The American Bahá’í/Volume 9/Issue 1/Text
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CHEROKEE: Harvest of Faith, Courage[edit]
The Cherokee Indian Reservation in western North Carolina has formed its first Local Spiritual Assembly, and somewhere the soul of Ethel Murray is rejoicing with the glorious news.
Not only is the Assembly at Cherokee the first to be raised on an Indian Reservation east of the Mississippi River, its formation on November 10 made it the 25th such Assembly in the U.S., thus winning the first homefront goal of the Five Year Plan two days before the 160th anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh, an achievement promised at the Bahá’í National Convention last May by the American Indian Teaching Committee.
The Spiritual Assembly at Cherokee represents a bountiful harvest for the Faith: the seeds of that harvest were lovingly planted by Ethel Murray who carried out to the letter the directive of the Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to bring the Faith to the Indians of North America.
IN 1953, at the age of 69, Mrs. Murray arose in response to a call by the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, for homefront pioneers during the Ten Year Crusade, and for more than 16 years lived alone on the Cherokee Reservation, praying ardently for the victories that never came and setting a magnificent example of patience, courage, steadfastness and devotion.
The Bahá’í News of September 1958 paid this tribute to her service:
“Ethel Murray was among the first Bahá’ís in the country to arise to pioneer among the American Indians in the beginning months of the Ten Year Crusade. Leaving her home in Providence, Rhode Island, in November 1953, Mrs. Murray settled first in Asheville, North Carolina, then in Bryson City, and finally in Cherokee, which she had chosen as her ultimate destination.
“This Reservation was of special importance to the Crusade, for the Cherokee language was the one chosen by the Guardian for the first American Indian translation of the Bahá’í Writings.”
Mrs. Murray herself wrote in 1958 of her experience on the Reservation:
“THERE HAVE been many happy experiences, some humorous and some discouraging, but Bahá’u’lláh has gradually opened doors of service, and made it possible
Louhelen Architects Are Chosen[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly has approved the appointment of a team of architects directed by Christopher Alexander, professor of architecture at the University of California-Berkeley, to undertake facilities design at the Louhelen Educational Center in Davison, Michigan.
The appointment was announced during special Louhelen briefing sessions November 5-6 at the National College of Education in Wilmette, Illinois, that were chaired by Dr. Daniel C. Jordan, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly and a member of the Louhelen Project Task Force.
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Pilgrimages Suspended Because of the upcoming International Bahá’í Convention at which the Universal House of Justice is to be elected, pilgrimages have been suspended for the months of April and May, 1978. No visitors may come to the Holy Land during that period unless specifically invited to do so by the Universal House of Justice. |
Present at the briefings were Continental Counsellor Edna M. True; representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly; Auxiliary Board member Donald Barrett; Mrs. Helen Eggleston, who with her late husband, Lou, donated the land on which the Louhelen Center is to be built; representatives of the National Education Committee and its staff, and the Louhelen Council.
ALSO ATTENDING were representatives of the Louhelen Project Task Force, the Office of the Treasurer, the Mainland Michigan District Teaching Committee, the National Teaching Committee, the National Information Committee, and NSA Properties Inc.
They were told that the National Spiritual Assembly envisions a school at Davison that is second to none in the quality of its curriculum, staff, facilities and over-all educational program.
Development of the Louhelen property has been a concern of the National Spiritual Assembly since it was forced to close the Davison Bahá’í School in 1974.
The Universal House of Justice, citing the hope of the beloved Guardian that the school would one day become “...a great center for the reunion of the friends and the spread of the spirit and teachings of the Cause,” said the National Assembly should do all that it could to preserve and develop the property.
The Davison School Projects Committee was appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly to study the alternatives and report on them; meanwhile, Mrs. Eggleston augmented the original 12-acre donation by selling an additional 44 acres of land to the National Spiritual Assembly for $1.
THE PRELIMINARY report of the Davison School Projects Committee, recommending a tuition-based school for Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís alike, was approved by the National Spiritual Assembly and presented to the friends at the Bahá’í National Convention last May.
Present plans call for a school with grades 1–8, and a study is being conducted to determine the feasibility of adding a tuition-based prep school with grades 9–12.
Groundbreaking tentatively is scheduled for May 1979, coinciding with the observance of the International Year of the Child, with the first classes for the tuition-based school tentatively scheduled to begin in the fall of 1981, which would correspond with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Davison Bahá’í School on August 1, 1931.
During the summer months the Louhelen facility would serve as a Bahá’í summer school and as a place for seminars, conferences, and teacher training institutes.
THE DAVISON School Projects Committee was superseded this year by the Louhelen Project Task Force which undertook the search for an architect or architects capable of designing a modern, functional facility to carry out the Bahá’í purpose of serving the spiritual, intellectual and social needs of those who use it.
The search led ultimately to the Center for Environmental Structure at Berkeley where the Vienna-born Mr. Alexander, author of the book, “A Pattern Language,”
Bahá’ís in Spokane, Washington, display their Universal Children’s Day banner at the city’s Riverfront Park. Five hundred balloons were given away to children, and a varied program of singing and dancing was presented. (Story, more photos on Page 2)
Selection of Guardian’s Writings Is Published[edit]
The Universal House of Justice has announced the publication of Call to the Nations, a compilation of selected writings of Shoghi Effendi.
The book addresses humanity’s ordeal, the oneness of mankind, a pattern for future society, a world commonwealth, and the destiny of mankind.
The excerpts in Call to the Nations are taken from Shoghi Effendi’s World Order letters, The Promised Day Is Come and God Passes By.
The foreword was written by the Universal House of Justice, and the introduction was drawn from a statement prepared by the Guardian in July 1947 for a Special Committee of the United Nations.
A list of references cites the sources of all passages in the compilation, referring the reader to the Guardian’s works published by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.
IN THE foreword, the Universal House of Justice offers the book “as a light and a guidance to all mankind in this dark period of our history.” The House of Justice states in a letter to National Spiritual Assemblies that “these selected passages, although published in compilation 20 years after the passing of the Guardian, are still vitally relevant to the condition of the world.”
The compilation is published in addition to three volumes of Sacred Text that are goals of the Five Year Plan.
The compilation “is intended for proclamation and presentation, as well as for study by the friends,” said the Universal House of Justice.
Call to the Nations may be ordered through your Bahá’í community librarian or the Bahá’í Publishing Trust for $3.50 (cloth) or $1.75 (paper).
Family, Group Life Insights Are Sought[edit]
The National Education Committee is extremely interested in knowing about ways in which Bahá’í families operate and interact with each other.
If you have a special way that your family observes Holy Days, or a special way in which you interact with one another as family members or as a family within the Bahá’í community, and you would like to share that with us, please send a note and description to the National Education Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Please know, however, that we may at some future time use some of this information in The American Bahá’í and in other publicity.
Teaching Campaign For Youth Slated[edit]
The National Youth Committee will launch through Bahá’í college clubs and youth clubs an intensive two-week teaching campaign from February 6–19.
All college clubs and youth clubs have been invited to participate in the teaching campaign.
During the campaign youth rallies will be held at host college campuses in California, Illinois, New York, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.
The purpose of the teaching campaign is to generate momentum on college campuses to win the important victories that must be won in the next 14 months to complete the goals of the Two Year Youth Program.
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Universal Children’s Day
Observances Varied, Successful[edit]
A number of further reports have been received concerning special observances held in October for Universal Children’s Day. Among them are these:
Twenty-seven non-Bahá’ís were among the 38 persons who attended a special children’s program presented by the Bahá’í Groups of Custer City and Custer County, South Dakota. Advance publicity included a paid newspaper ad and personal invitations...
In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the Bahá’í community presented a “Dolls From Around the World” display at the Park Plaza shopping center...
