The American Bahá’í/Volume 5/Issue 9/Text
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More than 10,000 believers attend First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan. Aug. 29–Sept. 1[edit]
NSA launches Five Year Plan in U.S.[edit]
A record number of Bahá’ís were present in St. Louis for the last stage in the phased launching of the Five Year Plan in the United States. The National Spiritual Assembly announced the selection of California, Illinois, and New York as the three states to conduct intensive proclamation programs during the first part of the Five Year Plan. Five cities—San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.—were also chosen for concentrated teaching efforts, and the Local Spiritual Assemblies there were instructed to develop local plans. For details see page 3.
Amatu’l-Bahá: raise quality of Bahá’í life[edit]
The representative of The Universal House of Justice in St. Louis, the Hand of the Cause of God Rúḥíyyih Khánum, urged the friends assembled for the First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan to concentrate on improving the quality of their individual lives and their contribution to the life of their local Bahá’í communities. Rúḥíyyih Khánum met with St. Louis Mayor John Poelker on the morning of August 29. News of her visit to the city and interviews with the wife of the late Guardian were carried by the local news media. For details see page 3.
Counsellors, Auxiliary Board offer help[edit]
The Continental Board of Counsellors and its Auxiliary Board were introduced to the Bahá’ís assembled in St. Louis and made several presentations about their work and their aspirations. Counsellor Lloyd Gardner said these institutions could be expected to spend more time with Local Spiritual Assemblies in the years ahead, and reported the Supreme Body’s wish that the Counsellors and Board members spend more time “at the grassroots.” Counsellor Sarah Pereira ended with a plea to the believers to use the Counsellors and their Auxiliary Board members to help strengthen Bahá’í communities. See story on page 3.
National, Local Assembly members hold historic meeting[edit]
An historic first meeting between the National Spiritual Assembly and members of hundreds of Local Spiritual Assemblies was a highlight of the First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan. The purpose of the meeting was “to establish a closer relationship between the National Assembly and the local Administrative bodies and to evoke a feeling of the direction the Local Assemblies should take during the next five years in order to prosecute successfully the solemn mandate given them by The Universal House of Justice,” said National Assembly Secretary Glenford Mitchell. See story page 4.
Children’s classes stress cooperation[edit]
Almost 1,700 children were enrolled in a three-day experimental Bahá’í school which functioned during the St. Louis Conference. More than 75 teachers, trained in a two-day workshop preceding the conference, worked with the children to further the development of children as Bahá’ís and to teach them ways to participate actively in Bahá’í community life. The training stressed the acquisition by children of basic virtues like courtesy, honesty, and justice through cooperation. “The children’s program is an integral part of this National Bahá’í Conference,” Magdalene Carney, one of the school coordinators, said. “The National Spiritual Assembly decided that the conference must accommodate the children in order to get the parents involved.” See story page 12.
Youth to supply ‘spiritual energy, zeal’[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly has summoned the Bahá’í youth of the United States to complete a special Two-Year Youth Program which relates to the specific goals for youth in the Five-Year Plan.
The National Assembly, in a message delivered by Glenford E. Mitchell, called the youth of America to undertake circuit-teaching, minority teaching, and expanded college training, to aid in the ultimate success of the Five Year Plan. For details of the program, turn to page 13.
Tobey assists proclamation[edit]
The Mark Tobey Art Exhibit is assisting in the proclamation of the Bahá’í teachings during the St. Louis Conference. In addition to the massive publicity and advertising campaign carried out by the National Information Office, and the contact made by the thousands of Bahá’ís attending the conference, many St. Louis residents are visiting Washington University’s Steinberg Hall to view 23 paintings and prints by the distinguished Bahá’í artist.
The Tobey Exhibit has generated extensive publicity in and around St. Louis, giving prominence to the conference and Mark Tobey’s association with the Faith. To learn more about this free show, and Tobey’s feelings regarding the Faith and art, see the story on page 7.
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Conference invested with singular significance 27 August 1974 WITH HIGH HOPES AND HEARTS OVERFLOWING WITH JOY WELCOME CONVOCATION BY CHIEF PROSECUTORS DIVINE PLAN CONFERENCE ST. LOUIS STOP UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER ITS ATTENDANCE EXTENT ENTHUSIASM DETERMINATION RANK FILE BELIEVERS UNIQUENESS OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED THEM THIS CRUCIAL HOUR FORTUNES THEIR NATION AND MANKIND OPENING STAGE FIVE YEAR PLAN ALL COMBINE INVEST THIS CONFERENCE WITH SINGULAR SIGNIFICANCE ANNALS OF BELOVED FAITH STOP FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES ABUNDANT BLESSINGS MAY DESCEND SURROUND THIS EPOCHAL CONFERENCE ENABLE IT BECOME VEHICLE RELEASE FRESH SPIRITUAL ENERGIES ENTIRE AMERICAN COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTE EFFECTIVELY EARLY ATTAINMENT SHINING GOALS FIVE YEAR PLAN PAVE WAY FOR STILL GREATER TRIUMPHS AS WE APPROACH CLOSING DECADE FATE-LADEN RADIANT CENTURY STOP DO NOT RELEASE THIS CABLE NOW TEXT TO BE READ FIRST BY AMATU’L-BAHA. UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
AUGUST 23, 1974 WHOLEHEARTEDLY PRAYING COMPLETE SUCCESS YOUR CONFERENCE. OFFERING COLLABORATION ACHIEVEMENT PIONEER GOALS SOUTH AMERICA. DEEPEST LOVE. CONTINENTAL BOARD OF COUNSELLORS
AUGUST 28, 1974 FRIENDS CRADLE FAITH SHARE FEELINGS ATTENDANCE BAHA’I ST. LOUIS CONFERENCE PRAYING YOUR COMPLETE SUCCESS. LOVE. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY BAHA’IS IRAN
AUGUST 29, 1974 LOVING GREETINGS FRIENDS ASSEMBLED FIRST CONFERENCE FIVE YEAR PLAN. PRAYING OUTSTANDING SUCCESS GLORIOUS OCCASION LAUNCHING NEW PLAN. HAWAII REPRESENTATIVE AYALA ARRIVING FRIDAY AFTERNOON. ALOHA. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY BAHA’IS HAWAII
TO: THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD, NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS, CONTINENTAL BOARD OF COUNSELLORS, AUXILIARY BOARD MEMBERS AND ALL THE FLOWERS OF HIS GARDEN FATHERED AT THIS, THE GREATEST COUNCIL MEETING. OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU DURING YOUR GREAT MEETING. THE SPIRIT AND LIGHT THAT IS BEING CREATED FROM ST. LOUIS WILL FILL THE HEAVENLY CONCOURSE WITH JOY. THE FIVE YEAR PLAN WILL BE FULFILLED MANY MONTHS AHEAD OF TIME. DAN R. YAZZIE, |
Local communities assist planning for Conference[edit]
Five short, busy months ago, the Local Spiritual Assembly of St. Louis learned from the National Spiritual Assembly that their community had been selected to host the First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan.
The Assembly, responding to the task with excitement and enthusiasm, participated in the formation of an intercommunity conference committee consisting of representatives from each of the surrounding localities.
In addition to coordinating manpower and transportation for the conference, the committee undertook important promotional activities. More than 2,500 posters, 15,000 handbills and 600 notices were distributed in the St. Louis area.
Assembly Secretary Cheryl Thomas said the tremendous amount of conference work created a feeling of unity and service between the communities and, at least for the St. Louis area, served as a vehicle for fulfilling one of the goals of the Five Year Plan—cooperation between communities.
The committee, working with Bea Busby, a member of the National Teaching Committee staff, made extensive plans to follow up on the teaching opportunities presented by the conference. Five firesides have been planned at the Jefferson Hotel for the five weeks following the conference and other firesides will be held regularly in the St. Louis and surrounding communities.
Members of the St. Louis Assembly are: Jack Bowles, chairman; Cheryl Thomas, secretary; Ralph Thomas, vice-chairman; Elenora Bowles, recording secretary; Joseph Dickerson, treasurer; Eileen Halterman, Arlene Lee, Mary January and Luan Wishon.
Two-year program assigned to youth[edit]
The Bahá’í youth of the United States have been called once again by the National Spiritual Assembly to provide the particular contributions of “spiritual energy, zeal and idealism” to carry out the objectives of a two-year youth program.
Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, Glenford E. Mitchell, said that it was the intention of The Universal House of Justice to lavishly spend the vitality of the youth in the accomplishment of the Five Year Plan as these goals are designed to ensure a good future for them and their children.
Twelve specific tasks for which the National Spiritual Assembly requests the “unflagging attention” of the youth include:
- an increase in the number of Bahá’ís from all walks of life,
- an increase in the investment of energy in the plans of Local Spiritual Assemblies and teaching committees as they initiate efforts to reach minority groups, namely Armenian, Basque, Chinese, Greek, Japanese and Spanish-speaking peoples,
- helping to win the intensive teaching objectives in the states of California, Illinois and New York and the District of Columbia,
- dispersal of a minimum of 100 homefront pioneers including five to Indian reservations,
- the undertaking of 500 domestic circuit-teaching trips, at least ten of which must be of two months’ duration with special attention given to the four places engaged in special teaching plans and the need to reach minorities,
- the deployment of 25 international pioneers at least five of whom must endeavor to fill specific goals of the Five Year Plan,
- a minimum of 75 travel-teaching projects in foreign lands,
- an increase in the number of Bahá’í college clubs to 350 and the formation of high school clubs,
- the establishment of 100 local youth clubs within the sponsorship of Local Spiritual Assemblies,
- promotion and participation in service projects such as the holding of Bahá’í children’s classes at conferences, conventions and summer schools,
- participation in the series of state and district conferences, including one on an Indian reservation, to be held in 1975 to stimulate the winning of youth goals,
- regular contributions to the Bahá’í Fund.
A National Youth Committee, the first of its kind since 1959, was appointed recently by the National Spiritual Assembly to coordinate those major aspects of the Five Year Plan which particularly relate to youth. Composed of a member of the National Teaching Committee, the International Goals Committee, and the National Education Committee, two youth, and the secretary of the committee, Dr. Philip Christensen, the committee will operate through the existing channels of the administrative order. The Five Year Plan, the first in Bahá’í history to emphasize youth participation, has closely linked its goals with that of the Two-Year Youth Program during this opening phase of its first year.
