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The Delegates to the 91st National Bahá’í Convention of the United States
Dearly loved Friends,The spirit of unity and the sense of high expectations that have so stirred your National Convention have also touched our hearts through your message of love and of reconsecration to the tasks laid upon you by the beloved Master’s Divine Plan to which the American Bahá’í community is so specially linked. The leaps of progress attained during the Four Year Plan through the creativity, persistence and confidence of that vibrant community leave us with no doubt that its members are well poised to meet, with characteristic dynamism, the great challenges and rich opportunities presented by the twelve-month enterprise on which they are embarking. The shortness of time demands a swiftness of action. May any believer in that dearly loved land who arises in service during this brief span experience the wonder of such divine rewards as only the Abha Beauty out of the favors of His munificence can bestow.
The Universal House of JusticeSurrounded by yellow roses a portrait of the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíhyyih Khánum was ever before us at this 91st United States National Bahá’í Convention, reminding the delegates of the strength, devotion, audacity and courage needed to fulfill the Twelve Month Plan that we dedicate to “the memory of one for whom teaching was the primary purpose, the perfect joy of life.” Our hearts embrace with great appreciation our beloved Hands of the Cause of God ‘Ali-Akbar Furutan and ‘Ali
Page No 2Muhammad Varqa whose prayers we seek in behalf of the American Bahá'í community. With loving gratitude we greet you, mindful of the critical issues you have laid before us in the Ridván 2000 message. Firmly guided by your instruction, inspired and assisted by our beloved Counselors Wilma Ellis and Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, and empowered by the creative Plan lovingly conceived by our wonderful National Spiritual Assembly, we stand as one soul, united in our commitment to whatever lies ahead in the unfoldment of the visible Kingdom of God on earth. We are ever grateful for your gift of the Regional Bahá’í Councils, whose incredible resourcefulness, energy and creativity attend every aspect of our collective work. There is among us a palpable sense that this is the Day for which we have all waited. The 165 delegates in a rarified atmosphere elected the National Spiritual Assembly with 100% participation. There were 162 balloting in person and 3 by mail with no invalid ballots, a demonstration of our increasing maturity. May Bahá’u’lláh accept us in His service! We have enjoyed the presence of the Trustees of the Huqúqu’lláh—Amin Banani, Sally Foo, Daryush Haghighi and Elizabeth Martin along with special guests Javidukht Khadem and Eunice Braun. In ddition, we were privileged to have present Knights of Bahá’u’lláh Amin and Sheila Banani and Carol and Dwight Allen and Gayle Woolson, among others, whose lifetime of service is the foundation upon which so much of what we now contemplate rests. This Convention fondly expressed appreciation to Firuz Kazemzadeh for his extraordinary service to the American Bahá’í community for more than half a century and his 36 years of exemplary service to our National Spiritual Assembly. The delegates enjoyed the stirring gospel sounds of the Jeffrey Barnes Bahá’í Choir, the soul inspiring melodies of K.C. Porter and J. B. Eckl and the creative renditions of professional trumpeter David Young. The spiritual environment in which the Convention proceeded was enhanced by the beautiful voice of Evander Gilmer encouraging his fellow delegates to join him in a joyous noise unto the Lord that was responded to by the melodic tones of delegate Marvin “Doc” Holladay’s saxaphone. As our National Spiritual Assembly reminds us, it IS our time! We are determined to play our part in raising the necessary $60 million for the Kingdom project that was dedicated during this Convention with the turning of the spade in a garden of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár during a ceremony in which prayers for the Temple were read by Bahá’í children. We are also determined to bring about the spiritual transformation of our community to help build the Kingdom of God. There were many such memorable moments at this historic convention. Among them was the presentation by Jacqueline Left Hand Bull of a Sacred Eagle Feather, a gift from the collection of Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíhyyih Khánum received during one of her visits to North America, to the coordinator of the Spirit Run Project. This activity is comprised of nine youth of various races who will take the Feather across the United States symbolically taking the Hand of the Cause with them on this spiritual journey. Another was the emotional plea by the indigenous believers, accepted unanimously by the delegates, to the National Spiritual Assembly that it be the first religious institution to recognize the
Page No 3sovereignty of the American Indian nations. That action bonded the hearts of all present confirming the relationship each to another as true brothers and sisters. We have consulted at length on training institutes and have come to an awareness that institutes can exist on many levels, in diverse forms and with infinite variation. We are also cognizant of the challenges and unseen bounties that are certain to become evident as we pursue diligently the goals of the Twelve Month Plan. The successful development of the institutes will undoubtedly release potent spiritual forces that will provide yet untapped resources to insure victory. We are committed to the task! The 91st Bahá’í National Convention is humbly grateful to our beloved Universal House of Justice for its divine guidance in directing our focus to our precious treasures, our children. The result has been a unity of thought in our determination to alert the American Bahá’í community to the urgent need of providing spiritual protection not only to those in the Bahá’í family but to all children. We reflected on the time when parents and children were more respectful of each other, a time when love and discipline were inseparable, when family was more desirable than social position and when the love of God was the magnetic force that held society together. We are committed to addressing audaciously and courageously these issues among brothers and sisters in our Bahá’í family.We are committed to raising by all possible means the standards for parenting and children’s spiritual education. The creation of a new climate for the nurturance of our youth and pre-youth is an issue in which we will endeavor to engage all of the Bahá’ís upon returning to our home communities. The contagious enthusiasm of the National Youth Committee in presenting its report greatly inspired and energized us to take immediate action. We dedicate ourselves to strengthening our institutions to become sturdy pillars for the bridge over which all of humanity will enter into the Kingdom. Our personal pledge to you, our beloved Universal House of Justice, is that all of us will leave this Convention dedicating our lives anew to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
Delegates to the 91st Bahá’í National Convention