Sixty children in the Head Start program at the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Colorado were the special guests at a children’s party hosted by the Bahá’í communities of Cortez and Montezuma County. An article and three pictures of the party were printed in the local newspaper, and children were given copies of the prayer, “Blessed Is the Spot”...
A children’s party in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, presented by the Bahá’í community in behalf of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was well-publicized in newspapers and on radio and attracted 11 non-Bahá’ís...
The Bahá’í communities of St. Petersburg and Largo, Florida, sponsored a children’s day carnival at the Pinellas Shopping Center. Two local dance groups performed, and more than 100 people attended...
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Crete, Nebraska, sponsored a children’s party at the Head Start and Child Development Center at Doane College. The following evening an interfaith prayer session was held to which ministers and their congregations were invited to share prayers for children around the world...
A Bahá’í film, “The Red Velvet Story,” was shown during the children’s day observance at the newly-acquired Bahá’í Center in Dallas, Texas...
The Bahá’ís of Uniontown, Ohio, placed a full-page ad with the UN Declaration of Children’s Rights in the local newspaper, The Hartville News, which gave them the space free of charge...
The Bahá’ís of St. Cloud, Minnesota, sponsored a party at the local public library. Two films were shown, games were played, and refreshments were served. About 35 children attended, most of them children of non-Bahá’ís...
In the Town of Huntington, New York, the Spiritual Assembly sponsored a booth at the Walt Whitman Mall. Some 500 posters and crayons were distributed, all to non-Bahá’ís, and UN pamphlets were given away at the booth. The friends in Huntington also cooperated with the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Brookhaven and the Long Island Teaching Task Force to produce and distribute a radio program to local stations...
This Universal Children’s Day display booth was erected at the Walt Whitman Mall by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Town of Huntington, New York.
The Northbrook, Illinois, Bahá’í community worked with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) to present an international children’s art display at the Northbrook library. It was the first Midwestern showing of the art exhibit in which children from 28 countries were represented. The Bahá’ís also presented a UNICEF film, “All Our Futures,” narrated by actor Peter Ustinov, at the library...
In Anaheim, California, the Bahá’í community sponsored an essay contest on the theme, “How can the children of the world be helped to live a better life?” Only one entry was received, from 9-year-old Lisa Studebaker, who was given an inscribed medallion and a dictionary as prizes.
The Anaheim community also hosted a public meeting that was attended by around 40 people including three non-Bahá’ís...
The Spiritual Assembly of Brookhaven, New York, was given hundreds of boxes of crayons by a believer in Long Island. The Assembly decided to print a coloring sheet using the theme “Children of One World” to be given with a box of crayons to children at the three hospitals in Brookhaven as a part of its observance of Universal Children’s Day...
An estimated 3,800 people were attracted to an outdoor observance at Riverfront Park in Spokane, Washington, hosted by the Bahá’í communities of Spokane and Spokane County Commissioner’s District No. 2 and the Millwood Bahá’í Group.
Publicity included a proclamation by the mayor of Spokane, newspaper articles, radio and TV announcements, reader boards, and the information board at the park.
Five hundred balloons were given away to children in the park, while the program itself included dancing by Folkloric International from the Philippines; Israeli singers and dancers; American Indian child dancers; a Black children’s choir, the Sunbeams; pantomime by a Bahá’í drama student; the North Central High School Choir under the direction of Michael Caldwell, a Bahá’í; and songs by a vocal-instrumental trio, the Nightingales...
The Spiritual Assembly of Poulsbo, Washington, hosted a public meeting at a local elementary school that was attended by 29 persons including 10 non-Bahá’ís. The meeting was publicized through radio, TV, personal invitations and a Children’s Day proclamation by the city council...
In Fort Valley, Georgia, the Spiritual Assembly held a public meeting at the Thomas Library attended by seven of the friends and two non-Bahá’ís. The United Nations films “Bozo’s Adventures in Africa” and “Danny Kaye — The Pied Piper” were shown...
The Spiritual Assembly of Carbondale, Illinois, sponsored a cross-cultural program at three elementary schools in the city.
Children at a Carbondale, Illinois, elementary school are enthralled as a student in native African dress tells them of his homeland as a part of the Bahá’í observance of Universal Children’s Day.
The first half of the hour-long program included a gym assembly at which international students in native dress greeted the children in their mother tongues, the UN was discussed, and songs and dances were performed.
During the second half-hour students went into the classrooms to work with children on a more personal level. Activities included everything from Japanese paper folding to Spanish language instruction to a Persian discussing Naw-Rúz...
The Bahá’í Group in Freeport, Illinois, had a bulletin board display at the children’s library, and also presented a book, “The Kingdoms of God,” to the children’s library on behalf of the Bahá’í children’s class of Freeport. The local newspaper photographed the presentation and ran an article about the Bahá’í observance of Universal Children’s Day.
The Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Bahá’í community sponsored this “Dolls Around the World” display at a local shopping plaza.
Some of the Bahá’ís and their guests who gathered for a Universal Children’s Day party in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Gregory Institute Seeks Help For Youth, Children’s Weeks[edit]
The Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina, needs help in planning and carrying out several special week-long events that are planned for next summer.
A Youth Week is to be held June 18–24 in which about 30 youth from 15–21 years of age will be involved in a seven-day live-in situation.
Needed are one or two competent people to help plan the Youth Week and submit their proposals to the Gregory Institute staff for its approval.
Three Children’s Weeks also are planned, from July 8–15, July 22–29 and August 5–12.
Three professionally trained or Bahá’í-experienced teachers are needed for each of these weeks, along with three assistants who need not be specially trained.
For further information, please write to the Director of Children’s Programs, Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, Route 2, Box 71, Hemingway, SC 29554.
Gatherings Are Held To Observe UN Day[edit]
Several Bahá’í communities have reported their observances of United Nations Day in late October. Among them are these:
In Niagara Falls, New York, the UN Committee of the Spiritual Assembly of Niagara Falls presented a color slide program with taped script on UNICEF and the rights of the child at Niagara Falls High School. Some 845 of the 1,500 students at the school viewed the program. Tentative plans are to present a city-wide program in 1979, perhaps including an essay contest to promote the International Year of the Child...
The Spiritual Assembly of Apple Valley, California, hosted an international potluck dinner at the home of one of the friends. Attendance was 25 including five non-Bahá’ís...
In San Francisco, California, the Bahá’í community presented an international program at the Bahá’í Center. Among the highlights were Mexican dances by Patricia Rendon, Korean dances by Soo Kyong Gim, the film “UN in Action,” folk songs from Russia, France and Israel by Christian Berman, and the City College of San Francisco International Folk Dancers performing dances from Israel, Greece, Yemen, Austria and Yugoslavia...
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Twenty non-Bahá’ís were among the 26 persons who attended an international potluck dinner hosted by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Fort Valley, Georgia. Invitations were mailed to about 25 people from other countries living in Fort Valley and Peach County, as well as to other friends and Bahá’ís in the area.
Deepening Packet Answers Seekers’ Questions[edit]
To lead seekers and new believers toward a more complete understanding of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, the National Education Committee has developed a package of special deepening materials that was made available to the American Bahá’í community as a part of the third phase of the Victory Campaign.
These materials, which can be used over a series of deepening sessions, are designed to foster a continuing interaction between the seeker or new believer and those who have brought him or her to the Faith.
The deepening packet covers the five elements that are present when one declares his acceptance of the Faith: (1) an implicit belief in God; (2) acceptance of the three Central Figures; (3) willingness to obey the laws and obligations set forth by the Central Figures; (4) willingness to obey the Administrative Order ordained by them; and (5) willingness to be actively involved in the Bahá’í community.
Included are study guides on the Covenant; God and His Manifestations; the Báb; Bahá’u’lláh; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; teaching; prayer; marriage and family life; the Bahá’í Fund; laws and obligations; and the Bahá’í calendar.
These guides have been prepared to examine and answer the questions uppermost in the minds of seekers or new believers and to give them a framework that can be used in private deepening.
