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To the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States
Dearly loved Friends,Now that the first six months of the Five Year Plan have elapsed, and based on the experiences of
Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies on all continents, the International Teaching Centre
has provided us with insights on some o f the practical issues that have arisen in implementing the
concepts and provisions of the Plan. We would like to share these insights with you. In addition,
the Universal House of Justice in recent letters to National Spiritual Assemblies has amplified its
guidance on elements of the Five Year Plan, and we hope that you will find these clarifications
helpful. As anticipated, in many cases a large city and its suburbs, generally under the jurisdiction
of a single Local Spiritual Assembly, were identified as one cluster. Some of these clusters
have millions of inhabitants. To implement effectively programs for growth in such an
urban cluster, the Universal House of Justice gave the following advice to a National
Assembly that inquired whether the city cluster could be divided into smaller units.
It is quite permissible for a Local Assembly to consider its
area of jurisdiction as being composed of groupings of believers
living in close proximity to each other, when that area is large.
To avoid confusion, it would be helpful if a new term, such as
sector, were used to distinguish each such segment. There is
nothing to prevent a Spiritual Assembly from encouraging a
systematic approach to growth in these sectors, along lines similar
to those used elsewhere with clusters. In categorizing the clusters in a country, a focus was placed on assessing the capacity of
the communities to promote and sustain growth. A key factor in determining a cluster's
stage of development was the strength of the institute process in the area. An important
lesson learned was that the purpose of categorizing clusters was not to assign labels to
areas but to assist the institutions to decide on the most appropriate strategy to enable a
cluster to advance along a continuum of growth. The Universal House of Justice provided
this clarification to a National Assembly:"Clusters" are only a construct--albeit a highly useful one--that
enables the friends to think about the growth of the Faith on a
manageable scale and to design and implement plans close to the
grassroots of the community.2. The Development of Institutes and Strategies for Growth
Early in the planning process it became clear that there were very few clusters in the world
where Bahá’í communities had achieved the stage of development necessary to launch
intensive programs of growth. Whereas the training institutes were gradually incr easing
human resources, in most cases they had not been able to advance beyond the first few
courses. As the House of Justice stated in its message dated 9 January 2001, "institutes will have to
provide their communities with a constant stream of human resources to serve the process
of entry by troops." Therefore, advancing the institute process has served as a major
strategy for moving a cluster from one stage of development to another. Not only are more
believers to be involved in institute courses but also a greater number need to proceed
through a full sequence. Furthermore, it has become clear that to reinforce the link
between the institute process and systematic growth, efforts to train more tutors and to
have an increasing number of friends complete higher courses in the sequence should be
concentrated in the more advanced clusters in a country. This strategy generates
enthusiasm and creates a sizable group of capable believers who understand "the
prerequisites for sustainable growth." The experience of the past several months in promoting strategies for growth within
advanced clusters in a country has centered on the following measures:
Institute campaigns. In order to give a boost to the process of human resource
development and prepare m ore well-established clusters for launching intensive growth
programs, the International Teaching Centre has encouraged a number of Counsellors to
promote institute campaigns in selected clusters. The aim of these campaigns is to enable
the believers who have already completed the first few books of the institute's sequence of
courses, and preferably have served as tutors, to move rapidly through the remaining
courses so that they can develop the capacity to serve as tutors for all of the books in the
sequence.Multiplication of activities. Through strengthening the institute process in well -developed
communities, a growing pool of human resources is being generated that may be likened to
a pyramid. As a result of the encouragement of the institutions within a cluster, these
highly motivated friends are initiating an increasing number of study circles, devotional
meetings, and children's classes. The gradual multiplication of these lines of action --
"measures that have proven ... to be indispensable to large-scale expansion and
consolidation"--has moved forward with ease and growing momentum.
Reflection meetings. An effective vehicle for the multiplication of these lines of action has
been reflection meetings at the cluster level. In these gatherings the institutions consult
with the believers, many of whom are involved in the institute process, on the
achievements and strengths within the cluster. They also discuss the nature and scope of
activities to be undertaken in the next phase of their plan. A simple, short-term plan is
devised that reflects the pledges of individuals as well as the collective activities proposed
by the Local Assemblies. This plan is incorporated into a calendar of activities that
becomes the framework for the subsequent three- to four-month period.
As a result of such reflection meetings, the plan for a cluster is based on the human
resources available rather than, as has often been the practice in the past, on the minimum
Page No 3needs of the Bahá’í communities themselves. In this way, a community is able to offer
services--for example, children's classes --beyond its small circle of believers, to the
community at large. Questions have arisen about the most suitable administrative arrangement s at the cluster
level. Generally the type of structure needed depends on the stage of development of a
particular cluster and the kind of activities to be carried out. For example:
. In a cluster where only a few isolated believers and groups exist, much of the
planning can continue to be carried out by the Regional Council or their committees.
. As growth proceeds in a cluster, a task force of a few active believers may provide an
adequate structure.. Similarly, the regional institute area coordinator may be able to assist with some of
the needs for coordination.. At some stage of development, when the activities within the cluster become
more complex, the communities would benefit from having an Area Teaching
Committee, or some such coordinating entity, to stimulate and coordinate activities at
the cluster level. This would be especially useful in clusters without Local
Assemblies or Assemblies that are not functioning.
. In clusters with well -established local institutions, a coordinating committee with
representatives from the Local Assemblies in the cluster might be an appropriate
structure. It is important to keep in mind that advancing the institute process and multiplying the
three lines of action identified in the 9 January message do not in themselves represent
intensive growth. Ultimately these endeavors must lead to a steady and significant
increase in the number of new enrollments. As the House of Justice has point ed out in
reference to systematic programs of growth:At the core of the program must lie a sound and steady process of expansion,
matched by an equally strong process of human resource development. A range of
teaching efforts needs to be carried out, involving both activities undertaken by the
individual and campaigns In order to achieve this expansion, the believers and institutions need to be alert to new
opportunities as they devise their approaches to teaching. In many cases, teaching
campaigns have focused on inviting a large number of interested individuals to participate
in the institute courses, thereby using the institute itself as an instrument of teaching. In
some instances, the arts have been used with marvelous efficacy. Other approaches
include an emphasis on teaching families of believers, while in many rural clusters
increasing attention is being given to reaching junior youth.
Page No 4We look forward to our continuing collaboration in prosecuting your Five Year Plan and pray that
the unity we have achieved will further galvanize the American Bahá’í community to advance the
process of entry by troops.On behalf of the Counsellors serving the United States
Cc: The International Teaching Centre (by email)