Steve Bosserman

  • Introduction to the One Year Plan 2021-2022 — Annotated

    When 25-year-old Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad, a Persian merchant, declared his mission as The Báb (a title which means the Gate in Arabic) at two hours and eleven minutes past sunset on the evening of May 22, 1844 in Shiraz, Iran, He precipitated a new, independent, world religion. Furthermore, under the title of the Primal Point 1 His actions marked the start of an epic cycle and new era 2 for humanity and “prepare[d] the way for the coming of a Manifestation of God Who would usher in the age of peace and justice promised in all the world’s religions: Bahá’u’lláh.” 3

    In terms of change management, The Báb epitomizes change agentry. From His position of supreme spiritual authority, He set in motion processes for change that would adapt to the needs of subsequent generations so that each, in turn, could contribute to making the vision of global peace and justice a reality. These processes include the succession of divine authority to assure an unbroken flow of guidance to humanity; the call for every individual to conduct their own independent investigations of truth and make decisions based on the outcomes; and the expectation that each commit their time to fully participate within society’s institutions and structures in accordance with spiritual principles and guidelines such that civilization continues to advance and, ultimately, fulfill its destiny.

    The publications of writings in various forms authored by successive divine authorities—The Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi and now the Universal House of Justice—provide a steady stream of guidance in the form of rules, roles, and plans that if integrated into our thoughts, words, and deeds give us the wherewithal to better ourselves as individuals and work within our communities and institutions to align our efforts and energies on a common course to bring about social transformation.

    In order to help us better understand and act upon this guidance, there is often a deliberate and consistent use of key words and catch phrases, regardless of the author, that focuses attention on main points in the change processes at play. I have applied many of those points and the wording that clarifies them to change management strategies within client social systems throughout my career.

    In the spirit of openness, transparency and sharing so that others might benefit, I have started annotating a selection of publications available on Bahá’í Reference Library to illustrate the change management techniques that are integral to them. The first is the One Year Plan for 2021-2022 4 which consists of the Day of the Covenant Message—2020 and the Riḍván Message—2021 addressed to the Bahá’ís of the World by the Universal House of Justice. In my annotations, I have highlighted the use of particular words and phrases in multiple documents in order to emphasize their importance and significance in terms of change strategies that extend across several Plans.

    If you prefer, click here to download the annotated One Year Plan for 2021-2022 as an interactive PDF file.

    In upcoming revisions and additions to posts and pages I will expand the glossary of terms and phrases and make direct associations between my client work and change management approaches nested within Bahá’í publications.

    1. “I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade.”

      The Báb. Selections from the Writings of the Báb. Bahá’í Reference Library, https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-bab/selections-writings-bab/2#274093441. Accessed 23 May 2021.

      [return]
    2. Bolhuis, Arjen. “Chart of the Eras and Epochs of Bahá’í History.” Bahá’í Library Online, 2000, https://bahai-library.com/bolhuis_chart_eras_epochs. [return]
    3. “The Báb – Herald of the Bahá’í Faith.” The Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’í World Centre, www.bahai.org/the-bab/. Accessed 23 May 2021. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “The One Year Plan 2021-2022: Messages of the Universal House of Justice.” Palabra Publications, April 2021, 27. [return]

  • Annotated One Year Plan 2021-2022 — Subheadings

    Below is a series of posts I made to Micro.blog during the April 20 - May 1 period, that summarize, by subheading, my annotations of the One Year Plan for 2021-2022:

    The Day of the Covenant Message 2020

    The Riḍván Message 2021

  • Five-Year Plan: 2016-2021

    Riḍván 2016

    This is the last in a series of consecutive Five Year Plans. At its close, a new phase in the evolution of the Divine Plan will open, set to propel the community of Bahá’u’lláh towards the third century of the Bahá’í Era. May the friends of God in every country appreciate the promise of these few years ahead, which will be rigorous preparation for the even mightier tasks yet to come. The present Plan’s broad scope enables every individual to support this work, however humble one’s share. We ask you, cherished co-workers, adorers of Him Who is the Best-Beloved of the worlds, to spare no effort in applying all you have learned and every God-given ability and skill you possess to advance the Divine Plan into its next essential stage. To your own ardent supplications for heavenly assistance we add ours, offered in the Holy Shrines, on behalf of all who labour for this all-encompassing Cause. 1

    Riḍván 2017

    The signs could hardly be more promising, then, for what the coming year might bring. And what could be more fitting to offer the Blessed Beauty on the two hundredth anniversary of His Birth than the earnest striving of His loved ones to extend the reach of His Faith? The first of the two bicentenaries to be celebrated by the Bahá’í world is thus an occasion with prospects most thrilling. Viewed aright, this year presents the single greatest worldwide opportunity there has ever been for connecting hearts to Bahá’u’lláh. In the months ahead, let all be mindful of this precious chance and alert to the possibilities that exist in every space for acquainting others with His life and sublime mission. For the teaching opportunity that is now before the Bahá’í world to be seized to its fullest extent, creative thought needs to be given to the conversations that could unfold with every kind of person. In the course of such meaningful conversations, perception is heightened and hearts are opened—sometimes immediately. In this worthy occupation all find a calling, and of the joy that comes from being engaged in this work none should deprive themselves. We entreat the one Beloved that the whole of this bicentennial year may be filled with this joy that is purest and sweetest: telling another soul of the dawning of the Day of God.

    The obligations that must be met by the company of the faithful are made the more pressing by the confusion, distrust, and cloudiness in the world. Indeed, the friends should use every opportunity to shine a light that can illuminate the way and offer assurance to the anxious, hope to the despairing. We are reminded of the counsel given by the Guardian to one Bahá’í community in words that seem intended for our own time: “As the fabric of present-day society heaves and cracks under the strain and stress of portentous events and calamities, as the fissures, accentuating the cleavage separating nation from nation, class from class, race from race, and creed from creed, multiply, the prosecutors of the Plan must evince a still greater cohesion in their spiritual lives and administrative activities, and demonstrate a higher standard of concerted effort, of mutual assistance, and of harmonious development in their collective enterprises.” Always emphasizing the spiritual significance of the work of the Faith and the single-minded resolve with which the believers are to discharge their sacred duties, Shoghi Effendi warned too against having any share in political controversies, entanglements, and bickerings. “Let them rise above all particularism and partisanship,” he urged on another occasion, “above the vain disputes, the petty calculations, the transient passions that agitate the face, and engage the attention, of a changing world.” These are the inevitable foam and spray cast up as wave after wave convulses a turbulent and divided society. Too much is at stake to be occupied with distractions of this kind. As every follower of Bahá’u’lláh knows well, humanity’s ultimate well-being is dependent upon its differences being transcended and its unity firmly established. Every contribution Bahá’ís make to the life of their society is aimed at fostering unity; every community-building endeavour is directed towards the same end. For those tired of contention, the communities growing under the shadow of the Greatest Name offer a potent example of what unity can achieve. 2

    Riḍván 2018

    At Riḍván 2021, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh will embark on a Plan lasting a single year. Brief, but pregnant with portent, this one-year endeavour will begin a new wave of Plans bearing the ark of the Cause into the third century of the Bahá’í Era. During the course of this auspicious twelvemonth, the Bahá’í world’s commemoration of the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá will include a special gathering at the Bahá’í World Centre to which representatives of every National Spiritual Assembly and every Regional Bahá’í Council will be invited. This, however, is to be but the first in a sequence of events that will prepare the believers for the demands of the decades to come. The following January, the elapse of one hundred years since the first public reading of the Master’s Will and Testament will be the occasion for a conference in the Holy Land bringing together the Continental Boards of Counsellors and all members of the Auxiliary Boards for Protection and Propagation. The spiritual energy released at these two historic gatherings must then be carried to all the friends of God in every land in which they reside. For this purpose, a series of conferences will be convened worldwide in the months that follow, a catalyst to the multi-year endeavour that shall succeed the coming One Year Plan.

    Thus, a new phase in the unfoldment of the Master’s Divine Plan is approaching. But a thrilling and more immediate prospect lies directly ahead. The bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb is now just a year and a half away. This is a period in which to recall the extraordinary heroism of the Martyr-Herald of our Faith, Whose dramatic ministry thrust humanity into a new era of history. Though separated from our own time by two centuries, the society in which the Báb appeared resembles the present-day world for the sense of oppression and for the longing of so many to find answers to slake the soul’s thirst to know. In considering how this two-hundred-year anniversary might befittingly be marked, we recognize that these festivities will have a special character of their own. Nevertheless, we anticipate a flourishing of activity no less rich and no less inclusive than that which accompanied the bicentenary just passed. It is an occasion to which every community, every household, every heart will undoubtedly look forward with eager expectation. 3

    Riḍván 2019

    The prospects for advancing this spiritual enterprise are made the more thrilling by the approach of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb. Like the bicentenary that preceded it, this anniversary is a moment incalculably precious. It provides all Bahá’ís with marvellous opportunities for awakening those around them to the great Day of God, to the extraordinary effusion of heavenly grace signalled by the appearance of two Manifestations of the Divine Being, successive Luminaries Who brightened the horizon of the world. The measure of what might be possible in the coming two cycles is known to all from the experience of the bicentenary two years ago, and all that was learned on that occasion must be channelled into the plans for the Twin Holy Birthdays this year. As the two-hundred-year anniversary draws near, we will offer frequent supplications on your behalf in the Sacred Shrines, praying that your efforts to befittingly honour the Báb will succeed in advancing the Cause He foretold.

    The close of the first century of the Formative Age is but two and a half years away. It will seal one hundred years of consecrated effort to consolidate and expand the foundation so sacrificially laid during the Faith’s Heroic Age. At that time the Bahá’í community will also mark the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, that moment when the beloved Master was released from the confines of this world to rejoin His Father in the retreats of celestial glory. His funeral, which occurred the following day, was an event “the like of which Palestine had never seen”. At its conclusion, His mortal remains were laid to rest within a vault of the Mausoleum of the Báb. However, it was envisaged by Shoghi Effendi that this would be a temporary arrangement. A Shrine was to be erected, of a character befitting the unique station of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, at the appropriate time. 4

    Riḍván 2020

    Two emerging realities have prompted us to address these words to you. The first reality is the growing consciousness around the world of the looming and appalling dangers carried by the coronavirus pandemic. In many countries, despite valiant and determined collective efforts to avert disaster, the situation is already grave, creating tragedies for families and individuals and plunging whole societies into crisis. Waves of suffering and sorrow are breaking over one place after another, and will weaken different nations, at different moments, in different ways.

    The second reality, one that is daily more apparent, is the resilience and undiminished vitality of the Bahá’í world in the face of a challenge which has no likeness in living memory. Your response has been outstanding. When we wrote to you a month ago at Naw-Rúz, we were keen to stress the impressive qualities being demonstrated by communities whose normal pattern of activity had been disrupted. All that has transpired in the intervening weeks, during which many friends have had to comply with increasingly stringent restrictions, has only deepened our feelings of admiration. Learning from the experience gained in other parts of the world, some communities have found safe and creative ways to raise awareness of public health requirements within populations. Special attention is being paid to those who are most at risk from the virus and the economic hardship arising from its spread; the initiatives featured on the Bahá’í World News Service in this regard are but a mere handful of the countless number under way. These are being complemented by efforts to examine, promote, and cultivate those spiritual qualities which are most needed at this time. Many such efforts are necessarily taking place in family units or in solitude, but where conditions allow or communication tools make it possible, a sense of extraordinary solidarity is being actively nurtured among souls sharing similar circumstances. The dynamics of community life, so important for collective progress, will not be subdued. 5

    Riḍván 2021

    The final words in a most memorable chapter in the history of the Cause have now been written, and the page turns. This Riḍván marks the conclusion of an extraordinary year, of a Five Year Plan, and of an entire series of Plans that began in 1996. A new series of Plans beckons, with what promises to be a momentous twelve months serving as a prelude to a nine-year effort due to commence next Riḍván. We see before us a community that has rapidly gained strength and is ready to take great strides forward. But there must be no illusions about how much striving was required to reach this point and how hard-won were the insights acquired along the way: the lessons learned will shape the community’s future, and the account of how they were learned sheds light on what is to come. 6

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2016 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20160420_001/1#363993682. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2017 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 14, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20170420_001/1#730360834. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2018 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 14, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20180421_001/1#169140600. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2019 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 14, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20190420_001/1#744198387. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 14, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20200420_001/1#350007392. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2021 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20210420_001/1#583854197. [return]

  • Five-Year Plan: 2011-2016

    Riḍván 2011

    This moment of joy synchronizes with the close of an auspicious chapter in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan. Only a single decade remains of the first century of the Formative Age, the first hundred years to be spent beneath the benevolent shade of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá. The Five Year Plan now ending is succeeded by another, the features of which have already been made the object of intense study across the Bahá’í world. Indeed, we could not be more gratified by the response to our message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors and to the Riḍván message of twelve months ago. Not satisfied with a fragmentary grasp of their contents, the friends are returning to these messages again and again, singly and in groups, at formal meetings and spontaneous gatherings. Their understanding is enriched through active and informed participation in the programmes of growth being nurtured in their clusters. Consequently, the Bahá’í community worldwide has consciously absorbed in a few months what it needs to propel it into a confident start to the coming decade. 1

    To understand the nature of the interacting processes that, in their totality, engender the expansion and consolidation of the Faith is vital to the successful execution of the Plan. In your efforts to further such understanding, you and your auxiliaries are encouraged to bear in mind a concept that lies at the foundation of the current global enterprise and, indeed, at the very heart of every stage of the Divine Plan, namely, that progress is achieved through the development of three participants—the individual, the institutions, and the community. Throughout human history, interactions among these three have been fraught with difficulties at every turn, with the individual clamouring for freedom, the institution demanding submission, and the community claiming precedence. Every society has defined, in one way or another, the relationships that bind the three, giving rise to periods of stability, interwoven with turmoil. Today, in this age of transition, as humanity struggles to attain its collective maturity, such relationships—nay, the very conception of the individual, of social institutions, and of the community—continue to be assailed by crises too numerous to count. The worldwide crisis of authority provides proof enough. So grievous have been its abuses, and so deep the suspicion and resentment it now arouses, that the world is becoming increasingly ungovernable—a situation made all the more perilous by the weakening of community ties.

    Every follower of Bahá’u’lláh knows well that the purpose of His Revelation is to bring into being a new creation. No sooner had “the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths.” The individual, the institutions, and the community—the three protagonists in the Divine Plan—are being shaped under the direct influence of His Revelation, and a new conception of each, appropriate for a humanity that has come of age, is emerging. The relationships that bind them, too, are undergoing a profound transformation, bringing into the realm of existence civilization-building powers which can only be released through conformity with His decree. At a fundamental level these relationships are characterized by cooperation and reciprocity, manifestations of the interconnectedness that governs the universe. So it is that the individual, with no regard for “personal benefits and selfish advantages,” comes to see him- or herself as “one of the servants of God, the All-Possessing,” whose only desire is to carry out His laws. So it is that the friends come to recognize that “wealth of sentiment, abundance of good-will and effort” are of little avail when their flow is not directed along proper channels, that “the unfettered freedom of the individual should be tempered with mutual consultation and sacrifice,” and that “the spirit of initiative and enterprise should be reinforced by a deeper realization of the supreme necessity for concerted action and a fuller devotion to the common weal.” And so it is that all come to discern with ease those areas of activity in which the individual can best exercise initiative and those which fall to the institutions alone. “With heart and soul”, the friends follow the directives of their institutions, so that, as ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá explains, “things may be properly ordered and well arranged”. This, of course, is not a blind obedience; it is an obedience that marks the emergence of a mature human race which grasps the implications of a system as far-reaching as Bahá’u’lláh’s new World Order. 2

    Riḍván 2012

    Midafternoon on the eleventh day of the Riḍván festival one hundred years ago, ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, standing before an audience several hundred strong, lifted a workman’s axe and pierced the turf covering the Temple site at Grosse Pointe, north of Chicago. Those invited to break the ground with Him on that spring day came from diverse backgrounds—Norwegian, Indian, French, Japanese, Persian, indigenous American, to name but a few. It was as if the House of Worship, yet unbuilt, was fulfilling the wishes of the Master, expressed on the eve of the ceremony, for every such edifice: “that humanity might find a place of meeting” and “that the proclamation of the oneness of mankind shall go forth from its open courts of holiness”.

