal to Bahá’í youth to become traveling teachers.
“As Bahá’ís we have always had the responsibility of making something out of nothing,” he said. “It has been a long and noble Bahá’í tradition that is not likely to change very soon.”
One way to make few resources amount to something real is to go traveling teaching, he said. He spoke of the special need for traveling teachers in India, noting that round-trip travel expenses would amount to $450, and monthly living expenses to about $100 (“if your style isn’t too much style”).
Through sacrifice Bahá’ís have always found ways to stretch their very thin resources, he said, but that all sacrifices they are called upon to make are sacrifices that will enrich their lives.
“You ought to start now—like the banks with their Christmas clubs—to put a little bit away each month so that next summer you will be prepared for traveling teaching,” he remarked. “It will be the first summer under a new global plan and the National Spiritual Assembly has asked the entire American Bahá’í community to become ready for this unleashing of energy that will represent the launching of the new plan.”
“Bahá’ís,” he concluded, “must know better than anyone how to use the resources of this world to conquer the world for the love of God.”
A third member of the National Assembly to address the youth was Dr. Daniel Jordan, a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts. His theme was that the family structure has been so weakened over the past two centuries that the family no longer feels responsible for the economic, religious, recreational, educational, social, and vocational well-being of its members, as it did while the nation was primarily an agricultural state.
“We farm out our children and delegate the responsibilities inherent in these functions to other agencies,” he said. This evolving condition “has robbed the American parent of his own sense of obligation to look after not only the physical and nutritional welfare of his offspring, but also the spiritual, moral and social aspects of his being.”
“Because the family has been robbed of those functions that provided much of its cohesion it has suffered extraordinary disintegration,” he said.
Every great revolution puts pressure on the family because it knows that changes must start there,
(continued on next page)
Dr. Daniel Jordan
Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh
Dr. Sarah Pereira with Mr. Franklin Kahn
Dr. Dwight Allen
(from preceding page)
Dr. Jordan maintained. And the Bahá’í Faith is no exception, he said.
“We as Bahá’ís must begin to internalize the Bahá’í value system so that we are protected from assaults as we function as individuals within a family context,” he said.
He pointed out that Bahá’í youth, living in this transitional period of human history, would be “caught in more double binds” than it would be possible to list in one brief presentation.
“Your only hope of not having your personality and character torn apart and smashed is for you to fall in love with God and Bahá’u’lláh,” he said. “You must take ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as an example and create for yourself an ideal you, based on that example, and then proceed to weed out the disparity between that ideal self and where you are now.”
The overwhelming amount of human energy in the country today is used to escape responsibilities, to avoid self-discipline and what is painful and uncomfortable, and to seek pleasure of one kind or another, he said.
“I can tell you that one of your greatest conflicts as Bahá’ís will be to mobilize your energies to pursue the kind of life that is consonant with Bahá’í principles,” he said. “Most of you will have internalized all of the conflicts of the wretched value system of the disintegrating world order and the net effect of internalized conflicts is to tie up your energies so that you will feel paralyzed and immobilized.”
“That will be a frustrating experience,” he continued, “and once we are frustrated there is a tendency to take out those frustrations on the members of the family to which we belong.” And herein, he said, lies the number one Bahá’í responsibility: not to take these frustrations out on either the family of origin or the Bahá’í family.
He recalled that The Hand of the Cause of God Horace Holley once said that the secret of being able to avoid this major pitfall was to drain off one’s hostilities in prayer.
“If you can habitually turn to Bahá’u’lláh and to God and drain off the frustrations it will enable you to get on with the job of acquiring virtues, the very thing we have been created to do,” Dr. Jordan said.
Youth thrilled by Conference[edit]
It is probably self-evident, as Dr. Kazemzadeh suggested before adjourning the last session, that the real success of the Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference will be measured in the future only by the extent of the “baggage of victories” the Bahá’ís bring to the next great scheduled gathering.
Many conferences like the one in Oklahoma City will be conducted in the future, he said. There will be smaller ones, larger ones, local, regional, national, and even international ones.
“But it is very important to us that each such gathering come as the climax of teaching campaigns, of developments within the Faith, and developments within the individual. We do not want conferences or congresses of losers,” he stated. “We want conferences of the builders of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.” We may, however, get an inkling of what to expect from future Bahá’í meetings from the candid reactions of the Bahá’í youth, who, when the adjournment was spoken, trickled out of the great arena amidst the scurry and bustle of crews dismantling conference props, to make a journey back to their cities and towns where the day-to-day task of building a new religion would be resumed.
“We should take what was promised to us as Bahá’ís and teach others about it,” Jack Flores, a 20-year-old Cherokee Indian from Santa Rosa, California, and one of the first people interviewed, said.
Virginia Maria Osornio, a young woman from Mexico City, said she
(continued page 10)
Mr. Sears recalls meetings with Guardian[edit]
In an interview with a reporter for The American Bahá’í several weeks before the Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference, The Hand of the Cause William Sears regretted that too often it was difficult for the Hands to get to know the friends, even when they made so many public appearances. “Too often the friends get the impression with the Hands that we have the opening prayer, the main talk, then the bus leaves town,” he said. In Oklahoma City that would not be the case, he promised.
As events developed in Oklahoma City, no one attending the Conference could easily believe that this time a Hand of the Cause blew in and out of town like a summer breeze. Mr. Sears was a ubiquitous presence at the Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference. He was permanently visible and constantly encouraging the friends, especially the youth, to invest their lives in teaching the Cause of God. He faithfully attended all the sessions of the Youth Conference, and on five separate occasions approached the rostrum to address the audience. On Saturday night he joined the throng edging into the Fairground arena for the Seals and Crofts concert and fireside; and he even appeared at the Fairgrounds at 7 a.m. Sunday morning to autograph books for the many youth who had requested it. There was little doubt that he made good his promise to get to know the Bahá’í youth, or that he gave them an opportunity to get to know him.
The recurrent theme of his talks to the youth was that time was running out on this gloomy age and that the teaching work should become the paramount concern of Bahá’í communities in the fleeting days that remain.
He said during one talk that the Guardian once informed him that in every materialistic city in the West there are thousands of people hungering for the Word of God. “They are waiting for us, and if we have this spirit of love and unity we will attract them and we will have great victories,” Mr. Sears said.
And he recalled the admonition of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that each Bahá’í should teach one person every year.
“What an easy task that is,” he exclaimed. “Twelve months to love somebody into the Faith.”
Using the Youth Conference to illustrate how this principle might be put into action, he said:
“In this conference there are around 5,000 people. Let’s just suppose all of us lived in Oklahoma City. Starting now, if we were to do what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told us, in 1979 the 300,000 people of Oklahoma City would all be Bahá’ís; just on the principle of every Bahá’í bringing another Bahá’í into the Faith every twelve months by living the life.”
“That’s how powerful this principle is,” he continued. “All this time has gone by and we haven’t used it; this tremendous power we have in the palms of our hands.”
On Friday evening Mr. Sears spoke on his memories of the Guardian. He described his first encounter with Shoghi Effendi:
“They told me when I arrived that they would tap on my door in the evening when Shoghi Effendi arrived and would say, ‘He is here.’ Then I was to go down the steps and have dinner with the beloved Guardian and enter paradise.”
The first night there was a rap on the door but no one spoke the anticipated words, “He is here,” Mr. Sears recalled. When he went downstairs the Guardian was not present. He was told Shoghi Effendi was at Bahjí trying to determine if electric lighting could be installed at the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Every morning I would get up and the car of the beloved Guardian would be gone,” Mr. Sears recounted.
“No matter how early I would be up, he would be gone someplace doing the work of the Cause of God.”
The next evening there was again a knock on his door, and this time his caller did say, “He is here.”
“Down the stairs I went to the place where we would dine together,” Mr. Sears said. “There was the beloved Guardian. He came around the table to greet us; and the world was never the same.”
“I found out later from the caretaker at Bahjí that he had not only been there to see if it would be possible to put lights in, but before he went home they were on and burning. This is the way the Guardian worked. Like a comet he went across our skies.”
