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NSA Renews Appeal for Deepening Study
to Victoriously Conclude World Crusade
On August 1 the National Spiritual Assembly sent to every Bahá’í in the United States a letter announcing the steps it had taken on behalf of the American Bahá’í community to respond to the beloved Guardian’s final call in the closing paragraphs of his last communication to the believers of the United States for “the triumphant termination” of the “initial epoch in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan” of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
This letter appealed to every local spiritual assembly, every Bahá’í group, and every individual believer to translate this campaign into a local plan of action in terms of the specific homefront objectives around which individual and collective effort will revolve during the next four years.
Accompanying the August issue of Bahá’í NEWS was a study insert bearing the title “For Spiritual Reinvigoration.” In the introduction of this outline, every local spiritual assembly and Bahá’í group was asked to arrange for group discussion of the twenty questions, and every believer “whether veteran in the Cause or newly enrolled, whether an experienced teacher or administrator,” was requested to participate in this nationwide study in order that we might, one and all, acquire “a deeper understanding of the Faith and the inner spiritual strength this understanding brings,” which the Guardian himself stated was so sadly needed by the American believers.
To further acquaint the friends with the purposes and elements of this four-year homefront campaign, the National Spiritual Assembly sponsored some forty conferences throughout the country the latter part of October and early November, attended by over 2,000 believers. At these conferences the astonishing fact was revealed that even after the lapse of three months, the majority of the believers had not yet studied this material either individually or in groups.
Beloved friends, the National Spiritual Assembly now directs another urgent appeal to every individual believer whose heart is “throbbing with the love of Bahá’u’lláh” to read again the letter of August 1 and letter No. 2 dated October 25, enclosed in the November issue of Bahá’í NEWS, and to arise at once and as one body to participate in this united effort to obey the pleas of Shoghi Effendi for “the triumphant termination” of the
Ten-Year Plan, the third in the series of three plans launched and directed by the beloved Guardian himself to aid us to obey the commands of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the establishment of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh and the salvation of the human race.
Enclosed with this December issue of Bahá’í News is a second outline for individual and group study and discussion, prepared to give further assistance in deepening our understanding of the fundamentals of the Faith, including the sacred character and animating purpose of the divinely ordained local institutions through which the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh enters into the body of the believers and through which His promised blessings may also flow out upon all mankind.
The believers who have not yet studied the first outline are requested to do so immediately and then proceed with this second one. Local spiritual assemblies and Bahá’í groups are also requested to provide maximum opportunity for all their members to study and discuss them together, and to report to the National Spiritual Assembly by February 1 what they have done in this connection.
—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Communities Report Response to NSA Call
For Dynamic Homefront Campaign
On August 5 the National Spiritual Assembly addressed a special communication to all local spiritual assemblies calling for whole-hearted response to the National Assembly’s homefront campaign, which had been launched on August 1 by means of the announcement of its plan in a letter addressed to every American Bahá’í.
In this letter, each local assembly was requested to set up its own “dynamic and decisive” plan of action, including specific goals to be accomplished during the remainder of the Ten-Year Crusade. These plans were to embrace these given general aims:
1. Increased teaching activity by all believers.
2. Enrollment of new members.
3. Extension teaching aimed at bringing one or more
nearby groups to assembly status.
4. Increasing the number of pioneers.
5. Augmenting contributions to the local and na tional Bahá’í funds.
Thus far only a small number of assemblies have
DECEMBER 1958
reported the action they have taken on this directive, but the responses that have been made indicate that there has been serious consultation on the matter, not only within the assembly but on the part of the entire Bahá’í community, and that the goals that have been adopted are realistic and possible of achievement for that particular community.
Response of the Larger Communities
The Milwaukee, Wisc., Assembly, to whom the National Spiritual Assembly assigned responsibility for at least five new local spiritual assemblies by Riḍván 1960, was the first to accept the challenge, promising the formation of two of these five institutions of the Faith by Riḍván 1959. The first move of the Assembly was to present the plan at a Nineteen-Day Feast to enlist the support of every believer. Progress reports and a follow—up, designed to inspire and urge dispersal, have been a part of the period of consultation at all of the succeeding Feasts. The first to respond was one couple who, as proof of their sincere spirit, has already settled in one of the goal cities, thereby raising the membership of the group to eight, within sight of assembly status next April.
Periodic community conferences, combined with informal suppers and social evenings for fellowship, are also part of the local plan to arouse the enthusiasm and support of the friends. Believers from surrounding communities, groups, and isolated centers are invited to participate and become acquainted with the Milwaukee Bahá’ís and the types of teaching assistance they can provide to their neighbors.