    His listeners on that occasion, and all who heard Him in the course of His travels to Egypt and the West, must have but dimly comprehended the far-reaching implications of His words for society, for its values and preoccupations. Still today, can anyone claim to have glimpsed anything but an intimation, distant and indistinct, of the future society to which the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is destined to give rise? For let none suppose that the civilization towards which the divine teachings impel humankind will follow merely from adjustments to the present order. Far from it. In a talk delivered some days after He laid the cornerstone of the Mother Temple of the West, ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá stated that “among the results of the manifestation of spiritual forces will be that the human world will adapt itself to a new social form,” that “the justice of God will become manifest throughout human affairs”. These, and countless other utterances of the Master to which the Bahá’í community is turning time and again in this centennial period, raise awareness of the distance that separates society as it is now arranged from the stupendous vision His Father gifted to the world. 3

    Riḍván 2013

    A worldwide community is refining its ability to read its immediate reality, analyse its possibilities, and apply judiciously the methods and instruments of the Five Year Plan. As anticipated, experience is most rapidly accumulating in clusters where the frontiers of learning are being consciously advanced. In such places, the means for enabling an ever-rising number of individuals to strengthen their capacity for service are well understood. A vibrant training institute functions as the mainstay of the community’s efforts to advance the Plan and, as early as possible, skills and abilities developed through participation in institute courses are deployed in the field. Some, through their everyday social interactions, encounter souls who are open to the exploration of spiritual matters carried out in a variety of settings; some are in a position to respond to receptivity in a village or neighbourhood, perhaps by having relocated to the area. Growing numbers arise to shoulder responsibility, swelling the ranks of those who serve as tutors, animators, and teachers of children; who administer and coordinate; or who otherwise labour in support of the work. The friends’ commitment to learning finds expression through constancy in their own endeavours and a willingness to accompany others in theirs. Further, they are able to keep two complementary perspectives on the pattern of action developing in the cluster firmly in view: one, the three-month cycles of activity—the rhythmic pulse of the programme of growth—and the other, the distinct stages of a process of education for children, for junior youth, and for youth and adults. While understanding clearly the relationship that connects these three stages, the friends are aware that each has its own dynamics, its own requirements, and its own inherent merit. Above all, they are conscious of the operation of powerful spiritual forces, whose workings can be discerned as much in the quantitative data that reflect the community’s progress as in the array of accounts that narrate its accomplishments. What is especially promising is that so many of these distinctive and salient features which characterize the clusters furthest advanced are also evident in communities at much earlier points in their development. 4

    Riḍván 2014

    In many ways, the communities that have progressed furthest are tracing an inviting path for others to follow. Yet whatever the level of activity in a cluster, it is the capacity for learning among the local friends, within a common framework, that fosters progress along the path of development. Everyone has a share in this enterprise; the contribution of each serves to enrich the whole. The most dynamic clusters are those in which, irrespective of the resources the community possesses or the number of activities being undertaken, the friends appreciate that their task is to identify what is required for progress to occur—the nascent capacity that must be nurtured, the new skill that must be acquired, the initiators of a fledgling effort who must be accompanied, the space for reflection that must be cultivated, the collective endeavour that must be coordinated—and then find creative ways in which the necessary time and resources can be made available to achieve it. The very fact that each set of circumstances presents its own challenges is enabling every community not simply to benefit from what is being learned in the rest of the Bahá’í world but also to add to that body of knowledge. Awareness of this reality frees one from the fruitless search for a rigid formula for action while still allowing the insights gleaned in diverse settings to inform the process of growth as it takes a particular shape in one’s own surroundings. This entire approach is completely at odds with narrow conceptions of “success” and “failure” that breed freneticism or paralyse volition. Detachment is needed. When effort is expended wholly for the sake of God then all that occurs belongs to Him and every victory won in His Name is an occasion to celebrate His praise. 5

    Riḍván 2015

    The rich insights arising from clusters, and from centres of intense activity within them, where the dynamics of community life have embraced large numbers of people deserve special mention. We are gratified to see how a culture of mutual support, founded on fellowship and humble service, has quite naturally established itself in such quarters, enabling more and more souls to be systematically brought within the pale of the community’s activities. Indeed, in an increasing number of settings the movement of a population towards Bahá’u’lláh’s vision for a new society appears no longer merely as an enthralling prospect but as an emerging reality.

    We wish to address some additional words to those of you in whose surroundings marked progress is yet to occur and who long for change. Have hope. It will not always be so. Is not the history of our Faith filled with accounts of inauspicious beginnings but marvellous results? How many times have the deeds of a few believers—young or old—or of a single family, or even of a lone soul, when confirmed by the power of divine assistance, succeeded in cultivating vibrant communities in seemingly inhospitable climes? Do not imagine that your own case is inherently any different. Change in a cluster, be it swift or hard won, flows neither from a formulaic approach nor from random activity; it proceeds to the rhythm of action, reflection, and consultation, and is propelled by plans that are the fruit of experience. Beyond this, and whatever its immediate effects, service to the Beloved is, in itself, a source of abiding joy to the spirit. Take heart, too, from the example of your spiritual kin in the Cradle of the Faith, how their constructive outlook, their resilience as a community, and their steadfastness in promoting the Divine Word are bringing about change in their society at the level of thought and deed. God is with you, with each of you. In the twelve months that remain of the Plan, let every community advance from its present position to a stronger one. 6

    Riḍván 2016

    With the advent of the King of Festivals, the period of preparation for the next global Plan is over: we now summon the friends of God to a new five-year commitment of courage, resolve, and resources.

    The company of Bahá’u’lláh’s faithful stands poised. Institutional gatherings convened across the world in recent months have sent out successive signals of eagerness to begin this mighty enterprise. The imperatives contained in the message addressed to the Counsellors’ Conference are already being translated into decisive plans of action. Decades of heroic endeavour have shaped the community and earned it a measure of proven ability in fostering growth, steeling it for this moment. The last two decades, in particular, have markedly accelerated this longed-for rise in proficiency. 7

    13May2021

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2011 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20110421_001/1#051783624. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “28 December 2010 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20101228_001/1#032125161. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2012 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20120421_001/1#525981980. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2013 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20130421_001/1#489916485. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2014 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20140421_001/1#920243880. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2015 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20150421_001/1#518753169. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2016 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20160420_001/1#363993682. [return]

  • Five-Year Plan: 2006-2011

    Riḍván 2006

    The Guardian foresaw that, in succeeding epochs of the Formative Age, the Universal House of Justice would launch a series of worldwide enterprises which would “symbolize the unity and coordinate and unify the activities” of National Spiritual Assemblies. Over the course of three successive epochs now, the Bahá’í community has labored assiduously within the framework of the global Plans issued by the House of Justice and has succeeded in establishing a pattern of Bahá’í life that promotes the spiritual development of the individual and channels the collective energies of its members towards the spiritual revival of society. It has acquired the capacity to reach large numbers of receptive souls with the message, to confirm them, and to deepen their understanding of the essentials of the Faith they have embraced. It has learned to translate the principle of consultation enunciated by its Founder into an effective tool for collective decision-making and to educate its members in its use. It has devised programs for the spiritual and moral education of its younger members and has extended them not only to its own children and junior youth but also to those of the wider community. With the pool of talent at its disposition, it has created a rich body of literature which includes volumes in scores of languages that address both its own needs and the interest of the general public. It has become increasingly involved in the affairs of society at large, undertaking a host of projects of social and economic development. Particularly since the opening of the fifth epoch in 2001, it has made significant strides in multiplying its human resources through a program of training that reaches the grassroots of the community and has discovered methods and instruments for establishing a sustainable pattern of growth.

    It is in the context of the interplay of the forces described here that the imperative of advancing the process of entry by troops must be viewed. The Five Year Plan now opening requires that you concentrate your energies on this process and ensure that the two complementary movements 1 at its heart are accelerated. This should be your dominant concern. As your efforts bear fruit and the dynamics of growth reach a new level of complexity, there will be challenges and opportunities for the World Centre itself to address in the coming five years in fields such as external affairs, social and economic development, administration, and the application of Bahá’í law. The growth of the community has already necessitated that new arrangements be put in place to double the number of pilgrims to four hundred in each group beginning in October 2007. There are several other projects that will also have to be pursued. Among these are the further development of the gardens surrounding the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, as well as the Ridván Garden and Mazra‘ih; the restoration of the International Archives Building; structural repairs to the Shrine of the Báb, the full extent of which are not yet clear; and the construction of the House of Worship in Chile as envisioned by the Guardian, the last of the continental Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs. As these endeavors advance, we will call on you from time to time for assistance, both in the form of financial support and specialized talents, mindful that the resources of the Faith should, to the greatest measure possible, be channeled to the requirements of the Plan. 2

    Riḍván 2007

    The first year of the Five Year Plan bears eloquent testimony to the spirit of devotion with which Bahá’u’lláh’s followers have embraced the framework for action presented in our message of 27 December 2005 and their commitment to advancing the process of entry by troops. Where this framework has been applied coherently in all its dimensions in a cluster, steady progress is being achieved, both in terms of the participation of the believers and their friends in community life and in terms of numerical growth, with some clusters reporting enrolments in the hundreds every few months and others in scores. Vital to this development has been a heightened awareness of the spiritual nature of the enterprise, together with an increased understanding of those decision-making instruments that are defined by the principal features of the Plan.

    Prior to our launching the current series of global Plans focused on the single aim of advancing the process of entry by troops, the Bahá’í community had passed through a stage of rapid, large-scale expansion in many parts of the world—an expansion which ultimately was impossible to sustain. The challenge, then, lay not so much in swelling the ranks of the Cause with new adherents, at least from populations of proven receptivity, but in incorporating them into the life of the community and raising up from among them adequate numbers dedicated to its further expansion. So crucial was it for the Bahá’í world to address this challenge that we made it a central feature of the Four Year Plan and called upon National Spiritual Assemblies to spend the greater part of their energies creating institutional capacity, in the form of the training institute, to develop human resources. Ever-increasing contingents of believers, we indicated, would need to benefit from a formal programme of training designed to endow them with the knowledge and spiritual insights, with the skills and abilities, required to carry out the acts of service that would sustain large-scale expansion and consolidation. 3

    Riḍván 2008

    On several occasions we have indicated that the aim of the series of global Plans that will carry the Bahá’í world to the celebration of the centenary of the Faith’s Formative Age in 2021 will be achieved through marked progress in the activity and development of the individual believer, of the institutions, and of the community. At this, the midway point of what will be a quarter of a century of consistent, focused exertion, the evidences of increased capacity are everywhere apparent. Of particular significance is the widening impact of the dynamism flowing from the interactions between the three participants in the Plan. Institutions, from the national to the local level, see with ever greater clarity how to create conditions conducive to the expression of the spiritual energies of a growing number of believers in pursuit of a common goal. The community is serving more and more as that environment in which individual effort and collective action, mediated by the institute, can complement each other in order to achieve progress. The vibrancy it manifests and the unity of purpose that animates its endeavours are drawing into its swelling ranks those from every walk of life eager to dedicate their time and energies to the welfare of humanity. That the doors of the community are more widely open for any receptive soul to enter and receive sustenance from Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation is clear. No greater testament is there to the efficacy of the interactions among the Plan’s three participants than the dramatic acceleration in the tempo of teaching that was witnessed this past year. The advance made in the process of entry by troops was significant indeed. 4

    Riḍván 2009

    A mere three years ago we set before the Bahá’í world the challenge of exploiting the framework for action that had emerged with such clarity at the conclusion of the last global Plan. The response, as we had hoped, was immediate. With great vigour the friends everywhere began to pursue the goal of establishing intensive programmes of growth in no less than 1,500 clusters worldwide, and the number of such programmes soon started to climb. But no one could have imagined then how profoundly the Lord of Hosts, in His inscrutable wisdom, intended to transform His community in so short a span of time. What a purposeful and confident community it was that celebrated its accomplishments at the midway point of the current Plan in forty-one regional conferences across the globe! What an extraordinary contrast did its coherence and energy provide to the bewilderment and confusion of a world caught in a spiral of crisis! This, indeed, was the community of the blissful to which the Guardian had referred. This was a community aware of the vast potentialities with which it has been endowed and conscious of the role it is destined to play in rebuilding a broken world. This was a community in the ascendant, subject to severe repression in one part of the globe, yet rising up undeterred and undismayed as a united whole and strengthening its capacity to achieve Bahá’u’lláh’s purpose to liberate humankind from the yoke of the most grievous oppression. And in the nearly eighty-thousand participants who attended the conferences we saw the emergence on the historical scene of an individual believer supremely confident in the efficacy of the Plan’s methods and instruments and remarkably deft at wielding them. Each and every soul of this mighty sea stood as testimony to the transforming potency of the Faith. Each and every one was evidence of Bahá’u’lláh’s promise to assist all those who arise with detachment and sincerity to serve Him. Each and every one offered a glimpse of that race of beings, consecrated and courageous, pure and sanctified, destined to evolve over generations under the direct influence of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. In them we saw the first signs of the fulfilment of our hope expressed at the outset of the Plan that the edifying influence of the Faith would be extended to hundreds of thousands through the institute process. There is every indication that, by the end of the Riḍván period, the number of intensive programmes of growth around the world will have crossed the 1,000 mark. What more can we do at the opening of this most joyous Festival than to bow our heads in humility before God and offer Him thanksgiving for His unbounded generosity to the community of the Greatest Name. 5

    Riḍván 2010

    In our Riḍván 2008 message we indicated that, as the friends continued to labour at the level of the cluster, they would find themselves drawn further and further into the life of society and would be challenged to extend the process of systematic learning in which they are engaged to encompass a widening range of human endeavours. A rich tapestry of community life begins to emerge in every cluster as acts of communal worship, interspersed with discussions undertaken in the intimate setting of the home, are woven together with activities that provide spiritual education to all members of the population—adults, youth and children. Social consciousness is heightened naturally as, for example, lively conversations proliferate among parents regarding the aspirations of their children and service projects spring up at the initiative of junior youth. Once human resources in a cluster are in sufficient abundance, and the pattern of growth firmly established, the community’s engagement with society can, and indeed must, increase. At this crucial point in the unfoldment of the Plan, when so many clusters are nearing such a stage, it seems appropriate that the friends everywhere would reflect on the nature of the contributions which their growing, vibrant communities will make to the material and spiritual progress of society. In this respect, it will prove fruitful to think in terms of two interconnected, mutually reinforcing areas of activity: involvement in social action and participation in the prevalent discourses of society. …

    In describing for you these new opportunities now opening at the level of the cluster, we are not asking you to alter in any way your current course. Nor should it be imagined that such opportunities represent an alternative arena of service, competing with the expansion and consolidation work for the community’s limited resources and energies. Over the coming year, the institute process and the pattern of activity that it engenders should continue to be strengthened, and teaching should remain uppermost in the mind of every believer. Further involvement in the life of society should not be sought prematurely. It will proceed naturally as the friends in every cluster persevere in applying the provisions of the Plan through a process of action, reflection, consultation and study, and learn as a result. Involvement in the life of society will flourish as the capacity of the community to promote its own growth and to maintain its vitality is gradually raised. It will achieve coherence with efforts to expand and consolidate the community to the extent that it draws on elements of the conceptual framework which governs the current series of global Plans. And it will contribute to the movement of populations towards Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of a prosperous and peaceful world civilization to the degree that it employs these elements creatively in new areas of learning. 6

    Riḍván 2011

    This moment of joy synchronizes with the close of an auspicious chapter in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan. Only a single decade remains of the first century of the Formative Age, the first hundred years to be spent beneath the benevolent shade of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá. The Five Year Plan now ending is succeeded by another, the features of which have already been made the object of intense study across the Bahá’í world. Indeed, we could not be more gratified by the response to our message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors and to the Riḍván message of twelve months ago. Not satisfied with a fragmentary grasp of their contents, the friends are returning to these messages again and again, singly and in groups, at formal meetings and spontaneous gatherings. Their understanding is enriched through active and informed participation in the programmes of growth being nurtured in their clusters. Consequently, the Bahá’í community worldwide has consciously absorbed in a few months what it needs to propel it into a confident start to the coming decade. 7

    1. “A number of years ago, to aid the believers in thinking about the process of growth at the level of the cluster, we introduced the concept of two complementary movements. The progress of a steady, ever-widening stream of individuals through the courses of the institute represents one of these. It is not only responsible for giving impetus to the other—the development of the cluster, discernable in the collective capacity to manifest a pattern of life in conformity with the teachings of the Faith—but also dependent on it for its own perpetuation. It was in view of mounting evidence of the effects of the Ruhi Institute curriculum on these two mutually reinforcing movements that we recommended its adoption worldwide six years ago. At the time, we did not comment specifically on the pedagogical principles governing the curriculum; nevertheless, it should be apparent to the friends that the curriculum possesses desirable characteristics, some of which have been described in broad terms in our messages regarding the current series of global Plans. Of particular significance is its organizing principle: developing capacity to serve the Cause and humanity in a process likened to walking a path of service. This conception shapes both content and structure.”

      Universal House of Justice. “12 December 2011 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20111212_001/1#913834797.

      [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2006 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 11, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20060421_001/1#506450314. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2007 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20070421_001/1#159408942. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2008 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20080421_001/1#421159402. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2009 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20090421_001/1#740405987. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#712949052. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2011 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20110421_001/1#051783624. [return]

  • Five-Year Plan: 2001-2006

    Riḍván 2001

    Dear Friends: Two decades from now the Bahá’í world will celebrate the centenary of the inception of the Formative Age. We look back at the dawning of the Age from the vantage point of attainments that could hardly have been imagined at the outset. Up ahead are horizons that urgently summon the community to even greater achievements in the short span separating it from that centennial. Those heights can and must be scaled. The Five Year Plan, to which we call the urgent and sustained attention of the friends throughout the world, is intended to meet this challenge. It constitutes the first of a series of campaigns that will be pursued during these twenty years. This Plan marks the next phase in the aim to accomplish a significant advance in the process of entry by troops. It demands an acceleration of this vital process and, furthermore, insists upon continuity in systematic endeavor on the part of its three constituent participants: the individual, the institutions, and the community.