“He was that combination of power and majesty,” Mr. Sears continued, visibly moved by the power of this memory, “and he had a real, sweet, and tender compassion. He was a combination of love and obedience. You don’t find that in the world. It doesn’t exist anywhere, other than of course in the Cause of God, and in the beloved Guardian.”
“So they knocked and said, ‘He is here.’ And then began all these wondrous things,” he concluded.
In other talks he gave during the Conference Mr. Sears related other episodes from his visits with Shoghi Effendi.
On one occasion, for instance, he remembered the Guardian was asked how Bahá’ís could determine whether their teaching methods were good.
“That’s the easiest thing in the world to answer,” Mr. Sears reported the Guardian answered. “If you are making new Bahá’ís they are good.
If you are not, change them.”
Each time he addressed the friends Mr. Sears would exhort them to abandon their own interests and to promote instead those of the Bahá’í Faith.
“The beloved Guardian said we are partial believers,” Mr. Sears noted during one of his talks. “We believe with the right eye but not with the left eye... In the summer when the weather is good we don’t believe. But in the winter when it’s cold and we can’t go anyplace, it’s great. When business is bad we’re firm believers, and when it’s good we’ll get to it a little later on...”
“And that’s the story of all of us,” he said. “But we can’t let that happen now. There will never be such times as these... It’s not hard to contribute. Everyone has got something; and the whole world, visionless and unshepherded, is hovering on the brink of an all-encompassing disaster. We hold the sole remedy for the ills of the world; and yet we put the Faith second, third, and fourth in our lives.”
“Let us make a solemn vow to ourselves,” he urged the friends, “to make this the beginning of a new Conference of Badasht, where we break with the past, and make this country what it is really going to be—through us as the instruments of Bahá’u’lláh—the envy of the future and of the past.”
Seals and Crofts promote Conference[edit]
Almost until showtime Saturday night it was not certain there could be a Seals and Crofts concert at all. Dash Crofts, suffering from a mild attack of laryngitis, lost his voice the day before, and as Saturday fell away and the hour approached for the much-publicized public concert and fireside, he had not yet completely recovered.
He was still in pain when the show went on that night—on schedule—and again Sunday afternoon. The enchanted response of the masses of youthful spectators, however, and the dozens of declarations that developed from that proclamation probably contributed to making the discomfort worthwhile.
In addition to their two concert appearances for the Youth Conference, Seals and Crofts (Jim Seals and Dash Crofts offstage) spent the better part of three days scrambling around Oklahoma City for radio and television interviews promoting the sizable gathering of Bahá’ís in the city.
In this time, they taped two half-hour television programs, two-and-a-half marathon radio sessions on the Bahá’í Faith, and numerous other less extensive talks and interviews. Other musicians, like England Dan and John Ford Coley, also assisted with the pre-concert publicity.
In a hasty interview with a reporter for The American Bahá’í during a lull in their frenetic schedule, Seals and Crofts spoke of their music and their experiences as Bahá’í performers.
On the value of their music.
Dash Crofts: The value of music is something so important that I think it should be talked about. Jimmy and I have discovered that it’s a universal language because it doesn’t draw out the prejudices and the fears that we normally have. It relates with everybody to start with, and it’s probably the fastest medium that we could use to communicate.
Jim Seals: For the hour-and-a-half that people are at a concert—old people, young people, people of all races and all backgrounds—they are there in unity, listening to the music. It’s just a phenomenal thing to see.
Dash Crofts: The arts are the fastest possible way that we can spread a message around. It’s probably the quickest way of communicating with all people at once.
Jim Seals: We discovered that in each age where a Prophet or Manifestation of God has appeared, all of the artists and poets, the scientists and the doctors, all of these people come to this great gold mine of knowledge and draw their inspiration from this source.
On the influence of the Bahá’í Faith on their music:
Jim Seals: One of the best examples is Dash’s electric mandolin. It’s a totally different way of playing the mandolin. At the time he started playing it, no one else was using the mandolin in this way.
Dash Crofts: The mandolin is a European instrument and we started using it quite by accident. But it seems to bring together the sounds of the East and of the West, and we just continued to use the sound because it was so inspiring to us.
Jim Seals: The Eastern melodies that we’ve used sometimes convey spiritual feelings that can’t be put into words, and so we try to use the music in a way that will convey a spiritual reality that will place the audience in that frame of mind.
Indian teaching story inspires youth[edit]
Upon being presented to the Bahá’ís Saturday evening, Marguerite Sears, wife of The Hand of the Cause, and the person who years ago introduced William Sears to the Bahá’í Faith, told the following story about the teaching work in India:
“We’ve all been so thrilled about the work in India and seeing the progress that has happened. From nothing they now have the largest number of believers of any country in the world.
“In the early days of this mass conversion in India, there was a man who became a Bahá’í and when the friends visited him one time they found him very sad. They wanted to know what was the matter.
“The man said, ‘I study the Bahá’í Writings and Teachings because Bahá’u’lláh said we must study daily. And I find that He says we must teach the Cause. But I am completely paralyzed. I have to lie here in my bed and I cannot teach the Cause because I cannot move. Please pray that I find a solution to this problem.’
“The friends prayed; and the man prayed. After a short time two young men came to him and said, ‘We have just become Bahá’ís and we don’t know anything about the Faith. Will you please teach us?’ He said, ‘With pleasure. Come tomorrow and we will begin.’ He thought this might be an answer to his prayers. But later he wasn’t satisfied. And so he spent the night in prayer. And by the time the next day came, he had the answer.
“When the young men came to him he said, ‘All right, we are going
(continued on page 9)
Bahá’í observers attend UN meetings[edit]
Seven Bahá’í observers joined with the regular United Nations Representatives for the Bahá’í International Community and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States in attending the two-day Annual Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) at the United Nations in New York, May 16 and 17.
The theme of the two-day Conference was “New Perspectives on World Population,” and participating NGOs discussed the objectives of World Population Year 1974, and the upcoming World Population Conference, in the broad context of their relationship to the use of human and natural resources, international development, and the exercise of human rights. Techniques for spreading information and education, and effecting action by NGOs on these questions were also discussed.
Dr. Victor de Araujo, Representative to the United Nations for the Bahá’í International Community, participated in the Conference, as did Mrs. Mabel Garis, the Representative to the United Nations for the National Spiritual Assembly.
Other observers were Mrs. Annamarie Honnold, Alternate Representative for the Bahá’í International Community; Mrs. Mary Sawicki, Executive Assistant to Dr. de Araujo; Mr. Steve Boal; Mrs. Betty de Araujo; Miss Jan Devino; Dr. Pattabi Raman; and Mr. Steve Waite.
The Bahá’í International Community is recognized as a non-governmental organization and has achieved consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The Bahá’í International Community maintains a representative and an office at the UN.
Special attention was given on the afternoon of May 16 to the forthcoming twenty-fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in an address by Mr. F. Bradford Morse, Under-Secretary for Political and General Assembly Affairs.
In his introductory remarks to the Conference, Dr. de Araujo, who completed a two-year term as Chairman of the NGO Executive Committee, and who was also elected Chairman of the Annual Conference itself, reminded his listeners of their responsibility to educate their own memberships, and the public at large, “regarding the global character of all problems facing humanity, and the part the UN is committed to play in solving these problems.”
Later in his talk, he noted that December 10, the anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will mark the start of a Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, in which NGOs (in-Community) will take part.
Following Dr. de Araujo’s introductory remarks, UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim addressed the Conference.
“We all know that public opinion in our world today is a force of immense potential,” he said. “It is a force which no government can afford to ignore, and which many times has influenced the course of international relations.”
Many causes, such as disarmament, the human environment, economic and social development, peace, justice and progress, remain to be taken up by world public opinion, he said.
“The way in which the public looks at the United Nations greatly influences the way in which governments behave towards the Organization,” Mr. Waldheim observed. “If the man in the street does not understand the United Nations or is hostile to it, his government will feel safe in neglecting the Organization. But if the average citizen regards the United Nations as the normal and logical place for settling international conflicts, any sensitive government will be influenced by that attitude in a constructive manner.”
