The Bahá'í Councils for the four parts of the UK have been elected for the year 2008-2009 and begun their work. As the executive instruments of the National Assembly authorised to act on its behalf in devising and executing plans, in collaboration with the Counsellors and their auxiliaries, to help each cluster in the part of the country they serve advance from its current stage of growth to the next stage, the Councils play a key role in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan in this national community.(National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the UK)
Membership of the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland: Denis Coyle Edwin Graham Afnan Hashemi-Zadeh Patricia Irvine Patricia Jamshidi Keith Munro Lesley Taherzadeh-O'Mara Iain Palin Eddie Whiteside.
At its first meeting the Council elected its officers: Chairman: Iain Palin Vice-Chairman: Lesley Taherzadek O'Mara Secretary: Afnan Hashemi-Zadeh Treasurer: Edwin Graham.
The National Spiritual Assembly has expressed its deep appreciation to outgoing Council member Edwina Agahi, for her devoted services on the Council and wishes her well in the next stage of her services to the Cause.
To read this article click here.
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-2about the various core activities SC-2about study circles CC-2about childrens classes DM-2about devotional meetings TZ-1about 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 Baháí 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 picturefive or more) permission of the parent or guardian be given. If this doesnt 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.
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 Councils Press and Public Information Officer.
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