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Call for All-out Effort on Remaining U.S. Goals
Beginning as early as last February the National Spiritual Assembly and the American National Teaching Committee have had frequent consultation on ways and means to mobilize all the believers and the resources within the American Bahá’í community for an all-out teaching effort to win the three remaining home front goals of the World Crusade: the attainment of 300 “firmly grounded, well-informed, actively functioning” local spiritual assemblies; movement of Bahá’ís from the large centers to goal cities and to open new centers; and to swell the ranks of the Faith through the enrollment of many more new believers.
This was also the over-all subject of discussion at the Fifty-Third Annual Convention, as will have been noted in the June issue of Bahá’í News, and constitutes the major recommendations adopted by the delegates.
Immediately following the convention, certain steps were taken in consultation with the American National Teaching Committee to greatly intensify all aspects of the home front teaching program, some of which will be executed by the American National Teaching Committee and the area teaching committees in collaboration with other proclamation committees, but much of which must of necessity be carried out by local spiritual assemblies, groups and individual believers themselves. The details of these plans will be outlined from time to time in the U.S. SUPPLEMENT of Bahá’í NEWS as well as through special communications to the local spiritual assemblies and area teaching committees. But for the present information of the entire Bahá’í community and to serve as a general guide for immediate action on the part of local assemblies, groups and individual Bahá’ís, we are setting forth here briefly the major elements of the teaching effort to which each and every believer must give his full and unrelaxing support during the next two years to insure complete and total victory.
1. Unrelenting concentration upon winning the balance of the 300 firmly established local spiritual assemblies called for in the beloved Guardian’s TenYear Plan. Communities that have already achieved assembly status must not for a moment feel that they have no responsibility for bringing the remaining eighty assemblies into existence by Riḍván 1962. Those having a membership of more than fifteen must
immediately (a) undertake a definite program for encouraging and assisting friends to disperse to localities where settlers are needed to win the goals, (b) engage in extension teaching service to nearby groups and isolated believers in consultation and collaboration with the area teaching committee and the local believers concerned, and (c) increase their local teaching activities aimed at doubling their own membership in order to release that many more believers for pioneer, settlement and other services to the Faith now and in the future.
2. Wider year—round proclamation of the Faith on the local as well as the national level with particular emphasis on the three major events which offer rich opportunities for all types of publicity; namely, World Religion Day, Race Amity Day and World Peace Day. Although various aids will be supplied by Bahá’í Press Service and other committees from time to time, local assemblies and groups are expected to initiate their own publicity programs and to make maximum use of whatever facilities are available through the local press, radio and television.
The National Spiritual Assembly through the American National Teaching Committee will sponsor pilot proclamation programs on a broad scale in a selected number of localities in order to pre-test certain methods and materials which, if they prove successful, will be adopted for nation-wide use in 1962-1963.
3. Expansion of the program launched last year by the American National Teaching Committee to aid newly established and small communities to understand their administrative functions and teaching responsibilities. The committee will call upon the services of Auxiliary Board members and as many wel1-qualified teachers as can make themselves available to provide this service to a larger number of communities, particularly those having membership under fifteen.
4. Constant emphasis upon the sacred obligation of every believer to attract and win new souls for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. While public proclamation of the Faith may well bring it to the attention of greater numbers of people, the actual enrollment and confirmation of new believers must still be accomplished through person to person effort. To the degree to which each believer carries out the Master’s statement that each one should win at least one soul for the Faith
JULY 1961
each year, will we be successful in winning. our goals on the home front and in fulfilling our total spiritual mission. In this connection, the National Spiritual Assembly again calls attention to these excerpts from the letter of the beloved Guardian to the American Bahá’ís dated July 19, 1956:
“Neither the local or the national representatives of the community, no matter how elaborate their plans, or persistent their appeals, or sagacious their counsels, . . . can decide where the duty of the individual lies, or supplant him in the discharge of that (teaching) task. The individual alone must . . . consult his conscience, . . . manfully struggle against the natural inertia that weighs him down in his effort to arise, shed, heroically and irrevocably, the trivial and superfluous attachments which hold him back, empty himself of every thought that may tend to obstruct his path, mix, in obedience to the counsels of the Author of his Faith, and in imitation of the One Who is its Exemplar, with men and women, in all walks of life, seek to touch their hearts, through the distinction which characte1‘izes his thoughts, his words and his acts, and win them over, tactfully, lovingly, prayerfully and persistently, to the Faith he himself has espoused. . . . ”
“Delicate and strenuous though the task may be, however arduous and prolonged the effort required
. . the all-conquering potency of the grace of God, vouchsafed through the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, will, undoubtedly, mysteriously and surprisingly, enable whosoever arises to champion His Cause to win complete and total victory.”