    No need to elaborate on the requirements of the Plan, for these were set out in our message to the assembled Counselors in the Holy Land and subsequently shared with all National Spiritual Assemblies. Soon after their conference, the Counselors began consulting with the National Assemblies about the execution of the Plan in their respective jurisdictions. The Plan’s direction is therefore known to the friends everywhere, as regional and local preparations for pursuing its major aim are under way. There is a general awareness by now that efforts will be made to effect a deeper penetration of the Faith into more and more regions within countries. For example, where circumstances permit, local communities that exist in close proximity to each other will be mobilized to participate in intensive programs of growth. Other approaches will require methodical opening of new areas for which homefront pioneers must be raised up in the same consecrated spirit that prompted those who scattered abroad at earlier times to open virgin territories across continents and seas. Suffice it to say that the process animating this divinely driven enterprise will eventually expand as related features are gradually introduced and systematically integrated into its operation. 1

    Riḍván 2002

    It is most encouraging to see that the progress of this work is being energized through the training institute process, which was considerably strengthened last year by the campaigns undertaken in many countries to increase the number of trained tutors. Where a training institute is well established and constantly functioning, three core activities—study circles, devotional meetings, and children’s classes—have multiplied with relative ease. Indeed, the increasing participation of seekers in these activities, at the invitation of their Bahá’í friends, has lent a new dimension to their purposes, consequently effecting new enrollments. Here, surely, is a direction of great promise for the teaching work. These core activities, which at the outset were devised principally to benefit the believers themselves, are naturally becoming portals for entry by troops. By combining study circles, devotional meetings and children’s classes within the framework of clusters, a model of coherence in lines of action has been put in place and is already producing welcome results. Worldwide application of this model, we feel confident, holds immense possibilities for the progress of the Cause in the years ahead. 2

    Riḍván 2003

    While the world continues on its tumultuous course, the Five Year Plan has reached the operational capacity to enable our community to make giant strides towards its major aim of advancing the process of entry by troops. The details of so encouraging a state of affairs for the Faith on all five continents have already been given in our 17 January letter; to it we invite your further study. Only a few key details need now be underscored: The division of countries into clusters has been completed in 179 of them; there exist some 17,000 of these seedbeds of expansion. Reflection meetings at the level of clusters have become a powerful means of unifying thought and action across institutions and localities; they have lent a potent stimulus to institutional and individual initiatives in a mutually supportive spirit. The institute process has demonstrated even more prominently than before its influence as a generating force for expansion and consolidation. The core activities of the Plan have attained a scale far outstripping that of the past year. As a result, a growing number of friends are now active in the teaching and administrative work throughout the world, demonstrating the infectious spirit of confidence inspiring the enthusiasm of their efforts. Youth and children have been more systematically involved in the programs of the community, and non-Bahá’ís have been participating more numerously in study circles, devotional meetings and children’s classes. It is indeed heartening to note that, in the brief period since the beginning of the Plan, where in many communities these three core activities had been sporadic they have become regular features and have multiplied. Here, then, is a snapshot of a world community focused and on the move as never before. 3

    Riḍván 2004

    Three years of the Five Year Plan have passed. The processes set in motion in the Four Year Plan, strengthened through special attention to the Bahá’í education of children during the Twelve Month Plan, and followed up unflaggingly during these past years, are now fulfilling the high hopes with which they were launched. In every part of the world the three participants in the Plan—the individual, the community and the institutions—each playing a distinctive role, are reinforcing one another’s actions. The core activities of study circles, children’s classes and devotional meetings have become essential aspects and mutually enhancing achievements lending greater vigor and success to all the other elements of Bahá’í community life. Human resources are being augmented, and the Local Spiritual Assemblies are responding to the fresh demands of this rising vitality.

    The capacity built for the Bahá’í education of children throughout the world is extraordinarily impressive. Initial efforts for the spiritual empowerment of junior youth are meeting with success. The movement of clusters from each level of activity to a higher one is well in hand and, as it proceeds, the kernel of avowed believers is being joined by a larger circle of people, still not Bahá’ís but enthusiastically involved in core activities of the Plan. Structures for administering intensive growth are already appearing in certain advanced clusters. National Assemblies, while attending to the needs of all the clusters in their countries, have learned the value of concentrating special attention on certain priority clusters that show high promise, encouraging and developing them until the human resources they have raised up through the training institutes enable them to become centers of rapid, sustained growth.

    As foreseen, the training institute is proving to be an engine of growth. On assessing the opportunities and needs of their respective communities, the great majority of National Spiritual Assemblies have chosen to adopt the course materials devised by the Ruhi Institute, finding them most responsive to the Plan’s needs. This has had the collateral benefit that the same materials have been translated into many languages and, wherever Bahá’ís travel, they find other friends following the same path and familiar with the same books and methods. 4

    Riḍván 2005

    The breakthroughs that have occurred in the Bahá’í world since the beginning of the fifth epoch of the Formative Age have brought us immeasurable joy. The past twelve months have been no exception. The Bahá’í community has continued its systematic advance and now, as it enters the final year of the Five Year Plan, finds itself in a position of remarkable strength—a strength acquired through strenuous, deliberate exertion by the friends everywhere to promote the process of entry by troops.

    While inadequate to express the full significance of the developments taking place, the statistics suggest something of the scope of what is being achieved. The human resources of the Faith have steadily multiplied. Altogether, more than 200,000 worldwide have completed Book 1 of the Ruhi Institute, and many thousands have reached the level where they can effectively act as tutors of the study circles that, with increasing frequency, are held in every part of the globe, over 10,000 at the last count. The number of seekers engaged in the core activities has continued to climb, crossing the 100,000 mark several months ago. Meanwhile, some 150 clusters have developed to the point that intensive programs of growth either have been launched or stand ready to be initiated. There is every indication that this number will be substantially surpassed by the end of the Plan.

    In celebrating these achievements, one should acknowledge, equally, the advances in learning that have given rise to them. Intensive institute campaigns, which pay due attention to the practice required, have remained the vehicle for stimulating growth at the cluster level. As the necessary conditions have thus been created, systematic programs for the expansion and consolidation of the Faith have been launched accordingly. A valuable body of knowledge about the nature of intensive programs of growth is accumulating, and certain features of these endeavors are now well understood. Such programs tend to consist of a series of cycles, each of several months’ duration, devoted to planning, expansion, and consolidation. Human resource development proceeds uninterrupted from one cycle to the next, ensuring that the process of expansion not only is sustained but progressively gathers momentum. While undoubtedly many more lessons are still to be garnered, the experience already gained makes it possible to replicate the approach in an ever-increasing number of clusters around the world. 5

    Riḍván 2006

    Ridván 2006 is a moment charged with a spirit of triumph and anticipation. The followers of Bahá’u’lláh everywhere can take rightful pride in the magnitude of their accomplishments during the Five Year Plan now drawing to a close. And towards the future they can look with a confidence that is conferred only on those whose resolve is steeled through experience. The entire Bahá’í world is stirred at contemplating the scope of the five-year enterprise that lies ahead, the depth of consecration it will demand, and the results it is destined to achieve. Our prayers join yours as you turn in gratitude to Bahá’u’lláh for the privilege of witnessing the unfoldment of His purpose for humanity. 6

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2001 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20010421_001/1. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2002 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 11, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20020421_001/1#922633561. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2003 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 11, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20030421_001/1#404609105. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2004 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 11, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20040421_001/1#217641031. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2005 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 11, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20050421_001/1#975090076. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2006 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 11, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20060421_001/1#506450314. [return]

  • Twelve Month Plan: 2000-2001

    Riḍván 2000

    We begin at this Riḍván with a Twelve Month Plan. Brief though it is, it must and will suffice to accomplish certain vital tasks and to lay the ground for the next twenty-year thrust of the Master’s Divine Plan. What was so carefully begun four years ago—the systematic acquisition of knowledge, qualities and skills of service—must be augmented. Wherever they exist, national and regional institutes must activate to the full the programs and systems they have adopted. New institutes must be formed where such needs have been identified. Greater steps must be taken to systematize the teaching work undertaken through individual initiative and institutional sponsorship. It is partly for this purpose that in several areas of each continent the Counselors and the National Assemblies have established “Area Growth Programs.” The results will provide a body of experience for the benefit of future Plans. The individual, the institutions and the local community are urged to focus their attention on these essential tasks, so as to be fully prepared for the five-year enterprise to begin at Riḍván 2001—an enterprise that will take the Bahá’í world to the next phase in the advancement of the process of entry by troops.

    But beyond giving attention to these tasks, there is a pressing challenge to be faced: Our children need to be nurtured spiritually and to be integrated into the life of the Cause. They should not be left to drift in a world so laden with moral dangers. In the current state of society, children face a cruel fate. Millions and millions in country after country are dislocated socially. Children find themselves alienated by parents and other adults whether they live in conditions of wealth or poverty. This alienation has its roots in a selfishness that is born of materialism that is at the core of the godlessness seizing the hearts of people everywhere. The social dislocation of children in our time is a sure mark of a society in decline; this condition is not, however, confined to any race, class, nation or economic condition—it cuts across them all. It grieves our hearts to realize that in so many parts of the world children are employed as soldiers, exploited as laborers, sold into virtual slavery, forced into prostitution, made the objects of pornography, abandoned by parents centered on their own desires, and subjected to other forms of victimization too numerous to mention. Many such horrors are inflicted by the parents themselves upon their own children. The spiritual and psychological damage defies estimation. Our worldwide community cannot escape the consequences of these conditions. This realization should spur us all to urgent and sustained effort in the interests of children and the future. 1

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2000 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000421_001/1#241540916. [return]

  • Four-Year Plan: 1996-2000

    Riḍván 1996

    It is against such a background of heartening developments that we embark at this Riḍván upon a Four Year Plan that will carry us to Riḍván 2000. We earnestly and lovingly call upon our brothers and sisters of every land to join us in a mobilization of effort that will ensure to generations of the fast-approaching twenty-first century an abundant and lasting legacy.

    The Four Year Plan aims at one major accomplishment: a significant advance in the process of entry by troops. As we have stated earlier, such an advance is to be achieved through marked progress in the activity and development of the individual believer, of the institutions, and of the local community.

    To effect the possibilities of expansion and consolidation implied by entry by troops, a determined, worldwide effort to develop human resources must be made. The endeavor of individuals to conduct study classes in their homes, the sponsorship by the institutions of occasional courses of instruction, and the informal activities of the community, though important, are not adequate for the education and training of a rapidly expanding community. It is therefore of paramount importance that systematic attention be given to devising methods for educating large numbers of believers in the fundamental verities of the Faith and for training and assisting them to serve the Cause as their God-given talents allow. There should be no delay in establishing permanent institutes designed to provide well-organized, formally conducted programs of training on a regular schedule. Access of the institute to physical facilities will of course be necessary, but it may not require a building of its own.

    This matter calls for an intensification of the collaboration between the Continental Counselors and National Spiritual Assemblies. For the success of these training institutes will depend in very large measure on the active involvement of the Continental Counselors and the Auxiliary Board members in their operation. Particularly will it be necessary for Auxiliary Board members to have a close working relationship with institutes and, of course, with the Local Spiritual Assemblies whose communities will benefit from institute programs. Since institutes are to be regarded as centers of learning, and since their character harmonizes with, and provides scope for the exercise of, the educational responsibilities of the Auxiliary Board members, the intimate involvement in institute operations should now become a part of the evolving functions of these officers of the Faith. Drawing on the talents and abilities of increasing numbers of believers will also be crucial to the development and execution of institute programs.

    As the term “institute” has assumed various uses in the Bahá’í community, a word of clarification is needed. The next four years will represent an extraordinary period in the history of our Faith, a turning point of epochal magnitude. What the friends throughout the world are now being asked to do is to commit themselves, their material resources, their abilities and their time to the development of a network of training institutes on a scale never before attempted. These centers of Bahá’í learning will have as their goal one very practical outcome, namely, the raising up of large numbers of believers who are trained to foster and facilitate the process of entry by troops with efficiency and love. 1

    Riḍván 1997

    A sign of the immediate impact of the Plan was the speed with which steps were taken to establish nearly two hundred training institutes during the last twelve months. Many of these have gone far beyond the point of designing their organization; they are actually in operation and have offered their first courses. Moreover, in the movement of homefront and international pioneers and traveling teachers; in the increased attention given by individuals to deputizing teachers; in the preparations made to ensure the formation of Local Spiritual Assemblies only on the first day of Riḍván; in the increasing endeavors to hold regular devotional meetings; in the widening efforts to make use of the arts in the teaching work and community activities—in all these respects could be discerned the friends’ keen awareness of the importance of concentrating on the requirements of the major aim of the Plan, which is to effect a significant advance in the process of entry by troops. 2

    Riḍván 1998

    Our hopes, our goals, our possibilities of moving forward can all be realized through concentrating our endeavors on the major aim of the Divine Plan at its current stage—that is, to effect a significant advance in the process of entry by troops. This challenge can be met through persistent effort patiently pursued. Entry by troops is a possibility well within the grasp of our community. Unremitting faith, prayer, the promptings of the soul, Divine assistance—these are among the essentials of progress in any Bahá’í undertaking. But also of vital importance to bringing about entry by troops is a realistic approach, systematic action. There are no shortcuts. Systematization ensures consistency of lines of action based on well-conceived plans. In a general sense, it implies an orderliness of approach in all that pertains to Bahá’í service, whether in teaching or administration, in individual or collective endeavor. While allowing for individual initiative and spontaneity, it suggests the need to be clearheaded, methodical, efficient, constant, balanced and harmonious. Systematization is a necessary mode of functioning animated by the urgency to act.

    Towards ensuring an orderly evolution of the community, a function of Bahá’í institutions is to organize and maintain a process of developing human resources whereby Bahá’ís, new and veteran alike, can acquire the knowledge and capacity to sustain a continuous expansion and consolidation of the community. The establishment of training institutes is critical to such effort, since they are centers through which large numbers of individuals can acquire and improve their ability to teach and administer the Faith. Their existence underscores the importance of knowledge of the Faith as a source of power for invigorating the life of the Bahá’í community and of the individuals who compose it.

    The facts at hand confirm that the Four Year Plan works where a systematic approach is understood and applied. These same facts show that the institutions of the Faith, in their collaborative efforts at national, regional, and local levels, have clearly been adhering to this understanding. However, with individuals, on whom rests the ultimate success of the Plan, this understanding is less clear. For this reason, we must emphasize to our fellow-believers the importance to their individual effort of this prerequisite of success in teaching and in other undertakings.

    As translated into programs and projects by national and local institutions, the Plan, among other things, gives direction, identifies goals, stimulates effort, provides a variety of needed facilities and materials to benefit the work of teachers and administrators. This is of course necessary for the proper functioning of the community, but is of no consequence unless its individual members respond through active participation. In so responding, each individual, too, must make a conscious decision as to what he or she will do to serve the Plan, and as to how, where and when to do it. This determination enables the individual to check the progress of his actions and, if necessary, to modify the steps being taken. Becoming accustomed to such a procedure of systematic striving lends meaning and fulfillment to the life of any Bahá’í. 3

    Riḍván 1999

    The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh marches on resistlessly, quickened by the increasing application of an approach to the development and use of human resources that is systematic. The further creation of national and regional training institutes, now numbering 344, has pressed this development forward, with the result that, apart from North America and Iran where numerous courses have been given, some 70,000 individuals have already completed at least one institute course. All of this is contributing to a growing body of confirmed, active supporters of the Cause. The untold potential of this progression is illustrated in such reports as the one received from Chad, where in an area served by an institute more than 1,000 people embraced the Faith through the individual efforts of those who had received training. Understanding of the necessity for systematization in the development of human resources is everywhere taking hold.

    Collateral with the demonstrated efficacy of training institutes is the pragmatic emergence of Regional Bahá’í Councils in selected countries where conditions have made the establishment of these institutions necessary and viable. Where there is close interaction between a Council and a training institute, the stage is set for a galvanic coherence of the processes effecting expansion and consolidation in a region, and for the practical matching of the training services of institutes to the developmental needs of local communities. Moreover, the operational guidelines whereby the Continental Counselors and the Regional Councils have direct access to each other give rise to a further institutional relationship which, along with that connecting the Councils to the National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, effectuates a dynamic integration of functions at the regional level.

    The ever-expanding work in social and economic development is also benefiting from the operation of those training institutes that give attention to such subjects as literacy, primary health care and the advancement of women. The more widespread efforts of the Office of Social and Economic Development to promote a global process of learning about relevant Bahá’í principles are enhanced by the work of these institutes, as well as by the rise of Bahá’í-inspired organizations scattered throughout the planet. Clearly, then, the institutional capacity to administer development programs is gaining in strength. This is apparent in projects sponsored by Bahá’í institutions or initiated by individuals through the inspiration of the Faith. An outstanding example of the latter is Unity College, which was created by a family in Ethiopia as the first, and since late 1998, the only private college in the country, with a student body that swelled to 5,000 during this past year. Another example, on a smaller scale but of significance nonetheless, is the initiative taken by a family in Buffalo, New York: here, in their home, they have been assisting tens of children and youth from the inner city to develop, through Bahá’í spiritual and moral teachings, patterns of behavior that will enable them to overcome self-destructive attitudes bred by poverty and racism. 4

    Riḍván 2000

    The central theme of the Four Year Plan—that of advancing the process of entry by troops—produced a high degree of integration of thought and action. It focused attention on a major stage of the evolution of the Bahá’í community that must be attained during the Formative Age; for until entry by troops is more widely sustained, the conditions will not be ripe for mass conversion, that breakthrough promised by Shoghi Effendi in his writings. The thematic focus of the Plan bore implications for all categories of Bahá’í activity; it called for a clarity of understanding which made possible systematic and strategic planning as a prerequisite of individual and collective action. The members of the community came gradually to appreciate how systematization would facilitate the processes of growth and development. This raising of consciousness was a huge step that led to an upgrading of teaching activities and a change in the culture of the community. 5

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 153 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 7, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19960421_001/1#850834393. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 154 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19970421_001/1#645573403. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 155 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19980421_001/1#950774876. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 156 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19990421_001/1#104279438. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2000 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 9, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000421_001/1#241540916. [return]

  • Three-Year Plan: 1993-1996

    Riḍván 1993

    The new Plan revolves around a triple theme: enhancing the vitality of the faith of individual believers, greatly developing the human resources of the Cause, and fostering the proper functioning of local and national Bahá’í institutions. This is to lend focus to requisites of success as the Plan’s manifold goals are pursued in these turbulent times.