Following the launching of the National Assembly’s campaign in August, the Milwaukee Assembly, in cooperation with the area teaching committee, sponsored a special meeting on August 23 to which the believers throughout Wisconsin were invited to join in “closing their ranks” as admonished by Shoghi Effendi and “to unite and work together as one man to accomplish our common purpose.” The four subjects announced for discussion at this conference were: spiritual reinvigoration, administrative expansion, material replenishment, and dispersal. The attendance was ninty-five, including twenty-seven members from groups, and three from isolated centers.
The discussion on all subjects was good, lively, and down-to-earth with respect to practical application and expression. It was unanimously agreed that to gain Bahá’í unity, meetings like this one are a vital necessity and great inspiration, for here the friends can draw upon the knowledge and experience of each other and thus derive new enthusiasm and spiritual vigor.
An informal dinner, followed by the viewing of travel pictures taken by one of the local Bahá’ís on her twiceround-the-world travels, and of Egypt, India, and Pakistan, provided opportunity for fellowship among many of the believers who have few occasions for sociability. Further gatherings of this type are scheduled during the remainder of the year.
Chicago Assembly Adopts Goals
The Local Spiritual Assembly of Chicago, lll., still a large reservoir of potential Bahá’í settlers and pioneers, has also laid out its four-year plan and goals.
Achievements already reported include the follow ing: increased teaching activities aimed at attracting and enrolling new believers by (1) keeping the Bahá’í Center open three early afternoon hours three days a week for inquirers, (2) an increase in the number of homes open for the firesides, plus discussion meetings at the different YMCAs and field houses in the city, (3) expanding the contacts already made with the groups of foreign students at the universities, (4) reactivation of children’s classes, (5) regular and well—planned public meetings, and (7) placement of Bahá’í literature in hotels, YMCAS, and other appropriate public places.
The Chicago Assembly has also adopted specific 10calities in which it will be responsible for raising up new local spiritual assemblies. To this end a very productive meeting was held with the area teaching committee, which has offered it complete cooperation. An all-out effort is being made to bring in at least one new assembly in April 1959.
In order to increase its support of the National Bahá’í Fund, the Chicago community has moved to less expensive headquarters so that the difference in rental can be used for this purpose. Also, the need of “material resources” will be kept constantly before the community at the Nineteen-Day Feasts.
New Yorlt's Five-Poim‘ Plan
The five—point plan adopted by the Local Spiritual Assembly of New York includes holding continuous classes on the study material furnished by the National Spiritual Assembly in the homes of believers in the various boroughs of New York until every member of the community has had opportunity to participate at least once. In consultation with the area teaching committee, it has adopted five localities for extension teaching for the purpose of building up local spiritual assemblies.
Los Angeles Adopts Five Goals
The Los Angeles, Calif., Assembly, after consultation at four Nineteen-Day Feasts and several meetings of the local spiritual assembly, has adopted these goals:
1. To increase the number of contributors to the National Fund.
2. To establish thirty regular firesides throughout the far-flung area covered by this city.
3. To carry on twenty-five regular study classes.
4. The enrollment of fifty new believers.
5. To bring into being five additional local assemblies in Southern California through pioneer settlement or extension teaching.
Smaller Communities Also Report
Among the assemblies in the smaller Bahá’í communities that have reported the launching of their local teaching campaigns are the following:
Greenville, S.C.: Thirty minutes of study, prayer, and meditation daily on the part of each member of the community to increase knowledge, understanding and spiritual vigor is pledged. Each member is to hold one fireside each nineteen days, each one is to attend a non-Bahá’í religious service somewhere in the city once in thirty-eight days, and to write a letter to some non-Bahá’í friend or acquaintance once in nineteen days, both for the purpose of making new
[Page 3]
U. S. SUPPLEMENT
3
contacts for the Faith. The community is also making a survey of the various organizations in the city having principles in harmony with Bahá’í ideals, with the intention of attending meetings to find receptive souls and opportunities to present the Faith.
South Gate, Calif.: Weekly study and deepening classes are planned, using Bahá’í material designed to help in presenting the Faith to contacts of Christian background. Sunday afternoon workshops have been established for the purpose of discussing Bahá’í NEWS and the area teaching bulletin, as well as any questions or problems suggested by the friends not requiring local assembly consultation and action. All members have also been requested to study the compilation Covenant and Administration in preparation for a seminar for those who cannot attend the regular workshops. This assembly has also adopted one extension teaching goal where it will help to restore a disbanded assembly.
