CommuNIqué - Newsletter of the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland
Issue 97 - 13 Asmá 161 BE - 1 September 2004 CE

 

NEWS

 

MAGHERAFELT

Mrs Cherry Dickson, Dr Joan Smyth, Chairman of the council, Cllr Kate Lagan and Mrs Mahin Gornall, at the recent UNIFEM event organised by Magherafelt Baha'i Women.


LONDONDERRY

ARTS PROCLAMATION EVENT

When I was asked by the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry to give a short artistic presentation about the Bahá'í Community as part of the Maiden City Festival, I jumped at the chance to proclaim the Faith in this special way. This invitation was a result of the successful event held in the same venue last year, where drama, poetry, song and AV were used to portray the spirit of the Faith.

This year, the theme of the presentation, which was held over lunch-time in the coffee shop of the Centre on 12 August, was “Devotion and Unity’” A beautiful AV program on the Houses of Worship around the world, prepared and kindly donated by Arjang Agahi and first presented at the National Festival in Scarborough last year, was used to convey the importance of worship and prayer in Bahá'í life and of the diversity of the Bahá'í community around the world.

The second half of the event was some live singing of prayers (more “performed” than prayed due to the nature of the event and venue) in Arabic, Chinese, English, and Faroese. This was to give a flavour of the respect Bahá'ís hold for different cultures and languages.

Flyers were used on the tables to give a bit more background on what the Faith is and what Bahá'ís believe.

SM


GEORGE TOWNSHEND BAHÁ'Í SCHOOL

The Spiritual Assembly of Castlereagh would like to extend its warm thanks to all the Assemblies and individuals that have supported the vital work of the George Townshend School. The School is a centre of learning, inspiration and encouragement not only for children and parents, but for the entire community.

The adult programme of talks and workshops is one that would rival summer school sessions! Speakers have come from all parts of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland; Brendan MacNamara and Sabina Nagle from Cork, Viv and Rita Bartlett from Wales, Counsellor Shirin Fozdar-Foroudi, members of the National Spiritual Assembly of United Kingdom ... to name but a few.

The School meets every Sunday morning, starting at 10.30 am.

(From the Spiritual Assembly)


ON THE TOURIST TRAIL

- IN DELHI

The tourist authorities in Delhi are introducing a special air-conditioned bus service to ferry visitors around the main tourist attractions in India’s capital. The Bahá'í House of Worship will be one of the places included by this service. According to the Delhi authorities the city gets some 18 million visitors every year. Most are from other parts of India but almost two million are foreign.

- IN DERRY

An open-top bus tour for tourists has started in Londonderry and members of the local community recently took a visitor on it. As the bus passed the city’s “hands across the divide” statue, an emblem of hope for reconciliation and peace, the tour guide spoke of the various religious traditions represented in Derry including the Bahá'ís who had, he said, recently opened “a temple” in the city. Promotion for the Bahá'í Centre, but nice recognition of the Faith, which is being shared with those people—local and from all parts the world—taking the tour.

 

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