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03 Apr 27 UHJ Building Momentum
Universal House of Justice
(c) 2006 Baha'i World Centre
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THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE 

DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT
Bahá’í World Centre  P.O. Box 155  31 001 Haifa, Israel
Tel: 972 (4) 835 8358  Fax: 972 (4) 835 8280  Email: secretariat@bwc.org 

  27 April 2003 
To all National Spiritual Assemblies 
Dear Bahá’í Friends, 
Enclosed is a copy of a document entitled “Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach 
to Growth”, prepared by the International Teaching Centre at the request of the Universal House 
of Justice for distribution at the Ninth International Bahá’í Convention.  The House of Justice 
commends the document to your study, confident that it will become an invaluable resource to 
you in your ongoing consultations with the Counsellors. 
From time to time, since the beginning of the Four Year Plan, effort has been made to 
summarize in documents made widely available to the friends the experience of the Bahá’í 
world in advancing the process of entry by troops and to frame it within the guidance of the 
Universal House of Justice as expressed in its letters and messages to individuals and 
institutions.  The first of these documents, entitled “Training Institutes”, was released by the 
House of Justice at the International Convention in April 1998.  The second, prepared by the 
Teaching Centre at the instruction of the House of Justice in February 2000, was entitled 
“Training Institutes and Systematic Growth”.  The present document should be considered the 
next of this kind.  Using the 17 January message of the House of Justice regarding the Five Year 
Plan as a starting point, it elaborates with specific examples and in greater detail the broad 
vision contained in that message.  It is the result of the Teaching Centre’s careful analysis of 
both the guidance of the House of Justice and the methods and approaches employed by the 
friends in every part of the globe in meeting the requirements of the Plan. 

  

With loving Bahá’í greetings, 
For Department of the Secretariat 
Enclosure 
cc:  International Teaching Centre  (with enclosure) 
Counsellors  (with enclosure)

BUILDING MOMENTUM:  A COHERENT APPROACH TO GROWTH  
  
A document prepared by the 
International Teaching Centre 
April 2003  
In its message of 17 January 2003 to the Bahá’ís of the world, the Universal House of 
Justice presents a cogent analysis of the progress of the Bahá’í world in advancing the process 
of entry by troops since the beginning of the Five Year Plan.  Utilizing the 17 January message 
as the framework for reflecting on our “collective experience,” this document reviews the 
learning which underlies that experience and offers further perspectives on the challenges of 
promoting systematic growth.  The document is divided into five sections:  
  
1.  A VISION OF GROWTH 
  
1.1  Categorizing Clusters 
1.2  Establishing Priorities 
1.3  Proceeding through a Sequence of Courses 
1.4  “Evoking the Spirit of Enterprise” 
2.  MOVEMENT OF CLUSTERS FROM ONE STAGE OF GROWTH 
TO THE NEXT 
  
2.1  Opening Virgin Areas 
2.2  Establishing the Institute Process in Emerging Clusters 
2.3  Advancing Clusters with a Vigorous Institute Process 
2.4  Accelerating Expansion and Consolidation in Advanced Clusters 
3.  ENHANCING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY 
  
3.1  Managing the Process of Growth 
3.2  Reexamining Administrative Approaches 
3.3  Facilitating Individual Initiative 
3.4  Serving Large Numbers 
4.  CHANGE IN THE CULTURE OF THE BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY 
  
4.1  Learning and Planning at the Grass Roots 
4.2  Maintaining a Focus 
4.3  Empowering the Rank and File 
4.4  An “Outward-Looking Orientation” 
5.  THE MOVEMENT OF HUMANITY TOWARD BAHÁ’U’LLÁH

BUILDING MOMENTUM:  A COHERENT APPROACH TO GROWTH  
  
1.  A VISION OF GROWTH  
During the past two years the believers and institutions worldwide have focused their 
efforts on implementing the fundamental strategy of the Five Year Plan for creating a culture of 
growth, a strategy succinctly described in a message from the Universal House of Justice: 
  
The Five Year Plan … requires concentrated and sustained attention to two 
essential movements.  The first is the steady flow of believers through the sequence 
of courses offered by training institutes, for the purpose of developing the human 
resources of the Cause.  The second, which receives its impetus from the first, is 
the movement of geographic clusters from one stage of growth to the next. 1  
These two movements have been at the heart of the learning experience of the Bahá’í 
world and are the focus of this analysis.  The first movement had its beginnings with the 
establishment of a network of training institutes during the Four Year Plan.  The second got 
under way only in the Five Year Plan, when national communities, in response to the guidance 
of the House of Justice, began by mapping their territories into geographic clusters. 
… National Spiritual Assemblies proceeded with relative ease to divide the 
territories under their jurisdiction into areas consisting of adjacent localities, called 
clusters, using criteria that were purely geographic and social and did not relate to 
the strength of local Bahá’í communities. 2  
In its Riván 2002 message the House of Justice described how the exercise of clustering 
and categorizing has given the institutions and believers a vision of systematic growth:  “Such a 
mapping … makes it possible to realize a pattern of well-ordered expansion and consolidation.” 
  
1.1  Categorizing Clusters  
Acknowledging that in some cases cluster boundaries would be only a “reasonable 
approximation,”3  which might be modified through experience, National Spiritual Assemblies 
categorized the clusters according to broad stages of the development of the Faith as outlined in 
the message of 9 January 2001 from the House of Justice.  In this connection the House of 
Justice has stressed the following point: 
To assign a cluster to one or another category is not to make a statement about 
status.  Rather, it is a way of evaluating its capacity for growth, in order that an 
approach compatible with its evolving development can be adopted. 4  
In order to systematically advance the growth process, National Assemblies and Regional 
Bahá’í Councils sought to establish criteria for determining when a cluster would move from 
one category to the next.  In some cases such criteria were expressed in numerical goals, while 
in others a qualitative description was adopted.  Defining minimum criteria for each category is 
a process that grows principally out of experience.  In its message of 17 January 2003 the 
House of Justice described the importance of this task: 
… the task of refining the criteria needed for valid assessments is proving to be an 
ongoing challenge to institutions….  Rigid criteria are obviously counterproductive, 
but a well-defined scheme to carry out evaluation is essential.5

Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 2 
  
Wherever Regional Councils exist, they are generally in the best position to determine  
the current categories of the clusters within their jurisdiction; Auxiliary Board members and 
agencies at the cluster level can also provide indispensable input.  According to the House of 
Justice, “two criteria seem especially important” in this evaluation: 
the strength of the human resources raised up by the training institute for the 
expansion and consolidation of the Faith in the cluster, and the ability of the 
institutions to mobilize these resources in the field of service. 

6 

What is essential is that the institutions periodically assess the progress that has been 
made so that the strategies being applied in a cluster are  

“ compatible with its evolving 
development.” 

7 

  When warranted, the classification of a cluster is changed and new priorities 
are set. 
  