    Against the conspicuous signs of moral decadence which daily is corroding the foundations of civilized life, these graphic words of Bahá’u’lláh assume an acute urgency: “The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it?” Such words have particular implications for the actions of anyone who has recognized the Lord of the Age. A crucial consequence of this recognition is a belief that impels acceptance of His commandments. Depth of belief is assured by the inner transformation, that salutary acquisition of spiritual and moral character, which is the outcome of obedience to the divine laws and principles. Towards this end the release of the annotated Kitáb-i-Aqdas in English, and its anticipated early publication in other major languages, provide a mighty infusion of divine guidance for realizing the vitality of faith which is essential to the spiritual well-being and happiness of individuals and the strengthening of the fabric of the community. No less essential to nourishing this vitality is the cultivation of a sense of spirituality, that mystic feeling which unites the individual with God and is achieved through meditation and prayer.

    Training of the friends and their striving, through serious individual study, to acquire knowledge of the Faith, to apply its principles and administer its affairs, are indispensable to developing the human resources necessary to the progress of the Cause. But knowledge alone is not adequate; it is vital that training be given in a manner that inspires love and devotion, fosters firmness in the Covenant, prompts the individual to active participation in the work of the Cause and to taking sound initiatives in the promotion of its interests. Special efforts to attract people of capacity to the Faith will also go far towards providing the human resources so greatly needed at this time. Moreover, these endeavors will stimulate and strengthen the ability of Spiritual Assemblies to meet their weighty responsibilities.

    The proper functioning of these institutions depends largely on the efforts of their members to familiarize themselves with their duties and to adhere scrupulously to principle in their personal behavior and in the conduct of their official responsibilities. Of relevant importance, too, are their resolve to remove all traces of estrangement and sectarian tendencies from their midst, their ability to win the affection and support of the friends under their care and to involve as many individuals as possible in the work of the Cause. By their constantly aiming at improving their performance, the communities they guide will reflect a pattern of life that will be a credit to the Faith and will, as a welcome consequence, rekindle hope among the increasingly disillusioned members of society. 1

    Riḍván 1994

    The human resources of the Cause are being augmented in two ways. People of capacity are being moved to embrace the Faith, reinforcing the ranks of those who are already serving. The latter, for their part, have been enriching their experience and acquiring greater capabilities through a more profound study of the Teachings and through expressing them in action. Recognizing the need for a more systematic deepening of their understanding of the Teachings and their application to society, the friends have increased the use of workshops and institutes, with notable success. In the year ahead these two complementary processes—attracting people of capacity and increasing our own abilities—must be further advanced, stimulating individual action and the harmonious development of a wide range of activities for the promotion of the Faith.

    As the potentialities of the individual believers unfold, so the local and national Bahá’í institutions are gaining ability to foster the quality of the life of their communities and to conceive and implement imaginative programs. In many areas Local Spiritual Assemblies have collaborated in teaching the Faith in a region. National Assemblies, likewise, have been evolving innovative projects to seize the opportunities presented by developments outside the Cause. Some examples of such activities, in very different fields, have been the Open Letter Project in Albania; the response to the extraordinary receptivity of the authorities and the general population in the Sakha and Buryat Republics in Siberia; and the agreement signed between the National Spiritual Assembly of the Marshall Islands and the local government of Majuro Atoll in response to the national authorities’ request that the Bahá’ís assume responsibility for the operation of five state elementary schools.

    The evolution of local and national Bahá’í institutions has made possible an increased measure of decentralization in the administration of the work. For this beneficial process to expand, however, the crucial prerequisite in most countries is the speedy improvement of the functioning of Local Spiritual Assemblies. This calls for the close attention of every believer. These local Bahá’í institutions, ordained in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas itself, constitute a reservoir of strength and guidance which will amplify the effectiveness of the work of the Cause as they mature.

    We live in the midst of populations which are in desperate need of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh. It is our duty to present it lucidly and convincingly to as many souls as possible. The darkness and suffering around us not only are the signs of a need, but also present us with an opportunity which we must not fail to use. Conveying the message is merely the first step. We must then ensure that it is understood and applied, for, as we read in one of the letters written on behalf of the Guardian: “Until the public sees in the Bahá’í Community a true pattern, in action, of something better than it already has, it will not respond to the Faith in large numbers.” When people embrace the Cause, they should then, through the Teachings, develop their relationships with each other and with their fellow-citizens to gradually produce a truly Bahá’í community, a light and haven for the bewildered. 2

    Riḍván 1995

    Beloved coworkers: Beyond the need to win our goals, humanity’s current plight summons us to redoubled action. The cloud of despair hanging over the fortunes of a deranged world is the very harbinger of the spring rain that can quench the spiritual and material thirst of every people. It has only to be seeded through constant and confident acts of teaching. The performance of such acts, though dependent for reinforcement on the functions of Bahá’í institutions, rests primarily and ultimately with Bahá’í individuals.

    Let no excessive self-criticism or any feelings of inadequacy, inability or inexperience hinder you or cause you to be afraid. Bury your fears in the assurances of Bahá’u’lláh. Has He not asserted that upon anyone who mentions His Name will descend the “hosts of Divine inspiration” and that on such a one will also descend the “Concourse on high, each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light”? Step forth, then, into the arena where all His loved ones are equally summoned, equally challenged and abundantly blessed. For to teach, Bahá’u’lláh Himself affirms, is to do the “most meritorious of all deeds.” And at this extraordinary moment in the history of the planet, nothing whatever is of more critical importance than inviting people of every sort and every gift to the banquet table of the Lord of Hosts.

    As we send you this message, clearly before us is a vision of untold victories waiting to be seized. We are certain you can realize a myriad of these in the remaining time of the Three Year Plan. Just such an accomplishment must earnestly be striven for, so as to set the stage for the next global enterprise to be launched at Riḍván 1996. There shall be mobilized then a world-embracing campaign to ensure a befitting crescendo to the achievements of a century regarded by no less than ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá Himself as a period that will have “left traces which shall last forever.” 3

    Riḍván 1996

    Our hearts overflowing with gratitude to the Blessed Beauty, we acknowledge the abundant manifestations of His grace during the Three Year Plan, which has run its course with the advent of this Riḍván Festival. The animating spirit of the Holy Year, which lent impetus to the launching of the Plan at Riḍván 1993, pervaded this period of concentrated endeavor, rendering our world community more consolidated, more resilient, more mature, and more confident than before. At the same time, the community’s prestige attained new heights. While this Plan has not ended on a note of dramatic, numerical expansion, even though significant growth of membership occurred in various countries, it has nonetheless resulted in a qualitatively enriched community—one prepared to exploit the immediate prospects for the advancement of the Faith…

    The signs of progress during the past three years were evident in a wide and varied field. The remarkable efforts to expand and consolidate the community, the increased ventures in social and economic development, and the unprecedented thrust of the external affairs work combine to portray a community endowed with new capacities…

    During 1995, two major United Nations events exemplified the gathering momentum of an emerging unity of thought in world undertakings, and these engaged the active attention and participation of the Bahá’í community. First, the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen during March involved 250 friends from more than 40 countries who mounted an impressive effort to acquaint the summit participants and the related NGO Forum with the Teachings. It was on this occasion that the statement The Prosperity of Humankind, produced by the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information, was first distributed and discussed. Follow-up activities all over the world included the holding of conferences and seminars, as well as the distribution of the statement. Second, the Fourth World Conference on Women and the concomitant NGO Forum held in Beijing during September drew the attendance of more than 500 Bahá’ís from around the world, in addition to the official delegation of the Bahá’í International Community. In that same year, a third event, the observance of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations, prompted the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office to produce and distribute a statement, entitled “Turning Point for All Nations,” containing proposals for the development of that world organization. 4

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 150 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 7, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19930421_001/1#328964491. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 151 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 7, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19940421_001/1#158773367. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 152 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 7, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19950421_001/1#027188572. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 153 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 7, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19960421_001/1#850834393. [return]

  • Holy Year: 1992

    Riḍván 1992

    A year charged with happenings of such sacred import is bound to yield consequences of unimaginable potency. The immediate outcome is, however, impossible to predict, nor can it be fruitfully speculated about. Rather should we direct our thoughts to the meaning of the solemn occasions which this year is set apart to memorialize. For the purpose of the Holy Year is not fulfilled by public memorials alone, befitting as they will be. Essential to its purpose is the opportunity it offers for inner reflection on the part of every Bahá’í individual. Indeed, this is a special time for a rendezvous of the soul with the Source of its light and guidance, a time to turn to Bahá’u’lláh, to seek to obtain a deeper appreciation of His purpose, to renew allegiance to Him. This is a time of retreat to one’s innermost being, to the dwelling-place of the Spirit of Bahá, that interior to which He summons us when He says: “Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.” This is a time for recommitment to the Covenant, for rededication to duty, for revitalizing the energy for teaching, the “most meritorious of all deeds.”

    As the foremost aid to your reflections and actions, you will doubtless draw upon the insight and inspiration of such of His words as these: “I am the Sun of Wisdom and the Ocean of Knowledge. I cheer the faint and revive the dead. I am the guiding Light that illumineth the way.” “By My Life! Not of Mine own volition have I revealed Myself, but God, of His own choosing, hath manifested Me.” “I have come in the shadows of the clouds of glory, and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty.” “He that hath Me not is bereft of all things. Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me.” “Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.” “The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness.”

    Whatever our private reflections or response to duty may lead us to do, of one thing we must be sure: that the Name of Him Who is the Lifegiver of the World becomes known throughout the earth among high and low alike. Considering that it is already a whole century since the Blessed Beauty ascended, and given the crushing weight of the ills burdening the peoples of the world, and seeing that a veritable cry of anguish is issuing more loudly from the hearts of those who long for some hope of relief, we, His avowed servants, can neither falter nor fail in this primary and urgent duty. For He, Bahá’u’lláh, is the Supreme Manifestation, the Unifier and Redeemer of all mankind, the Fountainhead of Justice, the immortal Beloved; for, according to His own unerring proclamation, “He Who is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light, that He may quicken all created things with the breezes of His Name, the Most Merciful, and unify the world, and gather all men around this Table which hath been sent down from heaven.” Let us bear His Name with dignity to those who must hear It, offer It as a treasure to those who must receive It, speak It with love to those who must embrace It.

    How laudable it would be if, imbued by this desire to blazon abroad His Name, and as a demonstration of our special love for the Abhá Beauty, we could each of us mount a personal campaign of teaching, such that the collective force and results of it throughout the world would bring to a resounding conclusion the sacred exercises of this Holy Year and set the stage for the launching of the impending Three Year Plan at Riḍván 1993!

    Finally, it is highly fitting at this time to recall Bahá’u’lláh’s expression in the Most Holy Book of His will for us with regard to the nature of our reactions to His passing: “Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world,” He wrote, “when the day-star of My beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. We are truly almighty. Whoso hath recognized Me, will arise and serve Me with such determination that the powers of earth and heaven shall be unable to defeat his purpose.” 1

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1992 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 7, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19920421_001/1#799084651. [return]

  • Six-Year Plan: 1986-1992

    Riḍván 1986

    Paralleling these outstanding events has been a remarkable unfoldment of organic growth in the maturity of the institutions of the Cause. The development of capacity and responsibility on their part and the devolution upon them of continually greater autonomy have been fostered by the encouragement of ever closer cooperation between the twin arms of the Administrative Order. This process now takes a large stride forward as the National Spiritual Assemblies and Counselors consult together to formulate, for the first time, the national goals of an international teaching plan. Together they must carry them out; together they must implement the world objectives of the Six Year Plan 1 as they apply in each country. This significant development is a befitting opening to the fourth epoch of the Formative Age 2 and initiates a process which will undoubtedly characterize that epoch as national communities grow in strength and influence and are able to diffuse within their own countries the spirit of love and social unity which is the hallmark of the Cause of God. 3

    Riḍván 1987

    The launching of the Six Year Plan at Riḍván 1986 coincided with the opening of a new epoch—the fourth—in the organic unfoldment of the Formative Age of our Faith. The Administrative institutions of this growing Cause of God had already begun to show signs of an increasing maturity, while at the same time emerging from the protective obscurity of their early days into the larger arena of public notice. These twin processes were signalized by a development of far-reaching consequence to the internal life of the Bahá’í community and by an outward activity of a magnitude unprecedented in its entire history.

    The former was a devolution of responsibility whereby all national communities, through their National Spiritual Assemblies, in consultation with Counselors, Local Spiritual Assemblies and the generality of believers, were requested to formulate, for the first time, their own objectives for achievement during the new Plan. This expectation of maturity challenging the national communities was matched by their formulation of national plans submitted to the World Center for coordination into the world-embracing Six Year Plan.

    The latter was a united uprising of the entire Bahá’í world community to distribute the statement, The Promise of World Peace, issued in October 1985, to the peoples of the world. Heads of State, large numbers of the members of national governments, diplomats, teachers, trade unionists, leaders of religion, eminent members of the judiciary, the police, legal, medical and other professions, members of local authorities, clubs and associations, and thousands of individuals have been presented with the statement. It is estimated that more than a million copies, in some seventy languages, have so far been distributed. These two activities alone have heavily reinforced the growing strength and maturity of the Bahá’í world community and given it a more clearly defined and readily recognizable public image. 4

    Riḍván 1988

    A silver lining to the dark picture which has overshadowed most of this century now brightens the horizon. It is discernible in the new tendencies impelling the social processes at work throughout the world, in the evidences of an accelerated trend towards peace. In the Faith of God, it is the growing strength of the Order of Bahá’u’lláh as its banner rises to more stately heights. It is a strength that attracts. The media are giving increasing attention to the Bahá’í world community; authors are acknowledging its existence in a growing number of articles, books and reference works, one of the most highly respected of which recently listed the Faith as the most widely spread religion after Christianity. A remarkable display of interest in this community by governments, civil authorities, prominent personalities and humanitarian organizations is increasingly apparent. Not only are the community’s laws and principles, organization and way of life being investigated, but its advice and active help are also being sought for the alleviation of social problems and the carrying out of humanitarian activities.

    A thrilling consequence of these favorably conjoined developments is the emergence of a new paradigm of opportunity for further growth and consolidation of our worldwide community. New prospects for teaching the Cause at all levels of society have unfolded. These are confirmed in the early results flowing from the new teaching initiatives being fostered in a number of places as more and more national communities witness the beginnings of that entry by troops promised by the beloved Master and which Shoghi Effendi said would lead on to mass conversion. The immediate possibilities presented by this providential situation compel us to expect that an expansion of the Community of the Most Great Name, such as has not yet been experienced, is, indeed, at hand. 5

    Riḍván 1989

    The spiritual current which exerted such galvanic effects at the International Bahá’í Convention last Riḍván has swept through the entire world community, arousing its members in both the East and the West to feats of activity and achievement in teaching never before experienced in any one year. The high level of enrollments alone bears this out, as nearly half a million new believers have already been reported. The names of such far-flung places as India and Liberia, Bolivia and Bangladesh, Taiwan and Peru, the Philippines and Haiti leap to the fore as we contemplate the accumulating evidences of the entry by troops called for in our message of a year ago. These evidences are hopeful signs of the greater acceleration yet to come and in which all national communities, whatever the current status of their teaching effort, will ultimately be involved. 6

    Riḍván 1990

    Having ended a year of momentous achievements, we stand at the threshold of the last decade of this radiant twentieth century facing an immediate future of immense challenges and dazzling prospects. The swiftness of events during the past year is indicative of the acceleration, as the hundredth anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s Ascension approaches, of the spiritual forces released with the advent of His revolutionizing mission. It is an acceleration which, in its suddenness and wide transformational impact on social thought and on political entities, has aroused feelings of delight as to its immediate effects and of bewilderment as to its real meaning and destined outcome, prompting the astonished editors of an outstanding newspaper, finding themselves bereft of explanations, to attribute it to the workings of an “Invisible Hand.”

    For the followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the world there can be no doubt as to the Divine Source and clear intention of these extraordinary happenings. Let us rejoice, therefore, in the wondrous signs of the beneficence of God’s abounding grace. The high level of teaching and enrollments reported last Riḍván has been sustained, and new fields of teaching have been opened from Eastern Europe to the China Sea. With the settlement in recent weeks of two Knights of Bahá’u’lláh in Sakhalin Island, the last remaining territory named by Shoghi Effendi in his Ten Year Global Plan entered the Bahá’í fold. The recreation last Riḍván of the Local Spiritual Assembly of ‘Ishqábád, the recent election of that of Cluj in Romania, the first new Assembly in the “East Bloc,” the reestablishment and formation this Riḍván of Local Spiritual Assemblies in other parts of the Soviet Union and in other countries of Eastern Europe—all these achievements and immediate prospects affirm our arrival at a significant milestone in the fourth epoch of the Formative Age. The Administrative Order now embraces a community of wider diversity than ever before. It is such prodigious developments that prompted our recent announcement of a subsidiary Two Year Teaching Plan, now formally launched, to which we commend your urgent and active attention. 7

    Riḍván 1991

    The overwhelming danger which, as a result of the turmoil in the Middle East, enveloped the Holy Land during the latter part of the year receded without halting or even seriously hampering the operation of the Bahá’í administration. The situation was a poignant reminder of the contrast between the unobtrusive, steadily developing, distinctly integrative System of Bahá’u’lláh and the turbulent character of the Age of Transition, “whose tribulations,” Shoghi Effendi avers, “are the precursors of that Era of blissful felicity which is to incarnate God’s ultimate purpose for all mankind.” It was another of the “ominous signs simultaneously proclaiming the agonies of a disintegrating civilization and the birth pangs of that World Order—that Ark of human salvation—that must needs arise upon its ruins.”

