Unit Conventions 2013
To all believers in the United Kingdom
6 December 2013
14 Qawl 170 B.E.
Dearly loved Friends,
In advance of the Unit Conventions this weekend, the National Spiritual Assembly asked us to share with you the attached letter of today’s date, which has been distributed separately to the hosts and will be read out and discussed at each Unit Convention.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom
——————————————————————————————————————–
6 December 2013
To the believers in Bahá’u’lláh gathered at Unit Conventions 2013 in the United Kingdom
Dearly loved Friends,
In its 28 December 2010 message, the Universal House of Justice called for an increase in the number of clusters where programmes of growth are established from 1,500 to 5,000 worldwide.
With less than half of the Five Year Plan remaining, the National Spiritual Assembly encourages Unit Convention to focus its consultations on one of the Plan’s principal objectives; that all clusters in the United Kingdom have a programme of growth by the end of the Plan as our contribution to the global goal. Of the 50 clusters in the United Kingdom, 29 presently have a programme of growth, and this process must now emerge in a further 21 clusters, which have been listed separately and attached to this letter.
A programme of growth is well-described in the recent document, Insights from the Frontiers of Learning:
In its 28 December message, the Universal House of Justice states that the first milestone, signifying the emergence of a programme of growth, is marked by an initial flow of human resources into the field of action:
That is to say, in whatever combination and however small in number, devotional gatherings, children’s classes and junior youth groups are being maintained by those progressing through the sequence of institute courses and committed to the vision of individual and collective transformation they foster.
A new programme of growth begins as two nascent capacities develop. First, one or more friends in a cluster must be able to help individuals study the institute’s sequence of courses and accompany them as they initiate core activities. Then, these individuals must be able to attract others to participate in the core activities. As efforts along these lines have borne fruit in various parts of the world, the institutions concerned set aside exaggerated expectations of what must be achieved before a new programme of growth can be said to have emerged.
Considerable progress has been made in developing the capacity of individual believers through their engagement in the institute process and its related activities; but now we need to learn how to apply these capacities to assist these 21 clusters establish programmes of growth. We ask Unit Conventions to please consult on this challenge.
First, in order to have a common understanding of what a programme of growth is, we suggest that you reflect together on the above guidance. You could then consult on the many opportunities that each and every believer has to make a contribution to establishing programmes of growth in these clusters. We offer the following questions to assist your consultations on this:
Those living in a cluster without a programme of growth might find the following questions helpful:
1. Where efforts have already started to establish a programme of growth, what further impetus is needed to reach the first milestone?
2. Where efforts to establish a programme of growth have yet to commence, what opportunities can we see in our personal circumstances to enter into meaningful and distinctive conversations with friends and local residents, to enable a process of growth to begin?
Those living in clusters that have established a programme of growth might find the following questions helpful:
3. Can a visiting teaching team from your cluster, consisting of those who have experience in establishing the institute process, spend time in an adjacent cluster, which is striving to establish a programme of growth and support existing efforts there?
4. Might it be helpful for some of the friends in clusters without a programme of growth to spend time in a well-developed cluster to increase their understanding through first-hand experience of how to advance a process of growth? This could be arranged in consultation with the Auxiliary Board member and the cluster agencies of the cluster to be visited.
5. Are there opportunities for individuals to pioneer to a cluster without a programme of growth, especially individuals who have developed the capacity to engage naturally with the wider society? How can best use be made of any such opportunities?’
For many who are labouring diligently in clusters with established programmes of growth and advancing the frontiers of learning beyond the second milestone, the above lines of action may not be practicable. The intensification of your efforts in neighbourhoods or with your broader network of friends is the vital contribution that you can make, and would no doubt be the focus of your deliberations.
The National Spiritual Assembly is eager to learn of the outcome of your consultations and prays fervently that they will be inspired, and help to advance our national community’s efforts to make its contribution to the goal of the Universal House of Justice.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
National Spiritual Assembly
cc. Counsellor Shirin Fozdar-Foroudi
Clusters in the United Kingdom where a programme of growth has yet to emerge
December 2013
England (11)
- Channel Islands
- Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
- Cumbria
- Devon
- Dorset
- Isle of Man
- Lincolnshire
- Norfolk [Confirmation pending from the Council for England as to whether this cluster has past the first milestone]
- North West Yorkshire
- Solent
- Suffolk
Northern Ireland (2)
- Hainsworth (North-West of Northern Ireland)
- Stars of the West (South-West of Northern Ireland)
Scotland (6)
- Borders
- North Highlands
- Orkney Isles
- South-West
- Western Highlands
- Western Isles
Wales (2)
- Mid-Wales
- West-Wales