The American Bahá’í/Volume 9/Issue 6/Text
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Message From the Guardian (Reprinted from Bahá’í News, January 1947.) I recall with profound emotion, on the morrow of the 25th Anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing, the dramatic circumstances marking simultaneously the termination of the Heroic Age, and the commencement of the Formative Period, of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. I acclaim with thankfulness, joy and pride the American Bahá’í community’s manifold, incomparable services rendered the Faith at home and across the seas in the course of this quarter-century. I hail with particular satisfaction the consummation of the twin major tasks spontaneously undertaken and brilliantly discharged by the same community in both the administrative and missionary fields, constituting the greatest contribution ever made to the progress of the Faith by any corporate body at any time, in any continent, since the inception of the Administrative Order. NURSED during its infancy by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s special care and unfailing solicitude; invested at a later stage with spiritual primacy through the symbolic acts associated with His historic visit to the North American continent; summoned subsequently to the challenge through the revelation of the epoch-making Tablets of the Divine Plan; launched on its career according to the directives of and through the propelling force generated by these same Tablets; utilizing with skill, resourcefulness and tenacity, for the purpose of executing its mission, the manifold agencies evolving within the Administrative Order, in the erection of whose fabric it has assumed so preponderating a share: emerging triumphantly from the arduous twofold campaign undertaken simultaneously in the homeland and in Latin America; this community now finds itself launched in both hemispheres on a second, incomparably more glorious stage, of the systematic crusade designed to culminate, in the course of successive epochs, in the spiritual conquest of the entire planet. The task of this stern hour is challenging, its scale of operation continually widening, the races and nations to be contacted highly diversified, the forces of resistance more firmly entrenched, yet the prizes destined for the valiant conquerors are inestimably precious and the outstanding Grace of the Lord of Hosts promised to the executors of His mandate is indescribably potent... I entreat the entire community to arise, while time remains, contribute generously, volunteer its services and accelerate its momentum, to assure the total success of the first, most momentous collective enterprise launched by the American Bahá’í community beyond the barriers of the Western Hemisphere.
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Universal House of Justice Is Elected[edit]
Nearly 500 delegates from 107 National Spiritual Assemblies were present in Haifa, Israel, April 28–May 2 for the fourth Bahá’í International Convention and the election April 29 of the Universal House of Justice.
The newly-elected members of the Universal House of Justice are ‘Alí Nakhjavání, Ḥushmand Fatheazam, Amoz Gibson, Ian Semple, David Ruhe, Charles Wolcott, David Hofman, Hugh Chance and Borrah Kavelin.
Approximately 33 meetings were held at the Convention between National Spiritual Assemblies having cooperative projects or mutual concerns.
Worldwide statistics shared at the Convention include more than 19,000 Local Spiritual Assemblies, and more than 83,000 localities in which Bahá’ís reside.
Fifty National Spiritual Assemblies have achieved or nearly achieved their teaching goals of the Five Year Plan.
Young Jonathan Firooz seems to have his work cut out for him as he searches for a way to break a piñata during an Intercalary Days party February 25 sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Loveland, Colorado. Some 65 people attended including around 25 non-Bahá’ís and everyone enjoyed a potluck dinner, puppet show, children’s games and square dance.
California Team Slates Summer ‘Victory March’[edit]
The California Victory Campaign, which began March 18 in El Centro, near the Mexican border, will continue through the summer as the Victory Campaign team makes a “Victory March” northward, teaching in each of the state’s seven teaching districts, then returns southward to hold proclamations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
One of the first fruits of the Victory Campaign is the saved Local Spiritual Assembly of El Centro, whose membership was raised from seven at the start of the campaign to 18 by Riḍván.
The Victory Campaign team continued teaching in the El Centro area until May 14, working to bring the Bahá’í Group in nearby Brawley to Assembly status before the National Convention was held at the end of May.
AFTER LEAVING El Centro, the team taught in the El Cajon area, in southwestern California, and will remain there through June, then begin the Victory March northward.
Two community-wide victory projects also will be held during the summer, one in Watsonville (Central California), south of San José, the other in Los Angeles (Southern California).
In Watsonville, Bahá’í teachers will begin a campaign in June to last all summer in which they will try to bring three area Groups to Assembly status and open several goal localities.
In Los Angeles, a coffee house will open July 30 for a month to provide a place for Bahá’í youth to take friends to learn about the Faith, and provide a wholesome environment for youth.
993 Assemblies Form at Riḍván[edit]
At Riḍván 1974, less than a week before the details of the Five Year Plan were announced at the Bahá’í National Convention by the Hand of the Cause of God Paul Haney, approximately 925 Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed in the continental United States. The Five Year Plan goal established by the Universal House of Justice is to raise that number to 1,400.
At Riḍván 1978, with one year remaining in the Plan, 993 Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed in the U.S. This means that the U.S. Bahá’í community must form an additional 407 Local Assemblies by April 20, 1979, to win the goal.
Assemblies—even those that were lost at Riḍván—may form at any time during the final year of the Plan. Assemblies formed at Riḍván 1979 will not be counted toward fulfillment of the goals of the Five Year Plan, nor will Assemblies that are lost at that time be counted against them.
WHILE THE net gain in Assemblies from Riḍván 1974 to Riḍván 1978 is approximately 68, many more than that have actually been formed since the Plan was launched. It is the large number of lost Assemblies, says John Conkling, secretary of the National Teaching Committee, that has kept the total number from climbing far higher.
Shortly before Riḍván, the number of Local Assemblies in the U.S. reached 1,004, an all-time high. But included in the total were some 64 that were numerically under strength, and approximately 56 that had great difficulty in achieving a quorum.
- See CONCERTED, Page 12
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Displays, Movies Proclaim Bahá’í Message in N.Y.C.[edit]
During the past two years the Bahá’í Displays Committee of the Spiritual Assembly of New York City has made a concerted and highly successful effort to reach all strata of society in the city with the Bahá’í Message.
Its many activities have included displaying Bahá’í exhibits at city events throughout the year; entering a float in the Bicentennial 4th of July parade; forming a movie club with films shown free to the public at the Bahá’í Center; placing several exhibits at a popular public library, and securing a half-hour program on WCBS-TV.
In July 1976 the Bahá’í float in the Bicentennial parade was seen by hundreds of thousands. A photo of the event found its way around the world when it was selected from among 10,000 entries for a special issue of Nikon World magazine.
LATER THAT month the Displays Committee was formed. Its purpose was to enter a Bahá’í booth in as many events as possible including neighborhood festivals and “Star Trek” conventions.
The committee uses two portable display stands available at the Bahá’í Publishing Trust. Panels depicting Bahá’í principles and places were decorated by Marie Samuel and Eliane Hopson. The panels are interchangeable to suit the various events attended. Literature is displayed on a table and offered to the public in a dignified, low-key manner.
The 1977–78 season has been most successful. As of April 15 the Bahá’í booth was in 10 events with a total attendance of more than two million, and more than 4,000 pieces of literature were taken.
A highlight was a request by city officials organizing the 1977 4th of July festival that the Displays Committee help man strategic posts including the headquarters office. The name of the Faith, along with the names of 18 Bahá’í volunteers for the 10-hour tour of duty, was published in the festival directory.
DISPLAYS appeared in several Bahá’í-sponsored events including the American Indian Council Fire at Ithaca, New York, and Bahá’í Club proclamations at several colleges and universities.
As an outgrowth of the Displays Committee’s activities, the Spiritual Assembly approved the creation of a movie club to show feature films at the 150-seat, professionally equipped Bahá’í Center auditorium.
The club, named “NewScope Ciné-Club,” got off to a fast start in January 1977 with the visit of André Brugiroux, a Bahá’í from France, who showed his film, “The Earth Is One Country.”
American and foreign classical feature films are shown once or twice a month, and guest speakers are invited whenever possible to stimulate discussions after the screening.
Bahá’í literature is available at the entrance, and everyone socializes at the end of the program with coffee, giving an opportunity to introduce the Faith to interested visitors.
PUBLICITY for the performance is carried free by New York’s leading entertainment magazine, Cue, by the Village Voice, and in a popular local events publication. Also, 300 flyers are distributed, mailed to universities, or posted in local stores.
The club also sponsored a four-week public library exhibit celebrating 50 years of talking pictures and including the name and address of the Bahá’í Center. These combined efforts drew some 500 visitors to the Center last year and 585 since January of this year for the first six performances.
A highlight was an American Indian program last November organized with the cooperation of the American Indian Relations Committee. The program featured films by Ina McNeil (Sioux) and members of the American Indian Community House who also participated in a panel discussion. Seventy-eight non-Bahá’ís attended including more than 30 American Indians.
The screening February 12 of “Fantastic Voyage,” from a book by Isaac Asimov, had a record attendance of more than 200, 85 percent of them non-Bahá’ís, who overflowed into the lobby in front of the Center’s closed-circuit TV sets.
THEY CAME to meet the famous scientist and author, Dr. Isaac Asimov, who came with his wife, Dr. Jeppson. Although Dr. Asimov usually receives a large fee for public appearances, he came to the Bahá’í Center free of charge, led an animated discussion after the movie, and accepted the book, Call to the Nations.
A week later, while addressing more than 500 people at a “Star Trek” convention, Dr. Asimov mentioned his visit to the Bahá’í Center, praising the intelligence of the children he had met there.
One of the many events in which the Bahá’í Displays Committee of the Spiritual Assembly of New York City has participated since it was formed in 1976 was the Atlantic Avenue Festival in Brooklyn in September 1977. With the display are Eliane Hopson (left) and Marie Samuel.
A subsequent performance featured music critic Robert Jacobsen, editor of the nationally known Opera News.
Upcoming programs are to feature Dr. Edward Carpenter, headmaster of Harlem Prep School; Jesco von Puttkamer, program manager of Space Planning and Studies at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and a second American Indian program showing the film, “I Will Fight No More Forever,” and a panel discussion with executives from the American Indian Community House including its director, Joe Villagomez (Seneca), a member of the federal Administration for Native Americans.
After nearly a year of effort by the New York Assembly’s public information officer, the Faith was the subject of a CBS-TV Sunday morning program, “The Way to Go,” that is seen by an estimated 94,000 viewers each week.
Interviewed was Dr. Victor de Araujo, representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations. The television producer and his staff remarked that it was one of the finest programs they’d produced.
