Teaching teams are at once a microcosm of and inspiration for the aspirations of all who wish to apply the teachings of Bahá’u'lláh to community building.

A team might be made up of people who live in a particular neighborhood. Or not.

Its members might share a particular avocation, language fluency, background, etc. Or not.

What’s certain is that as team members act, reflect, consult and study, they forge bonds. They grow in capacity and experience.

Most important, they serve and assist the service of others, part of an inexorable process not unlike that of cascading dominoes.

In the March/April 2011 issue of The American Bahá’í, page 27, we met a teaching team operating in the Emerald Coast cluster of northwest Florida.

Here, the stories of four more teams — in Garland, Texas; San Diego, California; Tucson, Arizona; and North Gwinnett County, Georgia — are shared.

Garland: Effort to build community has a home base

Once the anchor is set, the crew of a boat can go about their duties confident it won’t drift.

Mindy and Charles Miranda provide such an anchor for community building in Garland, Texas.

All four core activities are based in their home and a teaching team uses it as the springboard for visits to neighbors.

“This is an example of a family opening their home and their hearts to help build a spiritual neighborhood,” says Regina Rafraf, secretary of the Regional Bahá’í Council of the South Central States.

The couple’s offer of service came at a point, says teaching team member Christopher Martin, when cluster Bahá’ís were gaining a new understanding from study of the Ridván 2010 message of the Universal House of Justice.

A passage from that message reads:

 “In cluster after cluster where an intensive programme of growth is now in operation, the task before the friends this coming year is to teach within one or more receptive populations, employing a direct method in their exposition of the fundamentals of their Faith, and find those souls longing to shed the lethargy imposed on them by society and work alongside one another in their neighbourhoods and villages to begin a process of collective transformation.”

Recalls Martin, “We had tried other neighborhoods, but we hadn’t had much success in reaching out to these neighborhoods.

“Once we read this [passage in the Ridván message], we selected Mindy and Charles’s neighborhood and began teaching there.”

And the Mirandas’ presence has been a catalyst for success, he says.

“It has been easier to invite neighbors to a core activity when they know that a neighbor is hosting it.”

Another key has been the team effort of Bahá’ís involved in the teaching work.

“Some Bahá’ís bring refreshments, some are children’s class teachers, some are junior youth group animators,” says Martin.

“Throughout the journey of the teaching work in this neighborhood — which is now entering its eighth month — we have all developed a very deep bond with one another, and the level unity among us is something I’ve never experienced in all my years as a Bahá’í.”

Mindy Miranda concurs.

“Let me say this clearly,” she states. “This would not be possible without the team effort.

“We offer our home. Three teachers come in. Refreshment purchases are shared by several, including two of the students’ parents.

“Did I say it was amazing? It’s such a humbling experience to have our neighborhood chosen, and for the response we’ve received.”

Miranda says that response was touched off by the eagerness of a neighborhood couple to enroll their children in a neighborhood class.

“It has grown exponentially from two to, as of last week, 19 kids attending,” she says, “and we’re expecting up to nine more this week.

“A call was put out for more teachers and assistants, and we now have three teachers and three-plus assistants.”

The children’s enthusiasm has grown apace. Early on they had to “go and collect the kids,” and some seemed less than interested. “Now,” she says, “many come on their own, happy and looking forward to it.”

As has parents’ appreciation of the class. ”It’s obvious the parents are beginning to see how these classes are affecting their children,” says Miranda.

“One mother brought her children from Royce City, about a 30-minute trip from here, to attend. The kids reminded her that they wanted to come.”

A Ruhi Book 1 study circle recently started for a mother of four and a young man, with a tutor coming in from Richardson.

“The 20-year-old [participant] came by and asked me about this Faith,” says Miranda. “We spoke for a few minutes, and he expressed that there are many fake religions.

“I replied in the affirmative and stated that it is up to each individual to study, pray and seek and truth and that no one else could do that for them.

“He also stated that he would not belong to a religion that doesn’t believe in the equality of men and women. I told him I loved him, and made him a huge cup of hot chocolate.”

