Guidance on face-to-face meetings
28 July 2020
17 Kalimát 177 B.E.
SRL-25569
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To all believers in the United Kingdom
Dearly loved Friends,
The National Spiritual Assembly has been receiving a number of enquiries from communities and individuals asking whether, in light of the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, it might be timely to resume in-person gatherings. The friends are advised that they should continue to follow government regulations which can be subject to change. The sites for guidance for each of the four regions of the United Kingdom can be found using the following links:
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Please know that if the guidelines refer to “places of worship” (for example in Section 3.7 of the guidelines for England), that this refers to officially registered premises and this is not felt to be relevant to the Bahá’í community, since our gatherings are held in homes and other venues which are not registered.
You are encouraged to also look at your local authority website for its latest guidelines, as there can be variations from place to place. If you live in an area that is experiencing a local COVID-19 outbreak, for example, and further restrictions have been imposed, different guidance and legislation will apply. In England, you can consult the local restrictions page to see if any restrictions are in place in your area.
Each community, guided by its Local Assembly if it should have one, should ascertain for themselves how the current guidelines best apply to their local situation. In doing so, they should bear in mind the potential vulnerability and age range of the believers and friends in their communities.
It is the National Assembly’s hope that the following observations from the Naw-Rúz 177 message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the World will continue to guide every effort:
Beloved friends, you have of course long been occupied with the work of nurturing within groups of souls precisely the attributes that are required at this time: unity and fellow feeling, knowledge and understanding, a spirit of collective worship and common endeavour. Indeed, we have been struck by how efforts to reinforce these attributes have made communities especially resilient, even when faced with conditions that have necessarily limited their activities. Though having to adapt to new circumstances, the believers have used creative means to strengthen bonds of friendship, and to foster among themselves and those known to them spiritual consciousness and qualities of tranquillity, confidence, and reliance on God. The elevated conversations that have occurred as a result, whether remotely or in person, have been a source of comfort and inspiration to many. Such efforts on your part provide a valuable service at this hour when many souls are perplexed and dismayed, unsure of what will be …
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Patrick O’Mara,
Secretary