    The forces which united the remedial reactions of so many nations to the sudden crisis in this region demonstrated beyond any doubt the necessity of the principle of collective security prescribed by Bahá’u’lláh more than a century ago as a means of resolving conflict. While the international arrangement envisioned by Him for the full application of this principle is far from having been adopted by the rulers of mankind, a long step towards the behavior outlined for the nations by the Lord of the Age has thus been taken. How illuminating are Bahá’u’lláh’s words foreshadowing the future reorientation of the nations: “Be united, O concourse of the sovereigns of the world,” He wrote, “for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.”

    Indeed, from whatever direction we gaze, the power of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation is visibly at work in the world. In the call for a new world order, which has issued like a refrain from the statements of political leaders and influential thinkers, even when they themselves were incapable of defining their own meaning, can be discerned the slow awakening of humanity to the principal purpose of His Revelation. That such a call should have come so insistently from the head of that republic which is destined, in ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s words, to be “the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement” and to “lead all nations spiritually,” is an indication of the efficacy and the acceleration of two simultaneous processes, one operating outside and one inside the Cause, which Shoghi Effendi tells us are destined to culminate “in a single glorious consummation.” 8

    Riḍván 1992

    From the peak of triumph of the Six Year Plan now ended, we come to the threshold of the Holy Year, now begun, awestruck at the very thought of the unique significances associated with the commemoration of that sanctified occasion one hundred years ago when Bahá’u’lláh, the Promised One of all ages, took His leave of this earthly life. The Sun of Truth, however, was to set only to shine everlastingly from the “Kingdom of fadeless glory,” thenceforward to shed the radiance of its regenerative power on the entire world. Gone from this plane was He Who is the Author of a Revelation of “inconceivable greatness” in which “all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation”; the Originator of a new Universal Cycle “that must extend over a period of at least five hundred thousand years”; the Founder of a World Order, a “System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.” Moreover, He was the Dawning Point of the Day of God, the “Day in which God’s most excellent favors have been poured out upon men.” Such are the superlative realities upon which our contemplations are focused during this special anniversary occurring at this crucial moment in the affairs of humankind.

    So imbued are we by the sacred remembrances evoked by this Holy Year, that we can do no less than invite you all to take pause to enter into this period of reflection, this time of reconsecration, this stage of preparation for tasks yet to be done, heights yet to be attained, splendors yet to be unveiled. For if we look back at one hundred years of an unexampled history of unremitting progress, we also look forward to many centuries of unfolding fulfillment of divine purpose—fulfillment, which as experience has shown, is incrementally realized through the systematic advances of Plans and the wondrous leaps and thrusts of epochs.

    Indeed, the immediate portal to this propitious Holy Year is the vista of new horizons opened by the triumph of the Six Year Plan, which coincided with the initial phase of the fourth epoch of the Formative Age of our Faith. Overall it is not so much a triumph in numerical achievements, though in many places and at particular moments the scope of expansion was extraordinary. It is a triumph that has been manifested in a new variety of victories, in new beginnings, fresh initiatives and mature institutional developments, such as to stamp the seal of success on the Plan’s seven major objectives. Impossible as it is to enumerate in these few pages the results of the Plan, the main aspects of the developments in this remarkably dynamic period deserve, nonetheless, to be highlighted. The Bahá’í community changed markedly over the last six years. The major indicators are, no doubt, discernible to the friends everywhere … 9

    1. Universal House of Justice. “25 February 1986 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19860225_001/1#888435380. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “2 January 1986 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19860102_001/1#556001222. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1986 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19860421_001/1#519292590. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1987 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19870421_001/1#994262512. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1988 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19880421_001/1#420801640. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1989 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19890421_001/1#275533543. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1990 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19900421_001/1#995676151. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1991 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19910421_001/1#612141451. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1992 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19920421_001/1#406669658. [return]

  • Seven-Year Plan: 1979-1986

     Naw-Rúz 1979:

    Throughout the world the Seven Year Plan must witness the attainment of the following objectives:

    • The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Samoa is to be completed and progress will be made in the construction of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in India.
    • Nineteen new National Spiritual Assemblies are to be brought into being: eight in Africa, those of Angola, Bophuthatswana, the Cape Verde Islands, Gabon, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia and Transkei; eight in the Americas, those of Bermuda, Dominica, French Guiana, Grenada, the Leeward Islands, Martinique, St. Lucia and St. Vincent; and three in the Pacific, those of the Cook Islands, Tuvalu and the West Caroline Islands. Those National Spiritual Assemblies which have had to be dissolved will, circumstances permitting, be reestablished.
    • The Message of Bahá’u’lláh must be taken to territories and islands which are as yet unopened to His Faith.
    • The teaching work, both that organized by institutions of the Faith and that which is the fruit of individual initiative, must be actively carried forward so that there will be growing numbers of believers, leading more countries to the stage of entry by troops and ultimately to mass conversion.
    • This teaching work must include prompt, thorough and continuing consolidation so that all victories will be safeguarded, the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies will be increased and the foundations of the Cause reinforced.
    • The interchange of pioneers and traveling teachers, which contributes so importantly to the unity of the Bahá’í world and to a true understanding of the oneness of mankind, must continue, especially between neighboring lands. At the same time, each national Bahá’í community must aspire to a rapid achievement of self-sufficiency in carrying out its vital activities, thus acquiring the capacity to continue to function and grow even if outside help is cut off.
    • Especially in finance is the attainment of independence by national Bahá’í communities urgent. Already the persecutions in Iran have deprived the believers in that country of the bounty of contributing to the international funds of the Faith, of which they have been a major source. Economic disruption in other countries threatens further diminution of financial resources. We therefore appeal to the friends everywhere to exercise the utmost economy in the use of funds and to make those sacrifices in their personal lives which will enable them to contribute their share, according to their means, to the local, national, continental and international funds of the Faith.
    • For the prompt achievement of all the goals and the healthy growth of Bahá’í community life National Spiritual Assemblies must pay particular attention to the efficient functioning, in the true spirit of the Faith, of their national committees and other auxiliary institutions, and, in consultation with the Continental Boards of Counselors, must conceive and implement programs that will guide and reinforce the efforts of the friends in the path of service.
    • National Spiritual Assemblies must promote wise and dignified approaches to people prominent in all areas of human endeavor, acquainting them with the nature of the Bahá’í community and the basic tenets of the Faith, and winning their esteem and friendship.
    • At the heart of all activities, the spiritual, intellectual and community life of the believers must be developed and fostered, requiring: the prosecution with increased vigor of the development of Local Spiritual Assemblies so that they may exercise their beneficial influence and guidance on the life of Bahá’í communities; the nurturing of a deeper understanding of Bahá’í family life; the Bahá’í education of children, including the holding of regular Bahá’í classes and, where necessary, the establishment of tutorial schools for the provision of elementary education; the encouragement of Bahá’í youth in study and service; and the encouragement of Bahá’í women to exercise to the full their privileges and responsibilities in the work of the community—may they befittingly bear witness to the memory of the Greatest Holy Leaf, the immortal heroine of the Bahá’í Dispensation, as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of her passing. 1

     Naw-Rúz 1980:

    The successful launching of the Seven Year Plan and the advances made in the first year of its opening phase mitigate, in some degree, the disasters and calamities which, in the past year, have assailed the struggling Faith of God. The newest wave of persecution unleashed against us in the Cradle of our Faith has been compounded by Divine decree afflicting the entire Bahá’í world community. In the full tide of their brilliant services to the Faith of God, and within the short span of twenty weeks three Chief Stewards of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Order, the Hands of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga, Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir and Ḥasan Balyúzí were summoned to the Abhá Kingdom, leaving the rest of us bereft and shocked by the enormity of our loss and the tragic brutality of the circumstances attending the murder of beloved Enoch Olinga and members of his family. 2

    March 1981 Message to the Bahá’ís of the World

    The successes of the initial phase of the Seven Year Plan are heartening evidence of the Divine care with which the growth of the Cause of God is so lovingly invigorated and sheltered. This still infant Cause, harassed and buffeted over these two years by relentless enemies, experiencing in swift succession a number of sharply contrasting crises and victories, surrounded by the increasing turmoil of a disintegrating world, has raised its banner, reinforced its foundations, and extended the range of its administrative institutions. 3

     Riḍván 1982

    The rising sun of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation is having its visible effect upon the world and upon the Bahá’í community itself. Opportunities, long dreamed of for teaching, attended by showering confirmations, now challenge in ever-increasing numbers, every individual believer, every Local and National Spiritual Assembly. The potent seeds sown by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá are beginning to germinate within the divinely ordained Order expounded and firmly laid by the beloved Guardian. Humanity is beaten almost to its knees, bewildered and shepherdless, hungry for the bread of life. This is our day of service; we have that heavenly food to offer. The peoples are disillusioned with deficient political theories, social systems and orders; they crave, knowingly or unknowingly, the love of God and reunion with Him. Our response to this growing challenge must be a mighty upsurge of effective teaching, imparting the divine fire which Bahá’u’lláh has kindled in our hearts until a conflagration arising from millions of souls on fire with His love shall at last testify that the Day for which the Chief Luminaries of our Faith so ardently prayed has at last dawned. 4

     Riḍván 1983

    The observable acceleration, during the past decade, of the two processes described by our beloved Guardian, the disintegration of the old order and the progress and consolidation of the new World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, may well come to be regarded by future historians as one of the most remarkable features of this period. The recent increase in this very acceleration is even more remarkable. Both within and without the Cause of God, powerful forces are operating to bring to a climax the twin tendencies of this portentous century. Among the many evidences which reveal this process may be cited, on the one hand, the continual increase of lawlessness, terrorism, economic confusion, immorality and the growing danger from the proliferation of weapons of destruction, and on the other, the worldwide, divinely propelled expansion, consolidation and rapid emergence into the limelight of world affairs of the Cause itself, a process crowned by the wonderful efflorescence of Mount Carmel, the mountain of God, whose Divine springtime is now so magnificently burgeoning.

    During the past five years, the historical dialectic of triumph and disaster has operated simultaneously within the Cause of God. The Army of Light has sustained the loss of six Hands of the Cause and waves of bitter persecution which have again engulfed the long-suffering community in Iran, and have resulted in the razing of the House of the Báb, the demolition of Bahá’u’lláh’s ancestral home in Tákur, and the martyrdom of scores of valiant souls. Yet these disasters have called forth fresh energies in the hearts of the friends, have fed the deep roots of the Cause and given rise to a great harvest of signal victories. Chief among these are the successful conclusion of the Five Year Plan; the launching of the Seven Year Plan, now in the final year of its second phase and unprecedented proclamation of the Faith to Heads of States, parliaments and parliamentarians, government ministers and officials, leaders of thought and people prominent in the professions, resulting in a change of attitude on the part of the mass media, which now increasingly approach us for information about the Cause. 5

     Riḍván 1984

    The emergence from obscurity, which has been so marked a feature of the Cause of God during the first five years of the Seven Year Plan, has been attended by changes, both external and internal, affecting the Bahá’í world community. Externally, there are signs of a crystallization of a public image of the Cause—largely uninformed, however friendly—while internally growing maturity and confidence are indicated by increased administrative ability, a desire for Bahá’í communities to render service to the larger body of mankind and a deepening understanding of the relevance of the divine Message to modern problems. Both these aspects of change must be taken into consideration as we enter the third and final phase of the Seven Year Plan. 6

     Riḍván 1985

    As we enter the final year of the Seven Year Plan, confidence of victory and a growing sense of the opening of a new stage in the onward march of the Faith must arouse in every Bahá’í heart feelings of gratitude and eager expectation. Victory in the Plan is now within sight, and at its completion the summation of its achievements may well astonish us all. But the great, the historic feature of this period is the emergence of the Faith from obscurity, promoted by the steadfast heroism of the renowned, the indefatigable, dearly loved Bahá’í community of Bahá’u’lláh’s and the Báb’s native land.

    This dramatic change in the status of the Faith of God, occurring at so chaotic a moment in the world’s history when statesmen and leaders and governors of human institutions are witnessing, with increasing despair, the bankruptcy and utter ineffectiveness of their best efforts to stay the tide of disruption, forces upon us, the Bahá’ís, the obligation to consider anew and ponder deeply the beloved Guardian’s statement that “The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve— … implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced.”

    Intimations in the non-Bahá’í world of a rapidly growing realization that mankind is indeed entering a new stage in its evolution present us with unprecedented opportunities to show that the Bahá’í world community is not only “the nucleus but the very pattern” of that world society which it is the purpose of Bahá’u’lláh to establish and towards which a harassed humanity, albeit largely unconsciously, is striving.

    The time has come for the Bahá’í community to become more involved in the life of the society around it, without in the least supporting any of the world’s moribund and divisive concepts, or slackening its direct teaching efforts, but rather, by association, exerting its influence towards unity, demonstrating its ability to settle differences by consultation rather than by confrontation, violence or schism, and declaring its faith in the divine purpose of human existence. 7

    The Promise of World Peace

    To the Peoples of the World

    The Great Peace towards which people of goodwill throughout the centuries have inclined their hearts, of which seers and poets for countless generations have expressed their vision, and for which from age to age the sacred scriptures of mankind have constantly held the promise, is now at long last within the reach of the nations. For the first time in history it is possible for everyone to view the entire planet, with all its myriad diversified peoples, in one perspective. World peace is not only possible but inevitable. It is the next stage in the evolution of this planet—in the words of one great thinker, “the planetization of mankind.” 8

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 1979 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19790321_002/1#655690600 [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 1980 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19800321_001/1#132435158. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “March 1981 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19810301_001/1#307851007. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1982 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19820421_001/1#358290904. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1983 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19830421_001/1#233979713. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1984 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19840421_001/1#602190705. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1985 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19850421_001/1#798497908. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “The Promise of World Peace.” Bahá’í Reference Library, October 1985. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19851001_001/1#883867984. [return]

  • Five-Year Plan: 1974-1978

    Naw-Rúz 1974:

    The Five Year Plan to which this community is now summoned is the opening campaign of these critical years. It is the third global plan embarked upon by the Army of Light in its implementation of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s Divine Plan, that world-encompassing program disclosed in His perspicuous Tablets and described by the Guardian of the Cause of God as the Charter for the propagation of the Faith throughout the world. It was the Guardian himself, the beloved “sign of God,” who, through his exposition and interpretation of the Revelation, through his discipline and education of the Bahá’í community and through a series of national plans assigned to the various units of that community, forged the Administrative Order of the Faith and made it an instrument for the carrying out of this great Charter, and he himself designed and launched the first global plan, the unique, brilliant and spiritually glorious Ten Year Crusade. The victories of that crusade implanted the banner of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the planet and the following Nine Year Plan reinforced and extended the bastions of the Faith and raised the number of National Spiritual Assemblies—the supporting pillars of the Universal House of Justice—to one hundred and thirteen, a number increased to one hundred and fifteen by the formation at this Riḍván of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Hong Kong and South East Arabia.