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
NSA Acts on Recommendations Adopted at the Annual Convention
Following are the recommendations adopted by the delegates at the Fifty-Third Annual Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and the actions taken by the National Spiritual Assembly on each one:
1. That the National Spiritual Assembly send a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations expressing the sympathetic sentiments of the American Bahá’í community for the work he is doing and stating that the Bahá’ís are praying for the success of the efforts of the United Nations in these troubled times.
Action; Approved. Such a letter has been written.
2. That the National Spiritual Assembly consider revising The Bahá’í Community with a View to incorporating in it instructions and important points of information and guidance not covered in the 1947 edition.
Action: This recommendation is approved. The National Assembly will carefully determine how to carry out the intent of this recommendation.
3. That consideration be given to ways of stimulating fellowship and communication between local spiritual assemblies and between isolated believers and groups which would be in addition to the normal relations developed through extension teaching activities and area conferences.
Action: The National Assembly is in favor of this
recommendation and believes that the teaching program being developed this year will, by its very nature, carry out the sense of this recommendation.
4. That the National Spiritual Assembly clarify for local spiritual assemblies and area teaching committees the minimum requirements for enrollment as set forth by the beloved Guardian.
Action: Such a statement will be published in an early issue of the Bahá’í NEWS U.S. SUPPLEMENT.
5. That the National Spiritual Assembly adopt measures that will carry out the following points essential to the success of the home front teaching campaign: (a) designation of and concentration on goal groups to which teaching and deepening assistance will be provided to win the remaining number of assemblies to make a total of 300: (b) launching of a well-organized dispersal program from large cities to be carried out by visiting National Assembly members, Auxiliary Board members, and/or Hands of the Cause; (c) continuation of the local assembly consolidation program expanded to include every possible assembly, old and new, that needs it, and that this program include orientation and training in mass proclamation for the remainder of the Ten-Year Plan; (d) a mass proclamation program to last for two years; (e) a dynamic follow-up program designed to teach, confirm and enroll members of the awakened public who respond to proclamation activities.
Action: The National Spiritual Assembly has given careful consideration to these recommendations and has adopted a plan for execution this year incorporating the points listed.
6. That the National Spiritual Assembly consider an immediate and bold release to the Associated Press or other national publications proclaiming on behalf of the thousand Bahá’ís gathered at the Convention that God has sent His Messenger for these troubled times.
Action: The NSA consulted with Bahá’í Press Service regarding this motion and, based upon past experience, it is the View of both bodies that more effective publicity for the Faith can be obtained if the various local spiritual assemblies and groups will submit Bahá’í material dealing with their activities to their local newspapers on a steady and consistent basis. In this manner a greater number of individuals will be made aware of the Bahá’í Faith and the existence of local communities and groups where they can learn more about it. Nevertheless, consideration is being given to effective types of publicity releases that will aid and strengthen the local proclamation efforts of the national Bahá’í community. Contacts have already been made with wire services and national publications in this regard.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
News Briefs
May 22, the anniversary of the Declaration of the
Bab, proved to be an auspicious date for the first
public Bahá’í meeting to be held in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Television, radio and newspaper facilities, as
well as mailed invitations, were used to announce
the event. The twenty—eight guests who heard Mr.
Charles Wolcott speak on “Challenge to Chaos” re
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U.S. SUPPLEMENT
sponded to his stimulating presentation with many questions and continued interest. Instead of a summer slow-down in teaching, the Marshfield group looks forward to utilizing new channels opened by this meeting.
An exhibit illustrating the theme “One Universal Faith” was displayed by the Bahá’ís of Key West, Fla., at the first county fair of Monroe County, and attracted many of the estimated 30,000 who attended. Opportunity was presented for distribution of literature in both English and Spanish, answering questions of interested observers, and building a list of new contacts, in addition to the wide public proclamation of the Faith through this medium.
More than 150 persons, only half of whom were Bahá’ís, celebrated the third day of Riḍván by a picnic sponsored jointly by the local assemblies and groups in the Miami, Fla., area in the nursery gardens of the Baumgartner family of North Dade County. Among the guests were four blind contacts who, like
many of the other visitors, were deeply moved by"
the spirit of fellowship which animated all the Bahá’ís present. The blind guests asked for Bahá’í literature in Braille and for a weekly fireside for discussion of the Faith.
