Local Baháʼí Communities

What touched my heart from the National Institutional Meeting

Local Baháʼí Communities -
National Institutional Meeting

My heart is full and yearning to share from the National Institutional Meeting held for three days in early April. Ours was one of 40 such gatherings being held around the globe. Over 500 servants from the 12 Regions of the United States, plus Alaska and Bermuda were present. We were blessed by the presence of National Spiritual Assembly members, Continental Counselors, two International Teaching Center members, and a few other special guests. Two plenary sessions were held each day before lunch, then 3 breakouts with the South Central regional group of about 40 participants – all focused on the 30 December, 2021 message and our experience so far that sheds light on it. Devotional programs, varied and stirring, were shared by participants from each region to open each morning for 30 minutes, and again to close each night.

The bounties flowed in copious abundance; I didn’t catch it all. But I’d like to share what touched my heart from my own perspective. The goal stated at the outset was to achieve spiritual clarity and unity of thought. This is needed with respect to the single aim of the Plan – to release the society building power of the Faith in ever greater measure. We will need a laser-like focus as we labor in an environment of increasing social disruption and disorder.

For clarity we can consider the agricultural analogy from the Tablets of the Divine Plan:

“Now you must become heavenly farmers and scatter pure seeds in the prepared soil. The harvest of every other seed is limited, but the bounty and the blessing of the seed of the divine teachings is unlimited. Throughout the coming centuries and cycles many harvests will be gathered. Consider the work of former generations. During the lifetime of Jesus Christ the believing, firm souls were few and numbered, but the heavenly blessings descended so plentifully that in a number of years countless souls entered beneath the shadow of the Gospel.”

Working with this analogy, we need more farmers to sow more and more land, and the greater skill these farmers have the more growth there will be in the different soils we find in our different neighborhoods and clusters. The work in a milestone 1 cluster might focus on a single expanding nucleus – a single fruit tree in a new orchard. At milestone 2 we might find a small grove, and at milestone 3 several such groves.

A statement was made that trials act like fertilizer to improve the soil. My first reaction was that trials seemed more like plows, breaking up the rocks and clods of clay. But plows are tools of the farmer – and we don’t use trials as tools. So this was something I was pondering during the course of the weekend.

Since we were a meeting of farmers, each with some level of skill, it should not have been surprising to find some of these skills reflected in the meeting itself. But several aspects were a surprise to me – a wonderful surprise.

I hadn’t thought of the relationship we have with our National Spiritual Assembly as related to skills, but the meeting showed otherwise. Even in mundane aspects such as COVID precautions it showed very clearly. Upon arrival we were told that the level of risk in Los Angeles was such that the use of masks would be optional. But at around 3 pm of the first day, we received an update – 1 among us had tested positive, so from now on masks would be required. Within minutes all were masked. It made me feel so protected! And the protection came from the relationship between each of us and the National Spiritual Assembly. Even though nothing was said, I am sure that the one who tested positive shared this with the Assembly immediately – just as fast as we all donned our masks when instructed. It’s a capacity that, in due time, can tame wars. All we lack is numbers.

Native and African Americans were at the forefront throughout. This was never the focus of the meeting, but never-the-less something celebrated continuously as we went along – during the devotional programs, during the singing, and during the consultations. A handful of newly-declared Baháʼís addressed the meeting, all youth attracted to the Faith in focus neighborhoods. All were so obviously and joyously the brothers and sisters of all of us.

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly, Continental Board of Counselors, and International Teaching Center sat in on our South Central breakout sessions. They would speak if we asked them something, but other than that they just listened. What a wonderful example of accompaniment!

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Spring Youth Institute Campaign

Local Baháʼí Communities -

The Tarrant County Spring Youth Institute Campaign lasted from the evening of March 11 to the afternoon of March 15 in Arlington. Many youth were hosted for the 4 days by Debbie and Badi Villagomez and all met at the Tarrant County Bahá’í
Center each morning at 9. We had 18 participants – 6 of those being tutors and 4 participants being friends of the Faith.

8 youth completed Ruhi Book 1. These participants are from the North Tarrant, Southwest Dallas, Arlington Mid-cities, and Ft. Worth area clusters. 2 youth completed two thirds of Ruhi Book 5. Both plan on starting Junior Youth groups in the North Tarrant area. 2 youth completed one unit of Ruhi Book 7. These participants conducted home visits in the Big Sam neighborhood.

The campaign finished with the group of youth helping with a children’s class in the Pennsylvania Gardens neighborhood. The youth had to plan and conduct the class themselves. It was an amazing experience with over 17 children attending the class that day!

We had a few other youth who could not be involved the whole time come to visit in various parts of the week. In addition to the institute books, we also had arts, songs, team activities, field work and a lot of bonding. Many youth are asking for new ways to be involved which is very exciting.

For many, this was their first experience with a youth campaign and several youth and parents have reached out to share that they had a positive experience. The next youth campaign will be held the first weekend of August.

