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News from the Council for Scotland - Membership of Council appointed
The newly appointed Council for Scotland met for the first time in the beautiful surroundings of the Winter School, overlooking the shores of breathtaking Loch Lomond. The incoming membership and its elected officers are as follows:
Parvin Morrissey - Chairperson
Allan Forsyth - Vice Chair
Nahid Donald - Secretary
John Dilling - Treasurer
Venus Alaee-Carew
Hari Docherty
Alan Mackay
Anwen Shahim
*Ian Fozdar (now replaced by Rolf Schmidt)
*Unfortunately Ian Fozdar had to step down in February due to a job move to Indonesia. His replacement is Rolf Schmidt.
Diversity Dance Theatre visit
During January, the Council sponsored a visit of the young inter national dance group "Diversity Dance Theatre". They spent a week performing to schools and youth clubs in Dumfries and Kirkcudbright. The group performed in religious education classes and were able to talk openly about the Faith to students and teachers. Diversity's visit also received good press coverage and follow-up activities are planned.
Negative press situation dealt with
One of the first situations the incoming Council had to deal with was negative reporting on the Faith in a national newspaper. In the Scotsman article entitled "Doomsday cults head north for the millennium", the Faith was included as a group "whose activities have caused concern" (!) It transpired that a UK cult information centre had misinformed the journalist and this is now being investigated by the National Spiritual Assembly. The Scotsman printed two responding letters, including one from the Bahá'í Council.
Review meeting of institutions bears fruit
In February, the Council was privileged to have a weekend review meeting with representatives from all the institutions of the Faith. We had the bounty of consulting with Counsellor Paddy O'Mara, National Spiritual Assembly members Carolyn Wade and John Parris and the Training Institute. This meeting gave an opportunity for all the institutions present to have an update on each others work. Paddy O'Mara highlighted how dovetailing the roles of the Training Insitutions and the Council will have a two-fold benefit - firstly, rising up effective teachers of the Faith and secondly, enabling the believers to support the plans of the institutions. The fruits of this cooperation will undoubtedly contribute to advancing the process of entry by troops in Scotland.
Greetings from the Bahá'í Council for Scotland
Bahá'í Council for Scotland - Contact: Mrs Nahid Donald, 11 Davidson Crescent, Alford, Aberdeenshire AB33 8TP Tel: 01975 563601 e-mail: rnssnn@aol.com
Training Up And Running! - New Training Institute Board appointed
A new Board was appointed in November with the following members:
Andrew Goodwin
Chehreh Goodwin
Tony Henderson (Secretary)
Maggie Manvell
Carrie Varjavandi
Web site - http://www.bci.org/tis A web site has been created as part of the "Web of Faith" initiative launched by the National Spiritual Assembly. It can be found at: http://www.bci.org/tis The site is still under development but is well worth a look. A version will be available shortly as will documents relating to Training Institutes and the Four Year Plan.
Training programmes
The Training Institute has set itself the target of publishing and distributing training programmes for individuals and institutions at two-month intervals. Programmes for communities will be developed and published as required according to the requests of institutions such as the National Spiritual Assembly and the Counsellor.
To facilitate the delivery of the programmes three different methods are being employed, partly as a trial and partly because we could find no definitive guidance in the messages from the Universal House of Justice as to the methods of delivery, other than that the programmes should be delivered as locally as possible. To deliver the programmes locally we have taken a "train-the-trainers" approach.
For the individual programmes, local Spiritual Assemblies and groups nominate members of their communities who are then trained to facilitate. For the Institution programmes five individuals were invited to be trained to deliver the programmes to three or four local Spiritual Assemblies each. For the Communities, Auxiliary Board member assistants have been trained to deliver programmes (eg The Nineteen Day Feast). All facilitators get together every six months or so. Now that these facilitators have had some experience, they are available to assist in other areas where there are no facilitators.
Progress so far
The Individual - A programme of 6 courses on the theme of "Exercising the Capacities of the Individual".
Course 1: "Taking the Initiative and Seizing Opportunity" (one day workshop) launched at the end of October. 260 copies of the programme were distributed.
Course 2: "Forming friendships, interacting with others and building relationships" (half day workshop) launched at the end of December, 240 copies were sent out. Special Course: "Your Voice in God's Kingdom" (half day workshop) launched at the end of February, 240 copies were sent out.
The Institutions - A programme of 6 courses on the theme of "Exercising the Responsibilities of the Spiritual Assemblies".
Course 1: "Channels of Divine Guidance and Consultation" (one day workshop) launched at the end of November to celebrate the Day of the Covenant.
Course 2: "Planners of the Teaching Work and Collaborating with the Counsellors and Auxiliaries" (half day workshop) launched at the end of January, 160 copies of each programme were dispatched. More than 80% of Assemblies have taken part in the first programme and arrangements are in hand with the rest.