Mr. Waldheim recalled that only a generation ago the United Nations was conceived and established as the global framework for the solution of global problems. “The Charter of the United Nations represented a solemn acceptance of the fundamental fact that, in our day and age, all members of the international community have the right to be heard and to make their contribution in the solution of world problems,” he said.
“Nothing has happened since then to deprive this basic concept of its validity,” he continued. “On the contrary, the world has become ever more interdependent and the need for the continuous and systematic use of the United Nations has accordingly grown even further.”
The Conference program for the first morning included a discussion of the underlying issues involved in the population problem by Mr. Rafael Salas, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), who is responsible for World Population Year; Mr. Antonio Carrillo Flores, Secretary-General of the World Population Conference; and Mrs. Helvi Sipila, Assistant Secretary-General for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs.
At subsequent sessions, the limits to growth theory were discussed, as well as new perspectives on development and human rights. “Giving Perspective to World Population Year” was the subject of a presentation by Mr. David O. Poindexter, Director, Population Communication Center; and Mr. Jyoti Shankar Singh, Non-Governmental Organizations Liaison Officer, World Population Year, UNFPA.
Arranged by the Office of Public Information of the United Nations in cooperation with the NGOs, the annual Conferences bring together representatives of business, industry and trade union organizations, religious and women’s groups, service clubs, and others for discussions of UN-related activities. Each organization may designate two representatives and three observers to attend. Most of the participating organizations have part-time or full-time regular representatives at UN Headquarters.
Non-Governmental Organizations listed with the United Nations may be either national or international. They must have broadly-based memberships and the scope and resources to undertake effective information programs. The basis for their relationship with the UN Office of Public Information is to encourage the widest possible public understanding of the many activities of the United Nations.
Florida Bahá’ís prepare radio program[edit]
A half-hour Bahá’í radio program is on the air every Sunday morning and evening in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The program, “World Oneness,” is sponsored by five Tampa Bay area Spiritual Assemblies and is directed by a Bay Area Broadcasting Committee created for this purpose. The show is produced by Mrs. Linda Brown, a resident of Clearwater who has a degree in radio broadcasting. It consists of music, quotations from the Bahá’í Writings, and interviews.
The program is on both AM and FM radio. At 10 a.m. it is aired on WIOY-FM, which is received as far south as Venice, Florida, and as far east as Orlando. At 11 p.m. Sunday it is broadcast over the station’s AM facility, which serves St. Petersburg and three adjoining counties.
Program time was offered by Kathy Tanner, the Public Affairs Director of WLCY, after two Bahá’ís were interviewed on a station program in late January. “Kathy was attracted to the Faith because of our low-key approach to religion,” Mrs. Brown, the program producer, explained in a letter, “and she wanted to give the public something more than live church services” to listen to.
The committee formed to direct the radio program determined that it should be “contemporary and light, with plenty of music and relatable talk, yet dignified and spiritually inspiring.” The format established for the 29 minutes of air time provides for approximately 10 minutes of music, descriptions and quotes, followed by 10 minutes of interviews, then 9 more minutes of songs, quotes, and information about the Bahá’í Faith.
The music used on the show is performed by Bahá’ís, about Bahá’í subjects. Mrs. Brown has used such Bahá’í recordings as “Fire and Snow” and the “Bahá’í Victory Chorus,” as well as some cuts from Seals and Crofts albums for her broadcasts. She also records the material of talented local musicians and is trying to collect tapes of musicians from other areas of the country.
“I feel sure that the wonderful songs themselves will be one important thing that will keep people tuning in again and again, because they will never hear these particular songs anywhere else,” Mrs. Brown predicted. “And there are so many fresh and beautiful songs that they will have to listen for many weeks before they hear the same song again.”
Interview possibilities will also never be exhausted, she ventured. “Since we started taping in March, many Bahá’ís have passed through from other parts of the state or the country, and I haven’t even had to tap the local talent yet,” she explained. “Since each Bahá’í has something interesting to say and represents some of the people in the listening audience, it’s valuable to talk to many to get a good diversity.”
The broadcasting committee decided at the beginning to tape record the program and not to use the station’s facilities for producing their show. “For one thing, the station’s schedule was so crowded that they could not give us very much time, and the studio is located quite a distance from town,” Mrs. Brown explained.
To ensure themselves flexibility in preparing material, the Bay Area Broadcasting Committee elected to purchase recording equipment. They determined they would need two tape recorders, a phonograph turntable, headphones, editing equipment, and a supply of tapes for their work. The cost of this equipment, including a portable cassette recorder for mobile interviews, was approximately $900. A simple studio was then constructed in an unused upstairs bedroom of the Brown home.
Mrs. Brown now attributes their success in obtaining radio time to a recent visit of The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears and his wife, Marguerite. “They stayed two nights...and she made the comment, a bit jokingly, that when a Hand of the Cause passes through, things happen,” Mrs. Brown recalled. “He set up his very fine recorder and recorded the songs of the McPherson Family (a group of Bahá’ís from Clearwater) and the next day edited the master tape for a deepening cassette. The radio interview that led to the invitation to do the show was on the Sunday night that the Sears left town,” she said.
The beauty of having thirty minutes of radio time week after week, according to Mrs. Brown, is that there is time to develop a theme fully. “The first shows are attempting to give a picture of the Bahá’í Faith,” she explained. “Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to concentrate on different facets of the Teachings and really go into detail.”
The broadcasting committee encourages Bahá’ís who will be in the Clearwater area to volunteer to be interviewed or to have their music taped for the program. Mrs. Brown may be contacted at (813) 446-2857.
Mr. Sears gives talk[edit]
(continued from page 7)
“To begin. One of you will take the head of my bed, and the other will take the foot of my bed. And you will carry me from village to village. On the way to the villages I will teach you. When we get to the villages all three of us will teach those who have not yet heard of Bahá’u’lláh.”
“These three people set off, and for two years—the remainder of this man’s life—this is how they taught. They were responsible for the first three all-Bahá’í villages in India.
“There isn’t any one of us who has less than this man had or has greater handicaps than he had,” Mrs. Sears observed. “And yet, by turning to the Supreme Concourse he was able to get a solution to his problem and to fulfill the injunction of Bahá’u’lláh to teach.”
Green Acre stresses child education[edit]
Just a glance at the Green Acre program for the summer session is enough to satisfy one that something different is happening there this year.
One is principally aware of the distinguished faculty that has been assembled for the six-week session, of the complexity and variety of the curriculum that has been developed, and of the thoroughness of the planning and organization for this year’s session of the 72-year-old school.
One does not feel that the promotional literature exaggerates when it claims that the Green Acre Council has attempted to develop “the most unified and rewarding summer school possible.”
Among the faculty are included The Hand of the Cause of God Zikru’lláh Khádem, Auxiliary Board Members Mrs. Javidukht Khádem, Mrs. Jane McCants, and Mrs. Adrienne Reeves, National Spiritual Assembly members Miss Magdalene Carney and Dr. Dwight Allen, Mr. Douglas Martin, member of the Canadian National Spiritual Assembly, Mrs. Marzieh Gail, Mr. Nat Rutstein, Mrs. Nancy Jordan, Mrs. Ann Carpenter, Mrs. Linda Jones, Mr. Stanwood Cobb, Mrs. Eileen Norman, Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh, Mr. Richard D. Betts, and others.
“The Green Acre Council has designed this year’s program to offer students a wide range of stimulating topics and varied formats, including seminars, workshops, and courses at introductory and advanced levels,” the Green Acre brochure explains. “The theme of the summer school is “The Elimination of All Forms of Prejudice,” and throughout the six weeks—beginning July 22—many of the studies should serve to heighten our awareness of the manifold aspects of this problem.”
The format for the summer classes calls for a keynote lecture each morning, to be attended by all students, followed by elective courses in the afternoon designed to give students a choice of material for study. Students will be asked to select one course during each time period or to register for independent study. All independent study projects will be arranged in consultation with an Independent Study Director and will give guests an opportunity for intensive study in the Green Acre library.