It is hoped too that the study guides will encourage the seeker or declarant to regard the Writings not only as a source of inspiration and spiritual nourishment, but also as a source of practical guidance in his daily life.
The deepening packets are available from the National Education Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, at a cost of only $2 each. Please make checks payable to the Bahá’í Services Fund.
Robert Yavorski of the Bahá’í community of Santa Maria, California, mans the microphone during a live radio program, “The Bahá’í Outlook Show,” that was broadcast each Sunday morning for four weeks in September on KXFM Radio in Santa Maria. The Santa Maria community has since signed a one-year contract for a second Sunday morning show on KSEE Radio.
Norman Community Spreads Message[edit]
More than 20,000 people in Norman, Oklahoma, opened their mailboxes in July to find a brochure with information about the Bahá’í Faith.
Thirty of them returned the brochure’s attached response card, asking for copies of Prophecy Fulfilled and more information. Several of them attended talks about the Faith.
“The results were exactly what we expected,” said Hafez Hafezzadeh, secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly. “Our aim was to let everyone in Norman know about the Faith. One reply even came from Dallas, Texas.”
How did 40 Bahá’ís in Norman, a regional center for livestock, dairy products and oil wells, organize this project? They give credit for the idea to four Bahá’ís from Alaska who lived in Norman briefly.
Once the project was organized, they say, credit for its success must be shared with Bahá’ís from surrounding communities and friends from New Mexico, Texas and Washington state who lent assistance.
THE MAILER was only the beginning. The project included the publication of 12 newspaper ads and the door-to-door distribution of invitations to public meetings. All this lasted from July 17–August 21.
The $1,200 needed for the project was raised through a rummage sale and auctions, and through other individual contributions. A Bahá’í who owns a print shop in Oklahoma City helped cut costs by printing the mailers at a reduced rate.
After the mailer was sent, the friends spent six weekends covering most of the residential areas, going door-to-door with invitations to public meetings. An estimated 126 Bahá’ís helped with this part of the project.
Some of the people who came to the door mentioned that they had read about the Faith in the mailer. Some invited the Bahá’ís in, but most of them simply took the invitation and said, “Thank you.”
A total of 8,000 homes were visited, with 3,800 invitations accepted.
ONE OF THE best side effects of the project, said Mr. Hafezzadeh, was the unity created among the Bahá’ís from neighboring communities. “It was nice to get to know and work with our fellow believers,” he said.
The Bahá’ís of Norman plan to work closely with those people who responded to the mailer. They are trying to offer three firesides per week to interested seekers. One couple has attended firesides for more than a month.
The Norman Bahá’ís, at the beginning of the project, cabled the Universal House of Justice about their proclamation efforts. The Universal House of Justice replied, assuring them of its prayers.
Pioneers to Japan Needed[edit]
“Japan will turn ablaze!” promised ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about that nation’s spiritual future. Those who pioneer to the Land of the Rising Sun will have the great privilege of helping to bring that glorious future into being.
American Bahá’ís have a special obligation to Japan, in the form of an assignment from the Universal House of Justice to send 20 pioneers there by Riḍván 1979. Sixteen posts remain to be filled.
The need for pioneers is great. Of the 95 Local Spiritual Assemblies needed to win Japan’s Five Year Plan goal, only 26 are in existence.
As far as earning a living, a pioneer to Japan has many options. One is teaching English, the only qualifications being that the teacher have a college degree and English as his native language.
Another option is to seek employment with a Japanese firm based in the U.S., and later be transferred to Japan. Conversely, the prospective pioneer may seek employment with an American company that has offices in Japan.
More information is available from the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Goal States Are Host To Teaching Seminars[edit]
A series of teaching skills seminars has begun in the goal states of California, Illinois and New York.
Larry Miller, a recently-appointed member of the National Teaching Committee from Roswell, Georgia, who is a professional in behavioral management, is conducting the seminars, which are sponsored by the National Teaching Committee.
From Group to Assembly
‘Anytown’ Could Be Your Town[edit]
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article is representative of the proper steps to be followed by a Bahá’í Group of nine or more adult members in achieving recognition as a Local Spiritual Assembly.)
The Bahá’ís of Anytown, a typical community in America’s heartland, have worked hard to achieve Assembly status. They’ve told friends and acquaintances about the Faith, have invited the public to talks, welcomed homefront pioneers to their community, and have finally enrolled the Group’s ninth adult member.
But now they are puzzled. Exactly what must they do to become a full-fledged Local Spiritual Assembly?
The Group secretary phones the District Teaching Committee for advice, and learns that a pre-formation seminar will be arranged. The nearby Local Spiritual Assembly that adopted Anytown as its goal at the beginning of the Five Year Plan will assist with the seminar.
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IMMEDIATE JOB opportunity for Bahá’í as chief engineer at Class D AM and Class A FM radio station in Ludington, Michigan. First class license would be nice; second class license acceptable. Also join dynamic Bahá’í Group of three. Contact Delores Simms, secretary, Bahá’í Group of Hamlin Township (Luddington) at 616-843-4120 after 6 pm, or during the day at 616-843-3438. |
The pre-formation seminar, while not mandatory, is nevertheless helpful in letting the Group know the purposes and functions it will have as a Spiritual Assembly.
WHETHER Anytown has a seminar or not, a pre-formation report must be sent to the National Spiritual Assembly. The report, on a standardized form, lists the nine adult believers in Anytown and includes a map of the jurisdictional boundaries of the Local Assembly-to-be.
From this report the National Assembly determines whether the Group is ready to form an Assembly. Are the nine members of the Group 21 years old or older? Are they Bahá’ís in good standing? Do they live within the jurisdictional boundaries outlined on the map? These are some of the questions that must be answered before an Assembly can be formed.
The pre-formation report is in order, so the National Assembly gives Anytown the “go-ahead” on its formation.
The Anytown Group is prepared to form its Assembly by joint declaration when unexpected news arrives from the Bahá’í National Center: a computer print-out of Bahá’í membership in Anytown shows there are 11 adult believers in the community!
Plans must now be changed, and an election held instead of a joint declaration. Since the Anytown Group does not have the authority to call an election, it has the choice of turning to its sponsoring Local Spiritual Assembly or the District Teaching Committee for assistance.
Either of them may call the election, giving everyone in the Anytown Bahá’í community 15 days’ notice. As soon as the election is held, the Assembly should begin functioning.
THE RESULTS of the Anytown election are forwarded to the National Spiritual Assembly. Because the pre-formation report was in order and the proper steps were taken to call and report the election, the Assembly is officially recognized within 48 hours.
It has been nearly a four-week process from the time of the pre-formation seminar to recognition of the Assembly. Anytown will now share its joy in having an Assembly by inviting surrounding communities to a recognition ceremony at which the National Spiritual Assembly and Auxiliary Board will be represented.
The prompt recognition of new Local Spiritual Assemblies, says John Conkling, secretary of the National Teaching Committee, is an important goal of his office.
“When Groups follow the prescribed steps, recognition is sure and undelayed,” he says.
Verna M. Johnson, a member of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Anaheim, California, receives a proclamation declaring October 10–16 “Bahá’í Week” in Anaheim from the mayor of the city, W.J. (Bill) Thom.
Committee Answers Pioneering Questions[edit]
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The 4th Bahá’í National Youth Conference June 29–July 3 at the University of Illinois included an evening session on pioneering and traveling teaching hosted by the International Goals Committee. The principal speaker was Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh, former member of the International Bahá’í Council, long-time official representative of the Faith to the United Nations and now a member of the International Goals Committee. Following her talk Mrs. Mottahedeh and Dr. Alfred Neumann, another member of the International Goals Committee, answered questions from the audience. Here is Part II of that question-and-answer session.)
Question: How do you find out where pioneers are needed?