Two Year Youth Program[edit]
| Items | Goals | April 1977 | Yet to be filled | |
| Total youth | 5,846 | |||
| Homefront Pioneers To Unopened Countries To unopened Localities |
150 (20) (90) |
0 (0) (0) |
8 6 6 |
142 14 84 |
| Domestic Teaching Trips For Two Months or More To Indian Reservations |
1,000 (15) (50) |
0 (0) (0) |
815 5 41 |
175 10 9 |
| International Pioneers Filling Specific Five Year Plan Goals |
30 (10) |
0 (0) |
11 7 |
19 3 |
| International Teaching Trips For One Month or More Each in a Single Country |
95 (20) |
0 (0) |
61 32 |
34 0 |
| Local Youth Clubs | 200 | 109 | 139 | 61 |
| College Clubs At Colleges with Highest Number American Indian Students |
400 (5) |
354 (0) |
380 2 |
20 3 |
International Goals[edit]
| AFRICA | OPEN | |
|---|---|---|
| (F) | Central African Empire | 2 |
| (E) | Ghana | 4 |
| (E) | Lesotho | 1 |
| (F) | Madagascar | 2 |
| (E) | Malawi | 1 |
| (E) | Sierra Leone | 2 |
| (E) | South Africa (Transkei) | 4 |
| (E) | St. Helena | 1 |
| (P) | Upper West Africa (Cape Verde Islands) | 2 |
| AMERICAS | ||
| (S) | Argentina | 3 |
| (E) | Barbados/Windward Islands | 1 |
| (S) | Bolivia | 1 |
| (P) | Brazil | 2 |
| (S) | Chile | 1 |
| (E) | Guyana | 1 |
| (E) | Jamaica (Cayman Is.) | 2 |
| (E) | Leeward/Virgin Islands | 1 |
| (S) | Mexico | 3 |
| (S) | Paraguay | 2 |
| (S) | Uruguay | 2 |
| ASIA | ||
| (B) | (E) Bangladesh | 2 |
| (J) | Japan | 10 |
| (K) | Korea | 5 |
| (E) | Sri Lanka (Ceylon) | 1 |
| EUROPE | ||
| (F) | Belgium | 3 |
| (D) | Denmark | 2 |
| (I) | Iceland | 1 |
| (Sw) | Sweden | 2 |
| (F) | (G)(It) Switzerland | 2 |
| AUSTRALASIA | ||
| Marshall Islands | 1 | |
| Tonga | 2 | |
| B—Bengali | ||
| D—Danish | ||
| E—English | ||
| F—French | ||
| G—German | ||
| I—Icelandic | ||
| It—Italian | ||
| J—Japanese | ||
| K—Korean | ||
| P—Portuguese | ||
| S—Spanish | ||
| Sw—Swedish | ||
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The American Bahá’í Seeks Staff Writer Wanted: A versatile, enthusiastic and creative person with some newspaper or other writing experience to replace our valued coworker, Sharon Lewis, who is resigning at the end of July as a staff writer for The American Bahá’í to return to college. This is an ideal position for someone who wishes to refine and develop his or her reportorial and writing skills while learning other aspects of the newspaper and magazine business. Camera experience would be extremely helpful. Please send resumé and writing samples to the editor, The American Bahá’í, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091. |
[edit]
Each year at the National Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly reports on the status of the National Fund. Following this report there is consultation and a sharing of information that focuses on the further development of the institution of the Fund.
At the close of the session, the delegates customarily vote on the proposed budget. This vote is advisory; the National Spiritual Assembly ultimately establishes the budget for the new fiscal year.
In March, the National Spiritual Assembly wrote to all the delegates to share its concerns about the Fund in preparation for the convention. The Office of the Treasurer would like to share these thoughts with you and invite you, if you wish, to send in any comments or ideas you might have relating to these topics.
Next month, we hope to share some of the responses as well as the results of the consultation on these items at Convention.
1. PARTICIPATION OF ASSEMBLIES
There are currently about 1,000 Local Spiritual Assemblies in the United States. An average of 640 Local Assemblies have contributed to the Fund each month; more than 925 Assemblies have contributed at least once this year.
We are delighted that 75 per cent of the Assemblies are regular contributors, and we have told them so; at the same time, 25 per cent do not contribute regularly. Last year, the averages were about the same.
Most of the non-contributing Assemblies are also not functioning in other areas of Bahá’í activity.
2. PARTICIPATION OF INDIVIDUALS
Shoghi Effendi said that contributions from individual believers to the National Fund represent a “sacred obligation” of the “utmost vital importance” and that all the National Spiritual Assembly’s plans are “foredoomed to failure” without the financial support of the individual.
The Office of the Treasurer is working to increase the individual believer’s awareness of the Fund as part of the Covenant and that one’s spiritual growth depends to a large extent upon the degree to which one supports the Faith materially. More than 8,000 individuals have contributed to the Fund at least once this year; an average of 2,000 individuals directly support the National Fund each month.
Our efforts to reach the friends on this important subject have taken the form of direct appeals to every believer, articles in The American Bahá’í, the Treasurer’s Letter, District Convention reports and the Bahá’í schools program.
3. TRAINING LOCAL TREASURERS
Two years ago, the National Spiritual Assembly initiated a program to provide training and assistance to local Treasurers by appointing National Treasurer’s Representatives. National Treasurer’s Representatives conduct Treasurer’s workshops on accounting procedures and Fund principles, and offer deepenings on the Fund.
To date, approximately 200 Treasurer’s workshops have been held around the country with 1,000 Treasurers of Assemblies and Groups and 600 non-Treasurers attending. At this point, half of the Treasurers in the United States have participated in the program and have been enthusiastic about its effectiveness. However, attendance at the workshops remains low.
The National Spiritual Assembly would like to see these workshops develop into annual “professional” meetings for local Treasurers. We plan to continue this program in the hope that we can convince Treasurers to attend workshops—not just once, but every year—to keep abreast of their ever-expanding responsibilities as Treasurer.
4. THE FUND AND TEACHING
The Fund (like the Guardianship, the Universal House of Justice, the Feast, etc.) is an institution of the Cause, but it is seldom mentioned in our teaching work. Just as we seek to develop a positive attitude toward such obligations as prayer and fasting, so, too, must we instill in each new believer a love for the Fund.
At present, only 10 per cent of new believers contribute to the National Fund.
5. ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
The responsibility of handling the believers’ gifts to the Cause of God has been entrusted to the National Spiritual Assembly.
There are two concerns regarding accountability for these contributions. On the one hand, proper fiscal management includes reporting the financial affairs of the Faith to the community at large. The National Spiritual Assembly does this through the Treasurer’s Report to the National Convention, in the Bahá’í National Review, in The American Bahá’í, and in the monthly Treasurer’s Letter.
On the other hand, the National Spiritual Assembly has complete autonomy when deciding how to allocate its resources. The Guardian urged individual believers and Local Assemblies to contribute freely to the National Bahá’í Fund, “so that the members of the National Assembly may at their full discretion expend it for whatever they deem urgent and necessary.”
However, many Assemblies and believers have difficulty contributing freely. Some say they would give more if only the National Spiritual Assembly would cite specific needs.
It is the act of giving which is spiritually significant for the individual; responsibility for administration of Bahá’í resources is given to the Institutions of the Cause.
If the National Spiritual Assembly were to place undue emphasis upon describing and justifying its expenditures, it could cause the friends to lose sight of their own spiritual obligation to give to the Fund and become overly concerned about the Institution’s job of managing its resources.
6. CAPITAL PROJECTS
At the National Center, the House of Worship requires some long-postponed major repairs on the dome and apron, plans for an Archives building are awaiting implementation, and there is a need for an administrative office building.
The National Spiritual Assembly regards each of these steps as vital to the growth and development of the Faith in America. However, there are no existing capital funds to finance even one of these projects.
‘Younglights,’ the children of the Lincoln, Nebraska, Bahá’í community, are shown March 4 as they entertained residents of a home for senior citizens in nearby Wahoo, Nebraska, a goal community of the Spiritual Assembly of Lincoln. The children sang several songs, and presented a puppet show dealing with the Bahá’í principles of not using alcohol or backbiting. The script for the puppet show was written by 12-year-old twins Randy and Danny Knox.
Fund Deepenings Stress the Spiritual[edit]
According to a recent survey, fewer than 20 per cent of all Assemblies and Bahá’í Groups have held deepenings on the Fund during the past two years. The Office of the Treasurer feels that participation in an NTR deepening will have a positive impact on the ultimate success of the Five Year Plan.
“Most people expect an NTR deepening on the Fund to be about money. It isn’t! The major thrust of the program is about spiritual growth!” This is how Kurt Hein, staff member of the Office of the Treasurer, described the deepening program offered by National Treasurer’s Representatives.
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Guardian on Fund “As the activities of the American Bahá’í community expand, and its world-wide prestige correspondingly increases, the institution of the National Fund, the bedrock on which all other institutions must necessarily rest and be established, acquires added importance, and should be increasingly supported by the entire body of the believers, both in their individual capacities, and through their collective efforts...” (Postscript in the Guardian’s handwriting from a letter written on his behalf to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada dated July 29, 1935) |
“When the Fund is mentioned, most people automatically think of money. That’s understandable, but what we frequently fail to realize is that the money we give is just an expression of our love for Bahá’u’lláh.
“Some years ago, the Universal House of Justice said our problem with the Fund was not material, but spiritual. We hope that every community will take advantage of the opportunity to work on spiritual solutions for our financial problems.”
The Treasurer’s Office serves two main functions on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly—handling the accounting chores and working to help the believers grow in their love for the Divine Institutions.
“This second point is what the deepenings are really about,” Mr. Hein said. “The National Treasurer’s Representatives share the beauty of this Revelation and then show how the Fund is an integral part of it. Supporting the Fund is one way to be firm in the Covenant.”
Mr. Hein added that some people refer to their contributions as “green energy.”
“They see their donations in a broader context—they know the money will be used to do the work of the Faith. In a way, it’s like putting yourself in many places at the same time.
“For example, when you work, think of a part of every day as a gift to the Faith. When you get your paycheck, part of it will go to the Fund. It’s as if you’re working for the Faith, because the money you contribute will be used in many different ways.
“Maybe part of your contribution goes to Africa to pay for the rental of a town hall. Maybe a portion of it goes to Haifa to pay for a rose bush. Perhaps a part stays in Wilmette, to pay for a phone call or a typewriter ribbon.
“You can see how our everyday work gets transformed into energy for the Faith, and the easiest way for that energy to move around is in the form of money.”
If a community would like a deepening on the spiritual nature of the Fund, they should contact their nearest National Treasurer’s Representative or the Office of the Treasurer.
Who Established Fund?[edit]
Q: Who established the Bahá’í Fund, Bahá’u’lláh or ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?
A: Although believers contributed to the Cause in the days when Bahá’u’lláh was living in their midst, the institution of the Fund was formally established by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The Guardian wrote, “...the institutions of the local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all local and national spiritual assemblies, have not only been established by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá’ís of the Orient, but their importance and necessity have been repeatedly emphasized by Him in His utterances and writings.” (The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 6)
‘Unity in Music’ Theme Highlights L.A. Concert[edit]
“Musical Encounters With Unity in Mind” was the theme of the third annual Intercalary Days Concert sponsored by the Bahá’í community of Los Angeles at Bovard Auditorium on the campus of the University of Southern California.
The performers included “The Children of Bahá’í”, 17 Bahá’í youngsters from ages 4 to 14; the Bahá’í “New World Singers”, and a vocal-instrumental group led by pianist John Barnes.
The Children of Bahá’í opened with a short song that presented the 12 basic principles of the Faith, and followed with seven selections, one of which encouraged adults to follow the lead of children in “building bridges out of walls.”
The New World Singers followed with half a dozen selections that included the premiere performance of “ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,’ ” written by a Bahá’í pioneer and sung by Mary Zemke, the director of the two singing groups.
After an intermission, John Barnes and his group moved center stage, using male and female vocalists, rhythm section, and Mr. Barnes’ powerful piano work to delight the large audience. The performance reached a musical peak with the infectious “Can’t You Feel His Love?”
The ‘Children of Bahá’í,’ led by musical director Mary Zemke, perform during the third annual Intercalary Days Concert presented by the Bahá’í community of Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.
‘Prayers, Tablets for Young’ Ready[edit]
Bahá’í Prayers and Tablets for the Young, a new selection of prayers and Tablets for children and youth prepared by the Universal House of Justice, was released by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust at the Bahá’í National Convention in late May. The price is $2.75.
The new 30-page clothbound book includes 28 prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, together with 10 Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for children and youth. Designed by Conrad Heleniak, it is illustrated throughout with line drawings by John Solarz.