1.2  Establishing Priorities  
In addition to classifying clusters according to their capacity for growth, national and 
regional institutions set priorities as to which clusters would receive greater focus early in the 
Plan.  At times this involved opening a few virgin clusters and advancing some weak ones, but 
generally, concentration was on the well-developed clusters in a country.  Once the institutions 
came to understand the types of strategies needed to advance each category of clusters, it 
became apparent that it was advantageous to select a few promising clusters where the 
conditions for accelerated growth were the most favorable and then work toward establishing 
an intensive program of growth.  The following guidance in a letter written on behalf of the 
House of Justice to a National Assembly reflects the advice given in such instances: 
  
An important challenge now before you is to ensure that one or two clusters 
in Austria reach the level at which intensive growth programs can be established.  
This will involve, foremost, helping the institute in your country develop to a more 
advanced stage, endowed with the capacity to accompany a significant percentage 
of individuals up to the point in its sequence of courses where they can be trained 
to act as tutors and multiply the number of study circles in the clusters selected.  
Given the receptivity displayed in the past by some of the minority groups in 
Austria … you would clearly do well to choose at least one cluster with a large 
representation of such a population. 8  
And to another National Assembly, the House of Justice explained the need for focus on a few 
advanced areas of high potential: 
In consultation with the Councils and the Counsellors, you have identified several 
small geographic areas in which the local communities are gaining strength through 
a strong institute process.  As the second year of the Plan fast approaches, the 
House of Justice hopes that, if it has not already been done, two or three of these 
clusters will be selected to receive special attention in the coming months so that 
they will soon reach the point where it will be possible to consider launching an 
intensive program of growth in each.9


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 3 
  

1.3  Proceeding through a Sequence of Courses   
In its 17 January message the House of Justice addresses the effort in which the believers 
are currently and principally engaged: 
  Focus in almost every country has now turned to stimulating the movement 
of its priority clusters from their current stage of growth to the next.  What has 
become strikingly clear is that progress in this respect depends largely on the 
efficacy of the parallel process aimed at helping an ever-increasing number of 
friends to move through the main sequence of courses offered by the institute 
serving the area.10  
The impetus given to the institute process in the past two years and, in particular, to 
having the believers proceed through a sequence of courses was felt on all continents.  The 
number of participants who have completed at least one institute course in the basic sequence 
continues to rise, but the most significant achievement is that a swelling stream of friends has 
proceeded through higher level courses.  For example, 18 months into the Five Year Plan, more 
than 10,000 believers had completed Ruhi Institute Book 6, accounting for an increase of over 
500 percent since April 2001, and more than 8,000 had completed Ruhi Institute Book 7, 
resulting in a dramatically enlarged pool of trained tutors. 
Gradually most national communities around the world adopted for their basic sequence 
of courses the Ruhi Institute curriculum, which had been developed over many years 
specifically in response to large-scale expansion.  In light of the focus and energy being devoted 
to furthering the institute process in every national community, concerns were expressed by 
some believers about the emphasis on training and the use of a uniform curriculum.  In such a 
wide-scale enterprise of taking great numbers of friends through a set curriculum, it is to be 
expected that some individuals might not find the materials suited to their learning style.  
Responding to this circumstance, the House of Justice made the following comment in a letter 
written on its behalf to an individual believer: 
… reports from countries of diverse backgrounds suggest that many national Bahá’í 
communities which have adopted the books of the Ruhi Institute are finding them 
highly effective.  It is natural that any given educational program would not appeal 
to everyone and that some would not wish to participate.…  Nevertheless, a choice 
has been made by the institutions in your country to offer certain courses to the 
believers in the context of their plans to advance the process of entry by troops.  
The House of Justice is happy to see from your letter that you respect this decision 
and do not want to make your own evaluation of the program a cause for disunity. 11  
In another letter written on behalf of the House of Justice, the relationship of the individual 
believer to the institute process is given further clarification: 
  
To say that the institute is only useful for newly enrolled believers and those who 
read little is not correct.  Many mature and deepened believers are participating in 
the institute process, both as students and as teachers of various courses, in an 
effort to contribute directly to the promotion of entry by troops in their respective 
countries.  Through such participation they have furthered their understanding of 
the requisites of growth and of the action required to maintain it, have caught fresh 
glimpses of spiritual truths, and have developed their skills and abilities of service.  
Far from interfering with their own study of the Writings, each according to his or

Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 4 
  
her own capacity and needs, their association with a training institute has enhanced 
the process.  Yet clearly such participation is not a requirement for every Bahá’í, 
who, in the final analysis, can choose the manner in which he or she will serve the 
Faith.  What is essential is that the institute process be supported even by those who 
do not wish to take part in it. 

12 

At the same time the House of Justice has explained that no special designation should be 
accorded to those who are studying in the institute or serving as tutors, nor should the friends 
feel any demarcation based on participation in the institute: 
  
It is quite reasonable to expect that, as far as training by the institute is 
concerned, certain courses would have as their prerequisite the completion of other 
courses.  However, this notion should not be carried over into other Bahá’í 
activities, and clearly no distinction should be made between “trained” and 
“untrained” believers in the country.  That for certain types of service the 
qualifications of the believers would need to be taken into account is natural.  Yet 
the way should be open for all the friends, irrespective of the degree of their 
knowledge and experience, to participate in the affairs of the Faith…. 

13 

Those communities that did not become absorbed with issues of curriculum but turned 
their attention to putting a system in place were able to learn more quickly how to deliver their 
courses to large numbers of believers and to consolidate the institute process.  Nevertheless, by 
the outset of the Five Year Plan the believers in most countries had not proceeded beyond the 
first few courses of the institute.  The challenge for National Spiritual Assemblies of furthering 
the institute process and maintaining a clear focus was aptly described in a letter written on 
behalf of the House of Justice to a National Assembly: 
To help large numbers of believers go through a sequence of courses is a 
formidable task, involving systematic work with an increasing number of tutors,  
the establishment of study circles, and measures for monitoring the progress of the 
participants.  The friends in charge of the process need to have clarity of vision and 
should be allowed to carry out their mission without distraction. 

14 

  

1.4  “Evoking the Spirit of Enterprise”  
During the Four Year Plan, guidance from the House of Justice had stressed that as the 
believers completed higher courses in the sequence, their capacity to serve the Cause would be 
enhanced.  In its message of 17 January this dynamic was confirmed: 
The rise in activity around the world testifies to the success of these courses in 
evoking the spirit of enterprise required to carry out the divers actions that growth 
in a cluster, at whatever stage, demands. 15  
Nowhere was this “rise in activity” more evidenced than in the increase in study circles 
and other core activities.  According to the data available at the Bahá’í World Centre, the 
number of study circles worldwide increased from 3,600 in April 2001 to almost 9,000 in 
October 2002.  The participation of individuals in devotional gatherings and children’s classes 
increased by 80 and 63 percent respectively in the same period, with the highest percentage rise 
in both categories registered by countries in Asia.  For the most part this proliferation of

Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 5 
community activities was the expression of individual initiative by believers who translated into 
action what they had internalized from their training institute courses. 
  