Answer: Through the International Goals Committee and through lists of pioneer posts which periodically appear in The American Bahá’í.
Q.: What resources exist to help a prospective pioneer develop a career in a goal country?
A.: In this matter, as in many others, the best start is your International Goals Committee, which is appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly to help the American Bahá’í community fill and maintain its international pioneering goals.
IGC has comprehensive files on where pioneers are needed, job openings, the experiences of previous pioneers in a given area, educational opportunities, living conditions, cost of living, etc.
Because the world is large and because conditions are constantly changing, information must be constantly updated, and it may take a while to get the latest, most accurate information about a given area, but IGC can help you, and certainly can put you in contact with others who can be of help.
At the same time, be resourceful, and through school resources, employment advertisements, and the like, as well as standard reference books available in just about any good library, find out as much as you can about the country in which you would like to settle.
Q.: What financial assistance is available to pioneers?
A.: Limited financial assistance is available through the International Goals Committee, usually in the form of travel monies, and occasionally for monthly maintenance sums, especially when the committee is anxious to fill a goal in an area where there are no jobs.
A Local Spiritual Assembly will sometimes deputize a pioneer from its community, as will individuals who may make contributions to the National Bahá’í Fund in the name of a particular individual, or to the general Fund to allow the monies to be used as needs arise.
Q.: Is it better to stay in a Group striving for Assembly status, remain with a jeopardized Local Spiritual Assembly or to go international pioneering?
A.: You cannot jeopardize the homefront effort. The only way you can go off pioneering under these circumstances is if you can get at least one, preferably more than one, person to replace you.
Q.: What if only one member of a married couple is a Bahá’í?
A.: There is a basic principle in the Faith that stresses the unity of the family. It is better to postpone pioneering if doing so would create a chaotic, disruptive family situation.
Q.: How can you tell a non-Bahá’í family not sympathetic to the Faith you are going pioneering?
A.: Again, the family unity is of paramount importance, and one should tactfully, and with delicacy, broach the subject of one’s going pioneering to the family. If it causes undue disruption, it is probably better to postpone it, and, in practice, families gain a greater respect for the Faith and for the Bahá’ís when they see that we adhere to the precepts of the Teachings and promote family unity, even though it would mean very much to us to go pioneering. Eventually many families do, under the circumstances, give their blessings.
Q.: What should one do if one plans to go pioneering or traveling teaching but one’s life partner does not have the same aspirations?
A.: It would seem wise to ascertain well in advance the future interests and aspirations of one’s mate, and it may well be that the person who, in some respects, seems to be compatible may not be the best person for you in terms of living a complete Bahá’í life, including homefront pioneering, traveling teaching, and overseas teaching. The time to consider this carefully is before marriage.
Q.: Should one look for jobs that will assist a country?
A.: In general, it is very desirable if one can be both in the position of serving to help develop a country in a tangible manner, that is by engaging in a trade or profession that people readily recognize as a benefit to the country, and also teach the Bahá’í Faith.
Q.: What is the best trade or profession to maximize the likelihood of being able to pioneer overseas and being enabled to become a self-supporting pioneer who is then a contributor to the Bahá’í Fund?
A.: Again, this differs from country to country, and differs over a period of time.
Perhaps of greatest importance, whatever one does, he should try to be very good at it, to strive for excellence. This should be an objective of all Bahá’ís, to become distinguished in their respective callings.
Also, in general, it is desirable, from the standpoint of getting a job, to obtain training in a trade or profession that will contribute to the health and welfare of the people of a country and to its development. For example, in virtually every country in the world there is a demand for secondary school teachers, which is growing at a faster rate than the countries can train them.
Within the teaching profession, mathematics, chemistry and physics appear to be relatively less popular fields, and so Bahá’ís who have educational certification in these areas plus language skills usually can obtain jobs in a variety of countries, and being secondary school teachers, can usually find good positions in areas away from the main urban centers, thus reaching the rural masses.
There is also a demand for engineers, electronics experts, good electricians, good plumbers, and in one country there was a desperate need for duplicating service equipment and repair specialists, for AB Dick machines and the like. Health-related occupations, other than nursing, also are in demand, especially at the more senior levels, and especially involving public health.
If one is a nurse, it is advisable to go on for a master’s degree in nursing education, since there is a demand in many countries for what is known as a nurse tutor, that is, an educator of nurses. Most countries have plenty of staff nurses and are not going to hire someone from abroad in place of a local citizen.
There is a need for physicians with public health training, especially with expertise in health program planning and management, systems analysis, and cost analysis. There is a demand for people at the master’s and doctor of public health levels who are epidemiologists, information systems specialists, systems analysts, and another excellent field is that of health education. There is a steadily growing demand for health educators. There are others, but this is a partial list that hopefully will help stimulate your thinking.
Q.: We hear that countries will increasingly close their doors to pioneers. When will this happen? Are some trades or professions apparently exempted?
A.: This is beginning to happen already, and it does seem that individuals working with the international or multilateral agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and UNICEF are able to gain admission to countries as international civil servants where they could not as representatives of the countries of their origin.
The Bahá’ís of Saginaw, Michigan, had a booth at the third annual Ethnic Festival sponsored by the City of Saginaw in September. Designed and built by the Bahá’ís, the booth has nine panels that illustrate the principles of Bahá’u’lláh. It can be placed in many positions, including circular. The Ethnic Festival brings together the various cultural groups in the region including Spanish-speaking people, Native Americans, Poles, Germans, Greeks, Black Americans, and others. Bahá’ís have served on its planning committee each year, thus associating with many other groups in the city as well as receiving government recognition as a participating member of the community. Here Virginia Jones of the Saginaw Bahá’í community reads the Prayer for Unity; Bruce Hartman, another Saginaw Bahá’í who read the Prayer for America, is at the extreme right.
Several Projects Eyed
Youth Invited to Plan Summer Teaching Now[edit]
Next summer will be the last one before the end of the Five Year Plan.
Many goals remain to be won, and concentrated teaching, in endeavors such as the National Youth Teaching Project, are one way to achieve them.
The National Youth Committee would like to arrange projects for next summer in three or four areas of the country: on Indian Reservations, in coastal regions, and in other areas where the Faith is not well-established.
All that is lacking for these projects to become a reality is manpower. The following coupon should be filled out by those individuals ages 15–25 who are interested in spending three to six weeks next summer, at a cost of about $25 a week, on a National Youth Teaching Project. Your help is needed.
Speaking to the Heart: The Báb on Teaching[edit]
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article is reprinted with thanks from Bahá’í Canada, the monthly newspaper of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada.)
Teaching is our birthright, it is our spiritual heritage that not only binds us with tender love to the individual soul whom we have taught, but nurtures that love through all the worlds of God.
What we are doing when we teach the Faith is forging bonds of love with another soul that will reach far beyond the present instant. For our inheritance is eternal.
“...as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God’s tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will cease at the time of death. The Path to Guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion...”
As we turn to another soul with love in our eyes, the barriers fall between us. As we reach forward to that soul with compassion, he opens his heart to the crystal clarity of Bahá’u’lláh’s Message and becomes glad to hear it.
With tenderness we urge the power of Truth, and with gentleness we bear witness to its might. For we know that God alone can tell who will understand this Truth and who will not, who will respond to this love and who cannot.
“This hath been God’s method in the past, and shall continue to be in the future! He causeth him whom He pleaseth to enter the shadow of His Mercy. Verily, He is the Supreme Protector, the All-Generous.
“There is no paradise more wondrous for any soul than to be exposed to God’s Manifestation in His Day...”
How can we measure in words the joy we feel when we tell another of this Cause, and watch the light of recognition dawn in his eyes, and see him seized with a similar joy, and watch as he turns to share his discovery with those around him?
There is no end to the cycle of gladness, to the treasury of gifts, to the reverberations of God’s bounty, that lie in store for us as we guide another soul...