The National Spiritual Assembly states: “The youth themselves will succeed by zealously developing a proper relationship between themselves and the institutions of the Faith, a development which must begin inevitably in their local communities with their immediate link to Local Spiritual Assemblies. The youth must demonstrate their love for and submissiveness to these Spiritual Assemblies, which operate at the level of society that may be regarded as the matrix of their social and spiritual development.”
Writing of these “shining lamps” which illumine local Bahá’í communities, the Supreme Institution of our Faith said that:
“This great prize, this gift of God within each community must be cherished, nurtured, loved, assisted, obeyed and prayed for.”
Youth are encouraged to study the Teachings, spiritualize their lives and form their characters in accordance with the standards of Bahá’u’lláh. By these actions and by appreciating the “immeasurable spiritual endowment of Local Assemblies,” the youth can “demonstrate to non-Bahá’í youth and to a disillusioned nation bereft of respect for time-honored institutions the power of Bahá’u’lláh’s system to regenerate society and invest fresh life into the institutions of a new civilization.”
Goal states singled out in plan[edit]
“We will see new believers entering our Faith by troops if we as individual Bahá’ís make an intense commitment to teach the Faith and to live a distinctive Bahá’í life,” Glenford Mitchell, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, assured almost 10,000 Bahá’ís in an address at the Friday morning session of the St. Louis Conference.
Recalling the victories of the Nine Year Plan, when American believers exceeded by 2,000 the goal of 3,000 localities set by The Universal House of Justice, Mr. Mitchell called for the same great effort in this current Plan. “Surely we can strive to have a Bahá’í living in each county of the country,” he suggested.
To implement the plan set by The Universal House of Justice in anticipation of great expansion in the numbers of Bahá’ís on the homefront, the National Spiritual Assembly has named California, Illinois, and New York as special goal areas, with the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York chosen for concentrated attention. “When we thought of the singular position of Washington, D.C., visited so many times by the Master and not located in any state, we decided to add it to our list of special goal areas,” explained the National Assembly secretary.
Mr. Mitchell also focused attention on world needs facing the American Bahá’í community.
“Pioneer goals for six countries have already been filled and it is believed this number will be raised to 13 by September,” he announced. “With inflation an increasing problem in all parts of the world, we are hastening to acquire properties in the countries assigned to us and hope to have those in Bermuda and the Bahamas before the expiry of this coming year.”
He mentioned a unique situation in which the Local Spiritual Assembly of Fort Lauderdale had offered teaching assistance in the Bahamas. “The International Goals Committee is encouraging continuation of this successful effort,” said Mr. Mitchell, “which will greatly help in building the Local Spiritual Assemblies necessary before the establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahamas, as assigned to us in the Five Year Plan.”
Bahá’ís warmly applauded news of a new believer in the Falkland Islands, a dentist, whose work has taken him to goal areas throughout the islands. “The National Assembly had been worried due to the departure from this important goal of two pioneers, but the Faith is greatly strengthened by a local person of stature entering it. Here we have to establish five groups by the end of the Plan.”
Two committees charged with much of the responsibility for achieving homefront goals were presented to the gathering. They were the National Teaching Committee, whose members are John Berry, Joan Bulkin, John Conkling, Soo Fouts, Robert Henderson, and Fereydoun Jalali; and the National Education Committee with Frances Amundson, Deborah Christensen, Anthony Greene, Fred Littman, Barbara Marino, Eileen Norman, and Don Streets. The two committee secretaries, John Berry and Eileen Norman, each read to the conference the goals assigned their committee by the National Spiritual Assembly.
As well as the special states chosen for concentrated teaching effort, Bahá’í youth throughout the country are receiving a letter from the National Spiritual Assembly giving them a special role in the Five Year Plan. “We are hoping the youth will become transmitters of spiritual medicine for our fellowman,” said Mr. Mitchell, “not channels for the social pathology which now afflicts so much of our society.”
“On this fateful occasion of the launching of the Five Year Plan in the continental United States, we turn again with high expectations to the Bahá’í
Amatu’l-Bahá: make Bahá’í life ‘talisman’[edit]
An appeal from the Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum to improve the quality of Bahá’í community life and make it “the talisman that will draw mankind quickly under the shadow of Bahá’u’lláh” and “hasten the advent of the Kingdom of God on earth” drew prolonged applause from thousands of Bahá’ís gathered at the opening session of the First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan in Kiel Auditorium Thursday evening. Describing the goals of the Five Year Plan given by The Universal House of Justice, Rúḥíyyih Khánum urged the friends to concentrate on improving the quality of their individual lives and their contribution to the life of their local Bahá’í community.
Though she arrived late Wednesday night from the Holy Land and participated in many events earlier Thursday, Rúḥíyyih Khánum appeared radiant and rested at the opening session.
Thursday morning, she presented a copy of Tokens from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh to the mayor of St. Louis, John Poelker, and received in return a charm of the famous St. Louis Arch. The two spoke together of present world conditions and the overwhelming problems confronting mankind.
“I have said to many people on occasion that the encouraging thing is that we do not have to be here forever,” Mayor Poelker commented, to which the Hand of the Cause quietly agreed. They talked about Rúḥíyyih Khánum’s 36,000-mile trip to visit Bahá’í communities throughout the world and she extended a cordial invitation for the mayor to visit the Holy Land.
Later in the day, she was guest of honor at a reception conducted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States for the Hands of the Cause, the Continental Board of Counsellors of North America, Auxiliary Board Members, and distinguished guests of the National Spiritual Assembly.
The Hands of the Cause Collis Featherstone, ‘Abu’l-Qasim Faizí, William Sears, Zikru’lláh Khadem, and John Robarts greeted the guests and shared news from the various parts of the world they had visited.
Later, at the Kiel Auditorium, the words of Rúḥíyyih Khánum left no doubt that humanity was facing dark, though also glorious, times. “We stand at the threshold of another of those great plans of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan,” she said. “I sometimes think we make things unnecessarily complicated in this world. The broad outlines of things are always simple. You can have as many details by the time you are finished with a subject as you care to have, but it seems to me the basic truths are simple.
“Really, we Bahá’ís are experiencing part of a love affair, the love affair begun very, very long ago, when God (according to different traditions and writings) seems to have gotten tired of being by Himself. He wanted someone to love Him, and so He made man. It seems to have been just as simple and just as beautiful as that. That is the whole history of our species, a love affair between God, our Creator, and the soul of man. We came into this world because He wants us to know Him and when we go out, we are drawn ever nearer towards our Creator, if we have developed our spiritual capacity.”
The Hand of the Cause of God Rúḥíyyih Khánum
It is towards this development of our spiritual capacity, she added, that the great teaching plans are borne from the Tablets of the Divine Plan of the Master. “Into this drama comes the Best Beloved, the One to Whom this planet seems to have been introduced by God. This is Bahá’u’lláh’s planet. He offered it long, long ago in some mysterious way we do not understand and He will go on for 500,000 years, a period of time that is very dazzling to consider.
“We Bahá’ís find ourselves at this tremendous juncture in history, when the Supreme Manifestation has come, when mankind is coming of age. He wants to give mankind a gift at this period of his maturity. This is really what our religion is about and everything Bahá’u’lláh has given us is a key to this period of man’s early adulthood, leaving behind the period of its childhood. The way that this revelation of God, the first stage of educating us in our privileges and joys, is beginning, is called the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”
In moving terms, Rúḥíyyih Khánum described the importance of the Five Year Plan. “This Plan will undoubtedly be of tremendous historical significance,” she asserted, “but just at what point it is coming in the fortunes of mankind we do not yet know. None of us know what the years ahead may contain in the form of chastisement for mankind, of catastrophe, or world change, paving the way towards the establishment of the oneness of mankind and the establishment of the lesser peace within this century.
Counsellors, Auxiliary Board stress growth[edit]
The four Continental Counsellors for North America and the Auxiliary Board members present in St. Louis were introduced to the friends at the National Bahá’í Conference and spent a morning talking about their work and their aspirations.
The dominant theme of these presentations was that the friends should promote the growth and consolidation of their local institutions. It was noted that fully half of the Five Year Plan message of The Universal House of Justice dealt with strengthening of Local Spiritual Assemblies.
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Subscription prices increasing As a result of increasing prices for materials, services, and labor, the National Spiritual Assembly has been forced to allow an increase in the price of subscriptions for Bahá’í News, World Order, and Child’s Way effective November 1. The new yearly price for Bahá’í News will be $8.00; for World Order $6.00. Until November 1 subscriptions are available at current prices: Bahá’í News, $6.00; World Order, $4.50 (combination offer, $9.50); and Child’s Way, $4.50. Details will follow in subsequent issues. |
Counsellor Lloyd Gardner said the Continental Board and its Auxiliary Board could be expected to spend more time with Local Spiritual Assemblies in the years ahead. He referred to a letter from the Supreme Body urging the Counsellors to spend more time at the grassroots.
Dr. Sarah Pereira said that collaboration between institutions was a key factor in the development of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order toward spiritual maturity. She urged the believers to take advantage of the institutions of the Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members in their work of strengthening the base of the Bahá’í administrative system.
She indicated the willingness of these institutions to assist Local Assemblies toward the realization of their responsibilities and their station.
Counsellor Edna True said the American Bahá’í community has the privilege and responsibility to carry forward the next step in the growth of the Faith on this continent, and that we are assured of the blessings and guidance of Bahá’u’lláh should we arise to meet our responsibilities. She said we have inherited both the mantle of the Dawnbreakers, and the work of building the Bahá’í Administrative Order begun by Shoghi Effendi.
NSA, LSA’s at historic meeting[edit]
An historic first meeting between the National Spiritual Assembly and members of Local Spiritual Assemblies across the country highlighted the second session of the First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan at Kiel Auditorium.
The purpose of the gathering—unprecedented in the annals of the Faith in this country and perhaps in the entire world—was “to establish a closer relationship between the National Assembly and the local administrative bodies, and to evoke a feeling of the direction the local Assemblies should take during the next five years in order to prosecute successfully the solemn mandate given them by The Universal House of Justice in its remarkable Riḍván message to the Bahá’í world community,” said National Assembly Secretary, Glenford E. Mitchell.
In keeping with the conference theme, “From Strength to Strength,” National Assembly members emphasized the divinely ordained power of each local Assembly while discussing a variety of elements essential to their further development into the sort of mature and deepened consultative and teaching bodies envisioned by the House of Justice.