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Rockwall TX Cluster Conference

Local Baháʼí Communities, News from Around the Region -
Rockwall Cluster Conference

Conference update in Rockwall. It lasted two days and was overflowing with joy, inspiration, music, and a spirit of fellowship. Fifty-three friends attended, half of whom were from the wider community. The friends expressed so much joy and hope with Baháʼu’lláh’s vision for humanity. There were more families that wanted to come but had conflicts with their schedules.They planned lots of arts integration and family activities. They added a showing of the video “A Space for Spiritual Conversation” and the Baháʼí World News Service’s video, “Global Conferences: Fostering a culture of peace, contributing to social betterment”.

Each day they all started in one home with an opening time for fellowship and food, followed by a family devotional, songs led by the children’s classes and junior youth, an introduction to the purpose of the conference, family crafts related to the themes of the conference and cultural presentations. Following the devotional, arts and cultural presentations, the adults moved to the other home and left the CC and JY with their groups at the main home. Everyone regrouped at the main home at the end of the day so each group could share arts, insights and learnings with each other and have a closing devotional.

The first day of the conference they did a family art project which was a large banner with the words “Hope for our Community”. The adult program included several hours of study each day on the themes in large and small groups. They also prayed together, sang songs, and played “Community Building Charades” with all the words and phrases we acted out coming from the themes of the conference.

For the children’s program, classes were patterned after the Ruhi class model but included the same themes from the conference that the adults studied. The children’s class teachers were three youth and one adult who have been working together as a team for the past few months. Two of the youth are from the wider community and have been part of the JYSEP program for the past 3 years. The children in the weekly classes, most of whom are from the wider community, have been growing very close to their teachers and this growing friendship has been special for both the youth and the children. Two of the youth have had some struggles at school with bullying and even getting into fights. Becoming CC teachers has helped them to gain confidence through seeing themselves as mentors and understanding their life purpose differently through service to humanity and not just the changes and chances of daily life. They expressed this shift and how they are feeling newly empowered during the conference. One youth shared, “I love teaching the children and having an impact on them. I want them to learn about service and how they can contribute to our community.” A parent shared that her twin daughters love their teachers so much and they sing the songs so much at home that now the parents know the songs too.

The program for the CC included prayers, learning quotes, creating songs with the quotes from the Writings, collaborative parachute games, singing, drumming, and other collaborative games. The youth teachers were very interested in making music with the children and they ended up learning and creating many songs together which they performed during sharing time with the rest of the conference participants.

The junior youth studied the Human Temple and had conversations around the two-fold moral purpose, an exploration of spiritual and material reality, their own spiritual and material identities, and the forces influencing them from society alongside Baháʼu’lláh’s vision for humanity. They planned two special art projects which they worked on each day. The first project used mannequin heads to symbolize the material and spiritual identities of each youth. Identity has been a big topic with this group and so the animators thought this would be a good art project to think deeply about this topic. They used Mod Podge and paint to decorate each head and represented the qualities of their soul (spiritual attributes) on the head itself, while putting their material qualities on papers attached to sticks that stuck out of the heads. Their second art project consisted of twelve canvases, grouped together as one picture. The picture was of a tree and the roots of the tree look like a map of the continents of the earth. The quote, “Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch” was written on the canvases. The youth did not get to see the whole picture. They just received a single canvas to paint. Afterward they put all their canvases together like a puzzle to see what they had created. It was a physical demonstration of the power of collaboration and unity and the artwork was absolutely beautiful! The youth and junior youth had time for fellowship, played parachute games with the younger kids, and sang many songs together.

Overall, there was a strong spirit of fellowship and love at the conferences. One of the seekers shared that he has been having dreams of a set of golden doors opening and that he feels called to the Baháʼí community to understand his dreams and his spiritual purpose. Thanks to his sharing we were able to have some powerful conversations about dreams, the coming Golden Age, the new Nine Year Plan, and the Báb. Several families who had been engaged in the community building activities drew closer to the Faith and expressed a desire to engage more deeply due to their experience at the conference. Many families grew closer in friendship to other families. It will be exciting to see how these friendships blossom and what fruits they will bear. We also had some collaborators from other surrounding communities come to learn from our experience so they might pursue neighborhood conferences.

The story and picture is provided by: Naomi

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“This has changed my life”

Local Baháʼí Communities -

The New Orleans Bahá’í community hosts various regular devotional gatherings throughout the city, including one which has been held weekly for over four years now. The multi-faith devotional gathering is held every Tuesday, and brings people from different backgrounds together to study writings from world religions on a given topic, such as love, justice, or gratitude, to discuss the universality of the topics and the implications in our lives.

Many of the friends who come to this gathering come through the Seeker Response System, so they have expressed a desire to learn more about the Bahá’í Faith. This is a space where people can do that, though we have worked intentionally to create an environment that is a welcoming and open community which embraces anyone who wants to learn about how others think and the values we all share in common.

Hosting this gathering has been a constant source of learning, growth and transformation for us, and we have met so many amazing people! One response from a participant: “This has changed my life..” ”It is becoming clear to us how devotional gatherings can serve as a portal for welcoming people from all walks of life into a community, giving them a voice and way to contribute, while also inviting them to enter the training institute to serve more formally or to just be a part of a united and supportive group of people.

