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Search for tag "Local Spiritual Assemblies"

from the chronology

date event locations tags see also
1922 5 Mar Shoghi Effendi wrote to the American Bahá'ís calling for the establishment of local assemblies wherever nine or more believers reside and directing that all activities be placed under the authority of the local and national assemblies. [BA17-25; BBRSM120-1; CB300] BWC Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; Local Spiritual Assemblies; National Spiritual Assemblies; Administration; Shoghi Effendi, Works of
1922 Apr Shoghi Effendi sent verbal messages through Consul Schwarz to Germany and Ethel Rosenberg to Britain to form local spiritual assemblies and to arrange for the election of a national spiritual assembly in each country. [CB293; ER209, 211-12; PP56] Germany; United Kingdom; United States; Canada Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Consuls; Albert Schwarz; Ethel Rosenberg; National Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assemblies; Spiritual Assemblies; Executive Board
1922. 8 Apr Bahíyyih Khánum wrote a general letter to the friends acknowledging the letters of allegiance received and saying that Shoghi Effendi was counting on the friends for their cooperation in spreading the Message adding that the Bahá'í world must, from now on, be linked through the Spiritual Assemblies and local questions must be referred to them, She announced Shoghi Effendi's temporary absence and his appointment of her as his representative. [GBF19] BWC Bahiyyih Khanum (Greatest Holy Leaf); Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; Local Spiritual Assemblies
1925 10 Apr Shoghi Effendi wrote to the American National Spiritual Assembly indicating that the word ‘assembly’ was to apply only to the elected body of nine believers in each locality or to the national assembly, not to the believers as a whole. They had been using the term to mean the community of Bahá'ís. [BA83; SBBH258] United States Administration; National Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assemblies; Spiritual Assemblies
1997 Ridván The Universal House of Justice restricted the formation of Local Spiritual Assemblies to the first day of Riḍván. This measure had the effect anticipated; there was a decrease in the number of these institutions but the fall was not drastic. [Message from the Universal House of Justice Ridván 2000]

Worldwide Ridvan; Elections; Administration; Local Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Growth; Statistics; Bahai Faith, Evolutionary nature of; Maturity
1997 30 May In its message of 30 May 1997 the Universal House of Justice announced that they have authorized the formation of "State Bahá'í Councils" or "Regional Teaching and Administrative Committees" to be called "Regional Bahá'í Councils. Their intention was to provide a balance between centralization and decentralization. This structure had been in place in some countries, notably India, for some years prior to this time. See 23 May, 1986. [TP87-90]
For a synopsis of the letter see The Establishment of Regional Bahá'í Councils in Certain Countries, Their Characteristics and Functions.
The distinguishing effects of the establishment of Regional Bahá’í Councils were the following:
  • It provided for a level of autonomous decision making on both teaching and administrative matters, as distinct from merely executive action, below the National Assembly and above the Local Assemblies.
  • It involved the members of Local Spiritual Assemblies of the area in the choice of the members of the Council, thus reinforcing the bond between it and the local believers while, at the same time, bringing into public service capable believers who were known to the friends in their own region.
  • It established direct consultative relationships between the Continental Counselors and the Regional Bahá’í Councils.
  • It offered the possibility of forming a Regional Bahá’í Council in an ethnically distinct region which covered parts of two or more countries. In such a situation the Council was designated to work directly under one of the National Assemblies involved, providing copies of its reports and minutes to the other National Assembly.
  • The greater degree of decentralization involved in the devolution of authority upon Regional Bahá’í Councils required a corresponding increase in the capacity of the National Spiritual Assembly itself to keep fully informed of what was proceeding in all parts of the territory over which it had ultimate jurisdiction.
  • BWC; Haifa State Bahai Councils; Regional Bahai Councils; National Spiritual Assemblies; NSA; Local Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Administration; Regional Council