    This Five Year Plan has three major objectives: preservation and consolidation of the victories won; a vast and widespread expansion of the Bahá’í community; development of the distinctive character of Bahá’í life particularly in the local communities. The achievement of these overall aims requires the accomplishment of particular tasks at the World Center of the Faith, and by national and local communities. 1

    Riḍván 1975:

    OCCASION MOST GREAT FESTIVAL WE CONTEMPLATE WITH THANKFUL HEARTS ACHIEVEMENTS FIRST YEAR FIVE YEAR PLAN ELECTION THIS RIḌVÁN FIVE NEW NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES FOUR IN AFRICA ONE IN ASIA. DESPITE WORSENING PLIGHT MORIBUND CIVILIZATION EVIDENCES GATHERING CLOUDS WIDESPREAD OPPOSITION DIVINE MESSAGE BELIEVERS THROUGHOUT WORLD FORGING AHEAD ACCOMPLISHMENT GOALS. THREE HUNDRED EIGHTY-SIX PIONEERS ALREADY SETTLED ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO PREPARING PROCEED POSTS. NEW WORLDWIDE TRAVEL TEACHING PROGRAM DESIGNED BY INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTER NOW BEING LAUNCHED BY NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES IN CONSULTATION COUNSELORS. BELOVED HANDS CAUSE ADVANCING VANGUARD ARMY LIGHT LENDING CONSTANT LOVING GUIDANCE ENCOURAGEMENT PROTECTION FRIENDS LABORING DIVINE VINEYARD. WORLD CENTER FAITH RICHLY BLESSED THROUGH ACQUISITION HOLY HOUSE MASTER BIRTHPLACE SHOGHI EFFENDI WITHIN WALLS ‘AKKÁ WILL EARLY WITNESS ON CONSECRATED SOIL SLOPES MOUNT CARMEL INITIATION EXCAVATION FOUNDATIONS PERMANENT SEAT UNIVERSAL HOUSE JUSTICE AND IN ITALY SIGNATURE CONTRACT MARBLE REQUIRED MAJESTIC EDIFICE. AT THIS CRITICAL JUNCTURE HUMAN HISTORY THREE MAJOR OBJECTIVES PLAN AND ITS SPECIFIC GOALS PRESENT DISTINCT INSISTENT CHALLENGE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL BAHÁ’Í ADULT YOUTH CHILD TO EACH BAHÁ’Í FAMILY TO EACH LOCAL COMMUNITY AND ABOVE ALL TO EACH LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY WHOSE DEVELOPMENT IS VITAL SUCCESS FIVE YEAR PLAN AND PROGRESSIVE UNFOLDMENT DIVINELY ORDAINED BAHÁ’Í SOCIETY. MAY REMAINING THREE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE PIONEERS SPEEDILY ARISE AND ARMY VOLUNTEERS RESPOND NEWLY LAUNCHED TRAVEL TEACHING PROGRAM. NATIONAL LOCAL ASSEMBLIES INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS URGED CONTRIBUTE UNSTINTINGLY TIME EFFORT OUTPOURING MATERIAL RESOURCES SUPPORT EVERY PHASE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN COMING YEAR. APPEAL BELIEVERS EVERY LAND JOIN US PRAYERS SUPPLICATION BLESSED BEAUTY GUIDE SUSTAIN PROTECT HIS DEVOTED FOLLOWERS IN THEIR DEDICATED EFFORTS PURIFY THEIR SOULS RAISE HIS BANNER SERVE HIS CAUSE. 2

    Naw-Rúz 1976:

    ANNOUNCE DELEGATES ASSEMBLED NATIONAL CONVENTIONS GLAD TIDINGS COMPLETION EXCAVATION MOUNT CARMEL PREPARATORY RAISING MAJESTIC CENTER LEGISLATION GOD’S FAITH THAT SACRED SPOT, SIGNATURE ITALY FIVE AND HALF MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT FOR SUPPLYING OVER TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED CUBIC METERS PENTELIKON MARBLE FROM GREECE AND FASHIONING THEREFROM THE COLUMNS FACINGS ORNAMENTATION BEFITTING MONUMENTAL BUILDING. DEEPLY MOVED ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE BELIEVERS ALL PARTS WORLD THIS CHALLENGING GLORIOUS TASK. DEVELOPMENTS WORLD CENTER PARALLELED FURTHER UNFOLDMENT ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE CONTINENTAL NATIONAL LEVELS THROUGH RAISING NUMBER CONTINENTAL COUNSELORS TO SIXTY-ONE BY APPOINTMENT THELMA KHELGHATI WESTERN AFRICA, WILLIAM MASEHLA SOUTHERN AFRICA, BURHÁNI’D-DÍN AFSHÍN SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA, HIDEYA SUZUKI NORTHEASTERN ASIA, OWEN BATTRICK AUSTRALASIA AND ADIB TAHERZADEH EUROPE, AUTHORIZATION BOARDS COUNSELORS APPOINT NINETY MORE MEMBERS AUXILIARY BOARDS, AND CALL FOR ELECTION AT RIḌVÁN 1977 OF SEVEN NEW NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES: TWO IN AFRICA, MALI WITH ITS SEAT IN BAMAKO AND UPPER VOLTA WITH ITS SEAT IN OUAGADOUGOU, TWO IN THE AMERICAS, THE FRENCH ANTILLES WITH ITS SEAT IN POINT-À-PITRE AND SURINAM AND FRENCH GUIANA WITH ITS SEAT IN PARAMARIBO, ONE IN EUROPE, GREECE WITH ITS SEAT IN ATHENS, AND TWO IN THE PACIFIC, THE NEW HEBRIDES WITH ITS SEAT IN PORT VILA AND THE MARSHALL ISLANDS WITH ITS SEAT IN MAJURO, THE LATTER BEING SUPPLEMENTARY ACHIEVEMENT OF PLAN. NUMBER NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES THUS RAISED ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FOUR FOLLOWING DISSOLUTION ACCOUNT LOCAL RESTRICTIONS NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES EQUATORIAL GUINEA NEPAL. OF NINE HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE PIONEERS CALLED FOR SPECIFIC POSTS FOUR HUNDRED NINETY-TWO ALREADY SETTLED. ALSO FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN OTHER PIONEERS PROCEEDED GOAL COUNTRIES. GREAT OUTFLOW INTERNATIONAL TRAVELING TEACHERS RECORDED. MOVED PAY TRIBUTE INDEFATIGABLE SERVICES HANDS CAUSE GOD PAST YEAR IN PROMOTING ABOVE SUCCESSES AND IN FIELDS TEACHING PROTECTION PRESERVATION PROCLAMATION AND LITERATURE FAITH AS WELL AS SIGNAL SERVICES INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTER CONSTITUTING GREAT ACCESSION STRENGTH WORLD CENTER RELIEF BURDENS RESTING UNIVERSAL HOUSE JUSTICE. MIDDLE YEAR FIVE YEAR PLAN NOW OPENING WILL WITNESS GATHERING FOLLOWERS BAHÁ’U’LLÁH EIGHT INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CONFERENCES DESIGNED GENERATE TREMENDOUS IMPETUS PROGRESS PLAN ACCOMPLISHMENT WHOSE GOALS NOW LAGGING SERIOUSLY BEHIND. MOST PRESSING NEED FAITH THIS CRITICAL JUNCTURE ITS MISSION REDEEM MANKIND IS FOR EVERY BELIEVER ALL ASSEMBLIES NATIONAL LOCAL CONCENTRATE ATTAINMENT GOALS PLACED BEFORE BAHÁ’Í WORLD, PROMOTE PROCESS ENTRY BY TROOPS, ACHIEVE VAST INCREASE SIZE COMMUNITY, INCREASE NUMBER STEADFAST SELF-SACRIFICING BELIEVERS DEDICATED CONFORM EVERY ASPECT THEIR LIVES HIGH STANDARDS SET SACRED TEXTS. THE FIELD IS VAST THE TIME SHORT THE LABORERS LAMENTABLY FEW BUT ON THE EFFORTS WE FOLLOWERS OF THE BLESSED BEAUTY NOW EXERT, ON THE DEGREE TO WHICH WE SUCCESSFULLY AND SPEEDILY PROCLAIM AND TEACH HIS MESSAGE TO OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS, DEPENDS IN GREAT MEASURE THE COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY IN THE DECADES IMMEDIATELY AHEAD. 3

    24 March 1977 Message to All National Spiritual Assemblies:

    REJOICE OUTSTANDING EVENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS MARKING MID YEAR FIVE YEAR PLAN: PUBLICATION IN ENGLISH SELECTION WRITINGS BLESSED BÁB OPENING TO EYES WESTERN FOLLOWERS FAITH A PRICELESS TREASURY HIS IMMORTAL UTTERANCES, A BOUNTY WHICH CANNOT FAIL DRAW HEARTS EVER NEARER YOUTHFUL MARTYR-PROPHET; SUCCESSFUL HOLDING EIGHT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, BLAZONING NAME CAUSE GOD BEFORE A RECEPTIVE PUBLIC, KNITTING MORE CLOSELY TIES LINKING FRIENDS ALL LANDS, RESULTING UPSURGE INTENSE ACTIVITY TEACHING PIONEERING, CONFERRING AWARENESS URGENT CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY GOALS PLAN THIS CRITICAL PERIOD; PROFOUNDLY SIGNIFICANT VISIT TO RESTING-PLACE BELOVED GUARDIAN BY FIRST REIGNING MONARCH TO ACCEPT FAITH BAHÁ’U’LLÁH; DEPARTURE FORMER TENANTS HOUSE ‘ABDU’LLÁH PÁSHÁ ENABLING FAITH OBTAIN POSSESSION RECENTLY PURCHASED HOLY PLACE INITIATE PROCESS RESTORATION PREPARATION EVENTUAL OPENING TO VISITS BY PILGRIMS; ARRIVAL HAIFA FIRST FOUR CONSIGNMENTS MARBLE AND INITIATION ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION SEAT UNIVERSAL HOUSE JUSTICE MOUNT CARMEL; APPOINTMENT THREE ADDITIONAL COUNSELORS NORTH CENTRAL AMERICA AUSTRALASIA; ATTAINMENT GOAL SETTLEMENT MIDWAY POINT PLAN MAJORITY PIONEERS CALLED FOR DURING FIRST PHASE ACCOMPANIED GREAT OUTFLOW INTERNATIONAL TRAVELING TEACHERS; DRAMATIC RESURGENCE TEACHING WORK CRADLE FAITH BY INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS UNDER LOCAL PLANS; FINALLY, ELECTION THIS RIḌVÁN SIX NEW PILLARS UNIVERSAL HOUSE JUSTICE, NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES OF UPPER VOLTA IN AFRICA, OF THE FRENCH ANTILLES IN THE CARIBBEAN, OF SURINAM AND FRENCH GUIANA IN SOUTH AMERICA, OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS AND OF THE NEW HEBRIDES IN PACIFIC OCEAN, AND OF GREECE IN EUROPE, RAISING TOTAL NUMBER NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES TO 123 TO TAKE PART IN FOURTH ELECTION UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE IN HOLY LAND DURING RIḌVÁN 1978. 4

    Riḍván 1978:

    The Universal House of Justice takes great pleasure in addressing the members of National Spiritual Assemblies gathered in the Holy Land, in the presence of Hands of the Cause of God and Counselors from all continents, at this fourth International Convention, pausing with you to review the course and needs of the Five Year Plan as we cross the threshold of its final year.

    The opening of the Plan witnessed the eager response of the friends, careful study made by the national institutions of the Faith of its implications and requirements, the establishment of machinery and the setting up of projects to achieve its goals, and the often arduous struggle to fulfill the first of its three major objectives—the safeguarding and consolidation of all prizes won in earlier campaigns. This phase extended in many countries over a period of several months, and in others continued as far as the midway point of the Plan.

    The middle year of the Plan saw the holding of the International Conferences and those many regional and national conferences which were held concurrently and diffused far and wide the inspiration flowing from these eight major assemblages of the believers. These gatherings motivated a great acceleration of the work and helped the believers throughout the world to arrive at a new realization of the responsibility entrusted to the followers of the Most Great Name for the spiritual regeneration of their fellowmen.

    We are now in the last stage of the Plan, and this Convention provides us with a welcome and auspicious hour in which to assess our progress and to direct our thoughts to the complete achievement of the goals. 5

    Naw-Rúz 1979:

    The decline of religious and moral restraints has unleashed a fury of chaos and confusion that already bears the signs of universal anarchy. Engulfed in this maelstrom, the Bahá’í world community, pursuing with indefeasible unity and spiritual force its redemptive mission, inevitably suffers the disruption of economic, social and civil life which afflicts its fellowmen throughout the planet. It must also bear particular tribulations. The violent disturbances in Persia, coinciding with the gathering in of the bountiful harvest of the Five Year Plan, have brought new and cruel hardships to our long-suffering brethren in the Cradle of our Faith and confronted the Bahá’í world community with critical challenges to its life and work. As the Bahá’í world stood poised on the brink of victory, eagerly anticipating the next stage in the unfoldment of the Master’s Divine Plan, Bahá’u’lláh’s heroic compatriots, the custodians of the Holy Places of our Faith in the land of its birth, were yet again called upon to endure the passions of brutal mobs, the looting and burning of their homes, the destruction of their means of livelihood, and physical violence and threats of death to force them to recant their faith. They, like their immortal forebears, the Dawn-Breakers, are standing steadfast in face of this new persecution and the ever-present threat of organized extermination. 6

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 1974 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19740321_002/1#666937505. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1975 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19750404_001/1#440203188. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 1976 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19760318_001/1#588785373. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “24 March 1977 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19770324_001/1#126429838. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1978 – To the International Bahá’í Convention | .” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19780421_001/1#685039988. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 1979 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19790321_002/1#930323345. [return]

  • Plan the Work, Work the Plan

    Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet-Founder 1 of the Bahá’í Faith, stated, “We have enjoined upon all mankind to establish the Most Great Peace—the surest of all means for the protection of humanity.” 2 To do this requires participants to accept an authority structure, adhere to rules of behavior in accordance with that authority structure, develop plans that guide individual behavioral choices, and commit to act in keeping with the dictates of those plans, thereby resulting in personal growth and collective progress.

    ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, revealed the Tablets of The Divine Plan in 1916-1917, which became the “charter for propagating the Bahá’í Faith.” 3 In it He emphasized where to focus attention at all times:

    Consequently, one must … long for eternal life, the sublimity of the world of humanity, the celestial developments, the Holy Spirit, the promotion of the Word of God, the guidance of the inhabitants of the globe, the promulgation of universal peace and the proclamation of the oneness of the world of humanity! This is the work! [emphasis mine] Otherwise like unto other animals and birds one must occupy himself with the requirements of this physical life, the satisfaction of which is the highest aspiration of the animal kingdom, and one must stalk across the earth like unto the quadrupeds. 4

    Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, frequently acknowledged the high expectations ‘Abdu’l-Bahá placed in the “American Republic” to be at the forefront of the world’s unfolding destiny as described in the Tablets of the Divine Plan:

    “The continent of America,” He announced in a Tablet unveiling His Divine Plan to the believers residing in the North-Eastern States of the American Republic, “is in the eyes of the one true God the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide and the free assemble.” 5 “May this American democracy,” He Himself, while in America, was heard to remark, “be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be the first nation to proclaim the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the standard of the ‘Most Great Peace’… 6 7

    Armed with the confidence that America would honor its spiritual mandate, beginning in 1937, Shoghi Effendi initiated a robust planning process that directed material substance to the charter, channeled individual energies and capabilities into coordinated, wide-ranging, multi-year plans, and established a sustainable authority structure to guide “propagating the Bahá’í Faith” well into the future.

    Shoghi Effendi passed away unexpectedly in 1957 and did not have the opportunity to witness completion of the 10-year “World Spiritual Crusade,” 8 launched in 1953 under his guidance. Through the efforts of the Hands of the Cause of God, the plan culminated with the election and seating of the first Universal House of Justice 9, “the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith.”

    The Universal House of Justice launched a Nine-Year Plan in 1964. Doing so reinvigorated Shoghi Effendi’s planning process to further the realization of the vision ‘Abdu’l-Bahá outlined in the Tablets of the Divine Plan. As with previous plans, this one, too, enrolled the entire global Bahá’í community in the pursuit of bold goals to advance the Faith. And it became the first in a series of initiatives of varying length which continue to this day with the One-Year Plan for 2021-2022. The diagram below positions the flow of plans in relationship to the full span of the Bahá’í Faith since its inception in 1844. 10

    1. Zamani, Payam. “Central Figures of the Baha’i Faith.” BahaiTeachings.org. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://bahaiteachings.org/central-figures-of-the-bahai-faith/. [return]
    2. Baháʾuʾlláh. Tablets of Baháʾuʾlláh, Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Translated by Habib Taherzadeh. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978, 126. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/tablets-bahaullah/4#419760347. [return]
    3. Effendi, Shoghi. This Decisive Hour: Messages from Shoghi Effendi to the North American Baháʾís, 1932-1946. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/decisive-hour/8#586091658 [return]
    4. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Tablets of the Divine Plan. 1959. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976, 15. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/tablets-divine-plan/8#489489066. [return]
    5. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Tablets of the Divine Plan. 1959. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976, 15. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/tablets-divine-plan/10#720334552. [return]
    6. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 36-37. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/3#810048538 [return]
    7. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾ’uʾ’lláh: Selected Letters. 1st pocket-sized ed. Wilmette, Ill: Bahaʾi Publishing Trust, 1991, 75. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/6#647076745 [return]
    8. Effendi, Shoghi. Citadel of Faith: Messages to America, 1947-1957. Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/citadel-faith/4#311947855 [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “The Universal House of Justice.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/compilations/universal-house-of-justice-compilation/1#207001270. [return]
    10. Universal House of Justice. “The One Year Plan 2021-2022: Messages of the Universal House of Justice.” Palabra Publications, April 2021, 27. [return]

  • Nine-Year Plan: 1964-1973

    Riḍván 1964:

    The first of these plans is now before us. Opening at Riḍván 1964, while the memories of the glorious Jubilee of 1963 still surge within our hearts, it must, during its nine-year course, witness a huge expansion of the Cause of God and universal participation by all believers in the life of that Cause. 1

    Riḍván 1965:

    The tide of victory which carried the Bahá’í World community to the celebrations of the Most Great Jubilee is still rising. A ceaseless shower of divine confirmation rains upon our efforts, its evidences apparent in the many noteworthy achievements of the few brief months since the launching of the Nine Year Plan. 2

    Riḍván 1966:

    The Fiftieth Anniversary of the revelation by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, in March and April 1916, of the first Tablets of the Divine Plan, has witnessed the conclusion of a feat of pioneering unparalleled in the annals of the Cause. 3

    Riḍván 1967:

    At the conclusion of the third year of the Nine Year Plan we acknowledge with thankful hearts the evidences of Divine favor with which Bahá’u’lláh unfailingly sustains and confirms the dedicated efforts of His servants everywhere, and we unhesitatingly affirm our confidence that the community of the Most Great Name can and will, by its determination and sacrificial efforts, achieve complete victory. 4

    June 24, 1968 Message to the Bahá’ís of the World:

    The majestic unfoldment of Bahá’u’lláh’s world-redeeming administrative system has been marked by the successive establishment of the various institutions and agencies which constitute the framework of that divinely created Order. Thus, more than a quarter of a century after the emergence of the first National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’í world the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God was formally established, with the appointment by the beloved Guardian, in conformity with the provisions of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s Will and Testament, of the first contingent of these high-ranking officers of the Faith. Following the passing of the Guardian of the Cause of God, it fell to the House of Justice to devise a way, within the Administrative Order, of developing “the Institution of the Hands of the Cause with a view to extension into the future of its appointed functions of protection and propagation,” and this was made a goal of the Nine Year Plan. Much thought and study has been given to the question over the past four years, and the texts have been collected and reviewed. During the last two months, this goal, as announced in our cable to the National Conventions, has been the object of prolonged and prayerful consultation between the Universal House of Justice and the Hands of the Cause of God. All this made evident the framework within which this goal was to be achieved, namely:

    The Universal House of Justice sees no way in which additional Hands of the Cause of God can be appointed.