2.  MOVEMENT OF CLUSTERS FROM ONE STAGE OF GROWTH  
TO THE NEXT  
  
2.1  Opening Virgin Areas  
The newfound zeal and initiative of the believers have been manifested at one level in the 
opening of virgin clusters.  Although in the first two years of the Five Year Plan most countries 
have focused on advancing well-developed clusters toward intensive programs of growth, 
whenever virgin areas were opened to the Faith, a concentrated effort was made to lay a solid 
foundation for systematic expansion.  Cognizant of the advice from the House of Justice of the 
value of pioneers being “experienced in institute programs,” 16  National Assemblies encouraged 
homefront pioneers (short- and long-term) who settled in unopened clusters to promote the 
institute process.  In general, study circles represented a principal means of teaching in these 
areas, along with devotional gatherings and firesides, as human resources began to emerge.  
This met with a warm response from the House of Justice: 
As we had hoped, goals for the opening of virgin clusters are being readily met by 
enthusiastic participants of institute programs who, equipped with the knowledge 
and skills acquired through training courses, set out to establish the Faith in a new 
area and bring a fledgling community into being.17  
In Canada, the National Assembly announced the goal of settling homefront pioneers in 
all of the country’s nine unopened clusters by Riván 2002.  To this end the Assembly 
organized two national institute campaigns of five weeks each whereby a total of 39 believers 
completed the books in their institute’s sequence.  By Riván 2002, six of the nine goal areas 
had been filled, and five of the pioneers were trained tutors.  As of September 2002, all the 
homefront goals were achieved. 
Foremost among the strategies for virgin clusters, therefore, have been encouraging 
homefront pioneers to become trained as tutors and implementing homefront pioneering 
projects that emphasize the establishment of the institute process in these areas.  It has 
sometimes proved advantageous to identify goal areas adjacent to well-developed clusters, as 
these are more accessible to believers who can facilitate study circles.  In fact, with a growing 
number of tutors being trained in the well-developed clusters, homefront goals can increasingly 
be met when such friends come forward to offer this kind of service.  Reports on pioneer 
movement during the first year of the Five Year Plan indicate that about 725 believers arose to 
pioneer on the home front, nearly half of them in the Americas. 
  
2.2  Establishing the Institute Process in Emerging Clusters  
Clusters at the next level of development, characterized in the 9 January message as 
having “a few isolated localities and groups,” often encompass a broad spectrum of Bahá’í 
activity, depending on the country, the history of growth in the cluster, and whether the area is 
rural or urban.

Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 6 
  
Two different conditions have predominated in this category.  There are a number of 
clusters that experienced large-scale growth in the past but had no functioning Local Spiritual 
Assemblies and very few active believers.  Also prevalent are clusters that had, in addition to 
isolated localities and groups, functioning Local Assemblies, some with only basic capacity and 
others with longstanding experience and active communities, but with minimal or no institute 
activity.  The general approach in both these types of clusters has been to strengthen the 
institute process, but the means and pace have differed according to their particular 
circumstances. 
In clusters that have experienced large-scale expansion, an approach that has proved 
effective is for a teaching team to reestablish contact with responsive friends and gradually 
introduce institute courses in the area.  In recommending such an approach to a National 
Assembly that faced the challenge of having areas with great numbers of believers who had not 
been contacted for years, the House of Justice explained: 
In many countries of the world, meeting this challenge requires that attention be 
concentrated on those localities for which long lists of believers often exist, but 
which, with the passage of time, have ceased to have any Bahá’í activity.  In your 
case you would do well to establish a specific program according to which teams  
of able teachers would visit such communities one after another, spend time with 
the believers they can locate, and teach receptive souls until the conditions become 
favorable for the institute to enter and offer its courses. 

18 

In several national communities in Asia, believers who had completed their institutes’ second 
book in the sequence undertook visits of this kind.  In Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines, 
this effort resulted in a number of believers’ joining institute courses and devotional gatherings 
and becoming reactivated after many years.  In the letter cited above, the House of Justice 
elaborated further on this approach: 
… the purpose of such campaigns in local communities which have been  
dormant for years would not be to find every Bahá’í whose name appears on  
the membership list and verify his or her status.  The list of names should be 
considered, rather, as a starting point, leading to opportunities to meet individuals 
who are willing to engage in meaningful conversation, exploring spiritual realities 
and learning more and more about the Faith. 

19 

In clusters that had active communities but lacked a strong presence of the institute, a 
first requirement has been for the institutions and believers in such areas to acquire a clear 
vision of the pivotal role of the training institute in the implementation of the Plan and to 
commit themselves to this priority.  Once this is grasped, these clusters can progress fairly 
rapidly to develop the institute process. 
In practical terms, advancing the institute process in this category of clusters has meant 
increasing the number of tutors and study circles 

  so that more believers become involved in the 
institute process.  This objective can be achieved in a number of ways, depending on the level 
of human resources in the cluster—for example, by short-term homefront pioneers serving as 
tutors, by tutors from a nearby cluster facilitating study circles, or by friends from these 
emerging clusters participating in centralized training courses or extension courses in their area.

Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 7 
  
As more study circles have been established in these clusters, a growing number of 
friends have become engaged in the study of the first one or two books of the institute.  
However, the House of Justice highlighted the value of putting in place a system for taking 
believers through a full sequence of courses and the potential impact of this arrangement: 
The challenge is not simply to have a certain percentage study one or two courses, 
but a sequence of several courses through an effective system of distance 
education.  And if the institute succeeds in accomplishing this, there should be a 
corresponding increase in the tempo of the teaching work as more and more friends 
arise to serve the Faith.  A steady stream of newly enrolled believers will, in turn, 
enter the institute’s program, and in this way the system as a whole will be in a 
constant state of expansion. 

20 

  

2.3  Advancing Clusters with a Vigorous Institute Process  
In order “to ensure that one or two clusters … reach the level at which intensive growth 
programs can be established,” 21  a great deal of attention has been directed toward further 
developing strong clusters and preparing them for intensive growth.  The principal means to 
advance these clusters have been institute campaigns, reflection meetings, and a gradual 
multiplication of core activities.  This latter objective is most easily fulfilled by inviting seekers 
to these activities.  The experience of the institutions and believers in this category of clusters 
has been substantial and instructive. 
2.3.1  Institute Campaigns  
Although the meaning of a “vigorous” institute process was interpreted in a variety of 
ways, efforts to further the institute process in the more well-developed clusters have involved 
taking significant numbers of friends through the sequence of courses and rapidly increasing the 
number of trained tutors.  In some instances this has been swiftly and effectively accomplished 
through institute campaigns, which have augmented ongoing efforts to expand the number of 
study circles.  In most instances these campaigns have been designed to enable the believers 
who have already completed the first few books in the sequence, and preferably have served as 
tutors, to move in an accelerated manner through the remaining books.  This process has 
generated a great deal of enthusiasm and helped create a sizable group of capable believers who 
have begun to understand “the prerequisites for sustainable growth.” 22  
In Asiatic Russia an institute campaign in the first few months of the Five Year Plan 
resulted in 76 believers completing all six books of the institute and becoming prepared to act 
as tutors for any of the books in the sequence.  Urban clusters such as Perth, Australia; Minsk, 
Belarus; Vancouver, Canada; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Karachi, Pakistan; and Los Angeles, the 
United States; and well-developed rural or semi-urban clusters in, for example, Cameroon, the 
Central African Republic, Kenya, India, and Italy undertook such campaigns and registered 
immediate gains in the number of study circles in the clusters.  The House of Justice 
commented on this type of endeavor: 
  
It is most encouraging to see that the progress of this work [the internal 
development of the clusters] is being energized through the training institute 
process, which was considerably strengthened … by the campaigns undertaken  
in many countries to increase the number of trained tutors.23


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 8 
  
In areas with active, deepened believers, the progression of individuals through the 
sequence of courses has moved quickly, once the community members committed themselves 
to the process.  A good example of this dynamic is evidenced in the experience of Western 
Australia.  A concentrated focus in this state on involving increasing numbers of friends in the 
institute, aided by a series of campaigns, resulted in more than half of its 1,500 believers 
participating in institute courses.  In less than three months the number of study circles, which 
included seekers, doubled from 52 to 103 and as a consequence of this “increase in the tempo of 
the teaching work,” 36 new believers entered the Faith.  This was three times the number of 
new enrollments recorded for each of the previous two years. 
2.3.2  

Multiplication of Core Activities  
Movement of the cluster toward the next stage of development is directly associated with 
“the multiplication of study circles, devotional meetings and children’s classes, and the 
expansion they engender.” 