    from the main catalogue

    1. یادگار جشن پنجاهمین سال تاسیس محفل مقدس بهائیان طهران 55-103: Commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Bahá'í Assembly of Tehran B.E. 55-103 (1947). Booklet and collection of historical photographs published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tihran, published B.E. 103 (1947). Includes partial English translation (2022). [about]
    2. Bahá'í World, The: Volume 18 (1979-1983), in Bahá'í World (1986). Periodic volumes that survey the global activities and major achievements of the Faith. [about]
    3. Bahá'u'lláh and Liberation Theology, by Juan Cole, in Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá'í Theology, Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions vol. 8 (1997). The idea of liberation and equality is central to Bahá'í theology; the poor in the 19th century Middle East; Bahá'u'lláh and the poor; Tablet to the Kings on wealth and peace; laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and Huququ'lláh; state social welfare. [about]
    4. Community Functioning, Issues Concerning: Fostering the Development of Bahá'í Communities, by Shoghi Effendi and Universal House of Justice, in Compilation of Compilations, Volume 3 (2000). Extensive guidance on community development. Includes extracts from letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi on fostering the evolution of Bahá'í communities. [about]
    5. Confidencialidad en los Asuntos de las Asambleas Locales y Nacionales, by Universal House of Justice (1994). [about]
    6. Developing Distinctive Bahá'í Communities: Guidelines for Spiritual Assemblies, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States (1998). A guide to community development. Links to document offsite. [about]
    7. "Easy Familiarity," Explanations of, by Ruhiyyih (Mary Maxwell) Khanum and Ann Boylan (1912). Statements on displays of affection (hugging and kissing) between members of the opposite sex. Also questions on assembly infallibility, and whether one with a minority opinion should vote against his conscience. [about]
    8. Indexes to Bahá'í World volumes: Obituaries, chronologies, contents, illustrations, in Bahá'í World (2013). Seven separate indexes for Bahá'í World, in PDF, Word, and Excel versions. [about]
    9. Law, Application of, by Universal House of Justice (1991). Questions concerning the violation of Bahá'í and civil law, and the removal of administrative rights. [about]
    10. Local Spiritual Assemblies, by Universal House of Justice, in Compilation of Compilations, Volume 2 (1991). [about]
    11. Local Spiritual Assembly, The, in Bahá'í World, Vol. 18 (1979-1983) (1986). The institution of the LSA, its significance, and its by-laws. [about]
    12. Local Spiritual Assembly, The, by Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá, in Compilation of Compilations, Volume 2 (1991). [about]
    13. Measuring Success: An Exploratory Study of United States Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies and the Five Year Plan, by Armin J. Jezari (2010). Applied research project on what degree a typical Local Spiritual Assembly in the United States is adopting elements of effective public administration based on the Five Year Plan (2006-2011). [about]
    14. Message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors on the Nine Year Plan, by Universal House of Justice (2021). Features of the new 9-Year Plan, "the first major undertaking in a sacred twenty-five-year venture, generational in its scope and significance," to be implemented Ridvan 2022. [about]
    15. Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986: Third Epoch of the Formative Age, by Universal House of Justice (1996). [about]
    16. Principles of Bahá'í Administration, by Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá (1973). A guide to procedure in the life and organic activity of the Bahá'í community, prepared from three main sources from the US National Spiritual Assembly: Bahá'í Administration, Bahá'í Procedure, and Bahá'í Community. [about]
    17. Proselytizing, Development, and the Covenant, by Universal House of Justice, in Messages from the Universal House of Justice: 1963-1986, The Third Epoch of the Formative Age (1996). Teaching vs. proselytization; applying Bahá'í social teachings without becoming ensnared in prevailing cultural mores; and the uniqueness of the Bahá'í covenant. [about]
    18. Role of the Local Assembly in Cluster Growth, by Universal House of Justice and International Teaching Centre (2009). Practical guidelines for LSAs to organize and teach more effectively. [about]
    19. Spiritual Assembly's Growing Pains, A, by Ruhiyyih (Mary Maxwell) Khanum (1976). A play, in 28 pages, showing "some of the workings of a Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly: some of the blunders, some of the problems; how certain types of people fit better into one office and others into another." [about]
    20. Trustees of the Merciful: The Station, Responsibilities and Duties of the Local Spiritual Assembly, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States (1958). Brief compilation from Bahá'u'lláh, Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi; constitutional basis of the Local Spiritual Assembly; duties and responsibilities. [about]
    21. Trustees of the Merciful: An Introduction to Bahá'í Administration, by Adib Taherzadeh (1972). The spirit that animates the Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh; spiritual attitudes that characterize members of the institutions of the Cause; unfoldment of the Administrative Order during the first 50 years of the Formative Age; statistical info. [about]
     
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