Guidance for Bahá’í Groups
Guidance for Bahá’í Groups
Registering as a Bahá’í Group
To all believers in Bahá’í communities with more than 2 and less than 9 believers which are not already registered as Groups
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
When replying please refer to: SRL-21734 10 June 2013
With love and all good wishes, the National Spiritual Assembly is writing to you regarding the possibility of forming a Bahá’í Group in your area. This is because it is understood that there are between 2 and 8 adult believers in your community and perhaps some youth between the ages of 15 and 21, but that you do not have a Group registered at the National Bahá’í Centre. Shoghi Effendi writes in relation to a Bahá’í Group:
Next to an isolated believer any number of confirmed Bahá’ís less than nine persons should be considered as automatically constituting a Bahá’í group. No regulation, however, need be introduced regarding this matter.
Whilst there is no requirement to register as a Group, one of the advantages of doing so is that it will assist in improving the flow of communications between your community and the National Assembly. Most of the National Assembly’s mail to the local communities is now sent by email and this generally goes to the Secretaries of each Local Spiritual Assembly and those Groups which have notified us of the contact details of their Secretary or contact person. Presently the majority of Groups have not registered and thus there is no point of contact for communications with these. Thus, registering your Group will enable you to receive communications and information from the National Assembly more quickly and reliably.
Functioning together as a Group will also offer increased opportunities for the friends in your community to meet together for Bahá’í activities and may help your community develop skills which will be useful for when it has grown large enough to elect its own Local Spiritual Assembly. To this end, and to improve channels of communication as described above, you are encouraged to elect a Group Secretary or at least to appoint a contact person for communications. If your Group is strong enough numerically, you may even feel able to hold an election for some or all other officers, as needed, to facilitate your functioning; for example, a Secretary, Chairman and/or Treasurer. Please note that it is quite acceptable for youth to serve as officers of a Group, as a Group is not an official administrative institution to which the age restriction of 21 applies.
We are enclosing a file entitled “Notes for Groups”, which contains a few suggestions that may help your Group to function more effectively. It is not intended to be a body of regulations, rather just a few suggestions that a Group may wish to consider to facilitate functioning.
Please notify the National Assembly (nsa@bahai.org.uk) of your Secretary’s or appointed contact person’s contact email address in due course, and, if you do elect officers, kindly send us the results. A form is enclosed, and it would be useful if this could be completed and returned to us. If your Group wishes to open a bank account at some point, feel free to contact the Finance Department (finance@bahai.org.uk) for further information. In addition, please keep the National Assembly apprised of any changes to the contact details of your Secretary or contact person, and of your Treasurer if you have one.
Should the friends in your community consult together and choose to register as a Group, which you are warmly encouraged to do, we look forward to hearing from you!
O ye friends of God! Today is the day of union and this age is the age of harmony in the world of existence. “Verily, God loveth those who are working in His path in groups, for they are a solid foundation.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, pp. 401-402.)
With loving Bahá’í greetings, National Spiritual Assembly
Patrick O’Mara, Secretary
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