“...to hear His verses and believe in them, to attain His presence, which is naught but the presence of God, to sail upon the sea of the heavenly kingdom of His good-pleasure, and to partake of the choice fruits of the paradise of His divine Oneness.”
(Quotations are from Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p. 77.)
[edit]
Twenty youth will have the opportunity this summer to teach the Faith in Scandinavia, in the countries of Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Although it would be useful to be familiar with one of the Scandinavian languages, it is not a requirement for joining the project.
More details will be available in the next issue of The American Bahá’í. Contact the International Goals Committee if you are interested, at 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Mayor Attends L.A. ‘Bahá’í Week’ Dinner[edit]
Teaching Briefs
Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles was guest of honor at a dinner-dance at the Biltmore Bowl that opened the observance of Bahá’í Week in that city November 12–19.
Performing after the dinner were entertainers Seals and Crofts, Walter Heath and Danny Deardorff. Alex Rocco and Mrs. Gloria Ferguson read selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
The week was ended with a public meeting and panel discussion at the Aquarius Theater. Panelists were Dr. Daniel C. Jordan, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly; National Assembly member Dr. Dorothy Nelson; singers England Dan and John Ford Coley, and comedian Stu Gilliam...
Upon learning that the theme of the city’s annual Harvest Festival Parade was “A World United,” the Bahá’í community of Arvada, Colorado, decided to use the opportunity to proclaim a principle of the Faith by awarding a trophy to the parade entry that best exemplified its theme.
The Chamber of Commerce’s parade chairman, the friends report, was “thrilled” by the idea. The Bahá’ís had five judges on the reviewing stand, plus ample publicity in the local paper.
The trophy, with an engraved quote from Bahá’u’lláh, was won by the “People-to-People” group, an organization of high school students who travel around the world as goodwill ambassadors. They invited the Bahá’ís to their meeting to present the trophy and talk about themselves and the Faith.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Hamilton Township, New Jersey, was incorporated October 28, fulfilling one of the community’s Five Year Plan goals. Standing, left to right, are Robert Harris, chairman; Evelyn Grammar; Barbara Harris, treasurer; Olive McDonald; Janet Richards, secretary; Cathy VonGonten; Donald Anderson. Kneeling, left to right, are Spud Grammar, vice chairman; Rodney Richards.
After hearing the Bahá’ís speak, the group’s counselor remarked, “These people believe in many of the same things we do,” and suggested that the two groups might work together sometime...
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Minneapolis, Minnesota, sponsored a Unity Feast on Friday, October 14, as a Victory Campaign teaching event. Thirty-nine adults and nine children attended including five non-Bahá’ís. The Minneapolis Spiritual Assembly was so pleased by the spirit generated at the Feast that it is planning another one for World Religion Day, Saturday, January 14...
October 9 marked the 65th anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to Berkeley, California, and the friends there commemorated the occasion in style.
One hundred people were present for the reading of one of the Master’s talks, a flute and harp duet, and a slide program called “Glimpses of Perfection,” about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to the United States in 1912.
The celebration was the culmination of Berkeley’s Bahá’í Week, in which 2,000 flyers about the Faith were distributed to local residents and special firesides were held...
Thousands of people had an opportunity to see the Indianapolis, Indiana, Bahá’í community’s booth at the annual International Festival in the exhibition hall at the Indiana State Fairgrounds from October 7–9. More than 350 pamphlets were given out, and a dozen people signed the new Bahá’í interest card...
The Bahá’í community of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, observed World Peace Day at Lindale Plaza, the largest shopping center in Cedar Rapids, with music and displays by several cultural groups and the local United Nations chapter. The observance was publicized by radio spots and an appearance by two Bahá’ís on an interview show. Additional ads on other aspects of the Faith were aired during the four weeks following the observance.
Other events held as a follow-up to the World Peace Day program included an interfaith worship service and breakfast at a local park, and a free public concert at Mt. Mercy College featuring the local Bahá’í music group, “A Brand New Day”...
Twenty-one non-Bahá’ís attended a barbecue October 22 hosted by the Bahá’í Group of Lufkin, Texas (four adults, six children). The Sommers Brothers, Bahá’í singers from Grand Prairie, Texas, were special guests.
Afterward, one man asked to borrow several Bahá’í books, while an elderly blind woman asked that a Bahá’í come and read the Writings to her. The discussion of the Faith begun at the barbecue continued long into the night with some non-Bahá’ís who were staying in Lufkin overnight...
Two Bahá’ís in the Brookfield, Wisconsin, area are teaching four classes on the Faith at a Unitarian Church...
In Burlington, Wisconsin, two Bahá’ís sang at a Methodist Church, then later returned by invitation to teach an adult education class...
A member of the Bahá’í community in Sacramento, California, Stella Hemmer, opened and closed that city’s United Nations Association observance of UN Day on October 20 with a song. Several other Bahá’ís attended the meeting, and the Bahá’ís of Sacramento are now on the mailing list for the local United Nations Association newsletter...
The Fall School for Seniors, a program of the University Extension at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has included a session on the Bahá’í Faith in its six-week course on world religions...
Bahá’ís in Spencer, Oklahoma, sent 3,500 introductory brochures on the Faith to 19 communities in the western part of the state. Twenty-two of the friends helped address the brochures, and a family from Spencer spent nine days visiting the 19 communities, setting up a display board in each of them...
The Introduction to Religion class at the University of Denver in Colorado was addressed by a Bahá’í, Jim Busby, on August 9. The address was made at the invitation of the professor, who had read several books about the Faith. The professor has requested that another presentation be given on the Faith when the next class sessions begin...
To help create teaching opportunities during the national month of firesides, the Bahá’ís of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, sponsored a hayride. One hundred people, including about 30 non-Bahá’ís, enjoyed the fellowship of the hayride and cookout. Ten Bahá’í communities in northeastern Ohio were represented...
The community of Coos Bay, Oregon, was ready to form its Local Spiritual Assembly in October when it lost one of its members. That member was replaced on October 30 when a local resident declared, enabling formation proceedings to continue...
The College Club at the Berkeley campus of the University of California had a Bahá’í information table on campus every day for more than two weeks during the Victory Campaign fireside month. Members estimate that they spoke with between 25 and 50 people each day.
The first Local Spiritual Assembly in Hialeah, Florida, was formed on September 12. Its members are (seated, left to right) Kathleen Demas, secretary; Martin Roth, chairman; Beverly Chisholm; Allene Barbatelli. (Standing, left to right) George Demas, vice chairman; Maxine Roth; Kathleen Jones, treasurer; Wayne Jones; Mungo Appah.
Classified Ads[edit]
SAVE a jeopardized Local Spiritual Assembly by homefront pioneering to Moscow, Idaho, where there are six Bahá’ís. Contact Margo-Amee Smallwood, secretary of the Moscow Spiritual Assembly, Box 3068, University Station, Moscow, ID 83843.
WANTED: MATURE families or individuals interested in consolidation and teaching work. Numerous job opportunities for skilled workers, educators, professionals. In Eastern South Carolina District No. 1 there are more than 10 communities of 15 Bahá’ís or more that presently have no Local Spiritual Assembly. For information write to Route 3, Box 974, Effingham, SC 29541.
PLATTSBURGH, NEW YORK, a community of 22,000 north of the Adirondack Mountains and 16 miles south of the Canadian border, needs people willing to make a commitment to live and teach the Faith there. Plattsburgh, the largest city in eastern New York state north of Saratoga, lies on the western side of Lake Champlain and is bordered on the east by Vermont. It has a four-year college and junior college, both part of the state university system, and a large Air Force base. The Plattsburgh Group has found that the most effective means of teaching there is the personal or home fireside approach. They’d like to hear from people who are willing to teach by example and in one-on-one situations. While traveling teachers are appreciated, what is most needed are committed people willing to stay. If you’d like to visit the area, or are otherwise interested in Plattsburgh, write to Simona and Patricia Nobile, 19 Lorraine St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901, or phone 518-563-0651.
