Graduate Seminar 2020 - ISGP

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The National Spiritual Assembly is pleased to share the attached announcement for an Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP) seminar for university graduates and young professionals, to be held from 10 to 21 July 2020 at Louhelen Bahá’í School in Davison, Michigan.

Please note that the deadline for applications is 17 February 2020 and because of the high number of applicants and limited spaces available, applications submitted after the deadline cannot be considered.  There are pre-requisites for the seminar, including the completion of an online course “Contributing to the Advancement of Civilization: Justice and Oneness of Humankind, Unit 1”. The application deadline for the last intake for that course is 13 March 2020.  Further details about this, as well as logistical information, including venue, fees and the application process, are described in the announcement.

We would appreciate your assistance in distributing the attached announcement to the entire community, and lovingly encourage the participation of young adult Bahá’ís who have completed an undergraduate degree and who are interested in exploring how they can effect social change by participating in the discourses of society.  It would be very helpful if, in addition to an initial distribution, Local Spiritual Assemblies would place this matter in the announcements of the Feast of Dominion, so that no youth remains unaware of the opportunity to participate in the programme.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Karen McKye, Secretary
 

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Message To the Bahá’ís of Canada - January 31, 2020 

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We are very happy to share the attached message from the National Spiritual Assembly to the Bahá’ís of Canada, which we ask your kind assistance in distributing as widely as possible. The message is also intended to be the subject of consultation at Canada’s unit conventions this year, and we therefore hope that it will be shared with the friends quickly, so that they will have time to think about some of the questions posed before the unit conventions, which take place on the weekend of 8–9 February 2020.

We also offer a brief reminder that anyone wishing details of the location and time of their gathering can find them on the unit convention website at http://www.uc-cc.bahai.ca.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Karen McKye, Secretary

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2020 Unit Convention Website

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

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We would be grateful if you would advise the friends that information about the 2020 unit conventions in Canada is now available at http://www.uc-cc.bahai.ca. The website offers some general guidance about unit conventions, as well as logistical information about the gatherings being held across the country. Believers who have not yet received notice of their unit convention may visit the website to find out which electoral unit they are a part of and what arrangements have been made for the election in their unit.

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Please note that although access to the website is not restricted, the conventions are for registered Bahá’ís only.

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With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Karen McKye, Secretary

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Persian Translation of 1 December 2019 Letter

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

The National Spiritual Assembly has received some inquiries about the availability of a Persian translation of the letter dated 1 December 2019 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice concerning social media and non-involvement in politics.  As you may recall, the National Assembly no longer receives Persian translations of letters directly from the Bahá’í World Centre. Instead, when official translations of letters exist, they are made available on the website http://www.payamha-iran.org, which has a subscription function allowing individuals to receive a notification when new items have been uploaded.  We are happy to share that a Persian translation of the 1 December 2019 letter has recently been posted to the site.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Karen McKye, Secretary

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List of Holy Days 2019-2020

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

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We are pleased to share with you the attached list of Bahá’í Holy Days for the current school year and suggest that you share it with Bahá’í teachers, parents, students and others working with schools, as these dates are often indicated in School Board calendars that guide teachers with respect to examinations and other major school activities. The friends may wish to refer school authorities and employers to the Bahá’í Community of Canada’s official website www.ca.bahai.org which lists the Bahá’í Holy Days for 2019 and 2020 at www.bahai.ca/holy-days/. Further, our Office of Public Affairs would be happy to respond to any inquiries and may be reached by email at publicaffairs@bahai.ca or by phone at 905-889-8168.

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With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Karen McKye, Secretary

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Compilation on Prayer and Devotional Life

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We are very happy to share with you the attached newly-released compilation on prayer and devotional life; kindly arrange for its wide distribution.  It is also available in the compilation section of the Bahá’í Reference Library.  A French version will be circulated as soon as one is available.

In its covering letter dated 28 February 2019, the Department of the Secretariat of the Universal House of Justice shared the following about this compilation:

“As the friends intensify their efforts to pursue the last Plan of the series of Plans that end in 2021, a year that marks the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the inauguration of the Formative Age, signs of the enrichment of the devotional life of the community are manifest. Devotional activities are everywhere multiplying and are increasingly being integrated into the core of community life. To add further stimulus to this signal development and to help the friends take full advantage of the period of special potency during which the bicentennial anniversaries of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh and of the Báb are commemorated, the Universal House of Justice has directed us to enclose a compilation of extracts on prayer and devotional life drawn from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and from the letters of the Guardian and the House of Justice.

“It is the hope of the House of Justice that this compilation, prepared by the Research Department at its request, will be studied widely and will be of assistance to individuals, families, and communities as they strive to evoke the spirit of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in the creation of occasions where any soul may inhale the divine fragrances, experience the elevating power of prayer, and be drawn together with others in fellowship and common cause.”

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Karen McKye, Secretary