This time the reflection meeting was held in the Belfast South Methodist Church on 8 November 2009, where proceedings began with a soul stirring devotional from the friends in North Down. Members of the cluster agencies (Auxiliary Board members, Area Teaching Committee, study circle’s coordinator, junior youth groups coordinator and the children’s class coordinator) shared the current developments in the cluster and this gave an opportunity for the friends to ask questions and make comments. Followed was the sharing and reflection of experiences of the friends during the last three months. There were some artistic presentations and lunch to add to the spiritual atmosphere of the reflection meeting. Towards the end before the friends split into community groups the ATC offered goals which the friends could ponder in their respective groups.
Current activities
The vision of a Local Spiritual Assembly The Spiritual Assembly of Belfast set goals to contribute to this cycle.
Devotionals: 1. To double the amount of Bahá’í attending devotional gatherings. 2. To double the amount of community of interest participating. 3. If we increase the number of people attending the devotionals the goal would be to increase the num ber of regular devotional gatherings taking place in the community. 4. The continuation of at least 95 prayers to be studied amongst the friends.
Junior youth groups: To start another junior youth project in the Ballynafeigh area.
Study Circles coordinator Mrs Susie Agahi has replaced Mrs Lesley Taherzadeh O’Mara as the new study circles coordinator.
Upcoming Reflection Meeting: Sunday 7 February in Merville House, Merville Garden Village, Newtownabbey BT37 9TQ. From 10.30am - 3pm
"We have had a weekly devotional for a year. Other Bahá’í drop in from time to time and few friends have attended occasionally. We decided this expansion phase to visit some of our neighbours and invite them. We decided to call between 7.30pm and 9pm. One visit was prearranged (a couple we had met only once) and the others were unplanned. Before leaving the house we prayed and said the tablet of visitation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and then had in our minds that we were going to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá and not some strangers. (We had heard that is what they do in London, and we liked that idea!) We were with the first couple for an hour and a half. We chatted socially, and then we explained that we were trying to get to know our neighbours better and to try to build a sense of community on our street and so we were having a devotional gathering open to all. We explained that this was something Bahá’í all around the world were doing. The husband said that he was Catholic and his Faith was a very private thing but his wife said she would be interested in coming some time. The next evening we called on a couple we had not met before. They were very appreciative of us calling and invited us in for tea. We chatted for about an hour. When we explained about the devotional they told us they were humanists and had heard of the Faith and were very complimentary about it. The same thing happened the third evening and our neighbours said they might come. I invited another neighbour I know and one I didn’t. We left handmade invitations with each one so they would remember our names and the place and time of devotional. The outcome was that no one has come yet, but we have learned that it is very easy to call in on neighbours you don’t know. We always got a warm welcome. We reflected and were trying to think Why would someone want to come to our devotional? We feel that maybe it would be because they share our vision of building unity, so maybe we need to say a bit more about the Faith. Anyway, it is our intention now to keep going. It may take a year! until we have called on our whole street to see if anyone wants to join us."
"I decided to move our children’s class to our local Community Centre in September in order to make it easier to expand the group. Then with the help of three enthusiastic youths we did an outreach for the children’s class in the area around the Community Centre in October. I created leaflets advertising the class as a weekly Virtues Club for children aged five to seven and included the quotation "Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures and enable mankind to benefit therefrom." on the leaflet. The outreach took very little time to prepare and consisted of two hours prior to the club on the first week and just over an hour in the second week. We went from door to door and explained that we were letting people in the area know about a weekly virtues club at the local Community Centre which was organised by the Bahá’í community. People were very friendly and appreciative.I now have a class of nine children of which seven are regular. I have visited some of the parents and talked about the nature of the classes and also created a handout for the parents who weren't free to be visited. The handout explains the format of the class (i.e. starting with prayers, song, learning of quotations, story, cooperative games and arts & crafts) and it also shows that we cover one virtue over two weeks with the relevant quotation. The handout states clearly that the quotations are from the Bahai writings. I use a combination of materials from Book 3 and the Enkindle programme.
"The classes have now settled into a healthy routine and I look forward to them every week. We will have a small presentation with songs for the parents in a few weeks to finish the first term at the Community Centre. The next step for this children’s class is to have stronger relationships with the parents and to do another outreach in January to try and expand it a little more. I send much love, encouragement and prayers for everyone who is actively running or trying to start children’s classes. It is such a blessing when you see the children’s smiling faces every week. "
The Dreen, Cullybackey, Co Antrim, venue for the meeting
The reflection meeting on 29 November started with a devotional and led into an overview of where the friends felt the cluster was by highlighting the learning’s both positive and negative. After some serious reflection a game was introduced to relax the mind. This vibrant reflection meeting had in attendance our dear Auxiliary Board member for protection Ann O’Sullivan who shared some valuable experiences of other friends in other clusters who had been approaching their neighbours to build friendships through the power of devotionals. The friends after more reflection and consultation split into community groups to make their plans for the coming cycle. At the end the groups fed back their plans at a plenary and this lovely reflection meeting came to a close with a delightful musical contribution by one of the youth.
The Bahá’í Council for Northern Ireland at its first meeting decided to reduce the size of the ATC from four to three members. The ATC membership for the year ahead is Mr Denis Coyle, Mr Jim Holmlund (secretary) and Mrs Viny Robinson. The Council was deeply grateful to Mrs Flora Luck for all her services whilst serving on the ATC and no doubt she will continue to serve the Faith in other areas.
Mr Colin Rodgers has been appointed as the new junior youth groups coordinator for the cluster.
Study Circles: Susie Agahi Junior Youth: Colin Rodgers Children's Classes: Marion Khosravi
Study Circles: Michelle O'Mahony Barr Junior Youth: (Not yet appointed) Children's Classes: Elizabeth Palin
Study Circles: Kevin Proudman Junior Youth: (Not yet appointed) Children's Classes: Elizabeth Palin
Study Circles: James Holmlund Junior Youth: Colin Rodgers Children's Classes: Patricia Jamshidi
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