So it was that, a quarter of a century ago, a Bahá’í community that could still count three Hands of the Cause of God in its front ranks embarked on a Four Year Plan, distinguished from those that came before it by its focus on a single aim: a significant advance in the process of entry by troops 1 2 3. This aim came to define the series of Plans that followed. The community had already come to understand that this process was not just the entry into the Faith of sizeable groups, nor would it emerge spontaneously; it implied purposeful, systematic, accelerated expansion and consolidation 4 5 6 7. This work would require the informed participation 8 of a great many souls, and in 1996, the Bahá’í world was summoned to take up the vast educational challenge this entailed. It was called to establish a network of training institutes 9 focused on generating an increasing flow of individuals endowed with the necessary capacities to sustain the process of growth 10. 11

  1. Effendi, Shoghi. Citadel of Faith: Messages to America, 1947-1957. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1965, 117. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/citadel-faith/4#866333274 [return]
  2. Universal House of Justice, ed. Turning Point: Selected Messages of the Universal House of Justice and Supplementary Materials, 1996-2006. West Palm Beach, FL: Palabra Publications, 2006. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/turning-point/3#236042398 [return]
  3. Effendi, Shoghi, and Universal House of Justice. “Promoting Entry by Troops.” Compilation of Compilations 3 (2000): 154–202. bahai-library.com/compilation_promoting_entry_troops [return]
  4. Effendi, Shoghi. Baháʾí Administration: Selected Messages, 1922-1932. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 1974, 93-94. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/bahai-administration/7#621481496. [return]
  5. Effendi, Shoghi. Citadel of Faith: Messages to America, 1947-1957. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1965, 71. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/citadel-faith/5#306983286 [return]
  6. Universal House of Justice. “13 July 1964 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 21, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19640713_001/1#718445609. [return]
  7. Universal House of Justice. “25 May 1975 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 21, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19750525_001/1#054905836. [return]
  8. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 22, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#080716296. [return]

  9. “The development of human resources on a large scale requires that the establishment of institutes be viewed in a new light. In many regions, it has become imperative to create institutes as organizational structures dedicated to systematic training. The purpose of such training is to endow ever-growing contingents of believers with the spiritual insights, the knowledge, and the skills needed to carry out the many tasks of accelerated expansion and consolidation, including the teaching and deepening of a large number of people—adults, youth and children. This purpose can best be achieved through well-organized, formal programs consisting of courses that follow appropriately designed curricula.”

    Universal House of Justice. “26 December 1995 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 21, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19951226_001/1#799981165.

    [return]
  10. Universal House of Justice. “24 June 1993 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 22, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19930624_001/1#723749780. [return]
  11. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2021 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 20, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20210420_001/1#750707526. [return]