For communities the first programme to be delivered was the first part of the set on the Nineteen Day Feast. Materials have also been under development for a programme on the Covenant, this will be ready before the summer.
It is never too late to start these training programmes, indeed some communities are still working on the first course. If your community has not yet started and would like to, please do get in touch with Tony Henderson. The delivery process should meet local needs and requirements. Once the programmes are available they can be delivered according to the request of each community or Assembly.
Looking ahead
The development of the programmes for the Individual and for Assemblies are due to be completed in the autumn. It can take six months to put these courses together so the Board is already looking to the next set. If you have any ideas, needs or wants just let us know and we'll see what we can do. The development of the programmes is a great opportunity for many members of the community to get involved in the process of systematic learning and support for the goals of the Four Year Plan that the Universal House of Justice has initiated.
We are on the look-out for ideas that could be employed in the development of training, so if anyone wishes to be involved or knows of someone with talent or skill that could assist, please contact the Training Institute Secretary, Tony Henderson.
It's All Happening in Wales - Number of Assemblies up by 22%
The Council was overjoyed with the increase in the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies formed in Wales this Ridván. There was a 22% increase with the number rising from nine to eleven. The increase was from Monmouth and Newport who reformed after lapsing. The Council also sends congratulations to the other nine Assemblies that formed in Wales - Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Cardiff, Ceredigion, Conwy, Gwynedd, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Swansea.
Centenary Religious Education Project
The Council's Centenary Project of letting every school child in Wales hear about the Bahá'í Faith is making steady progress. This project has involved most Assemblies making approaches to Directors of Education and often directly to schools as well. As a result the Faith is now gaining increased recognition. The Bahá'ís were the first faith group to be invited to a Heads of RE conference where thirty teachers each received a teachers' pack and a further thirty packs were delivered to the RE Advisor for other teachers who did not attend. Members of three Standing Advisory Councils for RE, in the north, have had to study the Faith following requests for a place on these bodies and an RE Advisor attended a Centenary Celebration in Conwy.
On 3rd July the Welsh National Centre for Religious Education in Bangor, North Wales, will host a one-day conference. Organised on behalf of the Council by a steering group of Bahá'ís from several regions, titled "A new role for Religious Education in the new millennium", it is aimed at educationalists, parents and other interested parties. Dr Augusto Lopez-Claros will address the "Global Challenges on the Eve of the 21st Century" and Trevor Finch will speak on "A New Role for RE - meeting the challenges."
Welsh Spring School a great success
The Council wishes to thank the members of the Welsh Spring School Committee for taking the great step forward in moving the venue from Narberth to Trinity College, Carmarthen. The School was extremely well run and the facilities are of an excellent standard, which will allow this school to grow even further in the years to come. The Council recognises this has now become a national school and has therefore appointed the Welsh Spring School Committee under the Council rather than the LSA of Carmarthenshire. Steve Wagg resigned from the Council and will be sadly missed. The Council would like to thank Steve for his tireless work first as Treasurer of the Committee for Wales and then the Council for Wales.
With loving Bahá'í greetings Bahá'í Council for Wales
News update - Council Membership
The membership of the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland has been increased. The new member is Wendy Byrne. The appointed members are as follows:
Kevin Loughlin (Chairman)
Viny Robinson (Secretary)
Pat Craig (Treasurer)
Marion Khosravi
Elisabeth Palin
Colin Rodgers
Wendy Byrne
With joyful hearts we announce the formation of fourteen Spiritual Assemblies in Northern Ireland. The bounty of having these Spiritual Assemblies has been achieved, by the will of God, through the efforts and sacrifices of the friends. Let these successes be the call to rally all of us to direct our efforts with renewed vigour in this, the last year of the Four Year Plan. The call is now being raised for all of the friends to arise and teach as never before. It is imperative that the actions and sacrifices made must now be supported by, not only a concentrated prayer campaign, but by renewed and vigorous efforts in teaching the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland
Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland - Secretary: Mrs Viny Robinson, 8 Kensington Manor, Coleraine BT52 1WD Tel: 01265 58435 e-mail: s.robinson@ulst.ac.uk
Update from the Council - New office hours
The Council office will be open every week-day from 9am - 1 pm, effective immediately. Outside these times, messages can be left, faxes/e-mails sent, Tel: 01282 859843, e-mail: bcouncile@aol.com
Local Spiritual Assembly sponsorship
As the summer school season approaches, we would like to remind everyone that for those wishing to attend residential schools and similar activities, but unable to entirely fund the costs themselves, the Local Spiritual Assembly should be the first port of call for financial assistance. We would like to encourage Spiritual Assemblies in this sponsorship. Also the possibility of deputising those (especially youth) wishing to take part in the summer teaching projects can be considered by Local Assemblies.
Prayers for the final months of the Plan
There are merely twelve precious months left of the Four Year Plan. We know that the followers of Bahá in this land are capable of very great victories in this short time. We remember the community in our prayers.
Bahá'í Council for England