Mr. Mitchell, in presenting a broad overview of the challenging tasks confronting the American believers in this most crucial period, reminded the Assembly representatives that The House of Justice in its blueprint for the Five Year Plan laid heavy emphasis on the development of local Assemblies, especially in relation to the growth of the distinctive character of Bahá’í life that forms one of the three major objectives of the Plan.
The seeds of this development, Mr. Mitchell said, were planted by the Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, during His visit to the United States in 1912 and later in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, and lovingly nurtured by the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, architect of the Bahá’í administrative order.
And now, Mr. Mitchell added, “It is full time that we grew up. It is full time that we took on the responsibilities given to us as divine institutions.
“We know the old world order is dying fast,” he said. “You, as members of Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies, are the cutting edge of the new world order. It is thus imperative that you step forward to assume the responsibilities to which you have been called.”
Earlier, Mr. Mitchell stressed the importance of an institutional response to the Five Year Plan goal of the development of the distinctive character of Bahá’í life.
“This is different and distinct from any individual’s response to the message of the House of Justice,” he said. “The institution—the Assembly—executes the laws of Bahá’u’lláh, and so its members must develop the proper attitudes toward these laws, as well as toward other Assemblies and toward the National Assembly and other Bahá’í institutions. The Assembly is an institution of justice.
“The National Assembly wishes to make the local Assemblies aware that they have reached a new stage in their evolution,” Mr. Mitchell concluded, “and that we are one with them.”
Vice-Chairman Dr. Daniel Jordan presented the National Assembly’s plan for the systematic development of local Assemblies during the Five Year Plan. The plan, he said, includes three basic elements: (1) what Assemblies need to know in order to develop; (2) the formation of each local Assembly’s own Five Year Plan, and (3) the administration and implementation of these plans.
In carrying out the first of these elements, said Dr. Jordan, the National Assembly plans to emphasize the nature of the local Assembly as a divine institution and its close connection to all other Bahá’í institutions, whether local, national or international, and to point out the need for a deeper understanding of Bahá’í administration and an increased awareness of the transcendent importance of the National Fund, the lifeblood of the administrative order.
Prosecution of the second element, he said, involved the establishment by the National Assembly of four “basic minimums”: (1) every Assembly in a community of less than 15 members will have as one of its first objectives raising the number of community members to 15 or more to ensure consolidation of the victories won; (2) Assemblies will be urged to meet regularly, to study the Writings and learn how better to administer the laws of the Faith; (3) Assemblies will be asked to observe Feasts, Holy Days, and Bahá’í anniversaries regularly; and (4) Assemblies will be reminded of the importance of establishing a local Fund and of contributing regularly to the National Fund.
The third element, Dr. Jordan said, is directed toward such day-to-day procedural matters as how to form an agenda, the process of delegating authority, how to monitor and supervise committees, how to handle personal problem-solving, recordkeeping, consultation, declarations, and enrollments. Mr. Mitchell then added that a new manual for local Assemblies is being developed and soon would be available.
Miss Magdalene Carney, addressing herself to the development of the distinctive characteristics of Bahá’í life enjoined by the House of Justice, said there were two elements in that development: inspiration and universal participation.
The Bahá’í community, she said, must be distinguished by the closely-knit fabric of its community life. And just as all share in giving to the Faith, so all must share in its work, she added.
National Treasurer Dr. Dorothy Nelson said the local Assemblies were the “chief instruments” in bringing to fruition the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh because, she said, “you are a divine institution, one that is truly distinctive in religious history, and one that will transform the earth.”
Local Assemblies, she added, have a special obligation toward the National Fund, and the obligation must be shared by each member of the local body and not shouldered by its treasurer alone.
And since the unity of mankind forms the pivotal principle of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, Dr. Nelson concluded, the Bahá’í community must, in the words of the beloved Guardian, “be distinguished by the concord and harmony of its relationships.”
Developing those relationships was the topic undertaken by Dr. Dwight Allen, who told the Assembly members: “It is immensely important that you have a sense of the destiny of local Assemblies. Let us look at our imperfections as hopeful promises of things to come.”
Dr. Allen outlined a number of stumbling blocks to Assembly development in his wide-ranging talk, including spiritual blockbusting, old-world stereotypes, the “read-it-all” syndrome, and other matters at what he described as the “nitty-gritty level” of Bahá’í community life.
Resolving these problems, he said, is the continuing job of every member of every local Assembly everywhere.
Consultation, said Dr. Allen, is both a practical and mystical process. “We have to educate each other,” he said, “to the spiritual role of Bahá’í administration. We must maintain a sense of balance. We must be sensitive to our differences, our diversity.
Assemblies must never be afraid,” Dr. Allen said, “to treat people special. On the contrary, they must make each and every member of the community feel special and unique, because every member is special and unique.”
National Assembly Chairman Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, who presided at the meeting, expressed the hope that other such gatherings might be held in the future, “perhaps in a football stadium.” It was a hope in which each member of his audience heartily concurred.
Poster distributed in city.
The National Spiritual Assembly greeting the friends.
Publicity reflects importance of conference[edit]
The publicity and advertising prepared for the First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan reflected the great importance given to this event by the National Spiritual Assembly.
In addition to using quantities of free public affairs and news time offered by broadcasters and publishers, the National Spiritual Assembly funded an ambitious advertising campaign of its own, designed to reach all segments of the St. Louis community. The advertising included material for newspaper, radio, and television.
It began to appear in the St. Louis media on August 25 and continued throughout the conference week, as well as the following week. The local agency that placed the ads for the National Assembly estimated that the material was seen more than 10 million times. This degree of penetration meant that roughly 80 percent of the population in the metropolitan area of more than two million people saw the ads approximately six times each. The agency considered this a saturation level of advertising for the period of time involved.
The package included: four ¾-page advertisements in local newspapers; 110 drive-time radio commercials (drive time, the time during which commuters are on their way to and from work, is judged the most desirable time for radio advertising). The advertising was designed and produced at the National Bahá’í Center.
Reinforcing the advertising and news campaigns was a proclamation effort undertaken by St. Louis and surrounding communities. Approximately 2500 posters prepared by the National Bahá’í Information Office were placed in public places; special invitations to the Saturday night public meeting were prepared for use by the area Local Assemblies and groups; and more than 15,000 handbills were printed and distributed.
Bahá’ís seek personal roles in new Plan[edit]
The army of Bahá’u’lláh gathered in St. Louis this week, the largest Bahá’í gathering in history. All figures exceeded expectation.
One thousand children were expected for special classes. Seventeen hundred gathered. A total anticipated registration of nine thousand had already reached ten thousand before the opening session Thursday evening.
And it was not the same as other years. The exuberance and joy at seeing old friends and fellow workers in the Cause was there, but so was an added element. It was dignity and serious deliberation about individual goals. As crowds of Bahá’ís waited quietly for the doors of Kiel Auditorium to open, many commented on this aspect.
“I’m trying to decide how to take part in this Plan,” said one believer from the deep South. “I’m not too happy in crowds and it’s hard for me to associate with a lot of people, so I’ve promised Bahá’u’lláh that in this Five Year Plan I’ll try to come out of my shell.”
A Spanish-speaking Bahá’í spoke of renewed efforts to reach his “own people.” Immediately, he corrected himself. “I mean, everybody is ‘my own people,’ but especially I’m going to try to reach those who speak Spanish!”
For a Navajo believer, clad in the beautiful dress of her tribe, this conference was proof of her lifelong belief that people are one. Quietly, she acknowledged the loving greetings of friends, her face shining with the light of Bahá’u’lláh.
Another couple, stalwart teachers for many years in a South Carolina community, described the happiness of their bus trip to the conference. “I can remember when all the Bahá’ís of our state could have been fitted into two buses,” one of them recalled.
Some of the friends assembled in St. Louis.
Shining serenity and deep satisfaction on the face of a Persian believer couldn’t help but attract the gaze of those around him. Pointing to his three sons, he said in careful English they all lived now in America, but that his home was in Teheran. For the Americans who stood near, he brought a trace of the land of Tá, blessed by the footsteps of the Ancient Beauty.
For a member of the St. Louis community who had placed his car at the disposal of the Bahá’í news force, this conference represented another milestone in his decade in the Faith. “I was in a drug rehabilitative center when a non-Bahá’í offered to lend some of us material about the Faith,” he recalled. “Soon so many of us were Bahá’ís that we acted as if we were a Local Spiritual Assembly, although we couldn’t actually form one in that institution. My home community was informed when I left the facility and the years since have been made over for me by this Faith. Yes, it is the Cause of God!”
And so it went, members of the army of Bahá’u’lláh present in St. Louis through the loving teaching efforts of some Bahá’í, meeting to renew their promises to Bahá’u’lláh. With new goals set by The Universal House of Justice, in obedience to the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the ranks were forming into position, and that feeling of disciplined dedication was evident everywhere.
The Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh, “the envy of the world,” “the torch-bearers of an as yet unborn world civilization,” were here in St. Louis. Actions months from now may reveal the inner significance of this historic gathering.
Pioneering focus of Bahá’í fair[edit]
As confusing and overwhelming as the scene of thousands of people mingling along narrow aisles with background sounds of singing, drums, and a piano may seem, the friends found the trade fair offered them not only entertainment but vital information for making important decisions on pioneering.
The International Goals Committee—with booths for Africa, Europe, Asia and Australasia—and District Teaching Committees and Minority Teaching Committees—with 52 booths—provided employment and educational information as well as details about cost of living, the climate, and the people.
“This is so helpful because you can get a basic idea as to what the needs of these places are and how you might be able to best serve,” exclaimed a believer.
Another friend agreed, “With the information that I’m getting here I can go directly where I want to.”
Not all the booths were concerned with encouraging Bahá’ís to pioneer to a particular country. Many booths explained to the friends the functions of several national committees.
There was also a display about the Louis Gregory Institute, located in Hemingway, South Carolina. The exhibit included pictures of the Hand of the Cause Louis Gregory, the story of his life, and a scale model of the Institute.
The exhibit by the Treasurer’s Office seemed to be a favorite of the fair. The friends tested their knowledge of sacred verses electronically. A correct identification lighted a candle on the specially designed display.
There was also a booth that included pictures of the living Hands of the Cause of God and information explaining the importance of this sacred Institution.
