Membership of Regional Bahá’í Councils
23 November 2020
3 Qawl 177 B.E.
Contents:
– Membership of Regional Bahá’í Councils
– Materials for local memorial meetings
– Papua New Guinea: House of Worship takes shape
– Extract from the compilation on Social Action
GC-35289
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Dearly loved Friends,
The National Spiritual Assembly is pleased to share with you the names of those who will serve on the Regional Bahá’í Councils for the coming year, commencing on 25 November 2020, the Day of the Covenant. Those serving on the Council for England were elected and those serving on the Councils for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales were appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly, in consultation with Counsellor Shirin Fozdar-Foroudi, having due regard for the confidential nominations received from the members of Local Spiritual Assemblies and the Auxiliary Board members in those regions. The members of the Regional Councils are as follows:
England
Stephen Agahi-Murphy, Shirin Beheshti, Ronnie Y. Bindra, Christopher Lee, Talieh Mann Kapoor, Marco Milone, Farshid Taleb, Stephen Vickers, Natasha S. Wilkinson
Northern Ireland
Jamie Anderson, Ara Devine, Isabella Djalili-Devine, Rhianna Giffin, Patricia Jamshidi
Scotland
Allan Forsyth, Jessica Fusco-Naish, Karmel Rhinehart, Lua Rohani-Sarvestani, Carrie Varjavandi
Wales
Mathew James, Anita Keane, Munyaradzi Mumvuma, Genevieve Seri, Jonathan Whitehead
The National Assembly would like to take this opportunity to express its deep appreciation to Edwin Graham (Northern Ireland), Diane Edwards and Sean Morrissey (Scotland), Tessa Abbas and Fleur Missaghian Schirazi (Wales) for their services on their respective Councils. Undoubtedly, they will continue in their distinguished efforts to advance the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and our love and prayers are with them and their dear families, who have supported them during their service.
This particular year of service for these Regional Councils will prove extraordinary. With only a few short months left to assist and guide the friends in achieving the goals of this present Plan – against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – there is much for our Regional Councils to focus on. Beyond these initial months of endeavour comes a new One Year Plan, including within it the spiritual potency of the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l- Bahá. The Universal House of Justice, in its Riḍván 2018 message explains:
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.
The services of Regional Councils in guiding, supporting, stimulating, and lending strategic coherence to the overall efforts of the friends across the United Kingdom are vital in enabling each region to advance and make its contribution to the Plans of the Universal House of Justice. The National Assembly invites you to join it in ardent prayers that their endeavours may be richly blessed and confirmed.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Patrick O’Mara,
Secretary
Extract from the compilation on Social Action
The important new compilation on Social Action, prepared by the Research Department at the request of the Universal House of Justice, is now available from Bahá’í Books UK in book form. It can be purchased here at the cost of £6. The compilation can also be read online here >