From August 6 to September 3, a special program for children and junior youth will be offered by the Council. This reorganized and expanded children’s program is perhaps the most singular aspect of the 1973 Green Acre program, according to the Green Acre Council.
A large and experienced staff has been recruited, and their purpose will be “to achieve excellence in the quality of the educational program provided for our children,” the Council said.
The staff has planned studies of the Bahá’í teachings, work and service projects, and field trips using the outdoors as a learning environment for the youth and children.
There will be different programs for the 2½–4 age group, the 5–11 age group, and the 12–14 age group.
The 2½–4 year-old group will be directed by an adult with special training and experience in early childhood education and one assistant.
The 5–14 year-old group will participate in a full-day living and learning program. The staff will consist of three counselors and a lesson-unit teacher. The lesson-unit teacher will plan, teach, and supervise that portion of the child’s work directly related to the Bahá’í Faith.
A twenty-four-hour program has been designed for the 12 to 14 year-olds. They will use Atkinson Cottage and Fellowship House as living quarters and will eat breakfast and lunch apart from the rest of Green Acre’s student population. At dinnertime, they will join the other guests for the evening meal at the Inn. In addition to the work planned specifically for their group, the 12–14 year-olds will join in some of the activities scheduled for older youth and adults.
“The program assists each child to develop responsibility, good character, respect towards oneself, one’s surroundings, and others, and to know and love more deeply the Station of Bahá’u’lláh,” the Green Acre Council said.
Children from surrounding communities, both Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í, will be welcome to attend the children’s program. They must, however, register for a minimum of one week.
The following rates will be charged:
July 22 to August 4 (special rates)
| Ages | Week | Day |
| 2½–11 | $30.00 | $5.00 |
| 12–18 | 40.00 | 7.00 |
| Adult | 50.00 | 8.00 |
| August 5 to September 3 | ||
| 2½–11 | $30.00 | $5.00 |
| 12–18 | 45.00 | 8.00 |
| Adult | 55.00 | 10.00 |
Children under 12 will stay in a room with their parents and will be charged only for meals.
- No cottages are available for reservation.
- The Council cannot guarantee any rooms in advance. Room assignments will be made at the desk.
Youth acclaim gathering[edit]
(continued from page 5)
was impressed by the abundance of people from different backgrounds she encountered at the Youth Conference.
“I’m the only Bahá’í in my family,” she added, speaking through an interpreter from Iowa. “What I would like is to have all of my family believe and feel the oneness of the Faith.”
Karen Jones, 18, from San Mateo, California, said she took a deeper sense of her own nobility away from the Conference. “Dr. Dan Jordan helped me realize that all my excuses are gone,” she said. She thought The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears was magnificent. “He made me want to cry.”
Anne King, 21, of Santa Paula, California, was most impressed, as a result of the Conference, with the need for order in the world. “Everything is based on order. Everyone is doing their own thing, which is good, but they must have order about it,” she explained. “We couldn’t have this Conference without order. Where would we be as Bahá’ís without order?” Her parting observation: “I can see that future Bahá’í youth will have very intelligent parents.”
Helene Steinhauer, 25, from New York, was more fully determined to live the life. “Living in New York you can really see the need for living the life and deepening in the Writings,” she said. “If you deepen, there is really no obstacle that is too high.”
Mary Remel, 22, of Little Rock, Arkansas, agreed with Helene Steinhauer. “The important thing for us to do is read from the Writings every day,” she said. “But when we do that we must be careful not to merely read and recite words. Many people are down on the Lord’s Prayer because saying it becomes automatic. We have to be careful this doesn’t happen with our Bahá’í prayers and Writings.”
Then there was the young man who said, “The first thing I’m going to do when I get home is clean up my room.” And not to be outdone, the young lady who said, “I just want to ride home in a refrigerator truck so that I can preserve the feelings I have here.”
Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference[edit]
Oklahoma City from the air
Bahá’ís arriving at Conference area. Busses in background carried people to nearby hotels and motels.
The first 747 jetliner to land at Oklahoma City brought Bahá’ís from California to the Youth Conference.
A musician at Conference prepares to play for his audience
Miss Amy Seidel
A view of the arena where Conference was held.
[Page 12]
Singer Don Reed
Members of the Auxiliary Boards, from right: Dr. Peter Khan, Mr. Paul Pettit, Dr. Yusuf Abbassian, from Iran, and Mrs. Margo Jackson, from Australia.
Getting ready for a little reading
In line to purchase the Aqdas
From left to right: Joyce, Wayne and Jatany Welch.
Plane used for aerial photos
Crowd in the dining hall during a talk by Mr. Sears
Setting up a sound system
[Page 13]
The Spiritual Assembly of Oklahoma City
A scene from “The Education of Henry Halifax”
Dr. Arnold Neuman (left) chats with Mr. Jim Taylor
Mrs. Massoud Mahmoudi chanting prayer
Photographers at Youth Conference
Seals and Crofts during a television interview
Mr. Robert Henderson
Miss Eva Kahn
[Page 14]
A portion of the youth attending Conference.
Mr. Massoud Mahmoudi plays the santour
Dr. Daniel Jordan (left), with Phil Christensen, permanent chairman of the Youth Conference.
California Bahá’ís waiting for a plane to Oklahoma
A presentation at the Pioneer Trade Fair
A group discussion
Bahá’ís camping out near Conference site
Illuminated Tablet Given to College[edit]
An illuminated copy of a letter from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá bestowing blessings upon Mount Holyoke College for girls, in Massachusetts, was presented to the institution by the Bahá’í community of South Hadley on May 26, during the college’s graduation weekend.
The original letter was mailed in 1919 to Dr. Frederick D’Evelyn, an early American believer, in honor of the appointment of his daughter, Charlotte, to the Mount Holyoke faculty. Dr. D’Evelyn traveled with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His visit to America, and wrote many articles for Star of the West about their journey across America. Miss Charlotte D’Evelyn, who was too ill to attend the presentation ceremony, was on the faculty of the college’s English department for almost 40 years, until her recent retirement.
The framed Tablet, and an accompanying photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was received for Mount Holyoke by Miss Mary Tuttle, Secretary of the college. They will hang in the campus’ 1886 Room, which is used for alumni receptions, and for Tuesday night firesides by the Bahá’í College Club.
Mrs. Penny Walker represented the Spiritual Assembly of South Hadley at the presentation. She gave a brief talk on the life and station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Miss Amy Seidel, a graduating senior and member of the Bahá’í Club, spoke about Dr. Frederick D’Evelyn and his association with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
According to Miss Seidel, the school was very interested in receiving the Tablet. Mount Holyoke College reportedly has a religious tradition, and its graduates have rendered important services to many of the world’s important religions. It was said that the college administrators were very pleased to learn that the school was mentioned by one of the central figures of a new world religion.
In recent years, there has been a great deal of Bahá’í activity on the Mount Holyoke campus. Four years ago, there was only one elderly Bahá’í in the town of South Hadley. Today there are more than 40 Bahá’ís in the community, and until graduation, there were 13 Bahá’ís at Mount Holyoke.
At least five of the seventeen head residents of dormitories next term will be Bahá’ís, Miss Seidel said. A course on the Bahá’í Faith has been taught at the college for two consecutive years. The first year it was prepared by the staff of the religion department, the second year by the Bahá’í College Club.
The College Club has also supported extensive service projects. During the past two years, for example, a Bahá’í has visited the college infirmary every day to run errands for and serve the student patients under treatment there.
|
To his honor, Dr. Frederick W. D’Evelyn Upon him be Baha’o’llah El Abha. HE IS GOD.
O thou servant of Baha’o’llah! Thy letter was received. Its contents were conducive to joy and gladness. I pray that through the blessings of GOD thou mayest daily increase in faith, assurance and firmness in the Covenant and Testament; mayest be assisted and confirmed and be the cause of the exaltation of the Bahá’í Teachings. Thou hast written about the school for women; I supplicate and entreat to the Kingdom of GOD and beg for that school limitless confirmations, so that it may be born anew, may become the manifestation of the bounties of the generous Lord, the lights of Supreme Guidance may shine upon it and may illumine it, and may become the center of merciful susceptibilities. Convey on my behalf to thy respected wife the utmost kindness. Upon thee be Baha El Abha. (Signed) ‘Abdul Baha Abbas
Translated by Shoghi Rabbani (Note: The school mentioned is Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass., U.S.A.) |
Announcements[edit]
Individuals and communities who purchased group photographs at the Youth Conference but who have not yet received their print should inform The American Bahá’í promptly so the remaining photographs may be located and mailed.