    The absence of the Guardian of the Faith brought about an entirely new relationship between the Universal House of Justice and the Hands of the Cause and called for the progressive unfoldment by the Universal House of Justice of the manner in which the Hands of the Cause would carry out their divinely conferred functions of protection and propagation.

    Whatever new development or institution is initiated should come into operation as soon as possible in order to reinforce and supplement the work of the Hands of the Cause while at the same time taking full advantage of the opportunity of having the Hands themselves assist in launching and guiding the new procedures.

    Any such institution must grow and operate in harmony with the principles governing the functioning of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God.

    In the light of these considerations the Universal House of Justice decided, as announced in its recent cable, to establish Continental Boards of Counselors for the protection and propagation of the Faith. Their duties will include directing the Auxiliary Boards in their respective areas, consulting and collaborating with National Spiritual Assemblies, and keeping the Hands of the Cause and the Universal House of Justice informed concerning the conditions of the Cause in their areas. 5

    Riḍván 1969:

    The continued progress of the Cause of God stands in vivid contrast to the chronic unrest afflicting human society, a contrast which the events of the past year, both within and without the Faith, have only served to intensify. Amidst the disintegration of the old order the Cause of God has pursued its majestic course, extending the range of its activities and influence and accomplishing a further development of its administrative system. 6

    16 November 1969 Message to the Bahá’ís of the World:

    In the worsening world situation, fraught with pain of war, violence and the sudden uprooting of long-established institutions, can be seen the fulfillment of the prophecies of Bahá’u’lláh and the oft-repeated warnings of the Master and the beloved Guardian about the inevitable fate of a lamentably defective social system, an unenlightened leadership and a rebellious and unbelieving humanity. Governments and peoples of both the developed and developing nations, and other human institutions, secular and religious, finding themselves helpless to reverse the trend of the catastrophic events of the day, stand bewildered and overpowered by the magnitude and complexity of the problems facing them. At this fateful hour in human history many, unfortunately, seem content to stand aside and wring their hands in despair or else join in the babel of shouting and protestation which loudly objects, but offers no solution to the woes and afflictions plaguing our age. 7

    Riḍván 1970:

    BAHÁ’Í WORLD COMMUNITY ENTERING SEVENTH YEAR NINE YEAR PLAN HAS AMPLY DEMONSTRATED ABILITY SCALE HEIGHTS DEVOTION SACRIFICE WIN ASTONISHING VICTORIES WORLD-REDEEMING WORLD-HEALING WORLD-UNITING FAITH. AT THIS RIḌVÁN EXTEND LOVING WELCOME ELEVEN NEW NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES NOW FORMING SEVEN IN AFRICA ONE IN AMERICAS ONE IN ASIA TWO IN AUSTRALASIA RAISING TO NINETY-FOUR NUMBER SUPPORTING PILLARS UNIVERSAL HOUSE JUSTICE. MOVED PAY LOVING TRIBUTE HANDS CAUSE GOD THEIR BRILLIANT SERVICES BLAZING TEACHING TRAILS SURFACE PLANET UPLIFTING ADVISING ASSEMBLIES FRIENDS ALL CONTINENTS. IN VIEW EFFECTIVE REINFORCEMENT THIS NOBLE WORK BY ABLE DEDICATED CONTINENTAL BOARDS COUNSELORS THEIR AUXILIARY BOARDS TOGETHER WITH GROWING NEED AND EXPANSION WORLD COMMUNITY ANNOUNCE AUGMENTATION VITAL INSTITUTION THROUGH APPOINTMENT THREE ADDITIONAL COUNSELORS IRAJ AYMAN WESTERN ASIA ANNELIESE BOPP BETTY REED EUROPE AND AUTHORIZATION APPOINTMENT FORTY-FIVE ADDITIONAL AUXILIARY BOARD MEMBERS NINE AFRICA SIXTEEN ASIA TWO AUSTRALASIA EIGHTEEN WESTERN HEMISPHERE. CALLING FORMATION FOUR NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES RIḌVÁN 1971 LESOTHO SEAT MASERU IVORY COAST MALI AND UPPER VOLTA SEAT ABIDJAN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO SEAT PORT OF SPAIN SOLOMON ISLANDS SEAT HONIARA. NINE YEAR PLAN ALREADY MARKED GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS PIONEERING PROCLAMATION RECOGNITION FAITH UPSURGE YOUTH ACQUISITION PROPERTIES COMMENCEMENT CONSTRUCTION PANAMA TEMPLE DEVELOPMENTS WORLD CENTER. URGENT IMMEDIATE VITAL NEED CONCENTRATE ATTENTION INCREASE NUMBER LOCALITIES LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES BELIEVERS FILL REMAINING PIONEER POSTS. LAST RIḌVÁN CALL RAISED SEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE PIONEERS MINIMUM REQUIREMENT. FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-NINE SPECIFIC POSTS STILL UNFILLED. TOTAL VICTORY REQUIRES MORE PIONEERS MORE FUNDS MORE NEW BELIEVERS. HANDS CAUSE COUNSELORS BOARD MEMBERS NATIONAL LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES EVERY SINGLE FOLLOWER BAHÁ’U’LLÁH SUMMONED UTMOST EFFORT REMAINING YEARS NINE YEAR PLAN. ACHIEVEMENT THIS STEP MASTER’S DIVINE PLAN WILL ENDOW COMMUNITY CAPACITY ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES UNDERTAKE NEXT STAGE IMPLEMENTATION SUPREME PURPOSE BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S REVELATION UNIFICATION MANKIND ESTABLISHMENT LONG PROMISED KINGDOM GOD THIS EARTH. ASSURE ARDENT LOVING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES. 8

    Riḍván 1971:

    On November 28th 1971 the Bahá’í World will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Passing of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, the Center of the Covenant, the Ensign of the Oneness of Mankind, the Mystery of God, an event which signalized at once the end of the Heroic Age of our Faith, the opening of the Formative Age and the birth of the Administrative Order, the nucleus and pattern of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. As we contemplate the fruits of the Master’s Ministry harvested during the first fifty years of the Formative Age, a period dominated by the dynamic and beloved figure of Shoghi Effendi, whose life was dedicated to the systematic implementation of the provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá and of the Tablets of the Divine Plan—the two charters provided by the Master for the administration and the teaching of the Cause of God—we may well experience a sense of awe at the prospect of the next fifty years. That first half-century of the Formative Age has seen the Bahá’í Community grow from a few hundred centers in 35 countries in 1921, to over 46,000 centers in 135 independent states and 182 significant territories and islands at the present day, has been marked by the raising throughout the world of the framework of the Administrative Order, which in its turn has brought recognition of the Faith by many governments and civil authorities and accreditation in consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and has witnessed the spread to many parts of the world of that “entry by troops” promised by the Master and so long and so eagerly anticipated by the friends. 9

    Riḍván 1972:

    The opening of the final year of the Nine Year Plan sees the Bahá’í world community poised for overwhelming victory. With grateful hearts we acknowledge the continuing confirmations which have attended its efforts and the Divine bounties which have never ceased to rain down upon this blessed, this ever-developing embryonic world order. 10

    Riḍván 1973:

    We announce with joyful and thankful hearts the completion in overwhelming victory of the world-encircling Nine Year Plan. The Army of Light has won its second global campaign; it has surpassed the goals set for expansion and has achieved a truly impressive degree of universal participation, the twin objectives of the Plan. With gratitude and love we testify to the unceasing confirmations which Bahá’u’lláh has showered upon His servants, enabling each and every one of us to offer Him some part of the labor, the devotion, the sacrifice, the supplication which He has so bountifully rewarded. At this Centenary of the Revelation of the Most Holy Book, the Community of the Most Great Name lays its tribute of victory at His feet, acknowledging that it is He Who has bestowed it. 11

    1. Universal House of Justice. “April 1964 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 2, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19640421_001/1#052168509 [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1965 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19650421_001/1#179013126. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1966 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19660421_001/1#088546253. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1967 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19670421_001/1#819707702. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “24 June 1968 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19680624_001/1#139243592. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1969 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19690421_001/1#326191831. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “16 November 1969 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19691116_001/1#537867499. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1970 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19700421_001/1#611058407. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1971 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19710421_001/1#194114209. [return]
    10. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1972 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19720421_001/1#255180794. [return]
    11. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1973 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19730421_001/1#245056552. [return]

  • Source of Authority

    During my career I had the opportunity to work with people of capacity in all types of organizations: academic institutions, business enterprises, professional societies and private foundations, government agencies, religious groups, etc. The reality is I had no certifiable credentials that qualified me for membership in any of these entities. Still, I possessed sufficient perceived value in the eyes of their leadership that they granted me access and gave me platforms to influence the design of processes and behavior of people within their purviews. The perceived benefits people within these organizations gained through my interactions with them led to long term working relationships that extended across several years and in the case of some, decades.

    I’m at the stage of life where I need to sort through an over 30-year accumulation of “stuff” from my consulting practice while I’m still able. Then, I can digitize and make public what may be useful more generally and dispose of the rest so that family members won’t have to do it.

    Aside from the physical aspects of cleaning up, I intend use this exercise as a prompt to take a deeper dive into the source of authority I carried that enabled me to do what I did during my career. My core assumption is that it came from my grounding in the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. To explore this notion further, I plan to arrange my career output along a timeline that parallels the availability of publications and messages from the Universal House of Justice—“the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith.” This post together with “The Universal House of Justice—April 30, 1963” marks the beginning of this effort.

  • The Universal House of Justice—April 30, 1963

    Most Great Jubilee

    Beloved friends: On this glorious occasion, the celebration of the Most Great Jubilee, we raise our grateful thanks to Bahá’u’lláh for all His bounties showered upon the friends throughout the world. This historic moment marks at one and the same time the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, the Hundredth Anniversary of the Declaration of the Promised One of all ages, the termination of the first epoch of the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá designed to establish the Faith of God in all the world, and the successful conclusion of our beloved Guardian’s world-encircling Crusade, enabling his lovers and loved ones everywhere to lay this glorious harvest of victory in his name at the feet of the Blessed Beauty. This Most Great Jubilee is the crowning victory of the lifework of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Cause of God. He it was, and he alone, who unfolded the potentialities of the widely scattered, numerically small, and largely unorganized Bahá’í community which had been called into being during the Heroic Age of the Faith. He it was who unfolded the grand design of God’s Holy Cause, set in motion the great plans of teaching already outlined by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, established the institutions and greatly extended the endowments at the World Center, and raised the Temples of America, Africa, Australasia and Europe, developed the Administrative Order of the Cause throughout the world, and set the Ark of the Cause true on its course. He appointed the Hands of the Cause of God.

    The paeans of joy and gratitude, of love and adoration which we now raise to the throne of Bahá’u’lláh would be inadequate, and the celebrations of this Most Great Jubilee in which, as promised by our beloved Guardian, we are now engaged, would be marred were no tribute paid at this time to the Hands of the Cause of God. For they share the victory with their beloved commander, he who raised them up and appointed them. They kept the ship on its course and brought it safe to port. The Universal House of Justice, with pride and love, recalls on this supreme occasion its profound admiration for the heroic work which they have accomplished…

    As soon as the House of Justice is able to organize its work and deploy its forces it will examine carefully all the conditions of the Cause of God, and communications will be made to the friends. At this time we call upon the believers everywhere to follow up vigorously the opportunities opened up by the World Crusade. Consolidation and deepening must go hand in hand with an eager extension of the teaching work so that the onward march of the Cause may continue unabated in preparation for future plans. Now that the attention of the public is becoming more and more drawn to the Cause of God the friends must brace themselves and prepare their institutions to sustain the gaze of the world, whether it be friendly or hostile, eager or idle. 1

    1. Universal House of Justice. “30 April 1963 – [To the First Bahá’í World Congress].” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 2, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19630430_001/1#147218207. [return]

  • Gaze upon new horizons

    The momentum that is sure to build with each successive cycle 1 of the One Year Plan will be further augmented by the release of two films. The first of these, which will become available in time for the centennial commemoration, will be a portrait of the Person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Besides being a tribute to His life and work, it will explore how, by championing the oneness of humanity through His words and deeds, 2 He offered a challenge to the stale assumptions and prejudices of the age, and gave stimulus to a process of unification 3 which continues to this day. A second film, following soon after the first, will reflect on the expiration of the first hundred years of the Formative Age 4 from the vantage point of the heights to which the Bahá’í community has climbed, and from where it can now gaze upon new horizons.

    The significance of the occasions being marked during the One Year Plan 5 will lend it a unique character, enhancing the work being undertaken in clusters and making this single year the ideal preparation for the global endeavour that is to follow. With a sense of joyful anticipation, we announce that the Bahá’í world will, at Riḍván 2022, begin a Nine Year Plan. Its requirements and provisions will be set out at a later date, but its duration already gives an unmistakable indication of the expansive prospect it will present. God willing, it will be heralded by the convocation of a series of conferences held over a span of months across the globe.

    This, so far as it can be foreseen, is the course the Bahá’í community will seek to tread. For the present hour, we urge you to recommit your energies, keeping your focus on the mission immediately before you. We are immensely gratified to see the assured composure with which the community of the Greatest Name 6 has sought to offer the divine remedy 7 under all conditions, especially during this period when society’s established patterns of life 8 have been disrupted and risks of different kinds are being faced by so many. Withal, the friends must guard against being drawn into the ultimately futile conflict and strife that characterizes so much of the discussion of the affairs of society, 9 or—heaven forbid—allowing interaction of this type to permeate, even fleetingly, the conversations of the community. Yet such vigilance on your part in avoiding discord and in not becoming entangled in society’s controversies should under no circumstances be construed as aloofness from the many pressing concerns of this time. Far from it. You are among the most active and earnest of humanity’s well-wishers. 10 But, whether through deeds or words, the merit of your every contribution to social well-being 11 lies, first, in your resolute commitment to discover that precious point of unity 12 where contrasting perspectives overlap and around which contending peoples can coalesce. 13

    1. Universal House of Justice. “27 December 2005 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20051227_001/1#054191037. [return]
    2. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 461. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/33#517472225. [return]
    3. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 157-158. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/12#969069370. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “The One Year Plan 2021-2022: Messages of the Universal House of Justice.” Palabra Publications, April 2021, 27. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2021 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20210420_001/1#583854197. [return]
    6. Effendi, Shoghi. This Decisive Hour: Messages from Shoghi Effendi to the North American Baháʾís, 1932-1946. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/decisive-hour/2#973511846. [return]
    7. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 204. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/14#873157010. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “27 December 2017 – To an Individual.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20171227_001/1#183910830. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “1 March 2017 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20170301_001/1#320665043. [return]
    10. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 425. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/31#518819356. [return]
    11. Universal House of Justice. “23 December 2008 – [To an Individual].” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20081223_001/1#282465619. [return]
    12. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 152. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/11#270449351. [return]
    13. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20201125_001/1#300076438. [return]

  • Year for profound reflection

    Besides providing for advances within clusters everywhere, the coming Plan will be a year for profound reflection on the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 1 2 and the strength of the Covenant of which He was the Centre, 3 as the community prepares to commemorate the centenary of His Ascension. 4 The observance of this anniversary will undoubtedly prompt individuals and communities alike to contemplate the significance of that infinitely poignant moment when He Who was the Mystery of God 5 departed from this world. His passing took from the Bahá’ís of that era a Figure Who was the object of their ardent love and loyalty; to the faithful of this age, He remains without parallel: a perfect embodiment in word and deed of all that His Father taught, the One through Whom the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh was “proclaimed, championed and vindicated”. 6 We are conscious that the coming year will also mark a century since His Will and Testament 7 —that “momentous”, 8 “historic”, 9 “immortal” 10 Document—“called into being, outlined the features and set in motion the processes” 11 of the Administrative Order, “the very pattern of that divine civilization which the almighty Law of Bahá’u’lláh is designed to establish upon earth”. 12 This “unique” and “divinely-conceived” Order, 13 this “mighty administrative structure”, 14 had been fashioned by its Architect 15 to perpetuate the Covenant and channel the spiritual powers of the Cause. It will be apparent, then, that the Day of the Covenant next year, exactly twelve months from now, will be especially meaningful. We ask National Spiritual Assemblies to determine how these two dates, occurring so close together, may each be observed, taking into account prevailing conditions in their countries.