Bahá’í Prayers and Tablets for the Young may be ordered from your local Bahá’í librarian or the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
August 24–27
30 Bahá’ís to Tour Center In Special Visit Program[edit]
Thirty Bahá’ís will have an opportunity August 24–27 to leave the cares of daily life behind as they immerse themselves in the spiritual and educational experiences of the Special Visit Program, an ongoing project of the House of Worship Activities Committee. The program is usually offered
Participants will learn about the raising of the Most Holy House of Worship from speakers such as Continental Counsellor Edna True, whose mother, the Hand of the Cause Corinne True, devoted her life to making the House of Worship a reality.
The secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly will host a gathering of the participants at the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, the meeting place of the National Spiritual Assembly, and share many aspects of how the National Spiritual Assembly conducts its business.
All of the offices at the Bahá’í National Center, including the Bahá’í Home and the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, will be visited, and a special display from the Bahá’í National Archives will be exhibited.
Housing will be arranged at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in nearby Skokie, Illinois. Transportation from the motel to the Bahá’í National Center will be provided.
Participants will be responsible for purchasing their own housing and meals.
Lauretta Haynes (fourth from left), representing the National Spiritual Assembly, presents a copy of the book, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Webster, New York, during the Assembly’s Recognition Ceremony February 4. Assembly members (left to right) are Dr. John Thatcher, Helen Rhodes, Anita Lynch, Walter O’Brien, Thomas Lynch, Raymond Jeffords, Karen Atkinson, Philip Thorpe, Carla Jeffords. The ceremony included a musical presentation by “Dawnstar,” of Buffalo, New York, and was preceded by a potluck dinner.
Target Dates for U.S. Assembly Formations[edit]
June 1 — Texas, Eastern No. 1: Midlothian (15), Rowlett (25). Connecticut: East Hartford (6). Utah: Provo (7), Logan (7).
June 4 — Washington, Northwest: Whatcom C.D. No. 2 (6). Washington, Southwest: Aberdeen (7).
June 5 — Oklahoma, Eastern: Wagoner (29). Montana: Lincoln County (5).
June 21 — Arkansas: Rogersville (6).
July 1 — Texas, Eastern No. 1: Ennis (39). Texas, Eastern No. 2: Texas City (11). Virginia, Southern: Lynchburg (11). Illinois, Northern No. 1: Freeport (5), Wadsworth (5).
July 9 — California, Central No. 1: Pacifica (6). California, Southern No. 1: Compton J.O. (8), La Puente (7). Idaho, Southern: Bingham County (5). Massachusetts: Ayer (5). Texas, Central No. 1: New Braunfels (5).
July 20 — Montana: Poplar (6). South Carolina, Southern: Allendale (4).
July 30 — Washington, Northwest: Whatcom C.D. No. 1 (5).
August 5 — Texas, Eastern No. 1: Karnack (26).
August 6 — Oklahoma, Eastern: New Lima (6).
August 9 — Massachusetts: Haverhill (5). Mississippi: Vicksburg (7).
August 12 — Michigan, Mainland: Wayne City (6), Niles City (8), Plymouth (8).
August 15 — Texas, Central No. 1: Round Rock (5). Oklahoma, Western: Spencer (6).
August 21 — Missouri: Meramec Twp. (5).
August 30 — North Carolina, Eastern: Henderson (65). Ohio, Southern: Fairborn (6).
September 1 — Idaho, Southern: Bonneville County (4). Massachusetts: Nantucket (5). Illinois, Southern: Morton (7), Wood River (6). Tennessee, Eastern: Knox County (6). Virginia, Northern: Winchester (7). South Carolina, Southern: Bamberg (24).
September 3 — Montana: Valley County (Glasgow AFB) (5). Washington, Northwest: Normandy Park (5). Washington, Southwest: Bonney Lake (5).
September 9 — California, Central No. 1: Seaside (4). California, Southern No. 1: Calabasas-Topanga (5), Covina (6), Lynwood (6), Paramount (5), Rosemead (5), San Dimas (5).
September 14 — Oklahoma, Eastern: Bartlesville (14).
September 15 — Minnesota, Southern: Wright County (6). Ohio, Southern: Oxford (5). Oklahoma, Eastern: Adair County (15).
September 22 — New Jersey: Egg Harbour Twp. (6).
September 23 — Texas, Eastern No. 1: Corsicana (28), Denison (16), Greenville (83), Waco (42). South Carolina, Southern: Edisto Island (23).
September 30 — Oklahoma, Eastern: Boynton (7).
October 1 — Texas, Northern: Canyon (5). Virginia, Northern: Orange County (5). Illinois, Northern No. 2: Hanover Park (6). South Carolina, Southern: South Dorchester County (3), Cottageville (17). Washington, Northwest: Coupeville (5). Washington, Southwest: Lacey (6). Wisconsin, Southern: Menomonee Falls (5), Menasha (5).
October 12 — Missouri: Kirkwood (7).
October 13 — Montana: Lewis & Clark County (5).
October 15 — Mississippi: Bay St. Louis (4), Warren County (4). Alabama, Northern: Mountain Brook (5). California, Central No. 1: Castroville-Pajaro (5). Massachusetts: Shutesbury (6).
October 20 — New Mexico, Southern: Lea County (6). Oklahoma, Eastern: Hulbert (9), Seminole County (11). New Jersey: Summit (5). Iowa: Coralville (5), Marion (5), Linn County (5).
November 1 — Wisconsin, Southern: Burlington (6). Mississippi: Meridian (12).
November 5 — Oklahoma, Eastern: Coweta (5), Redbird (25). Washington, Northwest: Orcas Island (5). Washington, Southwest: Woodland (5).
November 11 — Arkansas: Arkadelphia (11), Pine Bluff (13), Searcy (6), Sweet Home (32). Texas, Eastern No. 2: Bay City (6), Lake Jackson (5), Northeast Harris County (13), South Houston (6). Texas, Southern: Mission (8), Port Lavaca (6), Weslaco (5).
November 12 — California, Southern No. 1: Alhambra J.D. (3), Bell Gardens (4), Duarte (3), Hawaiian Gardens (4). Massachusetts: Waltham (5). Minnesota, Southern: Brooklyn Center (5), St. Louis Park (6), Winona (5). Missouri: Gravois Twp. (5). Nebraska: Kearney (6). Nevada, Southern: Boulder City (5). North Carolina, Eastern: Farmville (33), Goldsboro (15). Virginia, Northern: Harrisonburg (6). West Virginia: Cabell County (5), Fairmont (5), Montgomery (5), Wetzel County (6). Wyoming: Laramie County (6). North Carolina, Central: Robeson County. Indiana: Vincennes (5), Lafayette (6), Warsaw (5), Hammond (5). Kansas: Lenora (5). Connecticut: Tolland (8), Groton (6), South Windsor (5), Windham (5), Ridgefield (6), Milford (5). Michigan, Mainland: Port Huron (5), West Bloomfield (5), Clinton Twp. (8), Bloomfield Twp. (8). Illinois, Northern No. 2: Blue Island (5). South Carolina, Southern: Varnville (8), Gladness (13), Smoaks (37), Blackville (11). Montana: Ft. Belknap (8). New Jersey: Piscataway (5), North Plainfield (6). Nevada, Northern: Washoe County South (8), Reno-Sparks County (5), Lyon County (5). Arizona, Northern: Winslow (5), Yuma County (5). Alabama, Southern: Mobile County (5). Wisconsin, Southern: Brookfield (6), Hartland (6), Burke Twp. (5). Texas, Central No. 1: Killeen (13), Belton (10), Temple (8). Florida, Northern: Pensacola (5), Havana (8), Monticello (14), Quincy (13). Tennessee, Western: Wilson County (5). New York, Western: Vestal (5), Henrietta (5), Soduas Point (5). Maryland/D.C.: Bel Air (4). Delmarva: Newark (5). Louisiana, Southern: East Baton Rouge (5).
November 21 — Wisconsin, Southern: Delafield Twp. (7).
December 1 — Massachusetts: Greenfield (6). Illinois, Northern No. 1: Round Lake Beach (3).
December 25 — New Jersey: Wyckoff (8).
Florida, Central: Daytona Beach (5), Winter Haven (5). Massachusetts: Framingham (6).
Massachusetts: Holyoke (7).
Massachusetts: Upton (6). Wisconsin/Michigan: Appleton, Wisconsin (7), Hancock, Michigan (5), Oneida County, Wisconsin (5).
March 21 — Wisconsin, Southern: Greenfield (5).
Massachusetts: Beverly (5).
(No. of believers in parentheses.)
College Youth Urged to Homefront Pioneer[edit]
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VANGUARD Youth News |
In a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, Shoghi Effendi states: “Shoghi Effendi was delighted to see the result of the work achieved, which proved the deep interest the young Bahá’ís are showing in the progress of the Faith.
“The message of Bahá’u’lláh which contains the only true and lasting solution of the social and spiritual problems that confront society at present, is entrusted to their care. It is they who should, with a spirit of complete detachment and consecration, raise the banner of the Faith and enlist the support of strong and devoted souls.”
As we work in the Cause of God in this, the final year of the Five Year Plan, the National Youth Committee encourages youth who are entering college or are in a position to transfer to another college, to seriously consider assisting the teaching of the Faith in California, Illinois or New York by enrolling in school in a goal locality. The Youth Committee will be glad to assist in providing any additional information needed—please do not hesitate to call on us.
Colleges in Group areas close to Assembly formation (as of March 15):
California Central District No. 1—Martinez, John F. Kennedy University. California Central No. 2—Merced, Merced College. California Northern No. 1—Susanville, Lassen College. California Southern No. 1—Rancho Palos Verdes, Marymount Palos Verdes College. Compton JD, Compton College. California Southern No. 2—Riverside JD, University of California-Riverside; California Baptist; Citrus Belt Law School; Riverside City College. California Southern No. 3—San Luis Obispo JD, California State Polytechnic; Cuesta College; San Luis Obispo Junior College.
Colleges in Goal group areas with five or more Bahá’ís (as of March 15):
California Northern District No. 1—Oroville, Butte College. Susanville, Lassen College. California Southern No. 2—Riverside JD, University of California-Riverside; Riverside City College. Yucaipa, Crafton Hills College. Palm Desert, College of the Desert. San Bernardino, California State University. Riverside, Loma Linda University. California Southern No. 3—San Luis Obispo JD, California Polytechnic State University; Cuesta College; San Luis Obispo County Junior College. California Central No. 2—Merced, Merced College. California Southern No. 1—Rosemead, Don Bosco Technical Institute. Rancho Palos Verdes, Marymount Palos Verdes College. Whittier JD, Rio Itondo College; Whittier College.
Illinois Northern District No. 1—Moline, Blackhawk College. Freeport, Highland Community College. Lockport, Lewis University. Crystal Lake, McHenry County College. Naperville, North Central College. Illinois Northern No. 2—LaGrange, Lyons Township Junior College.
New York, Western—Binghamton, Broome Community College. Potsdam, Clarkson College of Technology. Canandaigua, Community College of the Finger Lakes. Brockport, State University of New York College at Brockport. Fredonia, State University of New York College at Fredonia. New York, Eastern—White Plains, Berkeley School; College of White Plains. Plattsburgh, Clinton Community College. Saratoga Springs, Empire State College; State University of New York-Empire State College Coordinating Center at Saratoga Springs. Saranac Lake, North Country Community College.
Colleges in unopened counties and localities (as of March 1):
Northern California—Amador County (Lone), Lone Mountain College.
Northern Illinois—Carroll County (Mt. Carroll), Shirmer College. Southern Illinois—Clinton County (Centralia), Kaskaskia College. Crawford County (Robinson), Lincoln Trail College. Wabash County (Mt. Carmel), Wabash Community College. Woodford County (Eureka), Eureka College. Bond County (Greenville), Greenville College. Warren County (Monmouth), Monmouth College.