Due to an error in tagging, several group shots could not be identified and properly routed. Once it can be determined what communities have been affected by this photographic mix-up, efforts will be made to supply the photos to those who have purchased them.
Please address correspondence to The American Bahá’í, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
News Briefs[edit]
Hand of Cause Visits Wilmette[edit]
The Hand of the Cause of God Collis Featherstone spent from June 17 to June 20 visiting the House of Worship and the National Center in Wilmette, before resuming an interrupted Canadian tour at Winnipeg, Ontario, June 20.
This was his third visit to the United States since 1960. It was planned by The Universal House of Justice and the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America, and was part of a larger journey that began in Tel-Aviv in late May, with scheduled stops in Europe and North America, prior to undertaking a month-long tour of the Far East beginning July 4.
“There is a tremendous new spirit emerging everywhere,” Mr. Featherstone reported, observing on his travels. “It augurs well for the continued growth of the Faith.” However, he said there is still a need in every area for deepening. “Bahá’ís must continue to deepen in the knowledge of The Universal House of Justice and the World Order it is building.”
United Nations Day Theme Announced[edit]
“World Development Information Day” is the theme for United Nations Day, October 24, 1973. This broad title involves all levels of progress—socio-economic, educational, technological—being advanced in the world through the UN. These efforts underline the aims and principles of the Bahá’í Faith.
It is hoped that Bahá’í communities throughout the country will participate in the celebration of UN Day—or week—in conjunction with other groups in their areas, or independently. It presents a fine opportunity to work with non-Bahá’ís on a community project, or to invite them to activities sponsored by the Bahá’ís.
The Bahá’í World Community has supported the United Nations since its inception in 1945. There are accredited representatives at the UN through the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), both at the national level under the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, and also through the Bahá’í International Community under The Universal House of Justice. Involvement is in the non-political areas, which comprise 85 percent of the UN’s work.
The continued support of the United Nations projects is desired, and involvement in UN Day is a means of keeping the work of the United Nations in the foreground of public thought, creating a favorable climate for the tremendous effort expended by the UN and its allied agencies in helping to raise the dignity of mankind throughout the world.
There are UN and Bahá’í materials which give scope to UN Day programs. Also, the United Nations Association (UNA) has available a special packet to aid local groups to design and implement a successful UN Day project. These packets cost $1.00 but are available through our UN office for 50 cents. If your community wishes this material, please send name and address, together with payment, to: Mabel R. Garis, United Nations Representative, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, 345 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum to Visit Alaska[edit]
‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum is scheduled to spend a month in Alaska beginning on July 25, according to information received from the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska.
From August 15 to 19, she will attend the Bahá’í summer school in Juneau, but she will spend the rest of her time visiting Indian and Eskimo villages.
Believers from the United States are welcome to attend the summer school in Juneau during the visit of Rúḥíyyih Khánum, but are strongly requested to write in advance to Mrs. Carol Simpson, R.R.3, Box 3836, Juneau, Alaska 99801.
South Carolina Adopts Five-Month Plan[edit]
The South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee has developed a Five-Month Teaching Plan for Local Spiritual Assemblies in the state, calling for the training of 3,000 new Bahá’í teachers and the enrollment of 3,000 new believers by October.
The teaching plan was announced at a teaching and consolidation conference, June 2-3, at the Penn Center, in Frogmore, attended by more than 100 Bahá’ís.
According to the Regional Teaching Committee, the goals for enrolling new believers will be won if each Spiritual Assembly finds 25 new Bahá’ís.
No Generation Gap[edit]
Copies of this photo were sent to all news media in Little Rock and throughout Arkansas, tying in Nine Year Plan expansion, represented by youth, which comprised a large percentage of the enrollments, and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Bahá’í Assembly in Little Rock in 1943, the first in Arkansas, of which Homer Holmes (right), now 80 years old, was a member. The caption also noted that there was no “generation gap” in the Faith.
New Dean for Gregory Institute[edit]
Bransford Watson, a former member of the National Teaching Committee, has been appointed dean of the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina, according to an announcement by the Council for the Institute.
He succeeds Harold C. Jackson, first dean of the Institute, who returned to California to complete a graduate degree.
Mr. Watson will be working closely with the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee and the district teaching committees in the South to tailor programs at the Institute to the needs of the region.
The purpose of the Institute is to train Bahá’í teachers and administrators and to work with teaching committees in using these trained persons in their home communities and in the field.
“The Gregory Institute is the first full-time Bahá’í teacher training institute in the country,” Mr. Watson explained. “It is the first program designed to assist people refine and improve their Bahá’í teaching lives.”
He said the Institute was established in South Carolina because of the rapid expansion of the Faith in that state. It is designed, he noted, to assist all areas that experience rapid expansion of their Bahá’í communities.
Mr. Watson has been manager of a housing complex, a community relations specialist for the Justice Department, a management analyst, and a parole officer in Texas.
Utah / Idaho Weekend Institute[edit]
SESSION: August 24, 25, and 26 (Registration 6:00 p.m. August 24)
LOCATION: Northeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. From Interstate 80 to Coalville, Utah, follow Highway 133 east of Coalville approximately 14 miles of surfaced road and 3 miles of dirt road to the Pinecliff campsite. Pinecliff enjoys all modern conveniences while preserving a natural rustic atmosphere.
COSTS: 15 years and older, $12.00; 8 years to 14 years, $10.00; No charge for those under 8 years.
NEEDS: Facilities do not include bedding, towels, and other personal items. Consider bringing warm clothes for cool evenings.
SPEAKERS: Mr. George Galinkin (Bahá’í Family Life); Dr. Jalil Mahmoudi (Certitude); Mr. John Conkling (Bahá’í Administration); Dr. Glenn Booman (Science and Religion); and Mrs. Joyce Booman (Bahá’í Literature). There will be children’s classes for those five years and older.
REGISTRAR: Mrs. Floria Mahmoudi, 299 Center Street, Apartment 502, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103 (Phone: 801/364-3739). Pre-registration will be appreciated.
Children Meet in New Jersey[edit]
A most exhilarating experience occurred June 10 at Livingston College in Highland Park, New Jersey. It was the scene of a children’s conference entitled “Starlight.”
The one-day conference began with a “get to know each other” approach. Each child, 43 in all, then participated in a workshop of his choice: art, music, dance, or Dr. Gary Rea-Airth’s mini-museum (a tour around the world through role-playing, and an exhibit of various costumes and other items from around the world). In addition, special classes which involved the children in painting, games, and practicing Bahá’í manners were set up for the very young children.
After boxed lunches, the program continued with group singing, and a “Unity in Diversity” presentation by Dave and Rosemary Closson from Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
Although this was mainly a conference for children, parents also received the benefit of talks and discussions. In the morning, Wilma Brady of New York spoke on child discipline and the importance of setting a good example for the child to emulate. Later in the day, the Education Group of the New Jersey District Teaching Committee led a discussion on general principles of child education and their relation to the Bahá’í Faith.
At the close of the conference, each child received a diploma “for sharing in this joyful day.”
Grand Bahamas Teaching Project[edit]
- WHEN: July 28–August 19
- WHERE: Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands in the Bahamas
- SPONSORS: The Spiritual Assemblies of Freeport, Bahamas; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- COST:
- $25 a week for food
- $10 a week for transportation on the islands, and miscellaneous expenses
- $30 for round-trip transportation between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas, PLUS whatever it costs for round-trip travel between your home and Fort Lauderdale. There is no charge for housing.
- HOW TO APPLY: Please write or call Bob Phillips, Coordinator, Bahamas Project, 616 S.W. 11th Court, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33315 (Tel. No. 305/524-7737).