24 

  As the pool of trained human resources grows, an increase in these 
and other activities occurs naturally.  As indicated, the attention given in the past two years to 
training more tutors has had a measurable impact on the number of  

study circles  worldwide.  
Not only has this figure now reached 10,000, but one-third of the participants are studying the 
higher books in the institute’s sequence.  Efforts to bring new believers and seekers into the 
institute process have created a fresh dynamic in clusters.  As more and more new declarants 
join institute courses, “the system as a whole will be in a constant state of expansion.” 

25 

The growing pool of human resources generated by the institute process has made it 
possible to establish an increasing number of two other core activities:  devotional gatherings 
and children’s classes. 

  

Devotional meetings begin to flourish as consciousness of the spiritual dimension 
of human existence is raised among the believers in an area through institute 
courses. 

26 

In various parts of the world, special endeavors to increase the number of  

devotional meetings  

often begin with encouraging believers inspired by their institute course on spiritual life to 
undertake such meetings on their own.  Another approach that has resulted in an expansion in 
number previously not contemplated has been to hold devotional gatherings in the homes of 
non-Bahá’ís, who sometimes organize the meetings themselves.  Employing this arrangement 
over a six-month period, the believers in Malaysia were able to increase tenfold the devotional 
meetings in their advanced clusters and the level of participation by 40 percent. 
The multiplication of devotional gatherings has taken place with seeming ease in both 
rural and urban areas.  In only 18 months, the number of individuals participating in devotional 
gatherings in Asia grew by nearly 200 percent and in the Americas and Europe by about  
50 percent.   
A marked increase in  

children’s classes  has been reported on all continents, confirming 
that they are also “a natural outgrowth of the training received early in the study of the main 
sequence.” 

27 

  Efforts to multiply the number of children’s classes in a strong cluster are 
predicated on training a sizable cadre of children’s class teachers, and usually require a 
concerted outreach to the community at large, as the Bahá’í children may be few in number.  
Africa recorded the most significant rise in children’s classes, with the number nearly doubling 
between April 2001 and October 2002.


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 9 
  
The multiplication of core activities in well-developed clusters, growing out of increased 
individual initiative, has been identified as an important step in advancing toward a program of 
intensive growth.  As the House of Justice wrote: 
  
The coherence thus achieved through the establishment of study circles, 
devotional meetings and children’s classes provides the initial impulse for growth 
in a cluster, an impulse that gathers strength as these core activities multiply in 
number. 

28 

2.3.3  

Reflection Meetings  
A natural vehicle for multiplying core activities has been reflection meetings.  These 
meetings at the cluster level have been particularly effective in well-established areas where an 
expanding pool of human resources exists.  In such gatherings the institutions and the believers, 
many of whom are involved in the institute process, study the relevant Five Year Plan 
documents, share experiences, and consult on the achievements and strengths within the cluster.  
Avoiding “grandiose and elaborate plans,” 

29 

 the friends reach a consensus on short-term goals 
which reflect the pledges of individual initiatives and collective actions that have emerged from 
the consultation.  These goals are generally incorporated into a calendar of activities that 
becomes the framework for the subsequent two- to three-month period.  In many clusters 
around the world, how to hold productive and enjoyable reflection meetings has become an 
important area for learning. 
2.3.4  

Reaching Out to All Inhabitants  
What has helped clusters with a strong institute process move toward the next stage of 
development has been the efforts of Bahá’ís to open their communities to the public at large and 
guide ready souls to the Cause in progressively increasing numbers.  In some of these advanced 
clusters, most of the participants in the first course of the institute have been seekers. 
  
It is evident, then, that a systematic approach to training has created a way 
for Bahá’ís to reach out to the surrounding society, share Bahá’u’lláh’s message 
with friends, family, neighbors and coworkers, and expose them to the richness of 
His teachings.  This outward-looking orientation is one of the finest fruits of the 
grassroots learning taking place. 

30 

In this regard the House of Justice calls attention to the promising opportunities offered 
by devotional gatherings and children’s classes: 
As both activities are made open to the wider community through a variety of well-
conceived and imaginative means, they attract a growing number of seekers, who, 
more often than not, are eager to attend firesides and join study circles.  Many go 
on subsequently to declare their faith in Bahá’u’lláh and, from the outset, view their  
role in the community as that of active participants in a dynamic process of 
growth. 

31 

Bahá’ís from Alaska to Australia, from Ireland to India, have prepared imaginative 
brochures to attract seekers to their devotional meetings.  Family members, neighbors, and even 
respondents to newspaper advertisements have been joining the Bahá’ís for prayer and readings 
from the Scriptures, often enhanced by music and followed by refreshments.  Reports from


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 10 
75 percent of the national communities reveal that as of October 2002, approximately 12,000 of 
the participants in devotional meetings—20 percent—were non-Bahá’ís. 
An equally effective form of outreach has been the active extension of Bahá’í children’s 
classes to the greater community.  Parents of all backgrounds and strata of society are united in 
their desire to guide their children to a better life.  The response to offers by Bahá’ís to provide 
children in an area with spiritual education has been extremely encouraging.  According to 
reports from two-thirds of the national communities, more than 27,000, or 40 percent, of the 
children attending Bahá’í classes at the present time are from non-Bahá’í families.  In such 
countries as Botswana, Lesotho, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto 
Rico, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, the Mariana Islands, 
Albania, and Romania, as of October 2002, 75 percent or more of the participants in their 
children’s classes were from families of non-Bahá’ís. 
The experience in the state of Tamil Nadu in India offers an example of a successful 
approach.  Bahá’ís who had completed institute training for children’s class teachers visited 
selected villages in their cluster and held public meetings at which they presented to the public, 
through the use of skits and posters, the dangers facing children in today’s society and the 
importance of spiritual education.  Scores of parents enrolled their children in Bahá’í classes, 
resulting in an unprecedented increase in children’s classes in each of the target clusters.  In five 
clusters where previously there had been 28 classes, the total rose to 136. 
Wherever systematic efforts were made to invite receptive parents who had children in 
Bahá’í classes or individuals who were attending devotional meetings to join study circles, the 
results were also encouraging.  For these souls, their introduction to the Bahá’í Faith has been 
first and foremost the Word of God.  Connecting the seekers immediately with the Writings of 
Bahá’u’lláh has been a uniformly effective approach, one that recalls advice from the Guardian:  
“we are enjoined to constantly refer the seeker to the Word itself.” 

32 

It has also been reassuring to note that when non-Bahá’ís realize there is no pressure or 
proselytizing involved, but rather a genuine desire on the part of Bahá’ís to share the spiritual 
sustenance in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, they respond positively and readily return to Bahá’í 
gatherings on their own.  A program recently conducted in Medchal, India, offers a striking 
example of such a response.  A presentation on the Bahá’í Faith’s perspective on moral 
education was delivered to 80 teachers and students at the Government Industrial Training 
Institute.  As a result of this event, more than half of those present chose to enroll in a study 
circle.  Similarly, in Luxembourg at the end of a public meeting organized by the Bahá’ís on the 
spiritual education of children, 10 local residents registered for a Bahá’í study circle. 
  