Be sure to check with the District Teaching Committee in these areas before making plans to attend a college there.
Friends, the last summer of the Five Year Plan and the Two Year Youth Program is now upon us. We encourage every Bahá’í youth and young adult to consider participating in one of the many jointly-sponsored National Youth Summer Teaching Projects occurring this summer.
Now is the time in the Two Year Youth Program when each of us should read and meditate upon these words of Bahá’u’lláh: “Praise be to God...that whatever is essential for the believers in this Revelation to be told has been revealed. Their duties have been clearly defined, and the deeds they are expected to perform have been plainly set forth in Our Book. Now is the time for them to arise and fulfill their duty. Let them translate into deeds the exhortations We have given them.” (Quoted in The Dawnbreakers, pp. 582–3). Please refer to the previous issue of The American Bahá’í and to the brochure mailed to each youth in April for details; or call on the National Youth Committee.
Don’t miss the chance to take part in the work/study project at the National Center July 9–21 and the summer grounds project beginning July 24. Write the Youth Committee now if you are interested in either of these exciting events! The address is 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
One of the workshop discussions held during a campus rally February 18 sponsored by the Bahá’í Student Association at the University of Toledo, Ohio. Participating in a discussion of ‘Who Is a Happy Bahá’í?’ are (left to right) Jayse Bailey, Sharon Bailey, Erfan Khadem, Mojgan Behjati, Masoud Sherkat.
The Bahá’í booth set up by the Bahá’í Student Association at the University of Toledo for the school’s Winter Carnival in February.
Toledo U. Youth Hold Proclamation Campaign[edit]
In February, the Bahá’í Student Association at the University of Toledo, Ohio, in accordance with instructions from the National Youth Committee, carried out a 15-day campaign starting February 14 with the club’s participation in the Winter Carnival, a campus activity.
Other activities during the campaign were:
- Designing and setting up a Bahá’í booth for the Winter Carnival at the university’s Student Union.
- Planning and executing a rally for the Bahá’ís of Toledo and surrounding communities.
- Setting up a display and table of Bahá’í pamphlets for three days outside the student cafeteria.
- Designing and setting up a window display from February 25 to March 11 in the Student Union building.
- Hosting a public meeting February 26 at the university.
- Presenting information about the Faith and the book, Tokens, to Dr. Glen Driscoll, president of the University of Toledo.
3 Events Beckon U.S. Bahá’í Youth[edit]
American Bahá’í youth have been invited to a summer school in Canada and International Youth Conferences in Cameroon and the United Kingdom.
The Canadian summer school will be held at Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, from June 30–July 9. Its theme is “Bahá’í education.”
The International Youth Conference at Nottingham, England, will be held July 9–13, while the International Youth Conference at Yaounde, Cameroon, is scheduled for August 11–13.
Any youth interested in attending these events should contact the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Letter from El Centro[edit]
Dear friends,
It’s just ordinary people who have made the California Victory Campaign happen: people with money problems and term papers due who felt that what was happening in this area was too stupendous, too crucial, too wonderful for them not to be a part of. We came for a day or two and gave that time to Bahá’u’lláh. That’s all we did. And from then on, nothing was ordinary.
We just started helping in whatever way we could—the plan of action already was laid out. Inexperienced as we were, our self-doubts faded away when we saw that even though we were far from being saints, miracles were happening. They never stop happening. God wants us to win the goals, and when we make an effort to carry out His will and save this planet He helps us!
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Bahá’í Course Slated The University of South Florida in Tampa will offer a course on the Bahá’í Faith during the second quarter of the 1978–79 school year. The course will be entitled “The Bahá’í Faith.” It will carry four credit hours and will be taught in the Religious Studies Department by Dr. John Hatcher, a Bahá’í who has been a teacher at USF for 10 years. Dr. Hatcher has lectured on the Faith in several classes, and for the past two years the Faith has been included as an official one-week section of a course on “Modern Faiths in America.” Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era has been used as a text in that course, and the university library has consented to increase substantially its stock of books on the Faith. |
There is really no way to describe what is going on here. Some of us have cried more tears of joy, learned more about humankind, and experienced more of the power of the Cause in these last weeks than in our entire lives.
The masses are waiting. Time and time again we met people who actually said, “This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life.”
And more are waiting. All that’s needed are people like you and me who will offer up their sore feet, their longing hearts, and their summer vacations for the building of the New World.
Newport Beach, California
[Page 6]
News Briefs
‘Tribute to Mark Tobey’ Held in Wisconsin[edit]
The Bahá’ís in the Village of Trempealeau, Wisconsin, celebrated Ayyám-i-Há with a “Tribute to Mark Tobey.” Mr. Tobey, an internationally famous painter and a Bahá’í, was born and reared in the Trempealeau area.
Approximately 24 people including 12 non-Bahá’ís attended the Tribute. Lyle Wharton of Rochester, Minnesota, spoke of Mr. Tobey’s life and work, and a copy of the Spring 1977 issue of World Order magazine, which includes several articles about Mr. Tobey, was presented to the Village of Trempealeau.
A second gift from the Bahá’ís, a framed print of Mr. Tobey’s “Earth Circus,” was to be presented to the Trempealeau Library after its arrival from New York City ...
During Intercalary Days, a Bahá’í in Roswell, Georgia, was invited to visit her daughter’s class at school and discuss the Faith. Her daughter’s teacher is now attending firesides ...
A non-Bahá’í Chinese-American couple in North DeKalb County, Georgia, who had attended a fireside in February at which National Assembly member Soo Fouts was the guest speaker, hosted a fireside dinner in their home to which a dozen people were invited, including two Bahá’ís. At the end of the evening, the hostess declared ...
The Spiritual Assembly of Rock Springs, Wyoming, was formed by joint declaration April 2, the first new Local Assembly to be formed in the state since the start of the Five Year Plan. Already the community is sponsoring the New World television series on KTUX-TV in Rock Springs...
The Bahá’ís in St. Joseph and Benton Township, Michigan, pooled their efforts to host a successful Naw-Rúz potluck dinner at the YWCA. Some 50 non-Bahá’ís including six Potawatomi Indians were among the approximately 90 people from southwestern Michigan who attended.
The program included songs by Beverly Ruhe of Evanston, Illinois, and talks by Howard Starrett, a Potawatomi Indian from Dowagiac, Michigan, who is president of the United Indians of America, and Carol Handy. Several of those attending signed Interest Cards ...
The Bahá’í children’s class in the city and county of Durham, North Carolina, celebrated Ayyám-i-Há by taking gifts, favors, banners, songs and smiles to Lenox Baker Children’s and Cerebral Palsy Hospital in Durham.
Six children presented crayon batik banners and candy favors they had made to children in the hospital. They also presented a book, Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like, to the hospital. After stories were read and visiting was over, the children’s class convened at a nearby Bahá’í home for ice cream and cookies ...
Youth Energy Zone, a special Bahá’í school for 13- to 16-year-old Bahá’í youth and pre-declarants, will be in session December 17–23, 1978, in Idyllwild, California, at internationally famous Camp ISOMATA (Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts).
Designed by a special task force of the National Education Committee, the school is limited to 50 students who will be selected from applicants to provide a unique experience for youth within the diversity of the Bahá’í community.
To request an application, write to Bahá’í Youth Task Force, P.O. Box 245, Cerritos, CA 90701 no later than June 15, 1978. The cost for the week is $95; limited scholarships are available...
The campus at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, was the setting April 2 for the state’s third annual “Each One Teach One” conference. Its theme was “Each One Teach One NOW!”
The morning session featured a series of short talks and presentations, with speakers conducting workshop sessions in the afternoon. Another highlight was a showing of the film, “The Green Light Expedition.”
Among those attending was Auxiliary Board member Donald Barrett...
More than 60 people including around 10 seekers attended a gala All-State Naw-Rúz Celebration sponsored and hosted by the Bahá’í community of Cranston, Rhode Island. Bahá’ís from almost every community in the state were at the dinner including 15 or so children and youth of various ages ...
Arthur Zucker, a Bahá’í in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who is 75 years young, was the subject of a recent article in the Durham Morning Herald that told of his efforts to help brighten the lives of senior citizens in Durham and Chapel Hill by presenting Broadway musicals for their enjoyment.
The songs are played on Mr. Zucker’s tape recorder, while he supplies a running commentary, drawing on the 10 or more hours of research he does to learn the history and plot of each musical.
The article praises Mr. Zucker’s efforts, and adds: “He says his love for people has something to do with belonging to the Bahá’í Faith, which prescribes a life of dedication and sacrifice and preaches that men must show their faith through deeds.” ...
In Blue Island, Illinois, a Bahá’í who is a school teacher and another who is a recent commercial art school graduate collaborated to design a special Ayyám-i-Há card.
On the second day of Ayyám-i-Há, the teacher presented each of the 21 female staff members at his school a bouquet of flowers, and each of the two male staffers a bottle of cologne. Each of them also received the Ayyám-i-Há card with an explanation of its purpose.
The reaction was quite positive, with some of the staffers making inquiries about the Faith. One woman, in thanking the teacher for the gift, said, “We didn’t know it was like your Christmas.” ...
The children of the Linn County, Oregon, Bahá’í community celebrated Intercalary Days by presenting to the United Nations International Children’s Fund, through its local representative, a cash gift of $29. The children raised the money themselves from their contributions during the year.
The gift was made during a party for the children planned by the Spiritual Assembly of Linn County. A reporter covered the event, taking pictures of the children and UN representative for a newspaper article ...
The Bahá’ís in Alturas, California, celebrated Intercalary Days February 25–27 with a family and friends “fun night,” a filmstrip program for residents at Warner View Convalescent Home, and a youth party at the junior high school gymnasium. About a dozen non-Bahá’ís who already were at the gym joined the party and enjoyed a basketball game, refreshments, and a brief talk to let them know the purpose of the party.
Members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Cerritos, California, are shown at the time of the Assembly’s incorporation January 19. Seated (left to right) are Shirley Matyk, treasurer; Mary Lewis; Caridad Crocker, secretary; Mary Craig. Standing (left to right) are Victoria Okita; Gerald Woodward, vice-chairman; Dianne Woodward; William G. Crocker, chairman; Judy Carlson.
North Texas Sets August Date to Win Plan Goals[edit]
If it can happen in El Centro, California (see The American Bahá’í “extra” edition, March 1978), then surely it can happen in north Texas too.
Youth: Consult with your Local Assembly or the National Youth Committee if you need assistance to attend the Work/Study or Garden Project in July. |
At a conference April 9 in Canyon, Texas, the North Texas District Teaching Committee boldly announced to an audience of some 60 Bahá’ís that the district would attempt to win its remaining Five Year Plan goals by August 31!
The plans for accomplishing this task include putting between 30 and 50 Bahá’í teachers in the field for three full months, using every available teaching method.
This Texas contingent of the “Army of Bahá’u’lláh” will spend from two to seven days in each goal area. After winning the goals in north Texas, the team will join the friends in southern Oklahoma, eastern, central and western Texas, and eastern New Mexico for further teaching.
The friends at Canyon were the first to offer their support for the project, volunteering a combined total of 15 months of teaching time, 500 pounds of fresh vegetables to help feed team members, a camper, pick-up truck, car, sleeping accommodations, posters, and $1,225!
The National Teaching Committee and National Youth Committee also are lending their support to the project.
Former National Assembly Member Blackwell Is Dead[edit]
Ellsworth Blackwell, a former member of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly and a long-time pioneer to the Caribbean island of Haiti, passed away April 17 in Kananga, Zaire, following a teaching trip and meeting in Kasai.