Ingenuity came to the fore as the managers of the New Hampshire booth cut paper flowers to replace decorations lost in transit. Half the material for the South Dakota booth strayed, but the remainder was stretched to fit the space.
South Carolinians struggled to put together a giant outline of their state as a doorway for their corner booth. New Mexico District Teaching Committee members gasped with surprise at the reversed lettering on some of the signs in their collection of slides and hastily reversed the slides in the projector that alternated scenes of their state with portraits of the believers and the art of the people, including Indians and Spanish-speaking Americans.
The pioneer-styled Kansas booth drew comments while it was being built. People thought a barn-raising project was under way. The result, put together from shipping pallets, was reminiscent of the pioneer tradition in several ways.
Books lay open on desks for pioneers to sign up as National Assembly Secretary Glenford Mitchell announced to the convention that pioneering goals were being met almost hourly.
There were more than 72 exhibits and booths at the trade fair.
Meeting goals stressed by Treasurer[edit]
Steve Jackson, assistant to the Treasurer, plays own game.
A point the Office of the Treasurer made over and over in St. Louis was that there is a two-step process by which goals are accomplished. First, a specific goal is set; then, a concentrated effort must be made to fulfill it. “The first step is just as important as the second,” said Steve Jackson, Assistant to the Treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly.
One device used by the Office of the Treasurer to illustrate this point was a National Contributions Goal Lamp, set up at their booth at the Career Opportunities Fair, and constructed, according to Mr. Jackson, to “call attention to one important objective of this first year of the new Plan: to meet the fund goal established by the National Spiritual Assembly.”
The lamp was actually a game of strength. By striking one pad at the base of the lamp with a large hammer, a weighted ball was forced upwards along a measured track to a point commensurate with the force of the blow. This first blow set the goal, which had then to be met by striking a second pad with the same hammer and sending a second weighted ball on the opposite side of the lamp-post to a height that at least corresponded with the height of the first ball. When the second ball reached the level of the first ball, or surpassed it, the goal would be met, and the lamp would be lighted.
This Contributions Goal Lamp was a popular attraction at the Career Opportunities Fair.
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3 states selected for teaching plans
(Continued from Page 3)
youth for the particular contributions of ‘spiritual energy, zeal and idealism’ which they abundantly possess, for without such dynamic qualities the Plan cannot succeed,” he declared. Goals for the youth include dispersing at least 100 homefront pioneers, undertaking 500 domestic circuit-teaching trips, sending out 25 international pioneers, raising the number of Bahá’í college clubs to 350, and establishing 100 local youth clubs with the sponsorship of Local Spiritual Assemblies.
To the Bahá’í community at large, Mr. Mitchell addressed an appeal for each individual, group, and Local Spiritual Assembly to engage in regular study of the Teachings. “Each is encouraged to begin such a program now,” he said. “The great success we achieved during the Nine Year Plan will remain intact, and we will attain greater success if we gain more knowledge of God’s purpose for man, and particularly of His immediate purpose.”
In addition, he called upon each Local Spiritual Assembly to adopt one or more of the following goals: to raise a neighboring group to Assembly status by next Riḍván; to bring an isolated center to group status or open a new locality.
“If you have succeeded in opening a locality, please try to stay at your post,” urged Mr. Mitchell. “If you must leave, bring someone in to take your place, or enlist the help of the nearest Local Spiritual Assembly or your District Teaching Committee to retain the light of the Faith in that area. By all means, let us not abandon localities or permit Local Spiritual Assemblies to fall into jeopardy. Our hope is to build communities to 15, to prevent the accidental loss of these precious institutions when believers find that they have to move out of a community.”
Some of the steps he recommended for newly-formed Local Spiritual Assemblies included bringing the number of adult believers to fifteen, meeting regularly for devotional and deepening meetings, supporting the local Bahá’í and national Funds with regularity, and observing the Feast on the actual Feast day.
Reaching new believers from diverse backgrounds, such as Armenian, Basque, Spanish-speaking, Indian, Greek, and Chinese, is also a prime goal for the American community, according to Mr. Mitchell. “We are forming special committees to reach into these vitally important areas of our community and hope for full support in those teaching activities from individual Bahá’ís and communities alike.”
Elaborating on the special plan for California, Mr. Mitchell announced the goal of 999 localities and 95 Local Spiritual Assemblies in the state, as well as opening the remaining six counties which do not yet have Bahá’ís. In addition, California believers will attempt to incorporate 50 additional Local Spiritual Assemblies.
California picked to have five-year teaching plan[edit]
California is the first of the three states selected by the National Spiritual Assembly for intensive teaching and consolidation programs to receive a five-year plan of its own.
The text of a five-year plan for California was made public in St. Louis, a little more than a month after the National Assembly participated in its launching on July 13, in Santa Cruz.
The National Spiritual Assembly said in the text of the plan that the Master had wished California “to earn an ideal similarity with the Holy Land,” and had perceived the glorious prospect that from it and other Western states the “breaths of the Holy Spirit” would be “diffused to all parts of America and Europe.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent four weeks in California in 1912.
“The time has now come for the friends in California systematically to realize the Master’s hopes, especially since a goal of the Five-Year Plan is to ‘develop intensive teaching and consolidation plans in at least 3 states chosen among those visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, designed to attract great numbers to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh thereby initiating a process leading to the entry into the Faith by troops alluded to by the Master,’ ” the National Assembly said.
The goals assigned to California call for:
- raising the number of localities where Bahá’ís reside in California to 999, an increase of 274 localities over the existing total;
- opening the remaining six counties where Bahá’ís do not now reside;
- establishing 95 Assemblies in addition to maintaining those existing at Riḍván 1974 (among these must be one Assembly each on the Miwok, Rincon, and Pala Indian Reservations);
- incorporating an additional 50 Local Assemblies;
- taking determined steps to expand the teaching work in each local community among those representing at least one of the minority groups designated in the Five-Year Plan.
- expanding the use of radio and television for Bahá’í broadcasts aimed at proclamation of the Faith to greater numbers of listeners on a regular basis (use of the press should also be maintained, and even increased);
- encouraging and organizing regular classes and activities for adults, youth, and children;
- organizing regular classes to educate Bahá’í children in the Teachings of the Faith.
- fostering and encouraging youth activities, including firesides, study classes, teaching institutes, local youth clubs, college clubs, circuit teaching projects, and pioneering.
Consolidation institutes held in Missouri, Illinois[edit]
In anticipation of the coverage that the Faith will receive in the greater St. Louis area, the National Teaching Committee recently completed a series of institutes designed to prepare the Bahá’ís of Missouri and southern Illinois to consolidate new declarants from the region. The institutes covered teaching the masses, declaration and enrollment, proclamation, and the role of the Local Spiritual Assembly. The institutes were open to all Bahá’ís in the area, and two rallies were held, one in St. Louis and the other in Edwardsville, Illinois, to generate enthusiasm for the institutes and the conference.
John R. Berry, secretary of the National Teaching Committee, said that the institutes provided the immediate information needed to enroll new declarants and effectively absorb them into the Bahá’í community.
An intercommunity committee consisting of representatives from several St. Louis area communities has been established to utilize this information. St. Louis will be divided into zones once the areas where the new declarants reside have been identified. The St. Louis Assembly is estimating that there will be about 300 declarants as a result of the conference. Follow-up activities so far include the opening of an office by the National Teaching Committee at 4144 Lindell Street, where they will be holding nightly firesides for the next month. The St. Louis Assembly will host five public meetings, which will be held at the Jefferson Hotel during September.
Jack Bowles, chairman of the St. Louis Assembly, said there would be an increased use of the local media in an attempt to reach the outlying areas.
Summer teachers briefed for India[edit]
The International Goals Committee sponsored an institute for travel teachers to India from June 25 to July 2 at the home of Juan and Braulia Caban in Amherst, Massachusetts. Those in attendance were: Jay Tyson of Detroit, Michigan; Joan Hanlon of Grants Pass, Oregon; Shannon Javid of Scarsdale, New York; Robert Morrow of Houston, Texas; and Robert and Druzella Cederquist of Indianapolis, Indiana. Roberta Barrar, a student at the University of Massachusetts, also attended to share some of her experiences from a four-month trip to India in 1973.
Dr. Pattabi Raman represented the International Goals Committee. Dr. Raman gave an overview of the history of India and explained certain characteristics of Hindu practice and thought. Mr. Vasudevan Nair, from Malaysia and India, reviewed the Covenant and the world order of Bahá’u’lláh. He also gave an outline of the history of the Faith in India, its present situation, and its prospects under the Five-Year Plan.
One evening, the projecteers and their hosts shared an Indian feast. Later that evening, Dr. Donald Streets led a discussion on culture shock.
Magdalene Carney, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, gave the closing session on living the life and teaching the Cause.
On Tuesday, July 2, the projecteers flew to Bombay. From there, they will go to a conference in Indore where they will meet with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, after which they will proceed to their assignments.
North Carolina institute studies Five-Year Plan[edit]
The Five-Year Plan was the central theme of a teaching conference held on June 16 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Forty-six believers from several areas in the state attended the conference, which was sponsored by the Central North Carolina District Teaching Committee and hosted by the Greensboro Assembly.
Those attending heard inspirational talks on proclamation, expansion, and consolidation by Dr. Roger Roff of Dillon, South Carolina; on attitudes and prerequisites for teaching by Dr. Bill Zucker of Chapel Hill; and on the fabric of Bahá’í life by Mrs. Anne Respess of Greensboro.
A highlight of the conference was the initial presentation of the Bahá’í “Roadbox,” a 4-foot-high by 2½-foot-square traveling Bahá’í school developed by the Carolinas Mobile Bahá’í School Task Force and designed by John Kavelin of Winston-Salem.
Following the formal presentations, the attendees were divided into smaller groups to discuss teaching, deepening, Bahá’í social fabric, and mass media-visual aids.
Bahá’í Books Donated[edit]
The Bahá’ís of Sarpy County, Nebraska, recently donated two Bahá’í books to the Offut Air Force Base library. The head librarian, Mrs. Margaret Byrnes, said there had been requests for Bahá’í books in the past year.
Offut Air Force Base is the headquarters for the Strategic Air Command. The library serves both base personnel and their dependents.
Bahá’ís shown from left to right presenting books to Mrs. Byrnes, at the extreme left, are Susan O. Hulbert, Kim A. Stoddard, and Helen M. Manthorne.
