CommuNIqué - Newsletter of the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland
Issue 98 - 5 Mashiyyat 161 BE - 1 October 2004 CE

 

NEWS

 

Belfast

Castlereagh

Coleraine

Craigavon

... and Georgia?

 

BELFAST

Visit to The Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Tom Ekin

 

Meeting with Lord Maor, Belfast

 

Meeting with Lord Mayor, Belfast

Gemma Halligan, Pat Craig and Tony Sherwani visited the Lord Mayor of Belfast on Friday 13August. We arrived at the beautiful Belfast City Hall amongst three weddings…but thankfully no funeral! There was a wonderful atmosphere with cameras shooting, videos filming and a large group of tourists visiting the Hall. We were met at reception area and escorted up to the Mayor’s Chamber where we were invited for tea. There the Lord Mayor met us and we enjoyed a 50 minute chat and consultation which took us around the world and back again. The Lord Mayor was very interested to know about the Bahá'í community in Belfast and what activities we were involved in. We talked to him about our Tranquillity Evenings, study circles and children’s classes open to all as well as the Feast etc. Prior to becoming Lord Mayor, he and his wife attended the Naw-Rúz party in March this year as a guest of Adib Zaray and he spoke of the conversations he has had with Adib about the Bahá'í Faith. He said that he was in agreement with Faith’s principles which were akin to his own. He was especially interested in progressive revelation. He asked many questions. He told us of his time he lived in Africa: all three of us had experiences of living in different parts too so the conversation flowed back and forth. At the end of the meeting we presented the Lord Mayor with “The Divine Art of Living” and “A Crown of Glory” and gave him an invitation to the next Tranquillity Evening.

The meeting ended on a very high note with the Lord Mayor asking us to send him a few small quotes from the Bahá'í Scriptures one of which he would read out before the start of a Belfast City Council meeting in the chambers at the City Hall. Amazing!

TS


CRAIGAVON

Nazy Harris writes: As part of a project which I started few months ago, I purchased Bahá'í books for donation to Northern Ireland Hospitals for use in their Library and Quiet rooms. The first of these was at Craigavon Area Hospital Groups (HSS) Trust on 19 August. I met six key officials including Mrs. B. McClurg, the Chairperson of Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust, Ms. Edel Corr, Equal Opportunity Manager, the Equal Opportunity Officer, and Mr. John Mone, the Director of Nursing and Quality.

 

Craigavon presentation

 

The photo shows Mrs. B. McClurg receiving the books and Ms. Edel Corr, the person in charge of religious sections is holding the book about Mount Carmel.

And from the “Belfast Telegraph” on 31 August:

Signs for the times in hospital’s “Quiet Room”

They're minding their language at Craigavon Area Hospital these days - and the signs are it's permanent. The hospital's “Quiet Room” - provided as a place of reflection for patients and staff - reflects the number of faiths and religions of people living and working in the area.

A number of symbols have been added to the main Quiet Room sign to represent the Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Chinese, Hindu, Jewish and Baha’i communities.

“The Quiet Room is a space for everyone,” a hospital spokesperson said. "It has an important role in the hospital - a place for quiet contemplation, prayer and renewal - and it is open to all beliefs. “We want this new sign to demonstrate the open, multi-faith and tolerant face of the hospital, and we hope the room is used by everyone.”


CLUSTER 6 / COLERAINE

On Friday, 27 August more than twenty friends from the new Cluster 6 - junior youth, youth and adults - happily converged upon the Link Lounge at the University of Ulster at Coleraine for their very first reflection meeting.

The evening of consultation and sociality was lovingly hosted by the friends in Coleraine and amiably chaired by Dobby Robinson. Together with Keith Munro, representing the Bahá'í Council , he welcomed the friends to this significant event. Then brief words of inspiration from Denis Coyle, Auxiliary Board Member and a PowerPoint overview of ‘where we are at’ in the cluster with regard to the institute process, by Kathleen Holmlund, Area Coordinator set the scene for the consultation that followed.

Friends present came from Antrim, Ballymena, Coleraine, Cullybackey, Dunloy, Magherafelt, Portrush and Templepatrick. A great many personal experiences of involvement in the three core activities both at home and abroad were shared, followed by the lively socialising of this very wonderful and diverse cross section of our Northern Ireland Baha’i community. It was quite thought-provoking to learn that this cluster currently enjoys the greatest number of Baha’i friends in Northern Ireland after the priority cluster, Charles Dunning.

As the evening flew by, the Friends felt that a further gathering was called for before the end of September to finalise a concrete plan for the cluster. That event is now set for Friday, 24 September at the Clotworthy House Arts Centre, Antrim organised by the friends from Templepatrick. You will no doubt hear more in a further issue of CommuNIqué. Thus ends this brief review with a vote of very warm thanks to the Coleraine friends for their super hospitality.

JH


CASTLEREAGH

Assembly gives a special thank-you to the Townshend teachers On Friday 10 September the Spiritual Assembly of Castlereagh hosted a party for the teachers and many friends who serve and support the George Townshend Bahá’í School, in appreciation of their dedication and hard work throughout last year.

The Assembly expressed its respect and admiration for the time, energy and effort the friends have consistently given to the school. It referred to the Ridvan Message of 2000 from the Universal House of Justice, which draws our attention to the plight of children around the world and highlights our duty to support, nurture and educate the children and youth in the Baha’i community.

A short verse from Hand of the Cause of God George Townshend was shared;

“While they are at your side, love these little ones to the uttermost. Forget yourself. Serve them; care for them; lavish all your tenderness on them ....Love them and win their love, and shower on them all the treasures of your heart. Fill up their days with happiness, and share with them their mirth and innocent delights. Childhood is but for a day. Ere you are aware it will be gone with all its gifts for ever.”

After some much-appreciated artistic input (entertainment) the Assembly wished all the friends every success in their services at the School for the coming year.

KK


Georgia on My Mind”

Imagine getting the peoples of the world to make a photographic record of the whole globe and put this on the internet as a record for all time of the state of the planet. Impossible? Well take a look at www.confluence.org and note the work of the Bahá'í community of Georgia.

T here are still a quite a few places left to photograph, so if your community is feeling in need of an adventure why not find a place where a whole degree of latitude and longitude meet (use a GPS compass) and take a photograph and immortalise your community on a world map at the same time. Great project!

LG

 

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