Home visits to neighbors are ongoing, especially to elderly shut-ins with whom the Bahá’ís share prayers.

“Slowly we see that we’re being more accepted” in the neighborhood “and that we’re really as we seem — just wanting to be good neighbors,” says Miranda.

“Their smiles are delightful.”

Mindy Miranda’s husband arrives home as she makes this last comment and readily concurs.

“He says he likes this feeling of belonging to the greater community,” she relays.

What’s left to say after that?

San Diego: ‘Exciting, encouraging and empowering’

Four years of accompanying one another in service to their neighborhood.

Four years of initiating and sustaining the core activities for building community.

That’s what the members of a teaching team in the Linda Vista section of San Diego, California, can look back on now.

The six participants came from three households: two couples, one child and one beloved elder.

“We started as a team about four years ago and were really accompanying each other in our fledgling efforts to meet and teach neighbors, co-workers, family and friends,” recalls Nancy Rank-Medina.

“This was also the time when San Diego decentralized its children’s classes and four of us were already children’s class teachers at the centralized school.

“So immediately when it decentralized we began neighborhood classes, a junior youth group, and study circles.”

Neighborhood children and junior youths whom the team encountered through individual teaching made up the bulk of attendees.

Three activities — study circles in two homes using Ruhi Books 3 and Book 3a for training of children’s teachers, and a junior youth group in a third home — were held simultaneously so families could coordinate participation.

It was an “exciting, encouraging and empowering” time as the team took flight, says Rank-Medina.

“We supported each other’s individual teaching efforts through prayer, deepening together on Universal House of Justice messages, reporting to each other (which is part of reflection), and consultation.

“We also received a lot of support and guidance from Area Teaching Committee representatives — as we do now, too.”

At the same time the neighborhood initiative was blossoming, team members participated in collective teaching efforts in other parts of the cluster.

By helping others, it was hoped, they’d gain experience that could be applied to their outreach.

Four years in, the shoe’s on the other foot. Medina and teammates are drawing in others who can help sustain the Linda Vista effort while learning skills for use elsewhere.

“In large part, these early efforts from the team have formed a core to build and rally around or they have inspired others in the Feast group to figure out what they can do or what they can start,” says Rank-Medina.

“All of which have worked toward the goal of universal participation.”

That goal, she says, “is very much in our mind because we need more help to sustain and grow these activities.”

Rank-Medina isn’t kidding about the growth.

“There are now two junior youth groups, two youth Ruhi study circles, two children’s classes (on the verge of three), two adult study circles, one devotional (on the verge of two), five households from the Feast group hosting core activities, and one seeker household hosting a core activity (on the verge of two seeker households),” she notes.

“When I say ‘on the verge’ it means we think it’s going to develop in the next month or so. But things sometimes go in directions other than what you anticipate and we’ve learned to go with the flow.”

And that’s OK, “because In some ways the accompaniment and universal participation began with and among the team itself and has gradually grown out from that.”

Now, “accompaniment and home visiting is a natural part of team members’ lives,” she reflects.

“It’s fun, it’s casual, it’s homey. It feels like really becoming a big, diverse family, and the lines blur between Bahá’ís and seekers, which makes it feel more and more welcoming and warm to all involved.”

Tucson: A passion sustained with others’ help

Camille Knudsen has a passion for teaching neighborhood children’s classes.

“Bahá’u'lláh has bestowed a gift upon me of acting in the service of children’s classes,” avers the Tucson, Arizona, Bahá’í.

“God has endowed me with the capacity to strive every day to serve the greater community.”

But she acknowledges “the only way I can sustain” two children’s classes in two neighborhoods “is to empower others to work along side with me.”

“I must be in a mode of learning that is creating universal participation of that particular neighborhood.”

Participation has taken two forms: a teaching team and the involvement of parents of children in her classes.

“The team creates a vision or goal for the neighborhood and then team members accompany each other to strive toward the goal,” is how Knudsen describes its process.

“The team members constantly study, think and act in order for the children’s classes to progress.”

As they have for four years.

The team’s first order of business was to train the initial human resources.