2.4  Accelerating Expansion and Consolidation in Advanced Clusters  
2.4.1  Prerequisites for Intensive Growth  
As the second year of the Five Year Plan draws to a close, approximately 150 clusters 
worldwide have been identified as having attained conditions propitious for intensive growth.  
In many of these clusters the acceleration of the institute process has resulted in 50 to 60 
percent of the believers being fully involved in institute courses, with a significant number 
having completed the current sequence.  These highly motivated friends, stimulated and 
nurtured by the encouragement of the Local Spiritual Assemblies and Auxiliary Board 
members, have undertaken more and more individual initiatives in the teaching field.   
The number of core activities within these clusters has increased at a seemingly exponential


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 11 
rate, and these “portals for entry by troops” have become the channels for most of the new 
enrollments in Bahá’í communities. 
A high degree of enthusiasm and a strong sense of ownership are also characteristics of 
clusters ready to embark on an intensive program of growth.  Reflection meetings are well 
attended and participation is lively.  The feeling of ownership of the process has been 
manifested in, among other ways, greater contributions to the Fund.  Though facing serious 
economic difficulties, the friends in the well-developed clusters in Moldova and the Ukraine  
are contributing more generously than ever to all the funds of the Faith.  In an advanced priority 
cluster in Nepal, the contributions of the believers to the National Fund increased by  
100 percent over the previous year. 
2.4.2  

Intensification of Teaching Efforts  
The House of Justice stated in its message of 9 January 2001 that at the core of an 
intensive program of growth “must lie a sound and steady process of expansion, matched by  
an equally strong process of human resource development.”  The teaching work will include  
“a range of teaching efforts … involving both activities undertaken by the individual and 
campaigns promoted by the institutions.” 

33 

In a letter to a National Assembly, the House of Justice explained that the implementation 
of well-conceived teaching projects, 
which are linked with the systematic training of a large number of believers for 
service to the Faith, … is an important step towards invigorating and sustaining  
the growth of the Cause. 

34 

In its 17 January message the House of Justice has specifically identified teaching projects as a 
step toward intensive growth: 
… carefully designed projects are being added to the existing pattern of growth  
to reach receptive populations and lift the rate of expansion to a higher level. 

35 

In many parts of the world, “bringing large numbers into the ranks of Bahá’u’lláh’s 
followers has traditionally not been a formidable task.” 

36 

  With the institute system in advanced 
clusters ready to absorb a periodic influx of new declarants, it is now timely in such areas to 
initiate short-term, direct teaching projects in order to “lift the rate of expansion to a higher 
level.”  A recent five-day teaching campaign in the Medak cluster in Andhra Pradesh, India, led 
to 194 individuals’ embracing the Faith, of which 114 immediately joined a first level institute 
course.  The House of Justice, in its 17 January message, praised this course of action for the 
more developed clusters: 
Such projects accelerate the tempo of teaching, already on the rise through the 
efforts of individuals.  And, where large-scale enrollment is beginning to result, 
provision is being made to ensure that a certain percentage of the new believers 
immediately enter the institute program, for, as we have emphasized in several 
messages, these friends will be called upon to serve the needs of an ever-growing 
Bahá’í population. 

37

Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 12 
After a sizable percentage of the new believers who have enrolled through teaching projects 
join institute courses and become integrated into core activities, another similar project can 
soon be undertaken.  Not only will periodic teaching projects act as a catalyst for growth but 
continuing this cycle of expansion and consolidation will help accelerate and sustain the growth 
process. 
  
Teaching projects will be especially effective if they are “carefully designed” and reach 
specific segments of the population in a cluster.  Teaching approaches and materials may be 
tailored to persons, for example, of particular occupations (schoolteachers, university students, 
lawyers), ethnicities (Aborigines, Chinese, Roma), and religions (animist, Buddhist, Christian, 
Muslim), or to women and youth.  After substantial experience accumulates in the field as to the 
appropriate methods and contexts for teaching special populations, Bahá’ís involved in this 
work can assist the institute by designing a course that is specific to a particular group; such a 
course could be offered as a branch of the basic institute course on becoming an effective 
teacher. 
2.4.3  

The Dynamics of Intensive Growth  
A question often asked by the friends is how they will know when their cluster is ready 
for an intensive program of growth.  One indicator that cannot be overlooked is growth itself—
an increase in the number of Bahá’ís in the cluster.  A vigorous institute process, the 
multiplication of core activities and their integration, a successful outreach to local inhabitants, 
an ever-growing number of individual and collective teaching initiatives, a vibrant community 
life, and a commitment to an ongoing learning process will result in growth.  This includes new 
enrollments as well as reactivated Bahá’ís who have been roused by the newfound spirit and 
activity in their area.  These elements will also naturally lead to and foster the conditions for 
intensive programs of growth identified by the House of Justice in its message of 9 January 
2001, such as the “pronounced spirit of collaboration” among the institutions and “a reasonable 
degree of administrative capacity.” 
An intensive program of growth suggests just that—intensification—an intensification of 
activity that contributes to systematic growth.  The friends in advanced clusters will become 
aware of a perceptible change in the intensity of activity in their area, and this will be reflected 
in the growth pattern.  An intensive program of growth implies a pattern that is progressively 
accelerated and fully sustained. 
  

3.  ENHANCING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY  
The process of dividing a country into clusters undertaken in the first year of the Five 
Year Plan has made it possible for the institutions of the Faith “to realize a pattern of well-
ordered expansion and consolidation.” 38   National Assemblies and Regional Councils have 
formulated their plans of action, supported by a system for training the necessary human 
resources, with an eye toward moving clusters from one stage of development to the next.   
And when an active cluster has the necessary elements in place and is registering new 
enrollments, it is the institutions that confirm its readiness to embark on an intensive  
program of growth. 
Achieving and sustaining intensive growth demand a variety of capabilities and new 
approaches on the part of Bahá’í institutions.  Reports indicate that the building of capacity,


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 13 
though gradual, takes place more readily when members of institutions have had first-hand 
experience with the dynamics of cluster development and the processes that contribute to 
growth. 
  

3.1  Managing the Process of Growth  
In promoting and overseeing the process of growth, Bahá’í institutions have been 
demonstrating a range of motivational and organizational capacities.  These skills are enhanced 
when an attitude of learning prevails and an appreciation of the essential harmony between 
individual initiative and collective action exists. 
3.1.1  
Fostering an Encouraging Environment  
Chief among the requirements for motivating believers and nurturing a culture of growth 
is the capacity to foster an encouraging environment where, as the Universal House of Justice 
wrote in its 9 January message, “teaching is the dominating passion of the lives of the 
believers” and “mutual support, commitment to learning, and appreciation of diversity of action 
are the prevailing norms.”  In the same message, the House of Justice also stated that an 
upsurge in teaching activity depends on “sustained encouragement.” 
In clusters preparing for intensive growth, it has been observed that the collaborating 
institutions have demonstrated the ability to create an atmosphere of mutual trust with the 
friends, utilize their talents, praise their accomplishments, and overlook minor mistakes.  These 
are hallmarks of the emerging Bahá’í culture, and the success of this Plan depends in no small 
measure on the extent to which the institutions and individuals alike demonstrate these 
capacities.  In a letter written on his behalf to a National Assembly, Shoghi Effendi made a 
comment about encouragement that is relevant to institutions at all levels of the Cause: 
… the National Body is like the beating of a healthy heart in the midst of the 
Community, pumping spiritual love, energy and encouragement out to all the 
members. 39  
3.1.2  Coordination at the Cluster Level  
The actual work of promoting the process of growth in the clusters requires skills of 
organization and coordination.  These functions are being carried out within a new framework 
of collaboration, as described by the House of Justice: 
The implementation of such a program [of intensive growth] will require the close 
collaboration of the institute, the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, and 
an Area Teaching Committee.40  
To the extent that these institutions, through effective collaboration, have been able to 
systematically enlarge the pool of human resources in a cluster and mobilize these resources for 
teaching and other acts of service, they have been successful in advancing the cluster toward a 
program of intensive growth.  Underlying their efforts has been the realization that success 
would depend “on the manner in which lines of action are integrated and on the attitude of 
learning that is adopted.”41