Mr. Blackwell, born in Mississippi in 1902, became a Bahá’í in 1934. He was an active member of the Chicago and Wilmette, Illinois, Bahá’í communities, served on the National Assembly in 1955–56 and 1956–57, and worked at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel. While pioneering in Haiti, he was an Auxiliary Board member for propagation for five years, 1965–1970.
After leaving Haiti in 1975, Mr. Blackwell lived in the Malagasy Republic in Africa. From there, he pioneered to Zaire, where he arrived in April 1977 and served until his death at the age of 76.
Ellsworth Blackwell, former member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the U.S. and long-time pioneer to Haiti, passed away in Zaire on April 17 at the age of 76.
[Page 7]
Visitors stop to discuss the Faith at the Bahá’í booth during the annual ‘Festival of the Churches’ March 19 in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
‘Festival’ Huge Success For Waukesha Community[edit]
The Waukesha, Wisconsin, Bahá’í community held one of its most successful proclamations in recent years March 19 after accepting an invitation to participate in the city’s annual “Festival of the Churches.”
The day-long event was well advertised on radio, television and in newspapers, and thousands of people turned out at the Waukesha Exhibition Hall.
The New World Construction Company, a group of Bahá’í entertainers, gave two performances in the main hall, and the movie, “And His Name Shall Be One,” was shown twice in a side hall.
DURING THE evening program of music, singing and other activities, Albin Kubala, representing the Waukesha Bahá’í community, thanked the audience of around 3,000 for allowing the Bahá’ís to share with them in the joy of the festival, and read a prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
In looking for a suitable display, the Waukesha community turned to Hal Nickel’s State Fair booth that was stored at the Milwaukee Bahá’í Center. Mr. Nickel made the booth available and offered his time to adapt it for use at the festival.
When it was found that the balcony section assigned for church use was too low to accommodate the Bahá’í display, it was given a location on the main floor. Even better, it was positioned at the main entrance, surrounded by lovely flowers, in a spot that could be seen from every place in the hall, a sort of centerpiece for the whole area.
Approximately 300 Bahá’í pamphlets were taken during the day and many questions and discussions about the Faith took place.
The cost to the Waukesha Bahá’í community for its participation in this most successful proclamation event was a $20 registration fee.
Two New Calendars Are Now Available[edit]
Two attractive and useful new calendars for B.E. 135 are now available through your community librarian or the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.
The Bahá’í Desk/Wall Calendar includes a separate page and photograph for each of the 19 Bahá’í months and for Ayyám-i-Há, and lists the Bahá’í days of the week. Photos include scenes of the World Center, the Bahá’í House of Worship, and children.
The calendar has enough space to record appointments, goals, birthdays, etc. It is printed in brown ink on buff paper, and is 10 by 7 inches in size. It sells for $3.
The Bahá’í Planning Calendar for B.E. 135 is designed to help Spiritual Assemblies, Bahá’í Groups, committees and individuals plan and coordinate their many activities.
The calendar extends from April 21, 1978, to April 20, 1979, and is large enough—25½ inches by 38 inches—to be studied by an entire Spiritual Assembly during consultation.
Planning calendars are $3.50 each or three for $9.
Gregory Institute Schedules Many Exciting July Events[edit]
July promises to be an exciting month at the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina.
The July programs will begin with a four-day teaching conference during the Fourth of July holiday weekend (July 1–4). The conference theme is “So Powerful Is the Light of Unity,” focusing on the power of a unified effort by the friends to teach in every way possible.
Auxiliary Board member Elizabeth Martin will offer a course on “The Unifying Power of the Covenant in Teaching,” and Dr. Duane Dumbleton will offer one on “Unity in Diversity Applies to Teaching Too.”
TEACHING and consolidation are projects planned each afternoon for those who wish to channel their energy immediately. Also offered will be seminars on meditation, traveling teaching, teaching ideas for groups, and radio script writing.
Friends should pre-register as soon as possible, as space is limited.
The teaching conference will be followed immediately by a three-day “basic facts” deepening for newly-enrolled believers.
The first of the special Children’s Weeks will begin Sunday evening, July 8. The week of inspiration, fun and fellowship especially for children ages 6–12 will be staffed by professionally trained or experienced teachers.
The theme for the program, which ends Friday evening, July 15, is “Memorials of the Faithful,” emphasizing stories of some of the early believers as told by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Spiritual Assemblies and District Teaching Committees are urged to offer scholarships.
ANOTHER teaching program is scheduled for the third week in July. The week’s activities will include deepening classes in the mornings on teaching the Cause of God, and a teaching project in the afternoons coordinated by the South Carolina Eastern District No. 3 District Teaching Committee to teach at the Myrtle and Atlantic beaches with firesides and musical programs in the evenings.
The District Teaching Committee is recruiting 20 individuals dedicated to spreading the Divine Message to man the project.
The month will close with the second Children’s Week from July 24–29, focusing on the theme “Actions of the Righteous” taken from Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings. Pre-registration is requested.
For information, write to the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, Route 2, Box 71, Hemingway, SC 29554, or phone 803-558-5093.
The Bahá’í children’s classes in East Palo Alto, California, celebrated Intercalary Days with their first children’s program. Included were readings from The Hidden Words, Bahá’í songs in English and Spanish, and a skit version of “The Gift.” The artwork of the children, who range in age from 4 to 10, was displayed, and a potluck lunch was served. Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í parents and friends attended.
Members of the Patrick, South Carolina, Bahá’í community and their guests from South Carolina Eastern District No. 1 with Auxiliary Board member Elizabeth Martin (fourth from left, back row) at the Recognition Ceremony for the Spiritual Assembly of Patrick on March 23.
Twenty-one people including one non-Bahá’í attended the Recognition Ceremony March 23 for the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Patrick, South Carolina.
Auxiliary Board member Elizabeth Martin gave a brief talk on the significance of the Assembly’s formation; Edward Fox of Effingham presented the Patrick Spiritual Assembly with a gift on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Following the formal ceremony the friends enjoyed singing, refreshments and fellowship.
The Local Assembly and District Teaching Committee planned a teaching weekend early in May to strengthen the community and help form another Assembly in the area surrounding the town of Patrick.
Friends From Two States Help Save Illinois Assembly[edit]
As Riḍván approached, the jeopardized Local Spiritual Assembly in the southwestern Illinois community of Edwardsville Township asked Bahá’ís in the rest of the state and nearby Missouri to help it with a teaching project the weekend of March 18–19.
The Assembly was overwhelmed when 41 Bahá’í adults, youth and children from two communities in Missouri and 12 in Illinois arrived to help!
The friends spent Saturday, March 18, giving people handouts that briefly introduced the Faith and offered recipients their choice of four free books on the Faith.
Handouts also were attached to doorknobs of 750 homes in the town of 11,000 people. Ringing doorbells was forbidden, but because of the pleasant weather, the Bahá’ís were able to converse with many people who were washing their cars.
By the time a week had passed, the Assembly had received four responses to its offer of free books. One request was on a photocopied order blank that the sender had made from a friend’s original handout.
The community received further assistance in the form of homefront pioneers. The Kessler family from Ohio, the Glasser family from South Carolina and Stephen Waley from Missouri moved to Edwardsville, bringing the community membership to 11 adult believers, and saving the Local Spiritual Assembly.
[Page 8]
Community Profile
Green Bay: More Than 40 Years of Growth[edit]
For the past 46 years the Bahá’í community of Green Bay, an eastern Wisconsin port city of some 90,000 people on Lake Michigan, has been steadily growing in numbers and in strength.
The first Bahá’í in Green Bay, Charles Reimer, spent the years from 1932 to 1936 teaching the Faith to his family and friends with no resulting declarations.
In 1935 he was helped in a series of public meetings by Dr. Ali-Kuli Khan, a Persian believer, but still there were no declarations.
Then in 1936 a traveling teacher, Mrs. Ruth Moffett, who now lives in Des Moines, Iowa, spoke at two public meetings in Green Bay, after which four people declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh. One of the four, Florence Delaney, remains an active member of the Green Bay community.
MR. REIMER also had the joy of seeing his daughter, Marguerite, become a Bahá’í and teach the Faith to a young man named William Sears—now a Hand of the Cause of God—whom she married.
A photo of Lori Block, the secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of Green Bay, was run in one of the local newspapers when she addressed the Green Lake Bahá’í Conference in September 1977.
By 1954 the community had nine adult members and was able to form its first Local Spiritual Assembly.
The community is now solid and strong, with 26 adult believers, two youth and five children. They are gearing up to celebrate in 1979 the 25th anniversary of the formation of Green Bay’s first Assembly and in 1982 the 50th anniversary of the first mention of the Faith there.
In preparation for these observances, they are interviewing longtime believers in the community, former Bahá’í residents of Green Bay, and examining old records for information.
UNFORTUNATELY, some of the records have been lost, making the job of compiling a history of the community difficult.
“One of the most precious things a community can leave its children,” says community member David E. Ogron, “is knowledge of where it all began. Our archives with the compiled history and old publications should do this.”
But the Green Bay community has far more to offer its children and youth than history.
Until last fall, when many of the older youth in Green Bay left to go to college, there was an active Bahá’í Club, which had been one of the first in the U.S. to form at a junior high school.
The youth had deepening sessions, weekend campouts, hosted a mini-conference at which there were six guests from other religions, and for years were responsible for the entertainment at the annual Naw-Rúz party, which was attended by Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís alike.
STUDENTS at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay may join the Bahá’í college club, called the Bahá’í Association, that is sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Green Bay.
The Bahá’í Association has manned information tables for United Nations Human Rights Day, given away flowers to students at Naw-Rúz, and has a non-Bahá’í member for the 1977–78 school year.
The Green Bay Assembly has found that planning public events that are of interest to the news media brings the greatest publicity for the Faith.
For example, a Bahá’í human rights award is presented each year.
INDIVIDUAL community members have received good newspaper coverage when elected as delegates to the Bahá’í National Convention, or when they are appointed to Bahá’í national or regional committees.
Four Bahá’ís in Green Bay who were on the Green Lake Conference planning committee brought attention to the Faith through articles in two local daily newspapers. A photo of Lori Block, secretary of the Green Bay Assembly, addressing the Green Lake Conference was run in one of the dailies.
A Bahá’í family received coverage when three generations of it went together on pilgrimage to Haifa.
During the Bicentennial year, an inter-religious service of prayer and meditation on the future of America sponsored by the Assembly was attended by close to 300 Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians, and members of the Oneida Indian Long House religion. It received many column inches of newspaper coverage.
The Bahá’ís of Green Bay also teach actively in other communities. In 1977, they sponsored nine proclamations in the nearby town of Oneida.
The entire Oneida area, which is mostly rural, was covered at least twice by the friends who went door-to-door in sub-zero weather and “hip-deep snow,” as one Bahá’í put it. The town was covered a third time with a mailing to some 800 homes.
Ninety-five per cent of the Bahá’ís in Green Bay participated in some way in proclaiming the Faith in Oneida. “We felt very positive effects from it in our community,” says Mr. Ogron.
And with that sort of unified spirit prevailing, it’s certain that the Bahá’í community in Green Bay is destined to continue to grow and prosper in the years ahead.
‘Strength to Strength’ Traces 52 Years of Faith’s Growth[edit]
From Strength to Strength: The First Half Century of the Formative Age of the Bahá’í Era is the title of a new book to be released in June by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.
Written by Eunice Braun, the 64-page book traces the growth of the Bahá’í Faith throughout the world from the time of the Master’s passing in 1921 to the end of the Nine Year Plan in 1973. The price, not final at press time, is approximately $3.75.