Dr. Allan L. Ward, head of the Department of Speech at Lane College, Jackson, Tenn., was the first Bahá’í speaker ever to be included among the leaders for Religious Emphasis Week at North Carolina College, Durham, N.C., March 26-30. The reaction of the students was so enthusiastic that they registered a request that he be invited as a leader for the 1962 observance. During the five days at the college, Dr. Ward presented the Bahá’í Faith to more than one thousand persons, nearly all of them hearing of it for the first time. Bahá’í books and other items were on display in the college library.
The Bahá’í women of Champaign and Urbana, Ill., are enthusiastic about the Speaker’s Club they recently organized. Patterned after the International Toastmistress Club, it differs from that group in admitting members from all races. Membership has grown to twenty—seven, with half of this number Negro women, and other members including an immigrant from India and Mrs. Khádem from Iran. The Champaign correspondent reports: “There is a wonderful spirit in this club of warmth, friendliness and acceptance.”
.Upon learning that the public library of Libertyville, Ill., was planning an “open house” during National Library Week beginning April 16, the correspondent for the Libertyville Bahá’í group, Mrs. O. R. Fechtner, volunteered to serve as hostess for one of the days, an offer which was enthusiastically accepted by the librarian. Permission was also requested and granted to have an exhibit of Bahá’í books, including a picture of the Bahá’í House of Worship_. As it turned out, the Bahá’í books constituted the only book display in the exhibit.
"The Beloved of God Must Entirely Shun Them"
In the October issue of the U.S. SUPPLEMENT the National Spiritual Assembly reminded the believers “against any association, personal contact or correspondence” with persons engaged in Covenant-breaking activities. Despite this admonition and the warning contained in the cable from the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land (see Bahá’í NEWS, September 1960, page 5), “Henceforth anyone associating (with) these people or supporting Remey claim (will) likewise (be) considered a Covenant—breaker,” certain individuals continued to actively support the defectors. These persons, having been given ample opportunity to free themselves from the machinations of the enemies of the Cause, must now also be considered in the same category with those listed in the October, November 1960 and April 1961 U.S. SUPPLEMENTS as “unfaithful to the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.” They are:
Chester Davison, Sr., Monrovia, Calif. Mrs. Romette Davison, Monrovia, Calif. Edw. L. Polley, Denver, Colo.
Jerry L. Britton, Berwick, Ill.
Mrs. Ruth A. Britton, Berwick, Ill. John R. Fischer, Cicero, Ill.
Mrs. John R. Fischer, Cicero, Ill.
Miss Sandi Fischer (youth), Cicero, 111. John Marschall, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Beverly Marschall, Chicago, Ill. Alfred B. Meyer, Quincy, Ill.
Mrs. Irene Meyer, Quincy, Ill.
James A. Meyer, Quincy, Ill.
Mrs. Marilyn Meyer, Quincy, Ill.
Erich L. Schmidt, Quincy, Ill.
Roger N. Parris, New York City, N.Y. Mrs. Homoiselle Vivian Harrison, Washington, D.C. Mrs. Louise K. Sparrow, England
Mrs. Agatha Otto, Monroe, Wash.
-—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL Ass!-:Mi3LY
College Bureau Explains Relationship Between Bureau Representatives and Local Communities
The Bahá’í College Bureau has received many requests for clarification of the proper functioning of a College Bureau Representative in his own local community. Since the local spiritual assembly is sovereign in its own jurisdiction, no activity in a community where there is a local spiritual assembly can be conducted without the approval of the assembly. This includes college activity.
The Bahá’í College Bureau is a service committee, established by the National Spiritual Assembly for the purpose of encouraging and facilitating Bahá’í' activity in colleges and universities. College Bureau representatives should be available to: contact professors, place books in libraries, speak before college classes, clubs, groups, or on other occasions, assess the Bahá’í teaching potential at a given college, facilitate the organization of Bahá’í Campus Clubs, encourage Bahá’í representation in inter-faith activities sponsored on
[Page 4]
JULY ‘1961
campuses, and give other assistance as feasible. The College Bureau as it gains experience, acquaints its representatives with various procedures that are effective and this experience can be valuable to a local community as it plans college activities.
Each community in which there is a college should determine the appropriate means for stimulating college activity and whether or not a'College Bureau Representative in the community should assist. The community has only one concern—to teach as effectively as possible; the College Bureau is concerned only that it may be of maximum assistance in achieving this goal. Reports on Bahá’í activities and contacts in colleges in the area should be reported to the Bahá’í College Bureau which in turn reports to the National Spiritual Assembly.