Cleveland, Ohio: In consultation with the area teaching committee, this community has adopted five localities in which to establish local assemblies, all within a radius of thirty miles, in order to maintain close and continuous contact with the believers and students.
Little Rock, Ark.: This assembly, too, has selected its goal city, in which it will cooperate with the 10cal believers in growing to assembly strength. Locally, looking toward an increase in contacts, a study is being made of th non-partisan and interracial groups with whom the Bahá’ís can cooperate.
In order to be prepared for any investigation that may be made of the Faith and the local Bahá’í activities by public authorities in this period of racial tension, the assembly has prepared a file of local and national documents and other material to be immediately available. One of the most important aims of this small community is to double its monthly contributions to the National Fund.
Charleston, W. Va.: Weekly firesides for youth, and assistance to the Bahá’í Club on the college campus, as well as to the nearby isolated centers, have already started.
Casper, Wyo.: Six members of this new community are committed to pioneer service as soon as they can be replaced; therefore the aim of the local assembly is to enroll at least nine new members this year. They have found that the use of the Dawn Prayer has cemented the hearts of the believers in a strong spirit of unity, and has opened new outlets for teaching. Besides monthly public meetings, four weekly firesides, extension teaching (including teaching on the Arapahoe and Shoshone Indian Reservations), the placement of books in the local public library and the lending library at the hospital, letters to the local ministers offering gift copies of Christ and Bahá’u’lláh, social interracial gatherings, and a children’s class are among the activities now under way.
Laramie, Wyo.: In view of the difficulty of maintaining assembly status here, the believers are concentrating on making new contacts and the enrollment of new members, with extension assistance also to a nearby isolated center.
Beverly Hills, Calif.: Four firesides and one deepening class weekly are under way, and a nearby city has been adopted for extension service with the ob jective of restoring the incorporated assembly that had reverted to group status there.
Circuit Teaching
The American National Teaching Committee, in cooperation with the area teaching committees, has compiled a list of well-qualified believers who have designated their willingness to undertake teaching circuits of various lengths one or more times during the year. Plans for using these services are now being developed by the area committees, who are giving concentrated attention to the small communities and groups needing help with their deepening classes, in making new contacts, and in extension teaching. Special attention is being paid to the needs of the southern states, where it is hoped that the following months will find teams of Negro and white believers in action.
“We now enter the era of destined Bahá’í victory,” the National Assembly wrote to the local assemblies. It is hoped that further reports will be available soon to reflect the degree to which all Bahá’í communities are “arising to serve in this nationwide campaign” for achieving the victories called for in the Ten-Year Plan on the home front of the United States.
Stress Importance of Not Giving Copies
of "Bahá’í News" to Non-Believers
The National Spiritual Assembly finds it necessary to again remind the believers that under no circumstances is the Bahá’í News to be given to a non-Bahá’í, no matter how interested that individual may be. This publication is for Bahá’ís only, and in addition the UNITED STATES SUPPLEMENT is for American Bahá’ís only.
The necessity for this directive is emphasized by several recent reports that non-Bahá’ís have received the Bahá’í News from believers in the United States and have carried them into areas where the pioneers have been obliged to exercise the utmost caution in order not to arouse the opposition of the local government.
In one goal area of the United States, five years of wise and effective work by the pioneers there is now at stake because a non-Bahá’í gave a copy of the Bahá’í Naws carrying an account of the teaching work in that country to a member of a family that is antagonistic to the Faith and has great influence over the highest government officials. It may mean the expulsion of the pioneers and persecution of the local believers. Surely no American Bahá’í would want to be the cause of such a development, no matter how innocently he or she may have acted.
—U.S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
The Question of Bahá’í Scout Troops
In various forms, the relationship of Bahá’í youth to the Boy Scout organization has come before the National Spiritual Assembly on several occasions in recent years.
In regard to a Bahá’í religious award, investigation resulted in the conclusion that the religious awards programs are set up only with religious organizations that sponsor a considerable number of Boy Scout units.
Since Bahá’í Boy Scout units do not exist, the relation
[Page 4]
DECEMBER ‘1958
ship at present depends upon the personal decision of the individual boy whether or not he wishes to join a 10cal troup.