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 14 
  
In clusters where well-functioning Local Spiritual Assemblies exist, a coordinating 
committee has at times replaced the role of an Area Teaching or Growth Committee as the 
agency collaborating with the Auxiliary Board members and the institute.  In either case, 
meeting the challenges of furthering the institute process and promoting systematic growth have 
required increasing administrative capacities, not the least of which is effective consultation.  
The ability to organize productive and enjoyable reflection meetings has also been a feature of 
well-developed clusters. 
3.1.3  

The Ongoing Collection of Statistics  
Managing the growth process necessitates certain practical skills such as collecting 
statistics, because to monitor growth it is essential to be able to measure it.  The friends are 
learning to maintain an accurate database at the grass roots by recording on a regular basis such 
information as the number of individuals going through the institute’s sequence of courses, the 
number of core activities, the number of persons who attend these activities, and the number of 
new enrollments.  Special training in collecting statistics has often been necessary for the 
friends at the cluster level.  This task needs to be carried out in such a way that it does not 
overburden communities but provides data sufficient for planning and for identifying measures  
to accelerate growth.  Particular emphasis has been given to tracking the statistics in the most 
promising clusters at about three-month intervals, so that appropriate steps can be taken to 
move these clusters toward intensive growth. 
  

3.2  Reexamining Administrative Approaches  
Gradually National Spiritual Assemblies are coming to recognize that the administrative 
structures they put in place in their national communities should reflect and support the primary 
aim of the Plan.  While in earlier years national committees and task forces were established for 
an array of local and national activities and proclamation events, the current focus on promoting 
systematic growth has influenced the nature and number of committees a National Assembly 
may wish to appoint.  Some Assemblies, particularly in countries with small national 
communities, have found it useful to reduce the number of national committees to allow more 
time and energy for the priorities of the Five Year Plan.  Eliminating or consolidating less vital 
committees has also enabled National Assemblies to better fulfill their responsibilities for 
monitoring the overall growth of the Faith in their countries and has freed up the believers for 
teaching activities.  
A significant development that has made it possible for a number of National Spiritual 
Assemblies to modify the approach to their work was the establishment of Regional Bahá’í 
Councils.  Under the guidance of the House of Justice, these National Assemblies are gradually 
learning to delegate responsibilities and authority to this new institution.  Charged with 
overseeing the plans for expansion and consolidation in their regions, the Councils are able to 
analyze specific approaches to be adopted in the execution of the Five Year Plan, and design 
plans of action consisting “essentially of those provisions needed to help each cluster in the 
region move from its current stage of growth to the next advanced stage.” 42   Again, the result 
has been that the National Assemblies are free to focus on larger strategic issues and other 
pressing matters, and the teaching plans and priorities have become more responsive to the 
conditions and resources at the grass roots.  In countries where the organization of the teaching 
work has been carried out by Regional Teaching Committees, under the supervision of a 
National Teaching Committee, the benefits of this principle of decentralization are evident as 
well.


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 15 
  
Delegation of authority has also been exercised by National Assemblies and Regional 
Councils with respect to Institute Boards.  In a letter written on its behalf, the House of Justice 
has given the following advice on the delegation of responsibilities and the administration of 
the institute process: 
  
In the case of the boards of the regional institutes … one of the challenges 
before the Regional Bahá’í Councils is to delegate to them the functions that are 
properly theirs and to give them the freedom needed to discharge those functions.  
The boards, likewise, have to provide enough latitude to the coordinators of the 
institutes, and invest them with enough authority, for them to perform their daily 
work effectively…. 
… The coordinator needs to operate at the level of implementation, carrying 
out day-to-day plans and activities and ensuring that the basic function of the 
institute is performed—this, with the assistance of the tutors and any staff if 
necessary.  The board oversees the institute process as a whole, largely through the 
periodic reports of the coordinator and through occasional consultations.  It will 
want to make itself readily accessible to the coordinator, providing the atmosphere 
in which he or she can share ideas, seek the board’s views on the possibilities and 
challenges facing the institute, and benefit from its advice.  To carry out its role, the 
board does not need to meet frequently, as does a committee charged with 
undertaking a set of specific tasks. 
As for the Regional Council, it is, naturally, interested to know that such an 
important agency under its aegis as the institute is accomplishing the tasks for 
which it was created and is functioning in full capacity.  Even more important, the 
Council must ensure that, as the ranks of avowed supporters of the Faith swell 
through the institute process, they are deployed in the field of service, reinforcing 
the work of large-scale expansion and consolidation.  This multiplication and 
deployment of human resources is to be carried out, of course, in the context of a 
regional plan to move each cluster in the region from its current stage of growth to 
the next advanced stage. 

43 

Experience has indicated that when Institute Boards have been given a sufficient degree 
of autonomy to administer their work, they have been more effective in advancing the institute 
process than those in countries where the Assemblies or Councils have attempted to retain the 
process tightly within their control. 
  

3.3  Facilitating Individual Initiative  
The growing contingents of friends eager to find their paths of service have had 
implications for the role of Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Five Year Plan and beyond.   
The House of Justice calls attention to the challenge: 
  
All of this opens thrilling opportunities for Local Spiritual Assemblies.  
Theirs is the challenge, in collaboration with the Auxiliary Board members who 
counsel and assist them, to utilize the energies and talents of the swelling human 
resources available in their respective areas of jurisdiction both to create a vibrant 
community life and to begin influencing the society around them. 44


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 16 
Intensive growth depends upon encouraging individuals to carry out a rapidly increasing 
number of core activities and other endeavors, and Local Assemblies have been instrumental in 
this process.  Through their inspiration and support, a host of individual and collective actions 
have resulted.  By recognizing and facilitating the initiatives of the many friends proceeding 
through the institute courses, as well as of other devoted servants in their communities, the 
Assemblies are assuming a style of leadership urged by the Guardian: 
The first quality for leadership, both among individuals and Assemblies, is the 
capacity to use the energy and competence that exists in the rank and file of its 
followers. 

45 

   
Because the planning environment has now broadened to the level of the cluster, often 
involving several Local Assemblies and the active participation of the believers in formulating 
short-term goals, an Assembly’s scope of interest has begun to stretch beyond its boundaries.  
Its vision is expanded, its resources magnified, and its opportunities enlarged.  In describing the 
character of cluster meetings, the House of Justice alludes to features of this wider perspective: 
The Universal House of Justice hopes that the consultations which take place in 
periodic meetings at the level of the cluster will generate such unity of thought 
about the growth of the Faith that, in those cases where the lines of action affect 
localities with Local Assemblies, the requirement of receiving their approval will 
easily be met.  It should be remembered that the aim of such consultations, beyond 
addressing certain practical considerations, is to maintain a high level of 
enthusiasm and to create a spirit of service and fellowship among those present.  
Discussions should not become bogged down by undue concern for procedural 
issues, but should focus on what can be achieved and on the joy of witnessing the 
fruits of hard work and diligent effort. 