    All the while, earnest preparations continue to be made in the Holy Land for the commemoration of the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at a gathering at which, it is hoped, representatives of National Spiritual Assemblies and Regional Bahá’í Councils will be present. Similarly, plans are already being made for the conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members, which will coincide, in January 2022, with the lapse of one hundred years since the first public reading of the Will and Testament of the Master. Conditions in the world may, of course, require the plans being made for these gatherings at the Bahá’í World Centre to change. But come what may, we have no doubt that the efforts made in local communities worldwide to befittingly commemorate the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and to honour the Day of the Covenant in this coming centennial year will provide the impetus needed to launch the succeeding stage in God’s Minor Plan, even as Providence propels the unfoldment of His Major Plan 16 17 in accordance with His incontestable decree. 18

    1. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾ’uʾ’lláh: Selected Letters. 1st pocket-sized ed. Wilmette, Ill: Bahaʾi Publishing Trust, 1991, 139. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/8#449960539. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “12 July 1971 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 30, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19710712_001/1#121288436. [return]
    3. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 385-386. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/28#284260097 [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “29 December 2015 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 30, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20151229_001/1#135178049. [return]
    5. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾ’uʾ’lláh: Selected Letters. 1st pocket-sized ed. Wilmette, Ill: Bahaʾi Publishing Trust, 1991, 134. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/8#305127046. [return]
    6. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. 1944. Reprint, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/23#186582067. [return]
    7. ʻAbduʾl-Bahá. Will and Testament of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. 1944. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1971. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/will-testament-abdul-baha/1#442633768. [return]
    8. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾ’uʾ’lláh: Selected Letters. 1st pocket-sized ed. Wilmette, Ill: Bahaʾi Publishing Trust, 1991, 144. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/9#646816566. [return]
    9. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. 1944. Reprint, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970, 326. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/24#020161556. [return]
    10. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. 1944. Reprint, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970, 268. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/19#280888550. [return]
    11. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. 1944. Reprint, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970, 325. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/24#997679390. [return]
    12. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾ’uʾ’lláh: Selected Letters. 1st pocket-sized ed. Wilmette, Ill: Bahaʾi Publishing Trust, 1991, 152. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/9#024796561. [return]
    13. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾ’uʾ’lláh: Selected Letters. 1st pocket-sized ed. Wilmette, Ill: Bahaʾi Publishing Trust, 1991, 152. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/9#024796561. [return]
    14. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾ’uʾ’lláh: Selected Letters. 1st pocket-sized ed. Wilmette, Ill: Bahaʾi Publishing Trust, 1991, 154. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/9#680039599. [return]
    15. Effendi, Shoghi. This Decisive Hour: Messages from Shoghi Effendi to the North American Baháʾís, 1932-1946. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/decisive-hour/3#788889358 [return]
    16. Effendi, Shoghi. Citadel of Faith: Messages to America, 1947-1957. Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/citadel-faith/5#021281284. [return]
    17. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 155 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 30, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19980421_001/1#112325714. [return]
    18. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20201125_001/1#300076435. [return]

  • Power of the Covenant

    We greet you with immense affection on this special day, an occasion for calling to mind the power of the Covenant, 1 that power which “pulsateth in the body of the contingent world” 2 and forges enduring bonds of love 3 among the believers. In the months since Riḍván, we have seen the evidences of this dynamic power in the unified activity of Bahá’u’lláh’s followers, led so ably by the institutions of the Cause in each continent and country, as the friends everywhere have sought with characteristic creativity and determination to minister to the needs of an ailing world. Your resilience and your unwavering commitment to the well-being of those around you, persistent through all difficulties, have filled us with tremendous hope. But it is no wonder that, in some other quarters, hope has become a depleted resource. There is a mounting realization on the part of the world’s people that the decades ahead are set to bring with them challenges among the most daunting that the human family has ever had to face. The current global health crisis is but one such challenge, the ultimate severity of whose cost, both to lives and livelihoods, is yet unknown; your efforts to succour and support one another as well as your sisters and brothers in society at large 4 5 will certainly need to be sustained, and in places expanded.

    It is against this background of furious storms lashing humanity that the ark of the Cause 6 7 is about to embark upon a series of Plans that will carry it into the third century of the Bahá’í Era and significantly strengthen the Bahá’í community’s capacity for realizing the society-building powers of the Faith.

    8

    As you are aware, the first Plan to commence this new series will last but one year. In places where circumstances prevent national communities from establishing as many intensive programmes of growth 9 before Riḍván 2021 as they intended, these twelve months will extend the time available to them to do so. Meanwhile, wherever the process of growth has already been intensified, the year will be an opportunity to consolidate the achievements made during the current Plan, while cultivating the conditions necessary for welcoming larger and larger numbers of souls into the embrace of a community recognized for its fortitude and outward-looking orientation. 10 At the national, regional, and cluster levels, 11 12 we look to communities of proven strength to help those in which less experience has accrued. In this year-long effort, every community must draw on whatever untapped potential it may possess and seek to overcome any obstacles that are impeding its growth, thereby preparing it for the demands to come. For it is within the context of a flourishing community, especially a centre of intense activity 13 in a village or neighbourhood, and when each element of the Plan’s framework 14 is given the attention it requires, that those elements most visibly cohere and connect, multiplying the community’s powers in the field of action. 15 16 17

    1. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Translated by Marzieh Gail. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Center, 1978, 223. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/selections-writings-abdul-baha/8#626520400 [return]
    2. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Translated by Marzieh Gail. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Center, 1978, 208-209. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/selections-writings-abdul-baha/8#120844973 [return]
    3. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Translated by Marzieh Gail. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Center, 1978, 37. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/selections-writings-abdul-baha/3#139426406 [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “October 2019 – To All Who Have Come to Honour the Herald of a New Dawn.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20191001_001/1#296626848. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 177.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20200319_001/1#447008410. [return]
    6. Baháʾuʾlláh. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book. Haifa: Baháʾi World Centre, 1992. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/14#949198568 and https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/6#690510592. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2018 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20180421_001/1#169140600. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “The One Year Plan 2021-2022: Messages of the Universal House of Justice.” Palabra Publications, April 2021, 27. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “27 December 2005 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20051227_001/1#761796058. [return]
    10. Universal House of Justice. “17 January 2003 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20030117_001/1#243183782. [return]
    11. Universal House of Justice. “29 December 2015 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20151229_001/1#608166107. [return]
    12. Universal House of Justice. “27 December 2005 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20051227_001/1#433838456. [return]
    13. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#695205306. [return]
    14. Universal House of Justice. “30 September 1992 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19920930_002/1#368271504. [return]
    15. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#683664802. [return]
    16. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1988 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19880421_001/1#253101183. [return]
    17. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20201125_001/1#300076435. [return]

  • The One Year Plan Begins

    And so the One Year Plan 1 2 begins. Its purpose and requirements have already been set out in our message sent on the Day of the Covenant; 3 this Plan, though brief, will suffice to prepare the Bahá’í world for the Nine Year Plan 4 that is to follow. A period of special potency, which opened one hundred years after the revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan 5, will soon close with the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 6 marking the conclusion of the first century of the Formative Age 7 and the start of the second. The company of the faithful enter this new Plan at a time when humanity, chastened by the exposure of its vulnerability, seems more conscious of the need for collaboration to address global challenges. 8 Yet, lingering habits of contest, self-interest, prejudice and closed-mindedness continue to hinder the movement towards unity, despite growing numbers in society who are showing in words and deeds how they, too, yearn for greater acceptance of humanity’s inherent oneness. 9 We pray that the family of nations 10 may succeed in putting aside its differences in the interests of the common good. 11 Notwithstanding the uncertainties that shroud the months ahead, we entreat Bahá’u’lláh to make the confirmations that have sustained His followers for so long more abundant still, that you may be carried forward in your mission, 12 13 your composure undisturbed by the turbulence of a world whose need for His healing message is ever more acute.

    The Divine Plan enters a new epoch and a new stage. 14 The page is turned. 15

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2018 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20180421_001/1#169140600. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “The One Year Plan 2021-2022: Messages of the Universal House of Justice.” Palabra Publications, April 2021. https://bahaiwritings.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/the-1-year-plan-final-w-cover.pdf [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20201125_001/1#300076430. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20201125_001/1#300076439. [return]
    5. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Tablets of the Divine Plan. 1959. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/tablets-divine-plan/1#531491243. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “29 December 2015 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20151229_001/1#135178049. [return]
    7. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. 1944. Reprint, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970, 322. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/1#337700484. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “24 September 2000 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000924_001/1#362530582. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 177.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20200319_001/1#122183928. [return]
    10. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 156-157. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/12#061171967. [return]
    11. Universal House of Justice. “26 March 2016 – To the Bahá’ís of the World Acting under the Mandate of ‘Abdu’L‑Bahá.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20160326_001/1#233234227 [return]
    12. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Tablets of the Divine Plan. 1959. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976, 42. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/tablets-divine-plan/12#939542304. [return]
    13. Effendi, Shoghi. The Advent of Divine Justice. 1969. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1971, 13. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/advent-divine-justice/2#950117553. [return]
    14. Universal House of Justice. “9 January 2001 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20010109_001/1#433355316. [return]
    15. 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#583854197. [return]

  • Unfoldment of the Divine Plan

    Many will be familiar with how the Guardian divided the Ages of the Faith into consecutive epochs; 1 the fifth epoch of the Formative Age began in 2001. Less well known is that the Guardian also made specific reference to there being epochs of the Divine Plan, and stages within those epochs.

    2

    3

    Held in abeyance for two decades while local and national organs of the Administrative Order were being raised up and strengthened, the Divine Plan conceived by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was formally inaugurated in 1937 with the commencement of the first stage of its first epoch: the Seven Year Plan assigned by the Guardian to the North American Bahá’í community. This first epoch closed after the conclusion of the Ten Year Crusade in 1963, which had resulted in the banner of the Faith being planted across the world. The opening stage of the second epoch was the first Nine Year Plan, and no less than ten Plans have followed in its wake, Plans that have ranged in duration from twelve months to seven years. At the dawn of this second epoch, the Bahá’í world was already witnessing the earliest beginnings of that entry into the Faith by troops that had been foreseen by the Author of the Divine Plan; in the succeeding decades, generations of devoted believers within the community of the Greatest Name have laboured in the Divine Vineyard to cultivate the conditions required for sustained, large-scale growth. And at this glorious season of Riḍván, how abundant are the fruits of those labours! The phenomenon of sizeable numbers swelling the activities of the community, catching the spark of faith and swiftly arising to serve at the leading edge of the Plan has moved from being a forecast sustained by faith to a recurring reality. Such a pronounced and demonstrable advance demands to be marked in the annals of the Cause. With elated hearts, we announce that the third epoch of the Master’s Divine Plan has begun. Stage by stage, epoch after epoch shall His Plan unfold, until the light of the Kingdom illumines every heart. 4

    1. Universal House of Justice. “5 February 1986 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19860205_001/1#260556784. [return]
    2. Reflections on the Bahai Writings. “The One Year Plan,” April 28, 2021. https://bahaiwritings.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/the-one-year-plan/. [return]
    3. Reflections on the Bahai Writings. “The One Year Plan,” April 28, 2021. https://bahaiwritings.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/the-one-year-plan/. [return]
    4. 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#583854194. [return]

  • Social Action and Participation

    Midway through the series of Plans, the community’s involvement in the life of society 1 2 3 4 5 began to become the focus of more direct attention. The believers were encouraged to think of this in terms of two interconnected areas of endeavour—social action and participation in the prevalent discourses of society. 6 These, of course, were not alternatives to the work of expansion and consolidation, 7 much less distractions from it: they were inherent within it. The greater the human resources 8 a community could call on, the greater became its capacity to bring the wisdom contained in Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation to bear upon the challenges of the day—to translate His teachings into reality. 9 And the troubled affairs of humankind over this period seemed to underline how desperate was its need for the remedy prescribed by the Divine Physician. 10 Implied in all this was a conception of religion very different from those holding sway in the world at large: a conception which recognized religion as the potent force propelling an ever-advancing civilization. 11 It was understood that such a civilization would also not appear spontaneously, of its own accord—it was the mission of Bahá’u’lláh’s followers to labour for its emergence. Such a mission demanded applying the same process of systematic learning 12 to the work of social action and engagement in public discourse. 13

    1. Universal House of Justice. “25 February 1986 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19860225_001/1#084091179. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2008 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20080421_001/1#421159402. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “23 December 2008 – [To an Individual].” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20081223_001/1#282465619. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#476830757. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#319669639. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#766744757. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “26 November 2012 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20121126_001/1#932478921. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 151 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19940421_001/1#384606682. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “28 December 2005 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20051228_001/1#509634666. [return]
    10. Baháʼuʼlláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʹuʹlláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Rev Ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1952. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/gleanings-writings-bahaullah/3#186183494. [return]
    11. Baháʼuʼlláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʹuʹlláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Rev Ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1952. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/gleanings-writings-bahaullah/6#994085186. [return]
    12. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#319669639. [return]
    13. 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#561189865. [return]

  • Commitment to Learning

    Regardless of a community’s starting point, it has advanced the process of growth 1 when it has combined qualities of faith, perseverance and commitment with a readiness to learn. 2 In fact, a cherished legacy of this series of Plans is the widespread recognition that any effort to advance begins with an orientation towards learning. The simplicity of this precept belies the significance of the implications that follow from it. We do not doubt that every cluster, given time, will progress along the continuum of development; 3 4 5 the communities that have advanced most quickly, relative to those whose circumstances and possibilities were similar, have shown an ability to foster unity of thought 6 and to learn about effective action. And they did so without hesitating to act.

    A commitment to learning 7 8 also meant being prepared to make mistakes 9 —and sometimes, of course, mistakes brought discomfort. Unsurprisingly, new methods and approaches were handled inexpertly at first because of a lack of experience; on occasion, a newly acquired capacity of one kind was lost as a community became absorbed in developing another. Having the best of intentions is no guarantee against making missteps, and moving past them requires both humility and detachment. When a community has remained determined to show forbearance and learn from mistakes that naturally occur, progress has never been out of reach. 10

    1. Universal House of Justice. “Turning Point.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/turning-point/14#187439409. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Turning Point.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/turning-point/13#681384059. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “26 December 1995 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19951226_001/1#354953554. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “9 January 2001 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20010109_001/1#822118745. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2001 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20010421_001/1#097021721. [return]
    6. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Translated by Marzieh Gail. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Center, 1978. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/selections-writings-abdul-baha/3#141202836. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “9 January 2001 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20010109_001/1#103256061. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2013 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20130421_001/1#475316506. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in Europe.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19960421_005/1#435654835. [return]
    10. 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#561189863. [return]

  • The Work of Community Building

    As one Plan succeeded another, and engagement with the work of community building 1 became more broadly based, advances at the level of culture 2 became more pronounced. For instance, the importance of educating the younger generations became more widely appreciated, as did the extraordinary potential represented by junior youth 3 in particular. Souls assisting and accompanying one another along a shared path, constantly widening the circle of mutual support,4 became the pattern to which all efforts aimed at developing capacity for service 5 aspired. Even the interactions of the friends among themselves and with those around them underwent a change, as awareness was raised of the power of meaningful conversations 6 to kindle and fan spiritual susceptibilities. And significantly, Bahá’í communities adopted an increasingly outward-looking orientation. 7 Any soul responsive to the vision of the Faith could become an active participant 8—even a promoter and facilitator 9—of educational activities, meetings for worship and other elements of the community-building work; from among such souls, many would also declare their faith in Bahá’u’lláh. Thus, a conception of the process of entry by troops emerged that relied less on theories and assumptions and more on actual experience of how large numbers of people could find the Faith, become familiar with it, identify with its aims, join in its activities and deliberations, and in many cases embrace it. Indeed, as the institute process 10 was strengthened in region after region, the number of individuals taking a share in the work of the Plan, extending even to those recently acquainted with the Faith, grew by leaps and bounds. But this was not being driven by a mere concern for numbers. A vision of personal and collective transformation 11 occurring simultaneously, founded on study of the Word of God and an appreciation of each person’s capacity to become a protagonist 12 13 in a profound spiritual drama,14 had given rise to a sense of common endeavour. 15

    1. Universal House of Justice. “26 December 1995 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19951226_001/1#668573035. [return]
    2. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#813406593. [return]
    3. Universal House of Justice. “26 November 1999 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19991126_001/1#053915551. [return]
    4. Universal House of Justice. “9 January 2001 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20010109_001/1#103256061. [return]
    5. Universal House of Justice. “20 October 1983 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19831020_001/1#584963658. [return]
    6. Universal House of Justice. “21 March 2011 – To the Believers in the Cradle of the Faith.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20110321_001/1#001421353. [return]
    7. Universal House of Justice. “17 January 2003 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20030117_001/1#762705152. [return]
    8. Universal House of Justice. “17 January 2003 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20030117_001/1#572510771. [return]
    9. Universal House of Justice. “20 July 2000 – To the Friends Gathered at the Asian International Youth Conference, Karachi, Pakistan, 21–23 July 2000.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000720_001/1#088764575. [return]
    10. Universal House of Justice. “20 July 2000 – To the Friends Gathered at the Youth Conference in Vancouver, 20–24 July 2000.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000720_002/1#095547249. [return]
    11. Universal House of Justice. “28 December 2010 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20101228_001/1#378550943. [return]
    12. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 1965 – The Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19650421_001/1#887681238. [return]
    13. Universal House of Justice. “26 November 1999 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19991126_001/1#588882177. [return]
    14. Universal House of Justice. “3 January 1984 – To the Bahá’í Youth of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19840103_001/1#837069074. [return]
    15. 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#750707529. [return]

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