Peace Pack

Local Baháʼí Communities -

After-school program offering two children’s classes and a junior youth group

Two children’s classes, in addition to a junior youth spiritual empowerment program, began as an after-school program at a public elementary school in Austin at the beginning of the 2021 school year. The teachers of the children’s classes include a parent and a first grade teacher at the school, who are accompanied by three Bahá’is who are also serving as teachers. A Book 3 study circle was started at the inception of the after-school program to train those who were or wanted to serve as children’s class teachers. This after-school children’s class program, “Peace Pack”, was started by a Bahá’í parent whose two children attend the elementary school. The program was advertised as a community of parents and volunteers who see the urgent need for peace in the world today and would like a space where commonalities of race, religion, belief, spirituality, etc. can be explored and celebrated and intellectual and spiritual capacities to be of service to humanity are developed. After each class, the teacher sends out emails letting the parents know what the children did in their class, sharing quotes they memorized and asking the parents to talk with their children about the lesson. Parents of the children also assist by providing snacks for the children.

Families Developing Friendship Through the Framework

Love and friendship have been steadily growing among families on one street in Austin Texas since 2013. On this street there are currently three children’s classes, two Book 1’s, and four devotionals, with a history of a junior youth group and a Book 1 and Book 3 with moms. For almost nine years there have consistently been core activities, with one of the children’s class teachers being part of the classes since the beginning. A children’s devotional resulted in two families, formerly at odds, becoming close friends. When planning to invite neighbors to their children’s devotional, one of the children said “I can’t invite my neighbor. He’s so mean and he hates us!” When the children began delivering their invitations, somehow, we ended up at this feared neighbor’s home. The neighbor answered and was so welcoming and appreciative of the children’s invitation! This neighbor couple came to that children’s devotional and the two families have been friends ever since. They go to family celebrations, helped each other during the pandemic, and they visit with each other regularly. There are youth on that street who completed children’s classes, progressed through the junior youth program, and are now taking Book 1, whose mothers have participated in study circles. Families have participated in planning holy day celebrations and a children’s camp. Some families have turned to friends serving there during particularly difficult family times, indicating a level of love and trust that has developed over time. Extended families and friends chat after classes, as well as often being present during the children’s classes and their devotionals.

Assistance from the Abhá Kingdom

Local Baháʼí Communities -

Story of assistance from the Abhá Kingdom

Book 3 is in the works in a SE Norman ,OK neighborhood.

Neighbors  have shown interest in having their children attend a children’s class and Kathryn, Ashley and Joseph have  started with a firm base.  As the word spread about the class they have added a devotional. It is interesting and surprising at the same time how many friends and neighbors are interconnected and of the same wavelength as Kathryn described. 

A heartwarming example is when Ashley and a friend were chatting about their favorite elderly neighbors. They realized that the friend’s favorite was an elderly man who was a Master Gardener and had taught gardening classes at the public library. He turned out to be a Bahai and Ashley’s departed grandfather. The friends are closer than ever and it seems the grandfather (Norm Park) was reaching a hand down to encourage his granddaughter to move forward with the teaching work.

“This has changed my life”

Local Baháʼí Communities -

The New Orleans Bahá’í community hosts various regular devotional gatherings throughout the city, including one which has been held weekly for over four years now. The multi-faith devotional gathering is held every Tuesday, and brings people from different backgrounds together to study writings from world religions on a given topic, such as love, justice, or gratitude, to discuss the universality of the topics and the implications in our lives.

Many of the friends who come to this gathering come through the Seeker Response System, so they have expressed a desire to learn more about the Bahá’í Faith. This is a space where people can do that, though we have worked intentionally to create an environment that is a welcoming and open community which embraces anyone who wants to learn about how others think and the values we all share in common.

Hosting this gathering has been a constant source of learning, growth and transformation for us, and we have met so many amazing people! One response from a participant: “This has changed my life..” ”It is becoming clear to us how devotional gatherings can serve as a portal for welcoming people from all walks of life into a community, giving them a voice and way to contribute, while also inviting them to enter the training institute to serve more formally or to just be a part of a united and supportive group of people.

Story of assistance from the Abhá Kingdom

Local Baháʼí Communities -

Book 3 is in the works in a SE Norman, OK neighborhood. Neighbors have shown interest in having their children attend a children’s class and Kathryn, Ashley and Joseph have started with a firm base.

As the word spread about the class they have added a devotional. It is interesting and surprising at the same time how many friends and neighbors are interconnected and of the same wavelength as Kathryn described.

A heartwarming example is when Ashley and a friend were chatting about their favorite elderly neighbors. They realized that the friend’s favorite was an elderly man who was a Master Gardener and had taught gardening classes at the public library. He turned out to be a Baha’i and Ashley’s departed grandfather.

The friends are closer than ever and it seems the grandfather (Norm Park) was reaching a hand down to encourage his granddaughter to move forward with the teaching work.