Tobey exhibition organized in St. Louis to proclaim Faith[edit]
Twenty-three paintings by Mark Tobey, loaned by individual Bahá’ís went on display August 15 at Washington University’s Steinberg Hall in St. Louis.
The exhibition of works by the celebrated Bahá’í artist was organized to help proclaim the Faith in St. Louis during the period surrounding the First National Bahá’í Conference in Kiel Auditorium. Sponsored jointly by the National Spiritual Assembly and Washington University, the Tobey exhibition ran through September 5.
Extensive publicity generated by the university gallery gave prominence to the Faith and to Tobey’s association with it.
The Tobey exhibition was open free of charge to the public. Viewing hours were: 9-5 weekdays; 10-4 Saturdays; and 1-5 Sundays.
Tobey, now 84 and living in Basel, Switzerland, was the first American since Whistler to win the grand prize at the Venice Biennale (in 1958) and the first living American to get a full-dress retrospective at the Louvre (in 1961). Despite his popularity abroad, however, he has never received widespread recognition in this country. But there are signs now that he is coming into his own in his native land. Currently, a major exhibit of a large group of his paintings is on display at the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C. It will be shown at the St. Louis Art Museum December 7–January 12. The Greenberg Gallery in St. Louis will also mount a Tobey exhibition in December.
Tobey is best known for his tempera paintings “that dissolve into nothing but tiny, carefully incised white lines against darkish backgrounds.” Begun in the 1940s, these works of art are the “beginning of Tobey’s great ‘calligraphic’ style in which he filled the picture plane from top to bottom and from right to left several years before Pollock began to splash and whip paint across the face of the canvas.” This “calligraphy” is widely known as “white writing.” There has been speculation that this style evolved from the influence of Far Eastern culture on Tobey, but he himself attributed it to less mystic causes. He said: “People say I called my painting ‘white writing.’ I didn’t. Somebody else did. I was interested in an idea—why couldn’t structures be in white? Why did they always have to be in black? I painted them in white because I thought structures could be, should be light. What I was fundamentally interested in at the time was light.”
Tobey, a Midwesterner who was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Trempealeau, has been called the “link between East and West.” Yet Tobey’s avant-garde style was arrived at, according to William C. Seitz of the Museum of Modern Art, “in all but total independence of continental modernism, and it precedes the advent of the New York School, with which it is often—and not correctly—associated.”
Mark Tobey
Steinberg Hall, Washington University
Poster on exhibition prepared by the university gallery.
Tobey himself has said of his work: “My sources of inspiration have gone from those of my native Middle West to those of microscopic worlds. I have discovered many a universe on paving stones and tree barks. I know very little about what is generally called ‘abstract’ painting. Pure abstraction would mean a type of painting completely unrelated to life, which is unacceptable to me. I have sought to make my painting ‘whole’ but to attain this, I have used a whirling mass. I take up no definite position. Maybe this explains someone’s remark while looking at one of my paintings: ‘Where is the center?’ ”
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Bahá’ís gather for largest event in history of Faith[edit]
1. Bahá’ís moving into Kiel Auditorium for start of Conference; 2. The Hand of the Cause of God Rúḥíyyih Khánum arrives in St. Louis; 3. The Hands of the Cause Collis Featherstone, John Robarts, and William Sears share happy moment.
4. Bahá’ís continued to register throughout the weekend; 5. Russell Garcia wrote an original orchestral production for the conference; 6. The Baha’i Publishing Trust was on hand with its book collection; 7. A grand holiday; 8. A two-year youth program was launched in St. Louis.
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1. Three members of the National Spiritual Assembly met Rúḥíyyih Khánum at the airport; 2. National Assembly member Daniel Jordan helped with organization of children’s program; 3. The Hand of the Cause Collis Featherstone with his wife; 4. The Continental Counsellors greeted the friends and said they would work even more closely “at the grassroots.”
5. The Hand of the Cause William Sears with Ellsworth Blackwell, a member of the National Assembly of Haiti; 6. Magdalene Carney, a member of the National Assembly participated in planning and coordinating children’s program; 7. The Minnesota Bahá’í Chorus with participants from audience: 8. Happy faces; 9. Hard luck story.
News Briefs[edit]
Mr. Amoz Gibson
Mr. Charles Wolcott
Visitors from the Holy Land[edit]
Two members of The Universal House of Justice visited the National Center in quick succession recently, and during their stay met with the friends from the Chicago area. Amoz Gibson met with the Bahá’ís on August 4 in Foundation Hall of the House of Worship. Charles Wolcott followed a week later and also greeted the friends in Foundation Hall. It was Mr. Gibson’s first visit to the United States in six years. Mr. Wolcott was last here in July 1972. Both men were on leave from Haifa visiting relatives and friends in this country. Both were elected to the Supreme Body in 1963. Both served on the National Spiritual Assembly before moving to Haifa.
Esperanto League hears first talk on religion[edit]
The first presentations on a religious subject ever heard at an official Esperanto conference were made by Roan Stone, a Bahá’í Esperantist, on June 23. She spoke at the final session of the annual congress of the Esperanto League of North America held in Spokane, Washington. Her talk dealt with the writing of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era by J. E. Esslemont and its translation into Esperanto by Lidia Zamenhof, the daughter of the creator of this auxiliary language. Miss Zamenhof was herself a Bahá’í.
Before this meeting, there had been an unwritten law that neither religion nor politics would be discussed on the floor of an Esperanto conference, Mrs. Stone explained. Nonetheless, the Bahá’ís were invited to make their presentation.
“No one left the room in protest,” Mrs. Stone recalled. All of the delegates sat and listened “with rapt attention.” In the audience were two Catholic nuns, and the Protestant minister who made the invocation at the congress’ official banquet.
Four Bahá’ís, members of the Bahá’í Esperanto League, attended the Spokane congress. They were Knight of Bahá’u’lláh Gail Davis and Walter Gnagy, both of Alaska; Audra Anderson of Aberdeen, Washington; and Mrs. Stone of Gallup, New Mexico.
Quick start in Portland[edit]
The Five Year Plan got some serious attention from the Bahá’ís of Oregon at a recent Love and Fellowship Conference at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. The District Teaching Committee outlined a series of proposed goals to some 200 friends assembled. These goals included raising the number of Local Assemblies from 29 to 69 in two years and establishing an Assembly in every county of the state by the end of the Plan. The conference was conducted by a panel of Auxiliary Board members: Opal Conner, Margaret Gallagher, and Paul Pettit. Mr. Pettit said that current mass teaching projects were merely an allusion to the entry into the Faith by troops that is expected. He wondered whether Bahá’ís were ready for all that widespread acceptance of the Faith implied. By the end of the conference, 23 people indicated a willingness to pioneer at some point during the Plan. More than $3,000 was contributed to the building fund for the seat of The Universal House of Justice in Haifa.
Gathering at Dinnebito[edit]
A Bahá’í conference was held at Dinnebito on the Navajo-Hopi Indian Reservation, July 26-27, for the second consecutive year. The conference was sponsored by the Northern Arizona District Teaching Committee, and its purpose was fellowship and the interchange of ideas between Indian and non-Indian believers.
The host for the gathering was Dan Yazzie, chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Dinnebito. Approximately 75 people attended.
Mr. Yazzie said that watching the Bahá’ís work reminded him of the ants in the Navajo creation story. The ants taught man to work, to pray, to meditate, and to give structure to society by differentiating human roles in the manner of an army. The unity of the Bahá’í community is a result of its having learned these lessons well, he said.
Franklin Kahn, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, served as translator from Navajo to English during the conference.
As a result of teaching during the conference, ten new believers were enrolled.
Music mellow medium[edit]
Music was the medium for conveying information about the Bahá’í Faith to thousands of international visitors to the Expo ’74 World’s Fair in Spokane, Washington, this summer. Two Bahá’í entertainers, Ray Olivarez and Loring Newport—who call themselves “Núr”—gave four performances at Expo’s amphitheaters, July 21-22. They accompanied their singing with guitar, flute, African mbira, recorder, bass, and percussion. An estimated 2,000 people attended these performances. No direct teaching has been allowed at Expo ’74.
International construction project[edit]
Bahá’ís from El Centro, California, with their fellow believers from Mexicali, Mexico. The neighboring border communities cooperated in constructing a Bahá’í center in Mexicali. The land and materials were purchased by the Mexicali community. The work of construction was shared.
Proclamation features children’s education[edit]
Bahá’ís in the Pittsfield Township area of Michigan have designed a proclamation program to accomplish several goals of the Five Year Plan. They call their project the Children’s International Festival. Each performance of the festival is a morning of education and entertainment for children, and includes music from many lands, a film about a child in another part of the world, and a talk by a foreign visitor. A number of displays reinforce the theme of the oneness of mankind which is central to the festival, and stress the value of diversity.
The high point of the program from the children’s standpoint has been a puppet show based on the Russian folktale, “The Princess Who Never Smiled.”
In the view of the festival organizers it serves to make known “... the fact and general aim of the new Revelation” by exposing attending parents and children to the name of the Faith and to the principles of intercultural and interracial unity, and by providing an opportunity for coverage in the local media. The content of the festival program gives special attention to the minority groups mentioned in the text of the Plan.
Film festival featured[edit]
A Race Unity Day film festival, sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Los Angeles, was held June 9 on the University of California campus. Award winning films, “The Juggernaut,” about India, and “The Living Stone,” about the Eskimos, were presented to an audience of over one hundred. The Bahá’í New World Singers, a choir composed of members from Bahá’í communities in Los Angeles County, presented songs in Swahili, and read prayers in Russian, French, Persian, English, and Spanish.
A day in the life of a Publishing Trust editor[edit]
The Publishing Trust and its various departments, like the American Bahá’í community, are growing. Thus there are opportunities for increased numbers of people to serve the Faith by working at the Publishing Trust.
This article, the first of a series, will describe the editing department, which is responsible for reprinting existing books and pamphlets and for publishing new books and pamphlets approved by the National Spiritual Assembly. At times it also edits scripts for filmstrips and writes promotional copy. But its primary concern is the literature carried by the Trust. There are two major sections of the editing department—(1) editing, copy editing, and proofreading, and (2) secretarial work.