MONTESSORI director needed at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. For more information contact Mrs. Margot Beers, Cottage 43, Campus Road, Tuskegee, AL 36088, or phone 205-727-7259. Bahá’ís are needed to strengthen the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tuskegee.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, California, a community of some 35,000, the home of California Polytechnic State University, needs homefront pioneers to help save its jeopardized Assembly (currently seven members). Inquiries should be addressed to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of San Luis Obispo Inc., P.O. Box 105, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406.
WILL YOU BE in Ruidoso at Riḍván? This south-central New Mexico mountain village has a strong but numerically jeopardized Assembly. We have a need for Bahá’ís capable of sustaining themselves financially in this scenic year-round resort. Possible means of support: lab technician, physical therapist, surgeon, artist, carpenter, appliance repair, odd jobs, cook, ski instructor, retirement income. Must have own transportation. For details please write to John J. Phillips, corresponding secretary, P.O. Box 1561, Ruidoso, NM 88345, or phone 505-257-2071.
HOMEFRONT PIONEERS needed in the semi-tropical lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas near the Mexican border. Communities include Brownsville, Weslaco, Edinburg, Mission and Pharr. Pan American University is in Edinburg — ideal for college students. The area is 90 per cent Spanish-speaking. Most residents are bilingual. For more information, phone 512-687-4069, or write: Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of McAllen, P.O. Box 3321, McAllen, TX 78501.
THE NATIONAL Spiritual Assembly of Spain has requested the assistance of traveling teachers who are Spanish-speaking and self-supporting. For more information, contact the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
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The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, sponsored a display on the oneness of mankind from September 12–24 at the Severance Shopping Mall in Cleveland Heights. Graphic arts, photography and quotations from the Bahá’í Writings were used to convey the principle of the oneness of mankind on six double-sided free-standing screens situated in the center of the mall’s traffic pattern. The combined talents and resources of many friends in the area were used in assembling the eye-catching exhibit. A pamphlet that included an information request form was made available to those interested in investigating the Bahá’í Faith further.
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Youth Urged to Arise
Dear Bahá’í Friends: The Two Year Youth Program is entering its tenth month. There remain only 14 short months in which to complete the remaining goals of the Program. To date there have been some successes, especially on the international front. Victory is well within the grasp of the Bahá’í community in the international arena, and we feel that these goals will be won well before the end of the Program. On the other hand, progress on the homefront has been sluggish, with many activities of the youth going unreported to the National Youth Committee. We urge each Bahá’í youth to read again the Two Year Youth Program, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, so that each of you will again focus your attention on the need to arise to win the goals that remain to be won in the Program. Furthermore, we call upon each Local Spiritual Assembly to review, with its youth, our March 21, 1977, message to the youth of the United States announcing the Two Year Youth Program. We urge you to assist the youth not only to become knowledgeable about their responsibilities to the Five Year Plan and the Two Year Youth Program, but to assist them in the accomplishment of these goals by actively supporting and encouraging activities such as traveling teaching, firesides, homefront pioneering, and all the remaining activities that will successfully complete the goals that remain to be won in the next 14 months. Finally, we urge Bahá’í youth to consider carefully these words of the Universal House of Justice: “We sincerely hope that in the forefront of the volunteers, the Bahá’í youth will arise for the sake of God and, through their driving force, their ability to endure inhospitable and arduous conditions, and their contentment with the bare necessities of life, they will offer an inspiring example to the peoples and communities they set out to serve, will exert an abiding influence on their personal lives, and will promote with distinction the vital interests of God’s Cause at this crucial stage in the fortunes of the Plan.” (From a letter of March 25, 1975, to all National Spiritual Assemblies.) With warmest Bahá’í regards, The National Bahá’í Youth Committee
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Growth, Involvement Evanston Hallmarks[edit]
Community Profile
The Evanston, Illinois, Bahá’í community, in the spiritual shadow of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette and almost within its physical shadow as well, has been in existence for more than three-quarters of a century.
Its history dates at least as far back as 1901 when residents of Evanston were members of the Spiritual Assembly of Greater Chicago.
Evanston is a unique community in at least two respects. It is one of the handful of places visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His journey to the U.S. in 1912, and it is the home of a Hand of the Cause of God, Zikrullah Khadem.
A spokesperson for the Spiritual Assembly of Evanston says future Bahá’í historians may well consider the year from Riḍván 1976 to Riḍván 1977 a landmark period in the life of the community.
THE YEAR will be remembered chiefly as one in which 18 residents of Evanston became Bahá’ís, twice as many as were enrolled the previous year.
The new believers were deepened in the Faith before they were enrolled. Under a procedure begun two years ago, the Evanston Spiritual Assembly assigns a member of the community to each new declarant, to study the Faith with him or her in three pre-enrollment sessions.
The new believers study the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the compilation On Becoming a Bahá’í, and discuss laws and commandments of the Faith and its Administrative Order.
While the deepening sessions are planned to be held once a week for three weeks, an individual has the freedom to work at his own pace.
Some new believers complete the sessions in as few as six hours, while others take up to three or four months before they are ready to be enrolled by the Assembly.
ON TWO separate occasions during the last year, mailers containing introductory information about the Faith were sent to 20,000 homes in Evanston. Some of those who were enrolled last year learned of the Faith through these and other media proclamations used by the Evanston Bahá’í community.
Although the direct mail method of proclamation was considered too costly to be repeated this year, the feeling is that it has produced a positive result for the Faith.
The Assembly reports that while complete results aren’t statistically measurable, after the mailing a feeling of goodwill toward the Faith was felt at a level not previously perceptible.
More goodwill was generated through Bahá’í participation in the Evanston town meeting, held as a part of the U.S. Bicentennial observance, at which Bahá’ís had an opportunity to make friends for the Faith among some of the most prominent citizens in the community.
Bahá’ís were members of the steering committee for the town meeting, and were leaders of one-third of the workshops held in conjunction with it. More tickets (101) were sold to the event by Bahá’ís than by any other participating group.
STUDENTS from a local high school who wanted to produce a television show about the town meeting were helped by one of the Evanston Bahá’ís. Another Bahá’í, from Wilmette, made a radio program of the meeting, covering its highlights.
Bahá’ís were active in sessions that served as a follow-up to the town meeting, reviewing proposals stemming from the meeting and organizing information for the Evanston Historical Society.
As a result of the town meeting, the Evanston Ecumenical Council, another of the participants, invited the Bahá’ís to send a representative to its steering committee meetings. The Bahá’ís have done so.
One of the ministers present at the town meeting, who was receptive to the Faith, has since begun compiling a booklet about several religions, including the Bahá’í Faith. The booklet is to be used by U.S. Army chaplains.
Not all of Evanston’s activities have been confined to the Evanston community. Its assistance to a Bahá’í Group in Park Ridge, Illinois, helped enable that community to form a Local Assembly at Riḍván 1977.
Currently, the Evanston Bahá’ís are gearing teaching activities to Chinese and Spanish-speaking residents of the community. Public meetings have been held, and non-Bahá’í activities for Chinese are supported by several members of the Evanston Bahá’í community.
Asked how the Evanston community was able to double the number of enrollments from last year, Douglas Ruhe, treasurer of the Evanston Spiritual Assembly, replied: “I’ll have to give you nitty-gritty answers. We worked twice as hard, and spent twice as much. We simply got the word to more people in the community.”