- GOALS: To consolidate Nine Year Plan victories (five Local Spiritual Assemblies) and to open virgin territories to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Italian School[edit]
Tenth Summer School
of the
Bahá’ís of Italy
September 15–23, 1973
Palace Hotel
Viale Carducci, 186
47042 Valverde di Cesenatico (Italy)
On the Adriatic coast near Rimini
The friends are asked to send their reservations as soon as possible, and no later than August 30 to:
- Mr. Mario Donato
- Piazza Palermo, 5/21
- 16129 Genova
Please note: All Bahá’ís from the United States who plan to attend the conference must have a current International Bahá’í Identification Card, which can be obtained by writing to: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, Glenford E. Mitchell, Secretary, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
New Orleans Teaching Conference[edit]
On June 8-10, approximately 100 Bahá’ís gathered in New Orleans at the Fountainebleau Hotel for a three-day teaching conference. The conference theme was “International Expansion: Bahá’í Perspectives on Community Life and Teaching.” Among the faculty were Continental Counsellor Mrs. Florence V. Mayberry, Dr. H. Elsie Austin, and Dr. Arthur L. Dahl. Mr. Van Gilmer was the conference music director.
The highpoint of the three-day program of activities was “The Family of Man” banquet, which celebrated the successful completion of the Nine Year Plan and honored community leaders whose services to humanity advanced human rights, freedoms, and responsibilities.
In greeting the banquet guests, Mr. Theodies Washington, Master of Ceremonies, stated that “Bahá’ís by precept and example emphasize human kinship, and view humanity as a variegated flower garden... It is this vision that Bahá’u’lláh gave to the rulers, religious leaders, and laymen more than 100 years ago when He announced Himself as the Bearer of a new revelation whose purpose was to usher in the unity of mankind.”
Prominent community leaders were in attendance. Notable among them were Dr. Gene Geisert, Superintendent of Orleans Parish Schools; Dr. Peter Firmin, Dean of Tulane University Business School; Mr. Martin Hunley, President of the United Nations Association of Greater New Orleans; Mrs. Clara Antoine, President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; and Mr. Gideon Stanton, Executive Director of New Orleans Service-Learning Program.
All of the special guests were presented a copy of Foundations of World Unity.
Mr. Washington, on behalf of the New Orleans Assembly, praised these distinguished guests for their services to mankind and expressed the hope “that their future efforts will be crowned with a fruitful harvest.”
Dr. H. Elsie Austin, Attorney-Diplomat from Washington, D.C., was the banquet speaker. In her address, she set forth the Bahá’í teachings as “an exemplary force for social change” and challenged the guests “to ponder the significance of the Bahá’í community in the face of social unrest.” This beautiful address was warmly received.
Mr. Henry G. Simmons, Director of Finance of the City of New Orleans, acting on behalf of the Mayor, the Honorable Moon Landrieu, and the City Council, brought greetings to the assembled guests. In praising Dr. Austin for her distinguished career achievements, Mr. Simmons presented her with honorary citizenship and the Key to the City. Surprised but delighted, Dr. Austin responded with characteristic grace.
Jobs for Nurses[edit]
Qualified nurses are needed on the Navajo Reservation in the town of Chinle, Arizona. Salary is approximately $8,000 yearly, and FHA housing is available.
The need is urgent and will be a great service in the field of pioneering.
Any Bahá’í interested in this pioneering and job opportunity should first contact the National Teaching Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
Million Hear of Faith in Atlanta[edit]
At least one million three hundred thousand people heard about the Faith for the first time in metropolitan Atlanta and northern Georgia in the middle of May, according to a report from the Spiritual Assembly of Atlanta.
The several Bahá’í communities of the metropolitan Atlanta area, under the sponsorship of the Spiritual Assembly of Atlanta, launched a proclamation during the week of May 14-20, consisting of a concentrated, professionally designed and executed advertising campaign on radio and in the newspapers.
Timed to coincide with Atlanta Mayor Massell’s proclamation of May 16 as Bahá’í Day, thirty-second radio spots were aired on eight local radio stations. Members of the Atlanta community also appeared on a radio talk show, May 16, at 10 a.m.
A special newspaper ad, designed by Lawler, Ballard, and Little Advertising, of Atlanta, appeared in all of the city’s major newspapers, as well as in several suburban editions.
Race Unity Day[edit]
Approximately two hundred people attended the Race Unity Day observance, June 10, sponsored by the Bahá’ís of South Bend, Indiana. This event attracted the largest number of non-Bahá’ís (150) ever to attend a Bahá’í meeting in the Michiana area, according to a report from the South Bend community.
Mr. David Kellum, a Bahá’í from Chicago, spoke on the topic, “The Need for Racial Harmony,” and Mr. John Charles Bryant served as chairman.
A number of non-Bahá’í friends helped in the preparation and serving of the picnic lunch, one of whom spent the better part of two days preparing and barbecuing the meat.
Continental Boards zones changed[edit]
continued from page 3
“140 degrees east and 140 degrees west, with the exception of the Gilbert Islands, will be transferred from the zone of Australasia to the zone of north-eastern Asia. Islands under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska remain in the zone of North America.”
There will now be four Continental Counsellors for North America.
They are Mr. Lloyd Gardner, Miss Edna True, Dr. Sarah Pereira, and Mrs. Velma Sherrill.
In her remarks to the Bahá’ís assembled at the Youth Conference, Dr. Pereira, making her first public talk as a Counsellor, recalled that the theme of the International Bahá’í Convention in April was meeting the challenge of growth in the next decade.
“We felt a sense of urgency to teach the Cause rapidly and effectively, while there is yet time,” she said. “As you know, that phrase recurred in so many of the messages from the Guardian in his last years... and I am sure each of us has a special feeling as to what that phrase could mean.”
“I wonder if it is not possible that we could be now recognizing that we are moving into the realm of recognition,” she continued, “that we have had long phases and stages of obscurity, and that as we move out from invisibility and become more attractive to the public at large, it is very possible that we will find some enmity and that some persecution might ensue, and we might even find repression and lack of opportunities to teach and to proclaim.”
While there is yet time, Bahá’í youth, “as heirs of the dawn-breakers,” should prepare themselves in the trades, the arts, the professions, and crafts, to seize the opportunity to teach the Cause of God, on the home front or abroad, she said.
“I can remember that the Guardian once said that for the first three hundred years of any Faith the primary obligation of the adherents was to teach. Today’s opportunity will not return tomorrow,” she warned.
Among the duties of the International Teaching Centre, mentioned in the House of Justice correspondence, are to coordinate, stimulate, and direct the activities of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, and to act as liaison between them and The Universal House of Justice.
All the Hands of the Cause of God are members of the International Teaching Centre. In addition, three Continental Counsellors have been appointed to membership. Together with the Hands residing in the Holy Land, they will form the nucleus of the Centre. The Counsellors who are members of the Centre are Mr. Hooper Dunbar, Mrs. Florence Mayberry, and Mr. ‘Aziz Yazdí.
Trust to install typesetting system[edit]
The installation of a new typesetting system signaled another major step in the development of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, according to its general manager.
“We have purchased a Mergenthaler VIP phototypesetting machine which will enable us to do the composition for the three major Bahá’í publications and much of our printed material as well,” said Russell Busey, the Trust’s general manager.
The Publishing Trust, through its Services Branch, will shortly begin producing all of the type compositions and artwork for Bahá’í News, The American Bahá’í, and National Bahá’í Review. Commercial printing firms currently handle most of the typesetting for the publications.
The Trust will provide this service for the new National Information Committee, recently appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly following an announcement at the 1973 National Bahá’í Convention.
“We will need additional personnel at the Publishing Trust when the new typesetting system is installed and operating,” Mr. Busey said. “We would like to hear immediately from Bahá’ís who have training and experience in the operation of this type of equipment.”
The new machine sets justified and hyphenated type composition in the form of a positive photographic image on sensitized photographic paper. It is driven by a punched paper tape, generated on a special Mergenthaler electronic keyboard system. The keyboard itself is similar to a standard electric typewriter, but no printed paper copy is produced. Instead, an electronic display panel shows the last 16 characters keyboarded, and the output consists entirely of the perforated paper tape.