Editing, Copy Editing, Proofreading.[edit]
“What does an editor do?” and “How does the editing department function?” are questions frequently asked, inasmuch as one does not find “How to become an editor of books” listed in college and university catalogs or in adult education programs. When an editor receives a manuscript to be published, he or she must see that all aspects of it are in order—grammar, punctuation, content, style, accuracy of fact, and so on. A manuscript may first be given to a copy editor, who will be instructed to go over the manuscript marking it for house style, correcting punctuation, and checking the transliteration of Persian and Arabic words. The copy editor may also correct some of the more obvious lapses in style and fact, and he may suggest (and implement) changes in structure. The degree of work done by a copy editor on a manuscript depends entirely on his level of competence. When he first begins copy editing, he is often shy about “marking up” a neatly typed manuscript which represents many hours of work. As his confidence grows and he develops his skill, he will usually make bolder attempts to deal not only with the mechanics of the manuscript but also with the substance, if that is needed. Before completing his work the copy editor will also check the quotations in manuscripts, correcting errors and marking ellipses and quotation marks. He must be alert to quotations which have been taken out of context, and note the information needed for footnote and bibliographical entries.
After the copy editor completes his work, he turns the manuscript over to the editor. The editor deals in greater detail with the substance, structure, mechanics, and style of the manuscript. He also watches to see that the copy editor has been consistent, and he will generally recheck the quotations, as experience has shown that the margin for error is great even when one is careful.
When the editing is completed, the manuscript is returned to the author for approval of corrections. The manuscript may then be retyped, depending on the number of editorial revisions.
While the editing is under way, the editor will confer with a designer and with the production staff about the design of the book or pamphlet, its type style, the paper, and many other details.
Once the type for the manuscript is set, the editor and copy editor may become proofreaders; or they may send the manuscript out of the office for an initial reading. After corrected galley is provided, corrections must be checked. A dummy—a model showing how much type will go on each page and where it will be positioned—will then be made. After camera-ready copy goes to the printer, photographic reproductions must be checked before the work is printed. Then one hopes—that the editing was accurate, the design workable, the color of ink right, and that all typographical errors were caught in proofreading.
Editorial Secretarial Work.[edit]
In order for the editor and copy editor to function efficiently they need dedicated and efficient secretarial backing from people who understand the need for excellence. There are manuscripts to be retyped—long ones, short ones, a page or two here and there—when the editing marks make the copy difficult to read.
Copyright forms must be filled out and copyright renewals must be filed. Most books and pamphlets (and many special material items) published by the National Spiritual Assembly are copyrighted. Thus someone must keep an up-to-date list and see that new forms are filed and renewals are sent in at the proper time.
Permission forms must be filled out and correspondence concerning requests to use materials copyrighted by the National Spiritual Assembly answered. The Publishing Trust in the United States is the largest Trust in the Bahá’í world, and it receives many requests to use its copyrighted materials. Often these requests demand instant attention. Someone, therefore, must keep track of the forms which are sent out and see that they are returned in due course. Requests from the friends about permission must also be answered.
General correspondence, too, must be handled. One often thinks that there are only so many questions which can be asked but the number is seemingly endless. Questions may range from whether one has noticed the typo on page 23 (sometimes it was corrected ten years ago; sometimes not) to why one’s favorite book is no longer in print. Each question needs a loving and immediate response.
Skills.[edit]
What skills, then, does one need to work in the editing department? A secretary needs to be a fast, accurate typist who can transcribe from a dictaphone. He or she needs to have some skill in organizing projects and keeping track of pending items. He needs, particularly, to be quick, efficient, and methodical and to have the capacity, on the one hand, of asking for clarification when it is needed and, on the other, of perceiving the solution when instructions are cryptic. He needs to be adaptable, flexible, and willing to acquire new skills. An executive secretary would need, in addition, the ability to organize and research policy files and to draft answers to numerous questions about policies—from The Universal House of Justice, the National Spiritual Assembly, the Archives Committee, the Publishing Committee, the Publishing Trust, and the friends.
The editor and copy editor both need, first of all, a love for and feel for language and a respect for the printed page. They need a solid grounding in grammatical rules and a willingness to keep going back to the books for answers. They need to be familiar with the Chicago Manual of Style or the MLA Style Sheet (or other manuals) and to be able to use them as tools of their craft. They also need a sense of style and structure and must be able to see a solution with a minimum of pondering. They must be able to evaluate a manuscript quickly, whether it is under consideration or approved for publication. They need a solid respect for meticulousness and accuracy, and must always remember that the manuscript page on which they work will be finalized into a page of type which may be distributed around the world. Editors and copy editors need, too, an appreciation of the fact that many small steps—of varying degrees of intellectual stimulation—contribute to the whole. No one particularly likes to check references, verify footnote information, and prepare bibliographies; yet the integrity, accuracy, and usefulness of the finished work depend on the care which goes into those routine jobs.
Finally, editors and copy editors need a deep appreciation—even a reverence—for the fact that they are dealing every day with the sacred texts of the Faith and with works about the Faith—texts which are the spiritual food of the believers and the doors to new spiritual vistas to non-Bahá’ís.
How Can I Apply for Employment at the Publishing Trust?[edit]
It is possible to serve in the editorial department (or other departments) of the Publishing Trust in two ways. One may take a two- or three-year leave of absence from his profession to serve the Faith by working at the Publishing Trust. Or one may consider his work at the Publishing Trust a continuation and extension of his chosen profession, an opportunity to make a longer commitment to serving the Faith while perfecting his skills. Both ways of serving afford one many opportunities for personal, professional, and spiritual growth and enable the Publishing Trust to draw on the special talents of the friends throughout the country. They may also prepare one for service at Publishing Trusts now existing or to be established throughout the Bahá’í world.
Those interested in serving the Faith by working at the Publishing Trust are invited to secure application blanks at the Publishing Trust booth (No. 39) at the Opportunities Fair. Applications may also be secured from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
School provides training development virtues[edit]
The basic objective was clear. Begin to prepare children—more than 1,700 of them—for a full and rich life devoted to building the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, and do it in three days.
This was one of the goals the National Spiritual Assembly set for itself in St. Louis. The American National Institute for Social Advancement (ANISA), with its center at the University of Massachusetts School of Education, was asked to organize the special conference program for Bahá’í children.
ANISA is a program designed to apply interdisciplinary research findings to the task of educating children.
The program was subsequently designed to demonstrate that much of what a child does can reflect a Bahá’í way of life. The school was assembled in 40,000 square feet of space at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, which was arranged especially to create an environment where children would be greatly stimulated both intellectually and spiritually.
The room was curtained into sections, each housing a different activity. Older children learned painting, drawing, calligraphy, sewing and stitchery, woodworking, and sculpture. For the smaller ones, sand and water tables, manipulative materials, and games and art projects provided creative outlets.
Children tumbled, folk-danced, square-danced, sang, acted, and swam. They took extended field trips to the nearby zoo, planetarium, museum, and botanical gardens. They channeled their exuberance and energy into outdoor games and sports.
Each activity was carefully planned, not merely to hold a child’s interest or to baby-sit him, but rather to offer him a positive learning experience. Biologists and zoologists, for instance, participated in the zoo visits to explain some of the scientific facts as the children observed the animals and to relate the natural facts to God’s Plan for creation.
As these material educational pursuits went on, learning was reinforced at a deeper, spiritual level. More than 75 teachers, specially briefed at a two-day workshop before the conference, were working to blend the material with the spiritual to provide an embryonic Bahá’í education.
The teachers had been trained to further the children’s development as Bahá’ís and to teach them ways to participate actively in Bahá’í community life.
Depending on their age group—three to five, six to eight, or nine to eleven—the children learned basic facts about the Bahá’í Faith, its Central Figures, administration, and other teachings. They memorized prayers, discovered how to consult, and learned how to participate in Feasts and other community activities.
They were taught how to take part in community teaching activities by explaining the Faith and by giving mini-firesides. Teachers strove to inculcate a Bahá’í ethos by explaining how to behave in ways that reflect basic Bahá’í virtues, such as courtesy, honesty, and justice through cooperation.
“The children’s program is an integral part of the First National Bahá’í Conference of the Five Year Plan,” explained Magdalene Carney, an ANISA coordinator. “The National Spiritual Assembly decided that the conference must accommodate children in order to get parents involved,” she said.
In a special message to parents at the conference, the National Assembly cited the 1974 Naw-Rúz letter from The Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’í world community announcing the Five Year Plan.
“The education of children in the teachings of the Faith must be regarded as an essential obligation of every Bahá’í parent, every local and national community,” the House of Justice wrote. “And it must become a firmly established Bahá’í activity during the course of this Plan. It should include moral instruction by word and example and active participation by children in Bahá’í community life.”
Elaborating on this theme, the National Assembly stressed the need to “develop well-conceived programs which will provide children with a comprehensive, rich and challenging education in the Bahá’í way of life.”
“The Bahá’í world is called upon to initiate child education programs aimed at training their children in the love of God, the acquisition of virtues, and the fundamental obligations and principles of God’s Covenant with man,” the message continued.
“Parents,” wrote the National Assembly, “have the inescapable responsibility to see that their children experience the bounties and protection of the Faith from infancy to maturity, lovingly encouraged and guided to acquire those virtues which reflect the attributes of God. Indeed, a child’s character and his desire to serve the Cause of God is largely determined by the training he receives at home.”
With parents and children learning their complementary roles at those four historic days in St. Louis, there is little doubt that the closing lines of the National Spiritual Assembly message will prove prophetic:
“Bahá’í children whose daily experience is infused with the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh will grow up with a system of values which faithfully reflects the teaching of the Faith and exemplifies those distinctive characteristics which consolidate and preserve the Bahá’í community and attract the rest of humanity.”
Rúḥíyyih Khánum meets with St. Louis Mayor.
St. Louis Mayor proclaims Bahá’í Week[edit]
Mayor John Poelker of St. Louis gave the Bahá’ís a rousing welcome to their first National Conference to the Five Year Plan.
At a City Hall ceremony just days before the start of the conference, the Mayor declared August 25–September 1 Bahá’í Week in St. Louis by signing a proclamation in the presence of Continental Counsellor Velma Sherrill and representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly and Spiritual Assembly of St. Louis.
Present for the National Assembly were Miss Magdalene Carney and Dr. Daniel Jordan, who were in the city making early preparations for the start of the conference children’s program. Jack Bowles and Joe Dickerson represented the Local Assembly.
Mayor Poelker’s proclamation affirmed a belief in the brotherhood of man, the equality of men and women, and that all persons are equal in their spiritual essence and human dignity. The greatest challenge facing mankind, he said, was the recognition of the oneness of mankind.