In Memoriam[edit]
- Robert Armstrong
- Redbird, Oklahoma
- Unknown
- Miss Euerlena Askins
- Florence, South Carolina
- October 13, 1977
- Paul Bacote
- Florence, South Carolina
- September 19, 1977
- Donald C. Bleck
- Marion, Indiana
- September 29, 1977
- Joseph H. Cohen
- Pleasantville, New Jersey
- Unknown
- Wyatt Cooper
- Wilmette, Illinois
- November 1977
- Mrs. Carolyn Nilson Dietrich
- Birmingham, Michigan
- September 10, 1977
- Mrs. Helen Drymon
- Lompoc, California
- August 11, 1976
- Firudyn Firoozi
- Glencoe, Illinois
- October 1977
- James L. Fowler
- Fairdale, Kentucky
- September 18, 1977
- Mrs. Shirley Francis
- Indian Wells, Arizona
- October 25, 1977
- Mrs. Sadie Fritz
- Alton, Illinois
- December 9, 1976
- Willie Lee Green
- England, Arkansas
- April 20, 1977
- Sigfried Johnson
- Batavia, Illinois
- October 13, 1977
- Mrs. Barbara Kochman
- Pine Hill, New Mexico
- September 1977
- Miss Wonderful Light
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- June 7, 1977
- Miss Gladys Linfoot
- Wilmette, Illinois
- October 1977
- Mrs. Janie May Marshall
- Norfolk, Virginia
- August 4, 1977
- Miss Linda McHenry
- Redbird, Oklahoma
- Unknown
- Tyndal O. Morrill
- Lakewood, Colorado
- March 18, 1977
- Mrs. Ethel A. Oehlwein
- Spokane, Washington
- September 25, 1977
- Robert Reddick
- Quincy, Illinois
- August 1977
- Chester Washington
- Key West, Florida
- August 1977
- Melvin F. Reinhardt
- Manitowoc, Wisconsin
- August 16, 1977
- Mrs. Ruth Saunders
- Victor, Montana
- July 30, 1977
- Clarence Schuette
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Unknown
Present at the Pioneer Training Institute held at the Bahá’í National Center from October 27–30 were (front row, left to right): Gayle Woolson, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh and former pioneer to Central and South America; Johnetta Easter, who will be going to the Bahamas; Elizabeth Fitzgibbons, Costa Rica; Maureen Kraus, a former secretary of the Foreign Goals Committee who will be working in the International Goals Committee office. Second row, left to right: Peter Beaujon, Nigeria; Virginia Jones, Bahamas; Leslie Garnett, Chile; Brenda Watts, Japan. Back row, left to right: Destiny Pearson, Mexico; Michael Buonsanto, New Zealand; Catherine Collins, Falkland Islands.
Media Committee Spreads the Faith in Phoenix[edit]
The directive from the Universal House of Justice that Bahá’ís make wider use of communications media to proclaim the Faith during the Five Year Plan has given rise in some areas to the formation of special committees to carry out that task.
The Greater Phoenix, Arizona, Bahá’í Media Committee was formed in August 1976 under the sponsorship and direction of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Tempe.
Since then the committee has been quite active in developing and implementing media proclamation plans, concentrating its efforts on the 32 radio stations within its jurisdiction.
Among the committee’s accomplishments to date:
- 15 radio stations are known to have broadcast Bahá’í materials.
- Two live talk shows featuring Bahá’ís have been aired, and eight others taped for future broadcast.
- SIX RADIO stations friendly to the Faith will grant air time for public service announcements on request.
- More than 15 stations have broadcast Bahá’í public service announcements.
- Time has been purchased for commercials and a 15-minute monthly program at a local Spanish-oriented radio station. (The station manager is attending firesides and has agreed to publicize all Bahá’í events and provide block time periodically for major events.)
- 108 Jeff Reynolds shows have been broadcast (54 hours of air time).
- “We have five complete sets of these shows,” says committee chairman Doug Carpa, “two of which are on permanent loan to a rock station and a Top 40 station.
- “ ‘Permanent loan’ means our committee provides the shows free of charge, and the station may keep them as long as it provides free air time.”
THE COMMITTEE is now moving into the second phase of its media plan, he says, and is preparing to develop its own television public service announcements.
“We’re presently gathering Bahá’í ideas we can translate into a shooting script,” says Mr. Carpa. “We feel we can bring in a 10-second and a 30-second spot for $800. We’ve turned our meetings into ‘brainstorming’ sessions to bring out and develop ideas.”
The committee, he adds, would like to share ideas with media committees in other parts of the country. Its address is Greater Phoenix Bahá’í Media Committee, P.O. Box 885, Tempe, AZ 85281.
For First New England Conference
Youth Gather at Green Acre School[edit]
The Fellowship House at Green Acre Bahá’í School in Eliot, Maine, was the site October 28–30 of the first Green Acre New England Youth Conference.
More than 40 young people ages 15 to 25 from the New England states participated in the conference that was opened on Friday evening, October 28, with a New Age Costume Party.
Starting the following afternoon classes were held on the Covenant, on Faith and Obedience, and on Personal Growth, taught by Auxiliary Board member Katherine McLaughlin, aided by assistant to the Auxiliary Board Connie Leavitt and by Peter Oldziey.
Saturday evening was highlighted by a slide show prepared by England Dan and John Ford Coley of their travels to England and Japan, to the House of Worship in Panama, and to the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa, Israel.
Peter Oldzeiy and Andrea Tovar presented a mime show of five short skits followed by presentations of the Hidden Words; the Pattersons from Manchester, New Hampshire, played three duets on guitar and flute, and there was singing and folk dancing.
A group of the friends climbed nearby Mount Salvat on Sunday morning and at the pine tree under which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá prayed in 1912, implored the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, to assist the pioneers and friends everywhere in their efforts to win the goals of the Five Year Plan and the Two Year Youth Program.
After breakfast a cablegram was sent to the Universal House of Justice informing its members of the dawn prayers. Morning classes were led by David Clayborne, secretary of the National Youth Committee, who presented the filmstrip “The School of Badí‘ ” and directed a discussion of the progress of the Two Year Youth Program.
Auxiliary Board member Katherine McLaughlin leads a class on the Covenant during the first New England Youth Conference at the Green Acre Bahá’í School.
Wally Adamczeski of the Green Acre Bahá’í School staff prepares some of his famous spaghetti for participants at the first New England Youth Conference.
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“A wonderful song giveth wings to the spirit and filleth the heart with exaltation.” —‘Abdu’l-Bahá
FLIGHT is the title of an exciting new stereo album released this month by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust. The album is a collection of fourteen original songs by a diversity of Bahá’í musicians. FLIGHT’S musical styles range from the soft sound of England Dan and John Ford Coley in “The Greatest Name” and “The Prisoner” to the sophisticated instrumentation of Do‘a in the title song, “Flight,” and the rhythm and blues of John and Sharon Barnes. Most of the songs are variations of folk-rock, but with the full instrumentation and subtlety of the seventies rather than the one voice–one guitar sound of the sixties. A printed insert with lyrics and credits for each song is included. Eleven groups perform on the album. FLIGHT can help create a Bahá’í atmosphere in your home, at firesides, and at Bahá’í gatherings such as Nineteen Day Feasts, children’s classes, and conferences. FLIGHT also makes an excellent gift. 6-35-09.......$5.50
To order FLIGHT: Order through Community Librarians if possible! Personal orders: enclose full payment. Bahá’í Publishing Trust 415 LINDEN ● WILMETTE, ILLINOIS 60091 ● 312/251-1054 |
A large group of seekers was given a bus trip to the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, in September by the Bahá’í Group of Niles, Michigan.
Niles Group Gives Seekers Bus Trip[edit]
The Niles, Michigan, Bahá’í Group sponsored a bus trip to the Bahá’í House of Worship on Sunday, September 25, as a part of its Victory Campaign effort.
Sixty-three persons, mainly people investigating the Faith, enjoyed a lovely day at the House of Worship including a guided tour, Sunday devotional program, small group firesides, and a picnic lunch at a nearby park.
While local media coverage contributed to the success of the trip, the personal friendships of the area Bahá’ís proved most important.