It was near the beginning of the Formative Age that the youthful Shoghi Effendi, stricken by grief and weary of the renewed attacks of the Covenant-breakers, withdrew to the mountains of Europe. A short time later, he returned to the Holy Land and began the enormous tasks of guiding the infant Bahá’í community—the promulgation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan and of erecting the Administrative Order.
From Strength to Strength details the expansion of the Faith during this 52-year period. At first, as the Administrative Order took its first faltering steps, there were no organized teaching plans. Those who responded to the Tablets of the Divine Plan—‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s charter for teaching—acted independently.
The book traces the exciting developments that took place as the systematic promulgation of the Divine Plan began, initially in the First Seven Year Plan (1937–1944) and later in the Second Seven Year Plan (1946–1953). These plans were followed by the spiritually glorious Ten Year World Crusade (1953–1963), which was characterized by worldwide proclamation on an unprecedented scale.
From Strength to Strength covers many highlights of this period, including the achievements of such heroes and heroines as Martha Root and Hyde and Clara Dunn; the tribulations faced by the Bahá’í community and the wide publicity that resulted; the condition of the Bahá’í community after the Second World War; the passing of the Guardian in 1957; the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963; and the teaching journeys of the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum during the Nine Year Plan.
From Strength to Strength was written at the request of the Universal House of Justice and will be included in a forthcoming edition of The Bahá’í World.
The book’s title was inspired by a passage from the Riḍván 1974 message of the Universal House of Justice launching the Five Year Plan: “The Cause of God, impelled by the mighty forces of life within it, must go on from strength to strength, increasing in size and developing greater and greater powers for the accomplishment of God’s purpose on earth.”
Author Eunice Braun is currently a member of the Auxiliary Board. Her assigned territory includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and parts of Texas. Mrs. Braun served as manager of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust for 19 years, from 1953–1972.
From Strength to Strength can be ordered from Bahá’í librarians or the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
‘Bahá’í Faith’ Reprinted[edit]
The Bahá’í Faith: An Introduction, by Gloria Faizí, has been reprinted. The price ranges from 25 cents to 60 cents each, depending on the quantity ordered.
The book is available through your Bahá’í community librarian, or from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Ali M. Yazdi, Noted Bahá’í Author, Speaker Dies at 79[edit]
Ali M. Yazdi, a noted Bahá’í lecturer and writer, passed away February 18 in Berkeley, California, at the age of 79.
Mr. Yazdi, a schoolmate and close friend of Shoghi Effendi who was privileged on many occasions to be in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, served as chairman of many national Bahá’í committees including the Geyserville Bahá’í School Committee, the Bahá’í World Editorial Committee, and the Asia Teaching Committee.
He also was a member of the National Teaching Committee, the United Nations Special Committee, the Bahá’í News Editorial Committee, and served for 30 years as chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Berkeley.
An intellectual who was known as an outstanding speaker who presented the Teachings in a logical way with beauty and freshness, Mr. Yazdi lectured on the Faith in the U.S. and abroad.
He came from a distinguished Bahá’í family in Yazd, Persia, and at his birth was named Sheikh-Ali by the Master in honor of an uncle who, at the age of 15, was the first member of the Yazdi family to become a believer during the tumultuous days of the Bábí Faith, and who later sacrificed his life in Khartoum after freeing Ḥaydar-‘Alí from prison.
ALI M. YAZDI
Bahá’í Lecturer, Author Dies
Mr. Yazdi’s maternal great-grandfather was martyred; a tribute to his heroic grandfather, Hájí ‘Rahím Yazdi, is included in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Memorials of the Faithful; his father, who became a believer when he was 14, performed many special missions for Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; an uncle was married to Monaver Khánum, the youngest daughter of the Master.
Mr. Yazdi and his wife, the former Marion Carpenter, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1976.
Press Target in Santa Clara Campaign[edit]
Bahá’í communities in Santa Clara County, California, joined together to sponsor a large and successful newspaper proclamation effort during the nine-week Victory Campaign from September to November 1977.
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WHO IS Bahá’u’lláh BAHÁ’U’LLÁH is the Manifestation of God for this day, BAHÁ’U’LLÁH is the Promised One of all ages, and came forth in 1863 to set forth the Divine plan for the establishment of The Kingdom of God on Earth. GOD, through BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, has given to al of humanity a set of specific principles that emphasize:
These guiding lights of Divine wisdom will bring all mankind into one fold, with one Shepherd, and that Shepherd is BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, the Glory of the Father, the Glory of God. For answers to your questions contact the Bahá’í Faith
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The proclamation was planned and implemented by the Santa Clara County Intercommunity Media Committee, which is sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Cupertino and includes representatives from other Bahá’í communities in the county.
The large-scale newspaper campaign consisted of a series of five advertisements placed simultaneously in 18 newspapers—one major metropolitan daily, and 17 local weekly or bi-weekly papers, every two weeks during the Victory Campaign.
THE FIRST three of these ads was captioned, “Who Is Bahá’u’lláh?” The ad that appeared during the seventh week of the nine-week campaign asked, “Has the Spirit of Christ Returned?”
The final ad, which appeared on the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, proclaimed to an estimated 750,000 readers (out of a county population of 1,200,000) that “The Spirit of Christ Has Returned, and His New Name Is Bahá’u’lláh!”
The ad campaign was funded largely by voluntary contributions from Local Spiritual Assemblies and individual believers, from the proceeds of an auction sponsored by the media committee, and with assistance from the California Challenge Fund. The complete cost of the campaign, $5,354, was paid by April 9, the Feast of Jalál.
The Intercommunity Media Committee is continuing its efforts with plans for regular ongoing media proclamations to help bring to fruition the seeds planted during last year’s proclamation effort and prepare the way for the “entry by troops” that soon must follow in the wake of the Five Year Plan.
Saving Assemblies an Around-the-Clock Job[edit]
Maintaining Local Spiritual Assemblies and minimizing their losses is an important aspect of the Five Year Plan that kept the National Teaching Committee office staff on the telephones almost around the clock as Riḍván approached.
District Teaching Committees and many communities were called to ascertain which Local Spiritual Assemblies were in jeopardy. Also, contact was made with individual believers who might be able to homefront pioneer to save the Assemblies.
Since Riḍván 1977, more than 200 Local Assemblies have been in numerical jeopardy at one time or another. More than half were saved at least a month before Riḍván 1978, but some were almost literally “last-minute” victories, being saved just hours before sunset on April 21.
HOMEFRONT pioneers, without a doubt, were largely responsible for saving many of these Assemblies. The Homefront Deputization Fund, established by the National Spiritual Assembly last fall, was a major factor in enabling some Bahá’ís to pioneer who otherwise would not have been able to do so.
The Local Assembly in Wapato, Washington, which is on the Yakima Indian Reservation, was one of those saved by homefront pioneers.
A week before Riḍván, there were only six Bahá’ís in the community. A believer from nearby Toppenish had agreed to become the seventh Bahá’í by homefront pioneering, on the condition that the eighth and ninth Bahá’ís could be found first.
After a great many phone calls to District Teaching Committees and Local Assemblies in Washington, a Bahá’í couple said they would move to Wapato provided they could find suitable housing. This was four days before Riḍván. Finally, they found a house available for rent, and made an appointment to see it at 11 a.m. on April 21.
ARRIVING at the appointed time, they waited, but the landlord did not show up. They knew they had to find a place to live before sunset that day, or the Assembly would be lost!
Instead of giving up, the Bahá’ís in the community spent the afternoon searching for the landlord, and finally found him only an hour and a half before sunset. The couple was able to rent the house, and the Assembly was saved.
At Naw-Rúz—March 21—only four adult Bahá’ís resided in Northfield Township, Illinois. When one of the believers arrived at the Feast, only to find that she was the only one able to be there, she thought, “Well, if this is how it is here, perhaps I should try to help some other community.”
To her amazement, however, she found that when she reached out to help other communities, her own community was helped too.
Four homefront pioneers moved to Northfield Township within a three-week period, bringing the community membership to eight. As Riḍván approached, the community re-checked its membership files and found that a Bahá’í they had not known about already was living within the township. The Assembly was saved.
MILES CITY, Montana, is one of those Bahá’í communities in which the members teach continuously. For almost a year, there were no more than six Bahá’ís in the community, but they were determined that their Assembly would be re-elected at Riḍván.
They received help in the form of teaching trips from Bahá’ís in Whitefish, 500 miles away, beginning six weeks before Riḍván.
One member of the Whitefish community knew a non-Bahá’í couple in Miles City, and taught them the Faith. The couple declared about 10 days before Riḍván.
The community still needed one more believer but, with one day to go, had nearly lost hope. It was at this point that a homefront pioneer unexpectedly arrived from Missouri, saving the Assembly.
The Chicago Heights, Illinois, community found itself with only eight believers before Riḍván and was teaching vigorously to try and bring at least one new believer into the Faith.
Through the years the friends in Chicago Heights had seen many people become Bahá’ís due to their teaching efforts, but the people usually lived in other towns.
The friends finally arranged for a homefront pioneer to settle in their community. The pioneer was prepared to move when, just a few days before Riḍván, a joyous event occurred: a seeker declared in Chicago Heights, saving the Assembly!
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Convention Bestsellers!
New at the National Bahá’í Convention! The 135 B.E. Bahá’í Desk/Wall Calendar features twenty-one photographs—one for each Bahá’í month and one for Ayyám-i-Há. Arranged by Bahá’í month, the Bahá’í Desk/Wall Calendar offers an easy way to learn about the Bahá’í calendar. Punched for hanging. 10 x 7 inches. (6-69-88: $3.00) New books: From Strength to Strength: The First Half Century of the Formative Age of the Bahá’í Era, by Eunice Braun, is a moving account of the extraordinary expansion of the Bahá’í Faith throughout the world from the time of the Master’s passing in 1921 to the end of the Nine Year Plan in 1973. (See article.) 64 pp., notes. (7-32-20: $3.75 paperback) Bahá’í Prayers and Tablets for the Young features 28 prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá together with 10 Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for children and youth. Compiled by the Universal House of Justice. (See article.) Illustrated with line drawings by John Solarz. 30 pp. (7-15-54: $2.75 cloth) To order: Order through Community Librarians if possible! Personal orders: enclose full payment plus $.75 handling charge for orders under $5.00. Bahá’í Publishing Trust 415 LINDEN • WILMETTE, ILLINOIS 60091 • 312/251-1854 |
Large Gains Seen in Turks, Caicos[edit]
The Bahá’í Faith is on the verge of making significant gains in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, according to Ray Collins, who undertook a teaching trip there April 18–26 at the request of the International Goals Committee.
Consolidation of the Faith in the Turks and Caicos is a U.S. goal of the Five Year Plan. While there are no pioneers on any of the five islands at present, much has been accomplished by traveling teachers.
For example, at Naw-Rúz, Auxiliary Board member Hopeton Fitz-Henley from Jamaica spent a week in the islands and helped bring a dozen people into the Faith, among them a school teacher and an assistant manager at the most popular hotel in the islands.
Mr. Collins was able to give several of the new believers Bahá’í literature during his visit, but said they are “waiting for the next move”; there are no Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Turks and Caicos Islands to guide the new believers, although Assemblies are close to formation on Grand Turk and South Caicos.
Mr. Collins believes that American Bahá’ís who were able to start a business on the islands could support themselves there.
Anyone who is interested in serving the Faith as a traveling teacher or pioneer to these islands should contact the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Fort Hall, Idaho, Bahá’ís Hold Auction, Help Fund[edit]
The Spiritual Assembly of Fort Hall Reservation, Idaho, sponsored an “American Auction” March 26 to raise money for the National Bahá’í Fund.