Details of the Mayor’s proclamation were carried by much of the city’s news media.
In other conference-related actions, Mayor Poelker extended an invitation to the Hand of the Cause Rúḥíyyih Khánum to call on him at City Hall on Thursday, August 29. That meeting took place at 10 A.M.
On Saturday morning, before the start of the fourth session, the Mayor appeared at Kiel Auditorium to personally welcome the friends to St. Louis. He was himself given a warm and appreciative welcome by the Bahá’ís assembled there.
New volume discusses Bahá’í characteristics[edit]
A new addition to the Comprehensive Deepening Program was made available to the friends in St. Louis by the National Spiritual Assembly. The new volume, The Dynamic Force of Example, is the sixth in a continuing series of study materials on important Bahá’í themes designed to accelerate and strengthen the community’s efforts to consolidate. The book discusses the acquisition of distinctive characteristics of Bahá’í life, one of the three major objectives of the Five Year Plan.
“The Dynamic Force of Example is a bold thrust into the unknown,” said Dr. Daniel Jordan, Vice-Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, and director of the Comprehensive Deepening Program. “If the Bahá’í community is to win the goal of acquiring distinctive characteristics of Bahá’í life, we will have to explore enthusiastically, and with an adventuresome spirit, new ways of behaving which are consistent with the Bahá’í teachings.”
This will depend on developing new systems of values which honor virtue and condemn conduct that is contrary to Bahá’í principles, he said.
“Acquiring a new system of values is a long and sometimes painful process because it means acquiring a new identity and shedding longstanding habits,” Dr. Jordan said. “It also means daring to be different by virtue of spiritual distinction in a society which values mediocrity, godlessness, and permissiveness. The Dynamic Force of Example should help launch the American Bahá’í community on a new course which will hasten the construction of world order.”
Eileen Norman, Secretary of the National Education Committee, which is responsible for directing the new materials developed by the Comprehensive Deepening Program, said the new volume should provide ample material for Bahá’ís to study, discuss, and reflect upon for years.
“The friends should be careful not to regard it as a definitive statement on how to live the Bahá’í life,” she said. “Nor should they make an issue of the behavior it suggests. Rather they should view it as an exploration of new ways of applying the teachings to their daily lives.”
The Dynamic Force of Example consists of three sections. Part I discusses the role of living the life in the light of God’s purpose for man and examines the nature of the spiritual dynamics which can be released when one exemplifies the teachings. It also discusses the role of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Perfect Exemplar and the importance of acquiring Bahá’í attitudes and values. Part II is a commentary on specific attributes of God which Bahá’ís are enjoined to possess, including justice, fairness, truthfulness, trustworthiness, reverence, chastity, holiness, courtesy, purity, cleanliness, moderation, modesty, decency, patience, and gratitude. Part III explores how the attributes discussed in Part II may be reflected in areas of life such as manners, dress, amusements and recreation, hospitality, speech, artistic pursuits, work and education, the use of resources, and beautifying the environment. Part III also contains examples which illustrate how the teachings might apply to specific situations.
The Dynamic Force of Example is the largest volume yet produced for the Comprehensive Deepening Program. Its 197 pages (plus bibliography and index) contain 319 quotations from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and The Universal House of Justice, some of which will be new to most Bahá’ís. There are also 20 references from other Bahá’í sources.
The Comprehensive Deepening Program was initiated to assist Bahá’ís to accelerate and strengthen their efforts to consolidate. The program is comprehensive in the sense that it provides materials for the experienced as well as the inexperienced, for adults, youth, and children, and for different activities and roles associated with Bahá’í community life.
In the Foreword to the new volume, the National Spiritual Assembly said these materials are not intended to be a substitute for the Word of God. They are rather to be used as “one means of gaining a fuller and richer understanding of God’s creative Word and its implications for the spiritual development of each individual.”
Mr. Russell Garcia
Composer introduces symphony at meeting[edit]
The first public performance of a new symphony by well-known Bahá’í composer Russell Garcia was given at Kiel Auditorium on Saturday night, August 31, during the public proclamation meeting.
The composition, New World Overture, performed by 38 musicians, was commissioned by the National Spiritual Assembly especially for this proclamation meeting. The score includes two songs for the audience to sing and a segment for symphony and readers, using excerpts from The Seven Valleys by Bahá’u’lláh.
The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears gave the address at the public meeting, and singers Seals and Crofts also performed.
Mr. Garcia is the author of the best-selling textbook, The Professional Arranger-Composer, used in universities throughout the United States and translated into German, Japanese, and Spanish. He has composed orchestrated music for more than a hundred films, including The Ugly American, The Time Machine and Come September. Mr. Garcia has recorded with such celebrated musicians as Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, and Gerry Mulligan.
Star Study Program released[edit]
The first complement of materials for the Star Study Program, a deepening series for use in areas of the country where the friends are less accustomed to difficult reading, went on sale at St. Louis.
Released by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust were the booklet, Bahá’u’lláh, on the life of the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith; a flipchart on the Nineteen Day Feast; and a filmstrip, Out of God’s Eternal Ocean, about the history of the Faith.
The Star Study Program materials were developed by a special research group appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly. According to the National Assembly, these materials are “to help believers catch the spark of the love of Bahá’u’lláh and become deepened in the basic teachings of the Faith.” They are representative of the National Assembly’s continuing effort to develop deepening materials for the many believers from different cultures and social backgrounds that are increasingly attracted to the Bahá’í Faith.
The core of the Star Study Program is a series of nine booklets which provide basic information on various aspects of the Faith. The first booklet was about the life of Bahá’u’lláh. Other booklets will touch upon such subjects as Bahá’í history, spiritual teachings, social teachings, Bahá’í Law, Bahá’í administration, the Local Spiritual Assembly, Bahá’í community life, and progressive revelation. The booklets will be supplemented over a period of time by a variety of materials, including pamphlets, flipcharts, games, and filmstrips.
All materials for the Star Study Program will be identified by the Program’s logo, a form of the nine-pointed star, which signifies that the nine aspects of the Faith discussed in the Program are interrelated, and that all contribute to one’s personal growth and one’s ability to help build the new World Order.
Detailed information on the first items released as part of the Star Study Program can be found in the Publishing Trust advertisement in this issue of The American Bahá’í. In the Foreword to the booklet Bahá’u’lláh, the National Spiritual Assembly writes: “It is hoped that these booklets and audiovisual materials will inspire the believers to immerse themselves daily in the ocean of Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings. For only as individual Bahá’ís grow and become deepened can the goal of developing ‘the distinctive character of Bahá’í life’ be won.”
Green Lake institute scheduled for October[edit]
“Be on fire with the love of God” is the theme for the Green Lake Bahá’í Institute, to be held October 18-20 at the American Baptist Assembly conference grounds at Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Speakers for the institute will be Stanwood Cobb, educator; Douglas Martin, member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada; Eunice Braun, Auxiliary Board member; Nura Ioas, from Orinda, California; Margaret Danner, poet-in-residence at LeMoyne Owen College, Memphis, Tennessee; and Rouhieh McComb, whose parents were early American Bahá’í believers and who met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá several times.
Mr. Martin will give two talks: “Man is the Supreme Talisman” and “The Spiritual Responsibilities of the North American Believers in the Five Year Plan.” Mrs. Braun will also talk about the Five Year Plan.
Stanwood Cobb will speak on “Progressive Education: Bahá’í Viewpoint.” Nura Ioas will talk about the “Ladies of the Bahá’í Holy Family.” Mrs. Ioas, who served as a pioneer in Guadalajara, Mexico, also was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly there.
Rouhieh McComb will give a talk on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and a slide presentation.
Miss Danner teaches creative writing and Afro-American literature. Along with the late Langston Hughes, Miss Danner recorded an album of verse, “Poets of the Revolution”, for Motown Records in the late 1960s. The album established a pattern for Black poetry readings which continues to influence young writers.
For more information, contact the Green Lake Institute Planning Committee, 29 Whispering Waters Circle, Madison, WI 53716.
[Page 14]
Hand Cause urges improvement quality Bahá’í life
(Continued from page three)
“Nothing happens haphazardly in the Cause of God. We know there is an impetus from the Concourse on High and that they will assist as the Local Spiritual Assemblies try to implement ways in which community life will improve.”
She cited the example of villages in underdeveloped countries, where pioneers encouraged the new believers to meet together at dawn, even if it was only for a few minutes of shared prayer. “The pioneers tell the friends they will find something in their life spiritually from this that will help them through their day’s activities with a different spirit. Why do we in the West not do this also? It should not only be done in the villages.”
Referring to 16 goals outlined by The Universal House of Justice in a new pamphlet which will soon be available, the Hand of the Cause urged the friends to carry on the teaching and consolidation work simultaneously, to make great efforts towards improving the quality of life within the Bahá’í community, to reach out into every stratum of society and never to withdraw loving attention from the friends of the Faith, even those who do not officially enter its ranks. She recalled the painful example of an early Covenant-breaker who successfully won to his own evil designs many of the friends made by the Master during His visit to this country.
“It is only the words of the Manifestation of God that have the power to regenerate man,” she declared, urging that teaching be expanded as consolidation takes place.
“As the Local Spiritual Assemblies are reinforced and the friends support their decisions, more and more of the believers in each community will be drawn into active service for the Cause of God.
“One of the things that thrilled me in the Message of The Universal House of Justice about this plan was the instruction to begin the nucleus of a joint spiritual life in our communities,” she added.
“If we Bahá’ís can wholeheartedly promote the work of the Five Year Plan,” she promised, “we will not only accomplish its goals but we will bring much quicker healing to the ills of our society. Let us direct our love towards Bahá’u’lláh, so that we will become able to love His followers with that impersonal, unchanging love that is unaffected even when we see things we do not admire or like.” She concluded with words of encouragement, picturing the advent of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Settlers needed in African countries[edit]
Botswana—2 pioneers
Located in southern Africa and surrounded by South Africa, South West Africa and Rhodesia. The climate is sub-tropical. The northern part is within the tropics, and the southern and southwestern areas vary between hot steppe with summer rains to desert climate.
Language: English; Bantu Job possibilities: Teaching at secondary school level; mechanics; machinist; optometrist. Jobs are available in fields in which the local people are as yet unskilled.