When fed into the typesetting machine, the tape causes a small computer to read the tape codes, determine the space each letter, word, and space requires, and find a logical place to hyphenate at the end of a line if necessary. The machine is capable of producing more than 50 standard newspaper lines per minute.
“A good, accurate typist can quickly learn to operate the system,” Mr. Busey pointed out. “However, we would prefer to find—if possible—a Bahá’í experienced in this field, who would be willing to come to the Publishing Trust to work.”
Interested Bahá’ís may submit résumés to Mr. Busey at the Bahá’í Publishing Trust’s office, at 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
Audio-Visual Centre seeks volunteers for important posts[edit]
The International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre is seeking self-supporting Bahá’ís to fill posts in various fields of work. Needed are a bookkeeper, an assistant manager, a darkroom technician, a distribution supervisor, an illustrator, a layout and keyline artist, a marketing supervisor, a secretary, a tape editor, a translation supervisor, and a writer. The most pressing need is for a cost accountant, preferably a retired person with extensive experience in this field. Apply to: IBAVC, 1640 Holcomb Road, Victor, New York 14564.
BAHÁ’Í SUMMER SCHOOLS 1973[edit]
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JOBS[edit]
JOB OPENINGS - NATIONAL BAHÁ’Í CENTER
SECRETARIAT: Person with good stenographic skills for general office work.
MAILROOM/STOCKROOM: Person with clerical and postal service experience to handle incoming and outgoing mail, and to coordinate the distribution of office supplies. There are no specific age requirements for this full-time position, although a retired postal worker would be preferred.
MEMBERSHIP AND RECORDS: Two persons required; one with minimal data processing experience and typing skills. This position requires a high degree of error consciousness. Another with minimal clerical or secretarial experience. Error consciousness and the ability to accurately transfer data to forms is required.
HOW TO APPLY: Please send a letter of application and an employment summary to the National Bahá’í Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091 (Attention: Personnel Office).
JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN THE AMERICAS
Nicaragua
A position is open for a high school principal who speaks Spanish and has had experience in administration. A teaching position is available as well for someone qualified to teach business courses (shorthand, bookkeeping, etc.) in Spanish. If you are qualified to fill either of these positions, and have the proper credentials, please write to: International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
Mexico
A job opening exists for someone qualified to teach junior high school and high school biology, chemistry, and physics. Knowledge of Spanish is necessary, but the applicant does not have to have fluency in the language. If you have the necessary credentials and qualifications to fill this position, please write to: International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Venezuela
Two positions are available in teaching and research at a major university in Venezuela for individuals with PhD’s in physics. Knowledge of Spanish is preferred but not a specific requirement.
If you have these qualifications and are interested in pioneering to Venezuela, please write to: International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
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A Contest for Artists A contest for Bahá’ís is now under way to select the best simple drawings illustrating different sets of quotations from the Bahá’í Writings which will appear in the March and May through September issues of The American Bahá’í. The first set of quotations is listed below. At the completion of the contest, those artists whose drawings are selected for use will receive a Bahá’í book. Purpose of Drawings: The drawings are needed to illustrate quotations from the Bahá’í Writings which will be used in a series of picture lesson cards. Audience: The lesson cards will be used throughout the world in teaching people of all ages, including those with minimum reading ability. Style of Drawings: Each drawing should explain visually a single quotation and, with its accompanying quotation, form the basis for a single lesson presentation. (The quotations themselves are not meant to have any particular relationship to each other.) In addition, the drawings should not be tied to any specific culture, since the picture lesson cards will be used throughout the world. Above all, each drawing should be simple, one-color line artwork. Format for Submitting Drawings: All drawings should be submitted on 8½ x 11-inch (or larger) paper. Each should be accompanied by the quotation which it illustrates. Deadline: Artwork must be received by October 31, 1973 to be considered. Entries may be sent in anytime between April 1 and October 31. 15. “External cleanliness, although it is but a physical thing, hath a great influence upon spirituality.” —‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as quoted in Bahá’í World Faith, p. 334 16. “...if he [a man] sleep, it should not be for pleasure, but to rest the body in order to do better, to explain more beautifully, to serve the servants of God and to prove the truths.” —Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Vol. II, p. 460 17. “O Son of Being! Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants.” —The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, From the Arabic, No. 55 18. “O ye rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust, and be not intent only on your own ease.” —The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, From the Persian, No. 54 19. “If tribulation touch thee for My sake, call thou to mind My ills and troubles, and remember My banishment and imprisonment.” —Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 313 Send Entries to: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. |
Bulletin Board[edit]
Teachers for India[edit]
Mature, dedicated, enthusiastic believers, willing to spend from six months to one year travel teaching, are needed in India.
The Universal House of Justice writes: “An important phenomenon is developing in the Bahá’í community of India—the enrollment of university students and faculty members in large numbers wherever and whenever a coherent program of teaching is undertaken...”
Can you participate in helping our sister community?
You will need:
- 6 months to one year of your time
- $2,000–$3,000
- Willingness to seize this “golden opportunity”
If interested, please contact: International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091
“...We shall pray at the Holy Shrines that a stream of devoted believers will arise to serve, both as pioneers and as traveling teachers, in this great subcontinent where such wonderful strides forward have already been made...” (The Universal House of Justice)
Pioneers in Illinois[edit]
The Sterling-Rock Falls-Dixon area in northwestern Illinois needs pioneers.
There are a number of job possibilities in factories, a steel mill that employs several thousand people, banks, and a good-sized shopping center. There is also a large institution for the mentally retarded near Dixon which employs many people. Sauk Valley Junior College, which offers a wide variety of courses, is located between Sterling and Dixon.
The twin cities of Sterling and Rock Falls have a combined population of about 30,000; Dixon has about 19,000. Only a few Bahá’ís are scattered among the three towns and outlying smaller towns.
For further information, please contact: James and Vicki Howell, Rural Route 2, Rock Falls, Illinois 61071 (Tel. No. 312/626-4410), or Timothy or Debra McGinn, 210 East Seventh Street, Rock Falls, Illinois 61071 (Tel. No. 625-6575).
Alabama Pioneers[edit]
Bahá’í settlers are needed in east-central Alabama in the Macon, Lee, and Russell Counties area. This region has experienced large-scale enrollments since 1970, and consolidation is needed to bring Assemblies to an active status.
Macon County: Tuskegee (population 11,000), the county seat, is the hub of efforts in the surrounding Bahá’í communities of Shorter, Notasulga, Macon County North, and other rural areas surrounding the city. This includes Union Springs (population 4,284) in adjacent Bullock County. Chief employers in Tuskegee and Macon County are the Tuskegee Institute with a student body of 3,001 and the 900-bed VA Hospital. An industrial park is being developed, and a plant for the chemical production of tomatoes is expected to open soon. Apartment units in town average $125 a month, and there are two mobile home parks which rent space for $25–$30 a month. House rentals, and sometimes purchases, are possible.
Lee County: Opelika (population 18,763), the county seat, is 30 miles east of Tuskegee and has some 50 industries, with textile manufacturing predominating. Auburn (population 23,572) is between Tuskegee and Opelika; Auburn University, with a student body of 15,337, is located there. Auburn is noted for its agricultural and animal husbandry schools. Auburn and Opelika both have mobile home parks and mobile homes for rent.
Russell County: Phenix City (population 24,926), the county seat, is a manufacturing city. Textiles and brickmaking are the principal industries. It is 40 miles east of Tuskegee and is separated from Columbus, Georgia (population 152,123), only by the Chattahoochee River.
Any Bahá’í settler in these parts must have a car. There is no public transportation. A willingness and an ability to learn from the local people is also an invaluable asset in achieving results.
Please contact the District Teaching Committee of Southern Alabama for further information: Mrs. Donna Gordon, Secretary, Route 1, Box 223-C, Tuskegee, Alabama 36083.
Help Guadalupe[edit]
A few years ago Guadalupe, California, a town of approximately 2,500 population, was opened to the Faith. The Bahá’í community is composed of Spanish-speaking believers. Guadalupe is chiefly an agricultural city.