The auction was held in a Bahá’í home following a potluck supper, and was supported by some 20 believers from Fort Hall and the nearby communities of Pocatello, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls and Arco. Many items were donated, and $130 was raised.
This type of auction—known as an “American auction”—was chosen because it encourages universal participation and generates more fun and excitement than a straight auction.
Items for sale were marked low, many as low as one or two cents. However, that was the price of each bid. Each time a bidder raised his hand, it cost him that amount.
A TIMER clock was set at the start of bidding on each item, neither the auctioneer nor the bidders knowing the amount of time set. Each time a hand was raised, the auctioneer pointed to that person. The item went to the person at whom the auctioneer was pointing when the timer went off.
The catch was that everyone who had bid on the item had to pay, even though only the last bidder actually received the item. Bidders kept count of their own bids.
For example, on an item going for five cents a bid, if A raised his hand 10 times, B five times and C only once, A must pay 50 cents, B 25 cents and C five cents, even though the item might be won by bidder D.
In this way everyone was able to participate, and the small amounts added up to a nice contribution for the Fund.
Most important, the auction served to bring the friends together in a spirit of unity and service. By combining service to the Faith with laughter and joy, we see the beginnings of a true Bahá’í community.
This display was presented last September at the Western Idaho State Fair by the Bahá’ís of Boise, Idaho.
Zelma Borst, Believed to Be Ohio’s Oldest Believer, Dies[edit]
Zelma Borst, believed to be Ohio’s oldest Bahá’í chronologically, and certainly the oldest in terms of service to the Faith, passed away March 28, one month short of her 96th birthday.
Ms. Borst and her parents became acquainted with the Faith in the last century when the daughter of some friends, who had gone to Chicago to study music, returned, enthusiastic about the new Teachings she had learned there.
The friend started a Group in Akron consisting of a few families, Ms. Borst’s among them, in the early years of the 20th Century.
FOR A TIME the Akron Group flourished, with more than 40 people regularly attending meetings in the mid-1920s, but discord and disobedience soon exacted a heavy toll. By the mid-1930s, the Faith had ceased to exist in Akron except for Ms. Borst and a few others who remained faithful.
Says Robert Sauter, a member of the Akron community:
“When I came to Akron in 1959, there were apparently only three active Bahá’ís in the city of 275,000: Zelma Borst, Nina Tubbs and Frances Gardner.
“Zelma worked actively in our community by opening her home, holding firesides, deepenings, Assembly meetings and Feasts, and serving on the re-established Assembly from 1961 until she was too infirm to participate actively in the administrative responsibilities.
DESPITE her infirmities, she still attended meetings, and hosted a Feast at her apartment just a few months before her passing.
“In her last days she alluded again to the greatest regret of her life—not being able to go to Cleveland in the summer of 1912 to see the Master when He visited Ohio on His American tour. May she have this disappointment rectified in her new life in the Abhá Kingdom.”
Zelma Borst, believed to be the oldest Bahá’í in Ohio, in a photo taken at the last Feast she attended shortly before she passed away on March 28, one month before her 96th birthday.
Wisconsin Family Conducts 2-Day Mini-School in Hawaii[edit]
Jack and Arden Lee of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and their daughters, 17-year-old Tahirih and 15-year-old Shirin, took advantage of Mr. Lee’s week-long business trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, in April to conduct a two-day Bahá’í Mini-School arranged by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Oahu.
Between 50 and 60 people were present at the National Bahá’í Center April 1–2 for presentations by the Lees on “Effective Bahá’í Teaching” and “Bahá’í Marriage, Children, and Family Life.”
THE SCHOOL included a separate program for children ages 5–12, and an evening concert for the public by pianist Carl Wakeland.
On April 7, Mrs. Lee was guest speaker at a fireside presented by the Oahu Bahá’í community.
Mr. Lee, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly’s Properties Advisory Committee, helped design the workshop tapes for the Hand of the Cause William Sears’ “Victory Weekend” presentation last September. He is treasurer of the Spiritual Assembly of Whitefish Bay.
Mrs. Lee, the first Bahá’í pioneer to Phnom Penh, Cambodia (1968), is an assistant to the Auxiliary Board and vice-chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Whitefish Bay.
Their daughters are active Bahá’í teachers and members of the “New World Construction Company,” a Bahá’í performing group.
In Memoriam[edit]
- Mrs. Ellen Akes
- Arlington, Texas
- 1976
- Miss Ellen A. Ames
- Crisfield, Maryland
- February 1977
- Hans Amundson
- Seattle, Washington
- February 26, 1977
- George (Doc) Barr
- Scranton, South Carolina
- March 25, 1978
- Mrs. Rosetta Bennett
- Elgin, South Carolina
- March 1977
- Charles Blount
- Mackeys, North Carolina
- Date Unknown
- Warner Boldware
- Greenville, Texas
- 1976
- Zelma M. Borst
- Akron, Ohio
- March 28, 1978
- Miss Audrey Boynton
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Date Unknown
- Clarence Burfoot
- Norfolk, Virginia
- April 1976
- Jesse Buyckes
- Coweta, Oklahoma
- 1974
- Horatio G. Carolina
- Riverside, California
- Date Unknown
- George Casso
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- March 18, 1977
- Pat Castaldi
- Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
- February 15, 1978
- William Chesson
- Mackeys, North Carolina
- Date Unknown
- Claude Crouch
- Dallas, Texas
- December 19, 1976
- Adrian DeBruin
- Kenosha, Wisconsin
- January 6, 1978
- Mrs. Berl J. Delong
- Rochester, Minnesota
- February 27, 1977
- Wendell P. Dodge
- Jackson Heights, New York
- May 1976
- Mrs. Agnes J. Eades
- West Haven, Connecticut
- April 1, 1977
- Miss Barbara Erickson
- DeKalb, Illinois
- March 5, 1977
- Zollie Fleetwood
- Suffolk, Virginia
- April 14, 1977
- Mrs. Henrietta Fletcher
- Seaford, Delaware
- December 1976
- Josh Frazier
- Walterboro, South Carolina
- 1975
- Esther Frandsen
- Rogersville, Missouri
- January 19, 1978
- Amos Gaines
- Riviera Beach, Florida
- Date Unknown
- Ned German
- Walterboro, South Carolina
- February 1, 1976
- Silas E. Givens
- Wilmington, Delaware
- September 6, 1977
- Mrs. Elizabeth Goodwin
- Tacoma, Washington
- August 1976
- Eugene Green
- Charleston Heights, South Carolina
- Date Unknown
- Miss Mable C. Horsey
- Crisfield, Maryland
- March 1977
- Theodore Johnson
- Farmville, North Carolina
- Date Unknown
- Eileen Kuykendall
- Monahans, Texas
- February 7, 1978
- Preston Legette
- Mullins, South Carolina
- March 1976
- Mrs. Ada McFadden
- Mayesville, South Carolina
- Date Unknown
- Van McGlocklin
- Kalamazoo, Michigan
- November 27, 1976
- Maurilio R. Mendoza
- National City, California
- January 10, 1977
- Nellie Moreland
- Deerfield Beach, Florida
- Date Unknown
- Tyndal O. Morrill
- Lakewood, Colorado
- March 18, 1977
- Rafi Mottahedeh
- New York City
- May 1, 1978
- Susie Onner
- Richmond, Virginia
- Date Unknown
- Robert B. Powers, Sr.
- Bethany, Oklahoma
- November 19, 1976
- David Prater
- Bryant, Florida
- Date Unknown
- James D. Rogers
- San Angelo, Texas
- February 1977
- Raymond Harry Rouse
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- September 16, 1976
- Miss Dorothie P. Rowley
- Fremont, California
- January 17, 1976
- Halley Skinner
- Boise, Idaho
- March 3, 1978
- Bill Smith
- Norfolk, Virginia
- January 1977
- David Spear
- Belle Glade, Florida
- Date Unknown
- Johnny Terry
- Atlanta, Georgia
- July 1975
- Raymond A. Walker
- Chinle, Arizona
- March 31, 1977
- Adolphus Ward
- Farmville, North Carolina
- Date Unknown
- Robert Washington
- Seabrook, South Carolina
- October 26, 1976
- Kenneth Weldner
- Alturas, California
- March 12, 1978
College, Youth Clubs Busy[edit]
The Bahá’í College Club of Colorado State University has reported a number of activities including booths during the beginning of the school year, a musical presentation at the student center, a literature display in a flea market, advertisements in the campus paper, a Bahá’í Club party that resulted in increased communication among Bahá’ís in nearby colleges, participation in the two-week intensive teaching campaign launched by the National Bahá’í Youth Committee, a display next to the university bookstore, a movie proclamation, a presentation of Tokens to the president of the university, participation in events of other Bahá’í college clubs, and regular campus firesides. Congratulations, and keep up the splendid work!
We hear that the Bahá’í Youth Club of Bergenfield, New Jersey held an institute at the Wilhelm properties in Teaneck, New Jersey, the weekend of April 8–9.
The subject of this special deepening was “The Bahá’í Life: a Positive Sense of Self-Sacrifice,” with lectures on “Inner Conflict: a Natural Reaction to the World,” and “Divine Laws: the Premise for a Truly Productive and Creative Worldly Regard,” and discussions and workshops on “The Only Resolution for Global Contention” and “Outlining a Conscious Objective for Improving Habitual Action.”
Classified Ads[edit]
HOMEFRONT PIONEERS needed to join five-member Bahá’í Group in Spearfish, South Dakota, which has a goal of reaching Assembly status by October. For information, contact Dan B. Binder, corresponding secretary, Bahá’í Group of Spearfish, 730 Jonas, Apt. 22, Spearfish, SD 57783.
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KINDLE THE FIRE OF FAITH IN MEN’S HEARTS ... “Every time we teach we should make a special effort to teach with a book. Once we have introduced the Faith to someone, and we leave, a book can teach that person over and over again, because the Writings have the power to kindle a fire which will ‘continue to burn of its own accord.’ ” Design for Victory, p. 6
TEACH WITH BOOKS. For advice on books suitable for your needs ask your local Bahá’í librarian, or write Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Ave., Wilmette, Illinois 60091. |
YOU CAN HELP build the first Spiritual Assembly of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, if you will arise now to serve in this vacation paradise sanctified by the presence of the Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, during His visit to the U.S. in 1912. For information, please contact the Western Colorado District Teaching Committee, Diane Carson, homefront pioneering coordinator, 2241 N. 21st St., Grand Junction, CO 81501.
NEW WORLD VIDEOTAPES available on loan. The Bahá’í community of Miles City, Montana, offers free use of the 13-program color television series, “The New World,” to communities that can arrange to broadcast the series through their local TV station. These excellent half-hour, 3/4-inch videotape programs, produced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Hawaiian Islands, include the Hand of the Cause William Sears as narrator and feature Seals and Crofts, England Dan and John Ford Coley, Dizzy Gillespie, James and Dorothy Nelson, and Russ and Gina Garcia. They are offered on loan only on a TV station-to-TV station basis, with the receiving community paying insurance, handling and postage to and from Miles City. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. For information write to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Miles City, Stephen Hamann, secretary, 9 South 6th, Apt. 304, Miles City, MT 59301, or phone 406-232-0440.