—U.S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
In Memoriam
Miss Nadeen Cooper San Francisco, Calif. September 6, 1958
Mrs. Mae M. Pierce Norwich, Conn. September 4. 1958
Mr. Joseph R. Pereira South Africa No date
Mr. Clement C. Little Cedar Rapids, Iowa September 4, 1958
WORLD CRUSADE BUDGET Sixth Year: |958—59
Annual Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..$450,000.00 Total Requirements: May 1 to October 31 225,000.00 Total Contributions: May 1 to October 31 130,500.00
—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Dr. Joseph K. Collins Falmouth, Mass. September 7, 1958 Mr. Walter Brown Los Angeles, Calif. August 30, 1958 Mrs. Catherine Collins Des Moines, Iowa September 18, 1958 Mr. John Akins Chicago, Illinois No date Mrs. Priscilla Hassan Wilmette, 111. October 19, 1958 Mrs. Caroline Stewart Bridgeport, Conn. October 6, 1958 Mr. Charles T. Graham Lenoir, N.C. No date Mrs. Winifred Clark Miami, Florida October 10, 1958
BAHA'I DIRECTORY CHANGES BAHA'| SUMMER SCHOOL COMM|TTEES—1958-1959
Green Acre Bahá’í Institute Program Committee
ASSEMBLY SECRETARIES Delaware Wilmington: Mrs. Etta Woodlen. 206 N. Scott St. Eastern Washington Spokane: Mrs. Ethel Oehlwein, N. 730 Magnolia, Z. 24
Western New York _ Buffalo: Mrs. Pearl Yates, Rec. secty., 57 Gouldlng Ave..
Z. 8 ADDRESS CHANGES Montana Helena: Mrs. Jeanine Horne, Route A Nevada Reno: Mrs. Laurel Arata, Box 9263 University Sta-tion Tennessee
Nashville: Thomas Thompson, 1804 Grand Ave._. Z. 12
Bahá’í College Bureau Mrs. Hazel Littman, secty., P.O. Box 956, Stanford, Calif.
RESIGNATIONS FROM COMMITTEES
United Nations Committee
Mrs. Lauretta N. Moore Bahá’í College Bureau
Miss Barbara Roberts American Indian Service
Cal Rollins
ADDITIONS TO COMMITTEES United Nations Committee Charles Wragg Lionel Gonzales National Bahá’í Youth Miss Joanna Thomas Area Teaching Committee—South Central States Mrs. Helen A. Spooner American Indian Service Mrs. Jan J. Ruby George Bechtold Bahá’í College Bureau Miss Margot Boesch Audio-Visual Education Hassan Tarafdar Lionel Gonzales
Harry Merson, chairman
Mrs. Myrtle Chambers San Antonio, Texas September 16, 1958 Mrs. Florence Leonard Toledo, Ohio October 13, 1958 Mrs. Louise Lewis Kansas City, Missouri August 19, 1958 Mr. J. V. Matteson Hayward, Calif. Sept. 16, 1958 Mr. Arthur C. Ioas, Sr. Healdsburg, Calif. October 3, 1958 Mr. Anders Nielson Salt Lake City, Utah Sept. 5, 1958 Mr. Elmer Pardee Lake Stevens, Wash. Sept. 26, 1958 Mrs. Marjory L. Morten New York, N.Y. October 23, 1958
Theodore Lucas. secretary. Argilla Rd. Ipswich, Mass.
Dwight Baker
Mrs. Mimi McClellan
Dr. Sam McClellan
Mrs. Ethelinda Merson
Mrs. Irene Miniutti
Mrs. Leonora Norman Dr. Anselm Shurgast
Davison Bahá’í School Program Committee
Stanley Brogan, chairman
Mrs. Lois Nochman, secretary, 532 Western, lnkster. Mich. Mrs. Shirley Baldwin
Wallace Baldwin
Mrs. Elizabeth Brogan
Mrs. Etta Catlin
Harold Johnson
Mrs. Marjorie Johnson
Mrs. Betty Weston
Geyserville Bahá’í School Program Committee
Mrs. Alla Dakserhof, chairman
Mrs. Mildred Sayles, secretary. 160 Lundy's Lane. San Francisco, Calif.
Dwight Allen
Miss Petele Horton
Mrs. Clare Irwin
Fred Littman
Mrs. Hazel Littman
Mrs. Adrienne Reeves
Mrs. Beatrice Rinde
r
Geyserville Bahá’í School Maintenance Committee Mrs. Johanna Vanoni, secretary, 22900 River Rd.. Geyser-ville, Calif.
Dwight Allen
Fred Babo
David Baker
Harry Irwin
Fred Littman
Kingsley Owens
Irvin Somerhaldcr
Adolph Wielk