—Bahá’í COLLEGE BUREAU
National Assembly Announces Dates
of Meetings for the Current Year
The regular meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly for the remainder of this Bahá’í year will be held on the following dates:
July 21 - 23
September 1 - 4
October 13 - 15 March 23 -25
November 24 -26 April 25 Two meetings already held were May 1-3 and June 9-11.
Local spiritual assemblies and committees desiring consultation on any matter at a given meeting are requested to have full information in the hands of the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly at least one week before the meeting, otherwise it may not be included in the agenda. The National Assembly cannot guarantee adequate consultation and action on communications arriving the day before or during the meeting, unless they are truly emergency in character.
The annual state conventions will be held as usual on the first Sunday in December, this year December 3, 1961. The Fifty-Fourth National Convention will take place April 26-29, 1962.
December 29 - January 1 February 9 - 11
——NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
C Marriages
Flagstaff, Arizona: Miss Joann Gishie to Farrell Nixdorf on May 13', 1961
Phoenix, Arizona: Mrs. Rocella Powers to Joseph F. Katich, Jr. on March 20, 1961
Los Angeles, Calif.: Miss Parvaneh Taheri Kermani to M0habatullah Sobhani on April 23, 1961 Palo Alto, Calif.: Mrs. Edna Mae Peterman to Eugene B. Foote on May 6, 1961
Denver, Colorado: Mrs. Evelyn Lackey Bivins to Floyd Barnes Hardin on May 4, 1961
Davenport, Iowa: Miss Isabelle Ann Coronel to Jerry Raymond Hirst on April 2, 1961
Albuquerque, N.M.: Miss Catherine Braune to Roni Tolman on April 6, 1961
Fort Worth, Texas: Mrs. Kathryn A. Curtis to Dennis W. Langlois on December 23, 1960
Appeal Is Made for Spitzbergen Pioneer
The European Teaching Committee is making an urgent appeal for a special pioneer to serve the post of Spitzbergen for the coming winter of 1961-1962, with the hope of remaining for the following winter which will bring to a close the beloved Guardian’s Ten-Year Crusade. It was not until 1958 that this Crusade goal was fulfilled although it was known by the Guardian in 1957 that Paul Adams had offered to go to Spitzbergen.
The young American, Kent Lansing, who filled this post with Paul Adams last winter finds it impossible, for reasons of health, to return for this coming winter, and a companion must be found to accompany Paul.
Anyone who can offer to serve in this important post, please contact the European Teaching Committee, Miss Edna True, Chairman, 418 Forest Ave., Wilmette, Ill.
WORLD CRUSADE BUDGET Ninth Year: |96|-62
Annual Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..$550,000.00 llIIIIllIllllIIlllllllllllllllllllIllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII||||IIIIIIIIII|||lIlllllIllllllllllllIIIIIIIl||||||l|||||I|||||||||Illllllllllllllllllll Total Requirements: May 1 to May 31 . . . . .. 45,834.00 llllllllllll-'
Total Contributions: May 1 to May 31 . . . . . .. 28,865.00 Illllllll
Requirements for May 1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45,834.00 II||Ill||l|lllIllIIllllllllllIllIlllIIIIIIll|lIlllllllllIIIllIIIllIllllIIlllIlllllllllllIllllIlllllllllllllllIIIIIlllllllIllIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllll Received for May 1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 28,865.00
llllllllllIlllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllIlllllIllllllllllllllllllllIIIII Special non-recurring gifts received during
present Bahá’í year (not included above) .. 2,099.00
—U.S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
In Memoriam
Paul L. Cook James F. O’Keefe Eagle River, Wisconsin Bari, Italy February 24, 1961 April 7, 1961
Miss Helen M. Stevens Needham, Mass. March 1961
Miss Harriet Frantz Los Angeles, Calif. April 14, 1961
Mrs. Annie Jones Chicago, Illinois April 9, 1961
Mrs. Minna B. Madse_n Pasadena. Calif. February 10, 1961
Peter Nelson Kenosha, Wisconsin April 1, 1961
Noah S. Edens Port Acres, Texas January 18, 1961
Mrs. Corinne K. True Wilmette, Illinois April 3, 1961
Mrs. Pearl Yates Buffalo, New York March 30, 1961
Miss Isabel Rives Washington, D.C. March 24, 1961
Mrs. Frances A. Shaw St." Augustine, Florida November, 1960
Kanichi Yamamoto Berkeley, Calif. May 1, 1961
Oscar Peterson Remer, Minnesota April 5, 1961
