As Bahá'ís we are expected to participate fully and appropriately in the world we live in. This has not always been the case with previous religions. Yet living in this world can be like a slow drip of negativity to our soul. The more we involve ourselves in living the more erosion is can cause to our spiritual being. We have to learn to balance the worldly and the spiritual and if we are not careful we can spend our time swinging from worldly concerns to spiritual highs. The leaven to this way of being is teaching: by its nature teaching demands socialisation with others around us while the subject taught demand the integration of spiritual insight into everyday life. Teaching then becomes the shield for our souls in a troubled world.
If we look at teaching in this way it becomes a powerful spiritual protection. Of all of humanity the most vulnerable in our global society are our children. They are growing up in a spiritually polluted world. Yet paradoxically it would appear that it is the children of Northern Ireland that have least access to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. For this reason we need to exert every effort to develop children's classes
The most obvious first thing needed is a child between the ages of four and eleven years old. The way children's classes have been formed in the past have included:
The main experience has been that where there has been a relationship of trust built up between the parents or adult in charge and the Bahá'í, it is not difficult to form a class. However consent from the parents of children has to be obtained before the class starts. This gives an opportunity for the teacher to contract clearly about the aims of the class and to ensure there are no unaddressed parental concerns. (The parental consent form (CP2), and any other forms needed, can be obtained from the children's class co-ordinator for your cluster.)
It is important that you check out and abide by the Child Protection Procedures established by the National Spiritual Assembly: no class can take place without this being done. These procedures are in place for the protection of children, for the adults dealing with them, and for the name of the Faith. Contact your coordinator or the secretary of the Bahá'í Council to obtain details.
There is a wealth of resources out there to help you with holding your children's classes and a team of coordinators ready to advise and to answer your questions. Their details are below. Coordinators are listed on the "Momentum" page.
We wish you well with your classes. Bahá’í Council for Northern Ireland.
The National Spiritual Assembly has launched a new newsblog “providing an authoritative and up-to-date source of news and articles about theBahá'í community in the UK and across the world. The 'blog' is designed to appeal to all readers who are interested in knowing more about the Bahá'í community and what it is doing in the world.” It can be accessed at http://bahainews-uk.info and has a lot of interesting news about what is going on. This is one to keep an eye on, and you can let your friends, contacts, interested journalists, anyone who wants to see what the Bahá'ís are doing, know about it.
The Bahá'í Council would like to remind all the Friends in Northern Irelandthat the small ‘activities booklet’ is still available on request (in small or larger quantities). Giving an overview of the core activities for the non-Bahá'í reader, it is professionally-designed, colourful, ideal for handing to friends and enquirers: if you want some copies to give away please get in touch with the Secretary of the Bahá'í Council.
These booklets are resources to be out there working for the Faith, telling people about our various activities and inviting them to join. Why not get some and use them?
The Bahá'í Council has access to templates that you can use to produce your own leaflets to invite people to your various activities. These are in MS Word which means they can be opened and edited in most word processors, letting you amend them as you like and put in your own contact details and local information. They are A4 sheets that trifold.
Items available are: CA-1 and CA-2—about the various core activities SC-2—about study circles CC-2—about children’s classes DM-2—about devotional meetings TZ-1—about Tranquillity Zones. (The National Spiritual Assembly has indicated that these are a specialised form of devotional meetings with a lot to offer in certain circumstances.)
To obtain electronic copies please e-mail the Bahá'í Council specifying which items you want.
If you are wondering, SC-1, DM-1, and CC-1 are also available, they require Microsoft Publisher to open and edit them. If you have Publisher and want them, please say.
For more about Tranquillity Zones go to www.tranquillity-zone.org.uk
And while thinking about leaflets and how we can produce our own literature, how often have we asked “Where can I get a good picture of the Shrine of the Báb, or a temple, or a Bahá'í youth project, or just a nice photo of Bahá'ís doing things?”. The answer is the Bahá'í Media website at http://media.bahai.org which is a large archive of pictures related to the Bahá'í Faith. (Hint: If you download the picture on your screen you will get a small to medium size file, suitable for electronic media or printing as a smaller picture. If you want a large file so that you have a high-resolution picture for a large or professional print you will have to Subscribe then use the Download File option to get the zipped file of the large version).
CommuNIqueand other Bahá’í publications welcomes photographs of your activities. However where children and young people (up to age 18) are featured the Child Protection Procedure of the National Spiritual Assembly requires that (unless it is a group picture—five or more) permission of the parent or guardian be given. If this doesn’t come with the photo then it cannot be used. Please bear this in mind when sending pictures. Of course if the sender is the parent or guardian of the young person featured, permission is assumed.
The Bahá'í Council been experimenting with the setup of an electronic calendar If anyone has been able to access it we would be very grateful to havesome feedback. It is now possible to access the calendar by using the URL http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=bahai.council4ni%40googlemail.com.
In addition you can import the calendar data into other electronic calendars such as Outlook etc. Please send details of any items you would like to add to the calendar to Edwin Graham.
Are you due to go on Pilgrimage, or making a three-day visit to the World Centre? Not only will this bring you great bounties, it can be an opportunity to share more about the Faith with the people of your area. Such a visit is newsworthy and your local paper will probably print a report about your experience, especially if it is seen as a “pilgrimage with a difference”.
A special press lead is available to help you with this. You can obtain it from the Bahá'í Council’s Press and Public Information Officer.
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