Then all four core activities were formed, and a decision was made to conduct them in tandem: the devotional followed by children’s class, junior youth group and study circle, with all coming together again at the end.

The team reasoned all family members’ needs would be met this way.

Sometimes it happens in the same activity.

Knudsen points to the devotional. She says it “has evolved each week as the capacity of children and adults increases.”

That is evident in the way each person states a purpose before reciting a prayer. And in the way each implements the learning from the other core activities by sharing prayers and quotes.

“The prayers create a stronger bond between all the families,” says Knudsen.

So did the creation of a diagram showing “the relationship we have with each other and the activities.”

“The four core activities were written on a white board,” she says, “and as names were written down everyone noticed how we were all connected and how these activities were the center of the relationships.”

That’s not the extent of this synergy. Team members regularly visit the study circles to consult with participants, says Knudsen, “on ways to move forward and serve others in our own neighborhood.”

“This gives the adults time to reflect, take ownership of their spiritual process … and  feel empowered to start something in their own homes.”

One mother arose to help teach one of the children’s classes.

“She loved it so much that she wants to continue to serve in this capacity,” says Knudsen.

It was a bit more challenging to keep in contact with parents who don’t participate in the activities themselves.

Knudsen and a friend started small by talking with parents one by one as they picked up their children.

“We … made a point to talk to the parents about the gems we see in their child and the prayers and quotes they memorized,” she recalls.

“Since this was such a victory, we decided to go a step further and start visiting families in their homes.”

After one such visit, the parent invited a friend and her child to the class.

“The parents even offered to help during the class and memorized the quote from the lesson along with the children,” says Knudsen.

“We also had the opportunity to tell the mother about study circles and how she can participate.”

Another mother gave permission for Knudsen to walk her daughter home after class.

“This was a perfect opportunity for us to discuss what we did in class and practice the quote we memorized for the lesson,” she recalls.

“At the end of our conversation we [mentioned] all the qualities we saw in the child and how her capacity is growing every week.”

North Gwinnett: A natural, organic process

There’s nothing like a living, breathing example of local success to help you take the leap into something new.

The Spiritual Assembly of North Gwinnett County, Georgia, is banking on that, anyway.

It is using the experiences of a teaching team that “formed very naturally, very organically” a year ago to inspire others to tackle community building in neighborhoods.

Before that team came along, North Gwinnett had experienced difficulty sustaining outreach efforts.

“There was a lapse of consistency and a lapse of the kind of commitment to follow up,”  says Andrea Perkins.

Teams encountered people interested in working alongside Bahá’ís to make their neighborhood a better place, she says.

But the teams didn’t stay together long enough to help those new acquaintances find paths of service.

This one did.

It helps that its members live very close to a neighborhood that seemed receptive to Bahá’u'lláh’s vision for humankind.

Most, too, are retirees. They can more easily devote the time needed to patiently build relationships with residents.

“Even if they weren’t going out teaching they would meet weekly for prayers and to consult and reflect on their activity,” notes Perkins, a North Gwinnett Spiritual Assembly member and Area Teaching Committee secretary.

“They created a bond and support that was really critical, that made the whole teaching effort far more cohesive.”

Over time the team saw results.

Souls were found who accepted the challenge to learn skills and understandings needed for community building, so study circles began that they themselves, as experienced tutors, would facilitate.

Parents were located who yearned for the spiritual development of their precious young, so children’s classes started.

And the question for the Assembly has become how to replicate this team’s success in other parts of the community.

For Perkins, the key is for “those who aren’t comfortable with taking a direct teaching approach in neighborhoods to accompany people who are already comfortable with that process.”

Doing so, she says, they’ll find answers to questions that might be nagging at them, such as how to begin a conversation with someone.

The Assembly, for its part, is assisting by identifying receptive neighborhoods close to potential teachers.

One of the challenges is that in some parts of the community housing is spread out, says Perkins, making relationships and neighborhood cohesion more difficult to build.

But she knows of one clear indicator of success to come: “People are coming to us asking about the Faith.

“They’re reaching out to us. And so we have to step up the pace of our engagement.”