46 

  

3.4  Serving Large Numbers  
The challenges of growth will test and develop the capacities of our institutions at all 
levels, but ultimately these bodies were designed to serve large numbers of people.  Indeed,  
“so much of the ability of the Faith to develop capacity for community building depends upon 
the size of our membership.” 47   Shoghi Effendi has assured us that growth is the answer to 
fulfilling the potentialities of our Administrative Order: 
  
The problems which confront the believers at the present time, whether 
social, spiritual, economic or administrative, will be gradually solved as  
the number and the resources of the friends multiply and their capacity for  
service … develops.48  
And in the same vein, the Universal House of Justice states: 
  
A massive expansion of the Bahá’í community must be achieved far beyond 
all past records….  The need for this is critical, for without it the laboriously 
erected agencies of the Administrative Order will not be provided the scope to be 
able to develop and adequately demonstrate their inherent capacity to minister to 
the crying needs of humanity in its hour of deepening despair. 49


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 17 
  
The ability to guide and sustain a growth process will contribute toward the capacity and 
maturation of institutions at all levels.  The House of Justice highlighted this point in its Riván 
message at the beginning of the Four Year Plan: 
… the maturity of the Spiritual Assembly must be measured not only by the 
regularity of its meetings and the efficiency of its functioning, but also by the 
continuity of the growth of Bahá’í membership. 

50 

This maturation comes about through the enhancement of the capabilities of Bahá’í institutions 
as they are involved in promoting growth, responding to the needs of increasing numbers of 
believers, and facilitating their service to the Cause. 
  

4.  CHANGE IN THE CULTURE OF THE BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY  
At the end of the Four Year Plan the Universal House of Justice wrote that “the culture  
of the Bahá’í community [had] experienced a change.” 51   The “new patterns of thought and 
action” 52  introduced by the training institutes were having a profound impact on individuals, 
institutions, and communities.  Fundamental to this new orientation was an attitude of learning, 
along with an appreciation of systematization and focus, a commitment to enlisting a greater 
number of believers in the work of the Cause, and a conscious outreach to society at large. 
At the level of the cluster and the community, where the culture of learning is taking root, 
a new dynamic has emerged whereby the friends are engaged in actions that are purposeful, 
systematic, and energizing. 
  
4.1  Learning and Planning at the Grass Roots  
Two observations that are important to the ongoing prosecution of the Five Year Plan can 
be made about the experience of working in clusters.  First, reflection meetings have become 
the learning matrix of the clusters.  These periodic consultations have enabled the believers to 
“reflect on issues, consider adjustments, and maintain enthusiasm and unity of thought.” 53   The 
value of short-term goals is immediately recognized, as accomplishments and challenges can 
regularly be evaluated, “obstacles removed, resources multiplied and lessons learned,”54  and 
modifications in the goals made without losing continuity of action.  Flexibility and patience 
are encouraged, as essential prerequisites of the learning process.  The friends have begun to 
appreciate that not all answers can be tied down in advance but are garnered through 
experience.  In describing this process, the House of Justice wrote: 
Meetings of consultation held at the cluster level serve to raise awareness of 
possibilities and generate enthusiasm.  Here, free from the demands of formal 
decision-making, participants reflect on experience gained, share insights, explore 
approaches and acquire a better understanding of how each can contribute to 
achieving the aim of the Plan.  In many cases, such interaction leads to consensus 
on a set of short-term goals, both individual and collective.  Learning in action is 
becoming the outstanding feature of the emerging mode of operation. 55


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 18 
  
A second critical feature of working in clusters is the shift to planning at the grass roots.  
The House of Justice described this as one of the purposes of the clustering exercise, but its 
implications for the roles of individuals and local institutions in implementing the Plan are only 
beginning to be felt.  Rather than “the mere enumeration of goals,” 

56 

 often unconnected to the 
realities of the resources in an area, planning at reflection gatherings is based on the human 
resources actually available.  The impact of the training institute on the planning process and 
the stimulation of individual initiative has been widely seen.  Armed with new insights, skills, 
and abilities, individuals have arisen in cluster after cluster to take up tasks in support of their 
area plan.  Through the encouragement of the institutions, particularly the Auxiliary Board 
members, enthusiasm for service has been generated and guided “into channels of systematic 
endeavor.” 

57 

  

4.2  Maintaining a Focus  
At Bahá’í institutional meetings and other gatherings in every country of the world, one  
is struck by the clear and common focus demonstrated by the friends in their efforts to advance 
the process of entry by troops.  The House of Justice associated this development with the 
change in culture: 
… since the beginning of the Four Year Plan, the entire Bahá’í world has been 
undergoing a profound change in culture required by the single focus of the global 
Plans in this latter part of the first century of the Faith’s Formative Age—advancing 
the process of entry by troops. 58  
Accustomed to pursuing a wide range of goals at the national and local levels, many Bahá’ís 
faced the challenge of focusing their teaching and other forms of service more directly on 
advancing this overriding aim of the Plan.  While a “diversity of action” was expected, the 
guidance of the House of Justice provided an explicit framework for that action, and the 
believers became aware that “old modes of thinking, which, while valuable in many respects, 
have not been conducive to rapid growth.”59  
  
Coupled with the focus on advancing the process of entry by troops is a growing 
appreciation of the need to be systematic in action.  Growth should not be explosive and short-
lived but steady and sustained.  By definition, a process means a systematic series of actions 
directed toward a specific end.  A systematic approach to training human resources is already 
yielding substantial results, and the systematization of the teaching work through the movement 
of clusters is demonstrating its efficacy.  As stated at the outset of this document, it is 
“concentrated and sustained attention” to these two movements that will lead to the fulfillment 
of the aim of the Five Year Plan. 
  
4.3  Empowering the Rank and File  
Referred to as the “chief propellant” of the change in culture, the training institutes, with 
their ability to produce an expanding number of human resources, have fundamentally altered 
the approach of the Bahá’í community to the tasks at hand.  More than ever the rank and file of 
the believers are involved in meaningful and vital service to the Cause.  Whether by holding 
devotional meetings, facilitating study circles, or teaching children’s classes, a greater number 
of friends have found paths of service that do not depend on public-speaking prowess.  The


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 19 
training institutes have imparted the necessary “spiritual insights,” “knowledge,” and “skills” 
that have enabled the believers to “facilitate the process of entry by troops with efficiency and 
love.” 

60 

  The House of Justice has remarked on this accomplishment: 
  
It is especially gratifying to note the high degree of participation of believers 
in the various aspects of the growth process.  In cluster after cluster, the number of 
those shouldering the responsibilities of expansion and consolidation is steadily 
increasing. 

61 

The growing confidence and commitment of the believers, which have been reflected  
“in the thrust of individual initiatives,” 

62 

 are gathering momentum in the Five Year Plan.  In  
this regard the House of Justice has reassured the friends that  
as the believers gain confidence in their capacity to serve through the institute 
process, a much richer expression of the diverse talents of the friends is beginning 
to appear in the Bahá’í world—a richness that bodes well for the future progress of 
the Cause. 