British Indian Ocean Territory—2 pioneers
Islands located in the Indian Ocean including: Chagos Archipelago; Aldabra Island; Farquhar Island; Desroches Island. They are east of Tanzania and northeast of the Malagasy Republic. The climate is warm and humid.
Language: English
Job possibilities: Doctors; engineers; nurses; programmers; radio technologists and electronics engineers. Pioneers must secure employment before going.
Cameroon Republic—1 pioneer
Located in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea between Nigeria and Gabon. The climate is hot and humid on the coast; inland and to the north there are seasonal fluctuations. It is very dry in the extreme north.
Language: English; French; 24 major tribal languages.
Job possibilities: Professionals; doctors; dentists; teachers; engineers. Private business opportunities for those with capital.
Gambia—2 pioneers
It is a narrow strip of land on the west coast of Africa along the Gambia River and completely surrounded by Senegal. The climate is hot and tropical; rainy through June to October; cooler and dry through November to April.
Language: English and tribal languages
Job possibilities: Tourism is a developing field; the United States has hired experts in teaching, telecommunicating, hotel management, geographical surveyors.
Ghana—2 pioneers
Located on the west coast of Africa between Togo and the Ivory Coast. The climate is tropical but not oppressive, with temperatures averaging between 80–85 degrees Fahrenheit. There are heavy rains from May to July.
Language: English; tribal languages.
Job possibilities: Teaching, especially science and math at secondary level; teaching at university level in sciences, engineering, agriculture, arts, literature, history; also possibilities for engineers; physicians; economists; accountants; computer specialists.
Students: There are three universities all of which admit foreign students in all fields except medicine.
Malagasy Republic—2 pioneers
It is an island in the Indian Ocean 250 miles from the southeast coast of Africa. The climate is temperate in the interior and tropical on the coast.
Language: French; Malagasy (Malayo-Polynesian)
Job possibilities: Various skills and professions.
Malawi—2 pioneers
Located in southeastern Africa and bounded by Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. The climate varies with altitude; cool at the altitude of 3000 feet and over, and hot and humid along the Shire River valley and Lake Malawi.
Language: English; Chichewa
Job possibilities: Teaching; some trades such as spray painting; licensed mechanics.
Rhodesia—2 pioneers
Located in south-central Africa and bounded by South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, and Botswana. The climate is subtropical, with the main rainfall occurring from October to April.
Language: English
Job possibilities: All skills and professions.
Tanzania—1 pioneer
Located on the coast of east Africa between Kenya and Mozambique. The climate is tropical; wet from November to May, and dry the rest of the time.
Language: English; also Arabic and tribal languages.
Job possibilities: Teaching at primary, secondary, and university levels; doctors; nurses; pharmacists.
Zaire (formerly the Belgian Congo)—2 pioneers
Located in south-central Africa, south of the Central African Republic and north of Zambia. The climate is tropical; cooler in the eastern area where the elevation is higher.
Language: French; tribal languages.
Job possibilities: Teachers; doctors; agriculturalists; also individuals with trades or skills.
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U.S. pioneering goals
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BAHÁ’Í BOOKS AND MATERIALS[edit]
BAHÁ’Í LITERATURE[edit]
The Dynamic Force of Example
The Dynamic Force of Example, the latest volume in the Bahá’í Comprehensive Deepening Program, is now available. It is an impressive 197-page work discussing how Bahá’ís can translate their faith into action, thereby furthering their individual spiritual development, drawing the masses to the Faith, and advancing the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
The book is arranged in three sections. Part I, “The Dynamics of Example,” discusses how each individual’s deeds, conduct, and character help advance the Cause of God. By modeling their lives after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’ís are able to change their character, improve their conduct, and manifest their Faith through deeds as well as words. Part I also includes a chapter on special challenges facing the American Bahá’í community.
Part 2, “Divine Attributes and Qualities of Bahá’í Life,” examines fifteen attributes which must characterize one’s Bahá’í life. These attributes include justice and fairness, truthfulness, trustworthiness, reverence, chastity and holiness, courtesy, purity, cleanliness, moderation, decency and modesty, patience, and gratitude. Part 3, “Exemplifying Divine Virtue,” shows how divine attributes are reflected in one’s manners, dress, amusements, speech, artistic pursuits, hospitality, work and education, use of resources, and personal environment.
The Dynamic Force of Example is unlike any other volume currently available to the American Bahá’í community. Its goal, as that of all the materials in the Comprehensive Deepening Program, is to help individuals deepen. The Bahá’í Comprehensive Deepening Program is based on the definition of deepening given by The Universal House of Justice in its Riḍván 1967 message—a definition which stresses gaining a “clearer apprehension of the purpose of God for man, and particularly of His immediate purpose as revealed and directed by Bahá’u’lláh...”
The Dynamic Force of Example will be useful to all Bahá’ís—experienced or inexperienced, youth or adult—in both community and personal deepening.
This volume is 8½ x 11 inches, the size of the other volumes in the Comprehensive Deepening Program, and is perforated for storage in the special 3-ring binder featuring the Program’s logo. Autumn red cover. 197 pp. Bibliography and index. Available with red binder or separately.
7-64-23 with red binder | $7.00 |
7-64-15 without binder | $6.00 |
A Fortress for Well-Being:
Bahá’í Teachings on Marriage
A deluxe cloth edition of A Fortress for Well-Being, the Bahá’í Comprehensive Deepening Program volume which examines marriage in the light of God’s purpose for man, has just been published. The edition is bound in gold, stamped with pale gold, and contains rich green end sheets. Each double-page spread of the book contains an elegant gold border designed by Terese Blanding.
The text of the deluxe edition of A Fortress for Well-Being is identical with that of the paperback edition. Part 1 explores the foundations and purpose of marriage; Part 2 focuses on preparation for marriage; and Part 3 discusses practical steps to be taken in preserving and strengthening a marriage.
This gift edition will be appreciated by both Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís. Its attractive appearance makes it suitable for use in the marriage ceremony itself as well as in deepening activities. Includes bibliography and index. 6¼ x 9¼ inches. 78 pp.
7-64-10 cloth | $7.00 |
A Special Measure of Love:
The Importance and Nature of the Teaching Work Among the Masses
A Special Measure of Love, a new compilation of messages from Shoghi Effendi and The Universal House of Justice on the importance and nature of the teaching work among the masses, is now available. Part 1, “Messages from Shoghi Effendi,” includes letters written to National Spiritual Assemblies and individual believers in all parts of the world. The letters discuss the importance of the teaching work among the masses and the attitudes and methods which will best attract various peoples to the Cause of God. Part 2, “Messages from The Universal House of Justice,” includes messages on teaching, expansion, and consolidation among the masses. Two of the communications from The House of Justice have not previously been published.
The messages in A Special Measure of Love are a source of insight and inspiration to Bahá’ís everywhere. The importance and value of this compilation can only increase as the process of “entry by troops” gains momentum. Lime-green cover. 5½ x 8½ inches. 33 pp.
7-15-47 | $ .60 |
My Quest for the Fulfillment of Hinduism by S. P. Raman
My Quest for the Fulfillment of Hinduism by S. P. Raman is a new pamphlet describing the author’s search for the fulfillment of the Hindu Faith. Dr. Raman tells how the moral decay and the loss of ethical values in Hindu society led him to ask the question: Has Hinduism failed? His discovery that Bahá’u’lláh is the “Tenth Avatar”—the Universal Manifestation spoken of in Hindu tradition—makes interesting reading for both Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís. The pamphlet is a helpful addition to every Bahá’í community’s collection of literature, as it adds weight to the claim that the Faith attracts followers from all religious backgrounds. Reprinted from “World Order”, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Spring 1969). Cover design, featuring gold Sanskrit letters on a brown background, by Scott Bivans. Illustrated. Slimline format. 20 pp.
7-40-21 | 6/$1.50; 15/$3.00 |
New Materials from the Star Study Program[edit]
Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá’u’lláh, the first of nine booklets comprising the core of the Star Study Program, is a short but captivating account of the life of the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith. In nine brief chapters, the book discusses Bahá’u’lláh’s early life, His acceptance of the Báb, His Declaration and Proclamation, His sufferings, His Writings, and His Ascension. The booklet represents an effort of the National Spiritual Assembly to make available more and more materials in a variety of styles for the American Bahá’í community, which has absorbed many believers from various strata of society. Its approach to the life of Bahá’u’lláh makes it useful both for teaching and deepening institutes and for individual study. Illustrated by Lori Block. Vivid blue cover. 15 pp. 5½ x 8½ inches. Star Study Program.
7-64-50 | $ .40 |
Out of God’s Eternal Ocean
Out of God’s Eternal Ocean, a filmstrip program which traces the first fifty years of the Bahá’í Era, is now available. Produced as a part of the Star Study Program, the filmstrip highlights such events as Mullá Ḥusayn’s meeting with the Báb on the night of His Declaration, the arrival of Bahá’u’lláh and His followers in ‘Akká, and E. G. Browne’s interview with Bahá’u’lláh. The program also recounts some of the persecutions suffered by the two Manifestations and Their followers. Yet the underlying theme is one of triumph. The comprehensive review of the early history of the Faith and the rich variety of photographs make Out of God’s Eternal Ocean valuable for teaching, deepening, and proclamation activities. Written and photographed by David Walker. Narrated by Joan Bulkin. Color. 149 frames. Star Study Program.
6-01-58 filmstrip with script and cassette | $9.50 |
The Nineteen Day Feast
Do the new believers or children in your community need to know more about the Nineteen Day Feast? The Nineteen Day Feast flip chart, one of the materials developed as a part of the Star Study Program, explains the Feast simply, using both words and pictures. The program outlines the purpose of the Feast, tells how it is celebrated, and describes the Local Spiritual Assembly’s responsibilities in organizing the Feast.
Intended for use by small groups, the flip chart is composed of 45 drawings, each accompanied by a short explanation printed in bold letters above or below the drawing. A printed copy of the text accompanies each flip chart. Illustrated by Dale Martin. Printed in black on heavy white stock. Orange cover. 10¾ x 15½ inches. 26 pp. Star Study Program.
6-56-50 | $6.00 |
Prayers at St. Louis Arch
Thousands of Bahá’ís joined hands in prayer as the first rays of sun touched the surfaces of the St. Louis Arch. In Persian, Arabic, English, Bahá’ís of all ages, races and backgrounds praised Bahá’u’lláh in word and song.
The Bahá’í Faith unifies mankind.