Anyone interested in pioneering to this area, located a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, should write directly to the Southern California District 3 Teaching Committee in care of: Mrs. Margot Worley, 128 Naomi Avenue, Pismo Beach, California 93449.
BAHÁ’Í BOOKS AND MATERIALS[edit]
BAHÁ’Í LITERATURE[edit]
The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days
by H. M. Balyuzi
With this biography of the Báb, Hand of the Cause Mr. Balyuzi has completed his trilogy on the Central Figures of the Faith. In addition to presenting a captivating and scholarly account of the life and mission of the Báb, Mr. Balyuzi has also included material on the activities of the Dawn-Breakers. Mr. Balyuzi has made liberal use of official documents from government records containing eyewitness accounts of Western diplomats who had the opportunity to observe the Báb and His followers. As an Afnán, or relative of the Báb, Mr. Balyuzi has also had access to fascinating material in the family archives. Several items from these archives, including a letter from the Báb to His wife, the Báb’s marriage certificate, and a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh, are included among the book’s fifteen illustrations. The book contains extensive notes, several appendices, a bibliography, and an index. The Báb is essential for the reader wishing a deeper understanding of the Herald of the Faith and His followers. 192 pages.
Cloth/$5.25
The Promise of All Ages
by George Townshend
A new cloth edition of George Townshend’s The Promise of All Ages is now available. In his book, Townshend traces the spiritual content of religion through past Dispensations and shows how the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh is the culmination of the promises and prophecies of past religions. This attractive rose-colored book is similar in design to The Heart of the Gospel. 125 pages.
Cloth/$3.50
Paper/$0.50
God and His Messengers
by David Hofman
This delightful collection of stories for children is now available in a revised paper edition. Teaching the concept of progressive revelation, God and His Messengers presents stories about several of the Manifestations of God, including Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muḥammad, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh. The stories are written in a warm, conversational style and are illustrated by Zohreh Zahra’i. Especially suited for grades K–5. 55 pages.
Paper/$0.75
Tokens from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
Selected and illustrated by Jay and Constance Conrader
Tokens from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, which combines exquisite nature photographs and drawings with the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, is now available. The quotations containing the spiritual concepts of the Bahá’í Faith and the photographs complementing them emphasize the beauty and mystery of the physical world and its underlying spiritual significance. Tokens contains thirty-three photographs, ten in color, by Jay Conrader, and numerous drawings by Constance Conrader. The volume is bound in deep gold and ivory natural linen. Tokens will appeal to all who appreciate beauty in the natural and spiritual worlds and will be a cherished personal possession, an impressive gift, and a dignified item for presentation to community leaders. 80 pages.
Cloth/$9.00
SPECIAL MATERIALS[edit]
6-49-01 Bahá’í House of Worship note cards: 8-card assortment
Beautiful note cards featuring daytime and sunset views of the Houses of Worship in Wilmette and Frankfurt, aerial and ground views of the House of Worship in Sydney, and two ground views of the House of Worship in Kampala are now available. This eight-card assortment contains one each of the eight different views. The note cards are gift boxed, with envelopes. They are appropriate for personal correspondence and invitations, and they also make a lovely gift.
6 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches.
$1.20 NET
6-49-02 Bahá’í House of Worship note cards: 16-card assortment
The sixteen-card assortment contains two each of the eight different views of the Bahá’í Houses of Worship in Wilmette, Frankfurt, Sydney, and Kampala. These note cards are also gift boxed, with envelopes.
$2.00 NET
Note cards featuring a single view of a House of Worship may be ordered in quantity. Gift boxed, with envelopes.
- 6-48-01 Wilmette, daytime view
- 6-48-02 Wilmette, sunset view
- 6-48-03 Sydney, aerial view
- 6-48-04 Sydney, ground view
- 6-48-05 Kampala, ground view
- 6-48-06 Kampala, ground view, framed by trees
- 6-48-07 Frankfurt, sunset view
- 6-48-08 Frankfurt, daytime view
15/$2.00 NET
(Larger quantity prices available on request)
| TO ORDER: | Order through community Librarians if possible! Personal Orders: Enclose full payment, Plus $.30 handling charge for all Literature orders under $5.00, and 10 percent (minimum $.30) for all Special Materials orders. |
BAHÁ’Í LITERATURE[edit]
World Order, Spring 1973
The Spring 1973 issue of World Order magazine is now available from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust. This special issue contains an important editorial—“Nine Years Toward World Order”—which charts the systematic expansion of the Faith from the Báb’s injunction to teach the Cause of God through ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets of the Divine Plan, the first and second Seven Year Plans, and the Ten Year Crusade, culminating in a moving discussion of the goals and victories of the recently concluded Nine Year Plan. This editorial provides a historical perspective from which to view the impressive achievements of Bahá’ís in the United States and around the world. The Spring issue also contains a collection of poems by Rowell Hoff, a review of W. Warren Wagar’s Building the City of Man, and articles on obedience and the universal law, nutrition and educational planning (part of the series on the ANISA Model), and youth service and the United Nations. This issue of World Order will be of interest both to Bahá’ís and to those interested in the remarkable progress of the Faith.
Single copy/$1.25 NET
10 or more copies to the same address/$0.90 NET
SPANISH LITERATURE[edit]
There are now three Spanish publications with identical titles. To avoid confusion, please include the subtitle as well as the title when ordering.
The Bahá’í Faith—Dawn of a New Day
This pamphlet contains a list of Bahá’í principles, a selection of quotations, a chart on progressive revelation, statistics on the growth of the Faith, three appreciations of the Faith, and several line drawings. Inexpensively printed in black and white.
1/$0.05 NET
100/$3.50 NET
The Bahá’í Faith—An Introduction
A simple, introductory book by Gloria Faizi covering the history and teachings of the Faith. Includes several sections of quotations.
Paper/$0.50
The Bahá’í Faith—The Religion of Bahá’u’lláh
A short, new brochure consisting of excerpts from a summary of the Faith prepared by Shoghi Effendi for the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. Contains statements on the mission of Bahá’u’lláh and the history and teachings of the Faith. The green and black cover features an attractive photograph of the Shrine of the Báb.
1/$0.05 NET
100/$2.00 NET
SPECIAL MATERIALS[edit]
2-02-00 World Centre Poster Assortment
A new collection of eight color posters featuring views of the holy places in Haifa and ‘Akká is now available. This assortment includes four 8 1/2 x 11 inch posters and four 17 x 22 inch posters. The smaller posters contain a view of the Shrine of the Báb, an aerial view of ‘Akká, a view of delegates to the 1963 Bahá’í International Convention in front of the Archives building, and an aerial view of the arc on Mt. Carmel, showing the Archives building and new garden areas. The larger posters include an aerial view of the Shrine of the Báb and the Archives building, an aerial view of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and the gardens at Bahjí, a view of the mansion of Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí, and an aerial view of the Most Great Prison and ‘Akká. All eight posters are printed on glossy paper. Suitable for exhibits, displays, flip charts, lesson illustrations, and visual presentations for large and small groups.
$2.00 NET
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Bahá’í News / World Order SPECIAL COMBINATION OFFER
For the SPECIAL COMBINATION OFFER to apply, subscriptions or renewals for both publications must be processed at the same time. Questions and Answers about the SPECIAL COMBINATION OFFER
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What have these friends seen that you haven’t? They have participated in a special tour of the Bahá’í House of Worship and the National Bahá’í Administrative Center. This special program, initiated last summer, has been greatly enjoyed by all those who participated. Highlights of your visit this year will be:
The dates for each visit are: August 31–September 2 and October 19–21 Housing will be arranged at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge, Skokie, Illinois, and transportation will be provided as follows:
Rates at the Lodge:
Please note: There is a 5% tax on all accommodations. Children under 12 - no extra charge. No babysitting facilities will be available. All housing and meal costs are to be paid by the visitors. |
| International |
| Teaching |
| Centre |
| Meets |
| Youth |
| Conference |
| Coverage |
| Board |
| Counsellors |
| Expanded |