63 

  

4.4  An “Outward-Looking Orientation”  
When the Universal House of Justice called on the Bahá’ís at the beginning of the  
Five Year Plan to open their study circles, children’s classes, and devotional meetings “to  
all the inhabitants of the locality,” that phrase signalized a change in the culture of Bahá’í 
communities, a change that is intimately linked with the efforts of the Faith to grow and to 
embrace humankind. 
In reaching out to all inhabitants of a locality we are inspired by the words of 
Bahá’u’lláh:  “This Day a door is open wider than both heaven and earth.” 64   Making a 
concerted effort to open the portals of our community life to the outside world requires both 
courage and imagination.  Stories abound of the creative measures Bahá’í communities around 
the globe are employing to attract seekers to their activities.   
Beyond opening the doors of the Bahá’í community to the outside world, the believers 
are also exerting themselves to reach out.  Bahá’ís are striving to expand their social circles and 
ultimately their friendships, as friendship is the surest foundation for touching the hearts.  To 
pursue these aims, individuals have begun to examine their priorities, including the services 
they are rendering the Faith, and to reorder their lives so as to allow themselves more time for 
interaction with their relatives, friends, and coworkers.  Ultimately, what is the point of striving 
to become more effective teachers if we are not meeting people to teach? 
Having an “outward-looking orientation” also suggests that it is important for Bahá’ís to 
understand more deeply the forces operating on the world stage and the solutions offered by the 
Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.  Our task is to convey to seekers that we are all living in the same 
world, facing common trials, and striving to fulfill similar, long-held aspirations for the human 
race.  Our expressions of solidarity with our fellow human beings must be sincerely voiced and 
genuinely felt.


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 20 
  

5.  THE MOVEMENT OF HUMANITY TOWARD BAHÁ’U’LLÁH  
A premise underlying our current teaching efforts is the realization that all humanity is 
moving toward Bahá’u’lláh. 
  
Let there be no doubt that what we are witnessing is the gathering 
momentum of that process of the entry of humanity into the Cause by troops, 
foreshadowed in Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet to the King of Persia, eagerly anticipated  
by the Master, and described by the Guardian as the necessary prelude to mass 
conversion.65  
Not everyone learns or responds at the same rate but the path to Him is wide enough to 
accommodate one and all regardless of their pace.  “The Cause of God has room for all” 66  
suggests that not only are divers peoples welcome but that individuals may be at different 
points in their understanding and acceptance of the Faith.  Adopting an attitude of openness  
and inclusion will help diminish the sharp line that believers have sometimes tended to draw 
between themselves and the public at large. 
Bahá’ís everywhere are also acutely aware that events outside the Faith are serving, as  
the Universal House of Justice wrote, “to awaken in the hearts of those who share this planet 
with us a longing for unity and justice that can be met only by the Cause of God.”67   All of the 
plans, campaigns, and reflection meetings are aimed at finding ways to share the Divine 
Message with the waiting masses.  Above all, the friends should be encouraged to remember 
Bahá’u’lláh’s call “This is the day in which to speak,” 68  and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s exhortation that we 
“should strive with our whole hearts to offer ourselves up, guide others to His path, and train 
the souls of men.” 69


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 21 
  

REFERENCES  

  

1 

  Message dated 22 December 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the friends gathered at the 
Eighth ASEAN Youth Conference in Thailand.  

2 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

3 

  Letter dated 12 December 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National 
Spiritual Assembly of the United States.  

4 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

5 

  Ibid.  

6 

  Ibid.  

7 

  Ibid.  

8 

  Letter dated 20 March 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Austria.  

9 

  Letter dated 8 April 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Bolivia.  

10 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

11 

  Letter dated 3 June 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer.  

12 

  Letter dated 31 May 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer.  

13 

  Letter dated 4 October 2000 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the Spiritual Assembly 
of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.  

14 

  Letter dated 23 October 2000 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Kenya.  

15 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

16 

  Message dated 9 January 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the 
Continental Boards of Counsellors.  

17 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

18 

  Letter dated 3 June 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of the Union of Myanmar.  

19 

  Ibid.  

20 

  Letter dated 8 September 2000 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Eritrea.  

21 

  Letter dated 20 March 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Austria.  

22 

  Message dated 9 January 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the 
Continental Boards of Counsellors.  

23 

  Riván 2002 message written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

24 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

25 

  Letter dated 8 September 2000 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Eritrea.  

26 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

27 

  Ibid.  

28 

  Ibid.  

29 

  Message dated 9 January 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the 
Continental Boards of Counsellors.  

30 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

31 

  Ibid.  

32 

  Letter dated 4 June 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of 
Canada, published in  

The Gift of Teaching  (England:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1977), p. 35.  

33 

  Message dated 9 January 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the 
Continental Boards of Counsellors.  

34 

  Letter dated 3 April 2000 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Guyana.  

35 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

36 

  Ibid.  

37 

  Ibid.  

38 

  Riván 2002 message written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.


Building Momentum:  A Coherent Approach to Growth  Page 22 
  

39 

  Letter dated 30 June 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of 
Alaska, published in  

High Endeavors  (n.p.:  National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Alaska, 1976), 
pp. 35–36.  

40 

  Message dated 9 January 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the 
Continental Boards of Counsellors.  

41 

  Ibid.  

42 

  Letter dated 12 December 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National 
Spiritual Assembly of the United States.  

43 

  Letter dated 23 December 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National 
Spiritual Assembly of Brazil.  

44 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

45 

  Letter dated 30 August 1930 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the 
United States and Canada, published in  

Lights of Guidance  (New Delhi:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996),  
p. 19.  

46 

  Letter dated 9 December 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual 
Assembly of Seychelles.  

47 

  Letter dated 20 August 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer.  

48 

  Handwritten note of Shoghi Effendi appended to a letter dated 11 March 1933 written on his behalf to an 
individual believer, cited in a message dated 20 October 1983 written by the Universal House of Justice to 
the Bahá’ís of the world, published in  

Readings on Bahá’í Social and Economic Development  (Florida:  
Palabra Publications, 2000), p. 7.  

49 

  Riván 150 [1993] message written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

50 

  Riván 153 [1996] message written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

51 

  Riván 2000 message written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

52 

  Ibid.  

53 

  Message dated 9 January 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the 
Continental Boards of Counsellors.  

54 

   The Institution of the Counsellors , a document prepared by the Universal House of Justice   (Haifa:  Bahá’í 
World Centre, 2001), p. 24.  

55 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

56 

   The Institution of the Counsellors , p. 24.  

57 

  Ibid, p. 20.  

58 

  Letter dated 12 August 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer.  

59 

  Letter dated 14 August 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer.  

60 

  Riván 153 [1996] message written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

61 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

62 

  Riván 2000 message written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

63 

  Letter dated 26 June 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer.  

64 

  Bahá’u’lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in  The Advent of Divine Justice  (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing 
Trust, 1990), p. 78.  

65 

  Message dated 17 January 2003 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world.  

66 

  Letter dated 10 December 1942 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to two individual believers, published 
in  

Lights of Guidance,  p. 67.  

67 

  Message dated 24 May 2001 written by the Universal House of Justice to the believers gathered for the 
events marking the completion of the projects on Mount Carmel.  

68 

  Bahá’u’lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in  The Advent of Divine Justice , p. 82.  

69 

   Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá  (Wilmette:  Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997), sec. 218.8.