OVERSEAS OPPORTUNITY. Position open in Chile for certified physical education teacher. Contact the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
CARETAKING POST open at the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Rhodesia. Single Bahá’í or retired couple preferred. Contact the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
WANTED: An attorney, a physician, a grocer to join the Lenora, Kansas, Bahá’í Group of six for mutual fulfillment (6 + 3 = 9)! Lucrative opportunities in congenial rural atmosphere. For information phone 913-567-4449, or write to the Bahá’í Group of Lenora, P.O. Box 201, Lenora, KS 67645.
THE PERRY TOWNSHIP Bahá’í Group (south central Ohio) is seeking homefront pioneers to help raise up the first Local Spiritual Assembly in Appalachian Ohio. It can provide individuals and/or families with land for homesteading at no cost on a permanent loan basis. Interested persons would need to build their own house and possess rural homesteading skills. Persons with agricultural, carpentry, construction, teaching, social work, and/or alternative energy systems skills should be able to find suitable employment. The Group can assist families or individuals with transitional housing. For details, please write to Cecil and Shelly Cook, P.O. Box 135, Bainbridge, OH 45612.
KEYBOARD PLAYERS or guitarist with ability to compose music needed to collaborate with singer/lyricist. Contact Katherine Bedford at 414-354-6485.
BACTERIOLOGIST WITH PH.D. needed to fill teaching position at Northeast Missouri State University beginning in the fall of 1978. Possibility that a degree in a related field would be accepted. Seven adult Bahá’ís in the community are eager to form a Local Spiritual Assembly. Contact Dr. Dean A. Roseberry, head of the Division of Science, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, MO 63501.
KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP, Michigan, welcomes homefront pioneers to help raise the community to Assembly status (presently eight adults). Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University offer a variety of academic opportunities. Major employers include Upjohn Pharmaceutical, several paper manufacturers, and two large hospitals. The Spiritual Assembly of Kalamazoo may be able to offer limited job-finding assistance. Contact the secretary, Virginia Lucatelli, 605 W. Lovell, Apt. 8, Kalamazoo, MI 49007, or phone 616-545-8980. Housing directory available from the Kalamazoo Township Group secretary, William Nevill, 1322 Calhoun, Kalamazoo, MI 49007. Phone 616-345-9702.
PROCLAMATION MATERIALS available from the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Los Angeles, California. Posters, buttons, bumper stickers, balloons, tee-shirts, pamphlets, etc. Write for price list and order form: 9701 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035.
WANTED: PIONEER for Berthoud, Colorado. Magnificent view of the Rockies. Within commuting distance of excellent ski areas and job opportunities in Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, and Fort Collins. Job and housing possibilities in Berthoud are limited, but the need is great! For information, contact the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Larimer County, P.O. Box 91, Timnath, CO 80547, or phone 303-484-2698 or 303-667-2496.
FORTY-THREE children’s and youth teachers needed for the summer program at the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina. Teachers will also star in a slide program entitled “Close Encounters of the Spiritual Kind.” Room and board are provided. Contact the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, Route 2, Box 123, Hemingway, SC 29554.
OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT available in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, for an assistant director in teaching, training, and national program development. Applicants should have M.D. or Ph.D. degree, speak French, and be familiar with cross-cultural health training. A second position is open for an assistant director of disease surveillance and delivery systems development support. Applicants should have an M.D. or Ph.D. with training in epidemiology, speak French, and preferably have previous overseas experience. Salaries for both positions negotiable. Contact the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
JOB OPPORTUNITY. Wanted, individual to operate Xerox 800 automatic typewriter. Will train qualified applicant with secretarial or typing background. This job will place you in the center of an interesting and active office where you will become involved in all aspects of the Bahá’í Fund. To apply, send resumé to the Office of the Treasurer, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, or call Stephen Jackson at 312-256-4400, ext. 155.
WANTED: ACTIVE BAHÁ’Í of voting age to help strengthen the Ithaca, New York, Bahá’í community. Apartment available at end of August: bedroom/living room combination with twin bed and couch that folds into another single bed. Can house one or two people. Large walk-in closet and bathroom with shower stall. Perfect for a middle-aged or older person, or for younger people who can relate well to elderly. Neighborhood is largely middle-aged or elderly, but several younger people fit in nicely. On bus route and within walking distance of downtown Ithaca. Rent is $115/month plus gas and electricity (heat furnished), or $125/month with garage. If interested, write to Margo Cornish, 323 S. Albany St., Ithaca, NY 14850, or phone Douglas Kurtze at 607-272-8209.
THE LOUIS G. GREGORY Bahá’í Institute at Hemingway, South Carolina, is looking for a bus driver/garden assistant. Must have a chauffeur’s license. $25 a week plus board. Contact the Institute, Route 2, Box 123, Hemingway, SC 29554.
OPPORTUNITY in Savannah, Georgia, for a Bahá’í with experience in offset printing in a recently-opened shop owned by Bahá’ís. Familiarity with artwork and layouts helpful. For information contact Mrs. Cecile Bigatin, 507 E. Maupas Avenue, Savannah, GA 31401.
THE LOUIS G. GREGORY Bahá’í Institute also needs a full-time children’s teacher for its summer program. $25 a week plus room and board. Contact the Institute, Route 2, Box 123, Hemingway, SC 29554.
A HOUSE IS AVAILABLE in Ganado, New Mexico, on the Navajo Indian Reservation for “a stout-hearted and strong-headed Bahá’í couple for pioneering purposes.” The Assembly there is presently in jeopardy. For information, contact the Navajo-Hopi District Teaching Committee, Gordon Tong, convenor, Box 458, Chinle, AZ 86503.
BAHÁ’Í NEPHROLOGIST needed to associate with same in goal community, Southeastern U.S. Ten-station chronic dialysis facility approaching capacity patient load; active consultation practice. Contact Dr. Charles Nuttall, 208 Saddle Mountain Road, Rome, GA 30161, or phone 404-232-0411.
SEVERAL POSITIONS remain open at the Bahá’í National center for friends who have skills in the following areas: Transcriber/Typist—Requires good typing and clerical skills; ability to handle machine transcriptions: good grasp of letter composition; administrative experience within the Faith. Word Processing Operator—Requires experience on word processing equipment such as Redactron Editing Typewriter or other CRT equipment; good clerical skills; ability to handle machine transcriptions; good grasp of letter composition; administrative experience within the Faith. If you feel that you qualify for either of these positions, and are, or will be available to serve at the National Center, please send your resumé and a letter of recommendation from your Local Spiritual Assembly, Bahá’í Group or District Teaching Committee to Personnel Affairs Assistant, Bahá’í National Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Carpinteria, California, has added this sign to the Kiwanis-owned ‘welcome’ signs at each of the two main roads into the city. Permission was given to hang the signs free of charge, and there is no charge for upkeep. The Assembly plans eventually to add a rectangular sign beneath it with an address for firesides. One phone call already has been received from someone who noticed the sign.
Concerted Effort Holds Net Assembly Loss to 11[edit]
Continued From Page 1
The staff at the National Teaching Committee office worked feverishly in the months before Riḍván, using every means at their disposal to try and save as many of these jeopardized Local Assemblies as possible.
Many Assemblies were contacted directly by phone in an effort to resolve their problems; District Teaching Committees were asked to assign coordinators to work with Assemblies that were in trouble, or to work with them directly; Auxiliary Board members and their assistants aided some of the Assemblies; individual believers were encouraged to consider homefront pioneering to save Assemblies whose numbers had fallen below nine.
IN THE six months before Riḍván, approximately 180 numerically jeopardized Assemblies and 95 that were functionally jeopardized were assisted in one or more of these ways.
As a result of this coordinated effort, 21 of the 64 Assemblies that were numerically under strength as of April 12 were able to form, as were 53 of the 56 that hadn’t been functioning.
In addition, 25 new Local Assemblies and 24 restored Assemblies were formed at Riḍván; however, some 60 Assemblies were unable to form, leaving a net loss of 11 Assemblies from the early April figure of 1,004.
Although each of the 26 Local Assemblies on Indian Reservations was able to form, for the first time in many years a state was left with no Local Assemblies at all, as Vermont lost all four of its Assemblies at Riḍván. But as Mr. Conkling points out, it would take a total of only five Bahá’ís to restore those four Vermont Assemblies to full strength.
WHILE THE over-all figures are far from encouraging, and it is apparent that the U.S. Bahá’í community must teach and work as never before to win the goals of the Five Year Plan, Mr. Conkling remains confident that the victory is yet within our reach.
“We have quite a large number of Groups that are close to Assembly status,” he points out, “and many more Groups of nine or more members that, for one reason or another, haven’t become Assemblies.
“I believe we’ll be above the 1,000 mark in the next few weeks. We’ve established target dates for the formation of most of those Groups that are close to Assembly status (see Page 4), and each of the 90 Districts in the U.S. has been given a specific goal to form a certain number of Assemblies and open so many localities by November 12, the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
“We’re certainly hopeful that the hard work and untiring efforts of the District Teaching Committees in setting the target goals and assigning people to work directly with Assemblies and Groups will result in a high level of teaching activity on all fronts throughout the weeks and months ahead.
“AS FOR winning the goals of the Plan, we must keep in mind the words of the Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“ ‘There is a power in this Cause—a mysterious power—far, far, far away from the ken of men and angels; that invisible power is the cause of all these outward activities. It moves the hearts. It rends the mountains. It administers the complicated affairs of the Cause. It inspires the friends. It dashes into a thousand pieces all the forces of opposition. It creates new spiritual worlds. This is the mystery of the Kingdom of Abhá!’ ”
Recent teaching efforts such as the California Victory Campaign, says Mr. Conkling, demonstrate that “people are hungry for the Bahá’í Message, and for the genuine love that Bahá’ís can give them. We should never be shy or timid when telling people about Bahá’u’lláh.”
Currently, he says, a teacher training program is being held at the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina with around 40 people in attendance to learn of ways in which to consolidate victories in mass-taught areas.
“TEACHING the Cause,” says Mr. Conkling, “has never been so crucial; the success of the Five Year Plan, and with it the fate of humanity for many years to come, rests largely upon the efforts put forth by each individual Bahá’í during these final few months of the Plan.”
The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears has called for the formation from Riḍván to June 24 of 66 Local Assemblies in remembrance of the 66th anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit on June 24, 1912, to Evergreen Cabin at Teaneck, New Jersey. He also has asked that the U.S. community open 132 localities to the Faith in that same period.
At the request of Mr. Sears, the National Spiritual Assembly has designated the weekend of June 24–25 a second “Victory Weekend,” with picnics, proclamations and other teaching activities being held throughout the country to commemorate the Master’s visit to Teaneck.
The National Teaching Committee is lending its support to these activities, and is encouraging homefront pioneers to remain at their posts for the duration of the Five Year Plan and asking that those who are able to arise and help fill a goal of the Plan do so while there is yet time.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Decatur, Alabama, is shown shortly after its formation January 29. Front row (left to right) are Kathy Baugher, secretary; Ken Baugher, treasurer. Second row (left to right) are Linda Hampton, Florence Bowers, Susan South, Linda Culp. Back row (left to right) are Bill Culp, vice-chairman; Stuart Waddell, chairman; Earl Bowers.
Decatur Assembly Recognized[edit]
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Decatur, Alabama, held its Recognition Ceremony on April 2. Twenty-one adults and eight children were present.
Speakers included Dr. Sam McClellan, an Auxiliary Board member from Kentucky, and Robert Clifton and John Smith, members of the District Teaching Committee of North Alabama. Gifts were presented to the new Assembly on behalf of the District Teaching Committee and the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Huntsville.
The Decatur Assembly presented a history of the community in slides, and the observance was ended with a potluck supper.
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YOUTH: We still have openings for the Work/Study Project (July 9–21) and the Gardens Project (July 24–August 18). Send your letters to the National Youth Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091. |