Through the personal contacts of the Bahá’ís and their families, many people have begun to learn of the Faith in Niles, and some of these seekers deepened their growing interest through the visit to the House of Worship.
SINCE MAKING making the trip, the Niles Group has received many compliments and further inquiries.
Other area Bahá’í communities supported the teaching effort, especially the Niles Township Group and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Benton Township, Michigan.
Members of the Niles Bahá’í Group are Barbara, Kathy and Debra Haight; Alice Brown; Patricia Gresham; and Kathy and Leonard Smith.
The Spiritual Assembly of Lakewood, California, was incorporated on August 20. Its members are, from left to right, Marilee Buckley, Barbara Bellamy, Kathleen Rothfuss, Katherine Royal, Joraya Herrman, Dave Bellamy, Betty Stellmaker, Yvonne Handel (partially hidden) and Don Stellmaker.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Guilford County, North Carolina, was elected June 25. Front row, left to right, Mrs. Bernice Williams, Mrs. Betty F. Berryhill, Mrs. Linda Kelleher, Francis X. Kelleher. Back row, left to right, Mrs. Madge T. Palmer, Roy Williams, John Savage, Robert A. Berryhill, Mrs. Doris Savage.
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Ethel Murray
Continued From Page 1
to establish a suitable place for a Bahá’í Center, with a display in front, where many of the thousands of tourists from all over the country can stop if they wish and learn something of the Faith; or they will, at least, see the name ‘Bahá’í Faith.’ A few come into the Center for literature... almost every day I have callers and am able to say a few words for the Faith.”
As the days turned to months and the months to years, Ethel Murray remained at her pioneer post, telling all who would listen the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
Though she never once was heard to utter the least word of complaint, the conditions under which she lived on the Reservation were extremely primitive.
The first house she occupied was nothing more than a shack with no plumbing or heating. Later she was able to move to a slightly better home, but it had no running water until the very end of her stay. Throughout all those years she had to gather drinking water in a rain barrel.
ONE WHO had the privilege of visiting Mrs. Murray at Cherokee a number of times wrote this:
“On each visit there were fresh signs of sacrifice and selflessness on the part of Mrs. Murray. I remember marveling at the amount of space in her small home which she had set aside as the Bahá’í meeting room. Then, when I came on a later visit, I noticed that she had had a carpenter move the partition, thus reducing her small share of the space and increasing that of the meeting room.
“It was always neatly arranged, with Bahá’í books, pictures and posters, and in front of the small home was a large sign, ‘Bahá’í Center.’ ”
Mrs. Murray, who was once a photographer by profession, would gather clothing to sell for a few pennies on the Reservation, and use the proceeds to purchase mattresses for Indian friends who had none.
OVER THE years she saved enough money to buy 23 mattresses for the needy, though she herself slept on a thin quilt that was laid over a chest.
Mrs. Murray had to walk about four miles to a general store to obtain food and other provisions, and felt that Bahá’u’lláh had showered His blessings on her when a new bridge was built, shortening the distance by a mile and a half.
It was while walking home late one evening in 1970 — she was then 86 years old — that Ethel Murray lost her footing and fell from the unlighted roadway into a ditch.
Despite the intense pain of a punctured lung and several broken ribs, she managed to crawl back to the road and flag down a passing car with her white scarf.
She was taken to a hospital in Cherokee, then later was moved to Asheville, where she remained until her death on August 5, 1972.
AFTER MRS. Murray left the Reservation, other pioneers came to carry on the teaching work.
Slowly the seeds planted by Ethel Murray began to bear fruit, until finally, on November 10, the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Cherokee Indian Reservation was formed.
It is a date whose significance will be long remembered, as it enabled the U.S. to win its goal of establishing Local Spiritual Assemblies on 25 Indian Reservations, the first homefront victory of the Five Year Plan.
The Assembly at Cherokee was recognized the following day, along with the formation of an Assembly on the Reservation at Fort Peck, Montana, also on November 10, bringing the total number of Indian Assemblies to 26.
Although the Cherokee Assembly was formed by joint declaration, its nine members surely must have felt another strong presence at that historic meeting.
Ethel Murray was certainly there in spirit. And she was smiling.
This photo, taken during Ethel Murray’s early days on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina, gives an indication of the primitive conditions under which she lived. Mrs. Murray is at the left in the photo. Minnie Feather, the first Cherokee on the Reservation to embrace the Faith, is in the center. The woman on the right is unidentified.
Louhelen
Continued From Page 1
heads a team of half a dozen top-flight architects.
Mr. Alexander and his associates visited the Louhelen property this summer, conferred with the Louhelen Project Task Force at the University of Massachusetts, and he was interviewed in August by the National Spiritual Assembly.
Following that meeting the National Assembly concluded that Mr. Alexander’s team is uniquely suited to the task of developing the Louhelen facility, and has given the team 10 months in which to develop its design and prepare architectural drawings for the National Assembly’s consideration.
THE DESIGN is to be based on Mr. Alexander’s concept of a “pattern language”; that is, developing the architectural structures best suited to the needs and purposes of those who are to use them.
Mr. Alexander’s singular approach to architectural design and function led to his winning the first medal for research ever awarded by the American Institute of Architects.
While the “pattern language” for Louhelen is being devised, these other steps will be taken:
- Preparation of training materials for the Louhelen Council in collaboration with the National Education Committee.
- Recruitment and initial screening of applicants for staff positions.
- Final selection of applicants.
- Preparation of video-training tapes.
- Graduate Record Examination for applicants.
Tentative plans are to launch a fundraising campaign for the Louhelen school at the Bahá’í National Convention in April 1979.
The briefing sessions in November were for the purpose of bringing everyone involved up to date on what has been done and what is planned with respect to development of the Louhelen Educational Center.
The briefing sessions, said Glenford E. Mitchell, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, represent “a benchmark in the great adventure of creating the distinctive characteristics of Bahá’í life.”
On Saturday and Sunday, July 23-24, the five-member Bahá’í Group of the Island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, sponsored a display at the Miacomet Fair Grounds. Many people stopped to accept free shells decorated with Nantucket scenes and Bahá’í quotations. Included in the display were works of art from Swaziland and Panama.
WORLD ORDER Summer Issue Beckons[edit]
Articles on scientific medicine and health, Buddhism in Tibet, and the nature of reality highlight the Summer 1977 issue of WORLD ORDER magazine.
Included are B.B. Page’s thoughtful and provocative article, “Scientific Medicine and Health: The Case for a Reappraisal”; “Tibetan Buddhism: The Fully Developed Forms of Indian Buddhism,” by Wesley E. Needham, and “The Metaphorical Nature of Reality,” by John S. Hatcher.
For a world of reading pleasure, subscribe now to WORLD ORDER magazine. If you wish to start your subscription with the Summer 1977 issue, send your payment by February 15, 1978, with a note stating, “Send Summer 1977 issue first.”
Send $6 for one year’s subscription, or $11 for two years, to WORLD ORDER Subscriber Service, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Single copies of the Summer 1977 issue are available for $1.60 each through Bahá’í community librarians.
Marching before several thousand viewers, Bahá’ís from Deerfield, Illinois, carried a twenty-foot banner in the Fourth of July parade in their community. Bahá’í youth from Illinois, Nevada and Oregon helped them give away more than 2,000 balloons that said, “Bahá’ís Welcome America’s Third Century” to children along the parade route.
‘School of Badí‘’ Sold Out[edit]
“The School of Badí‘,” a slide program about the ways youth have served the Faith since its earliest history, has sold out (300 copies) at the Bahá’í Publishing Trust. An additional 200 copies are being made to meet the continuing demand.
“The School of Badí‘ ” contains a number of previously unpublished photos of martyrs, Hands of the Cause as youth, and others.
The Bahá’í Publishing Trust expects to sell 1,000 copies of the program by 1979.