Dear Friends,
The Council recently had a joyous and fruitful meeting with Auxiliary Board member, Ann O’Sullivan, who was representing the Continental Board of Counsellors. The purpose of the meeting was to review the progress which the Charles Dunning Cluster has made in recent months as it strives to become an “A” cluster, and thus be in a position to launch an intensive programme of growth as early as possible.
The efforts of the Cluster during the past year have been remarkable: we have seen a substantial increase in the number of friends who have completed the sequence of courses, and thereby an increase in the trained resources who can host one or more of the three core activities. There are now 21 souls in the Cluster who have completed the full sequence of courses. Further, the foresight of the friends in warmly embracing the Unlocking the Hearts initiative, aimed at attracting a greater number of souls to the core activities, is opening up numerous opportunities. Indeed such has been the success of this effort that the Council is calling on the Cluster to continue this initiative for a further month.
We learned in the course of our consultations that the challenge now is to assist greater numbers of souls to become enthusiastically engaged in the three core activities, and thus become part of the community of interest. Consultations and effort must now be focussed on increasing this circle of engaged people.
A Cluster Coordinating Committee of three members has been appointed, and one of their tasks will be to assist the friends in the Cluster to focus on this task of increasing the community of interest. Home visits, teaching teams, small short-term teaching projects will be fostered to this end.
At the heart of the Cluster’s efforts to become an “A” cluster is the Institute process. The goal is to have approximately 40 trained tutors. The Council is convinced that this is achievable in a short period of time. Our consultations also highlighted the vital importance of completing the practice required by each of the books. Many of the skills learnt in doing the practice are the very skills that are needed to attract and invite souls to the three core activities. The Training Institute Board and the Institutions in the Cluster will be giving particular attention to these issues over the coming months.
These are exciting times! The intensity of the movement in the Charles Dunning Cluster is providing us all with unique learning opportunities, which allow us to move forward at an unprecedented pace. We are undoubtedly only a breath away from a new stage in advancing the process of entry by troops. The Council rejoices in the achievement of the friends!
With loving Bahá'í greetings, Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland.
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