Archives › Devotional Gatherings
An ongoing process of action, reflection, consultation, study and the application of those learnings through further action is marking efforts nationwide to share the vision and teachings of Baha’u’llah with friends and neighbors. Witness these three recent examples shared with The American Baha’i: Guidance translates to action Baha’is serving the King Estates neighborhood of south [...]
Often a Baha’i or a Baha’i-sponsored activity will touch a heart or mind, or both. It will spark within an individual the longing to learn more, engage further in some way — begin a spiritual journey, perhaps, that can be nurtured. Here are three recent examples reported by Baha’is around the country: Sharing a love [...]
Photo Gallery Some members of a New York City junior youth group pose with groceries they collected. Photo courtesy of Lev Rickards Click to enlarge and browse a gallery of related photos. It’s easy to see why efforts by Baha’is to build community where they live revolve around the core activities of children’s classes, junior [...]
Recent growth of the Baha’i Faith in the Triangle cluster of North Carolina is closely tied to the evolution of the Spiritual Assembly serving one of its communities, Carrboro. Photo Gallery Several members of the Spiritual Assembly of Carrboro are among those pictured at a local Holy Day celebration. Photo courtesy of Nathan Shepherd Click [...]
All ages are learning together in the Creighton neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona. Photo Gallery Collecting cell photos before her Jr. Youth Group is an effective way to keep distractions at a minimum. Photo courtesy of Marilyn Sanchez Click to enlarge and browse a gallery of related photos. The children are refining their character. The junior [...]
The word devotion has taken on an entirely new meaning for Gabriela Denise Frank since the Seattle-based writer took part in a Baha’i gathering on the north side of Chicago. Frank also visited the Baha’i House of Worship in suburban Wilmette and joined in an intercommunity Baha’i picnic on the shore of Lake Michigan before [...]
David and Jilla Simmons are middle-school teachers. Look up “frazzled” in the dictionary and you might see their photo. But when the first and third Fridays of each month roll around, the Simmonses don’t collapse. They open their Seattle home for a devotional gathering known as Unity Night that averages 30 to 40 attendees from [...]
Photo Gallery English and Spanish lessons kindle faith in Baha’u’llah. Photo courtesy of Kalim LeBlanc Click to enlarge photo. We help you learn English. You help us learn Spanish. Together we study Baha’u’llah’s revelation in both languages. That’s the arrangement Kalim LeBlanc reached with Ovidio Serrano one day four years ago in Santa Maria, California. [...]
Devotional gathering is bringing moms together in Lincoln, Nebraska. Photo courtesy of Katie Bodie Cervantes They’ve served actively. Now they’re married and diving into the “baby business.” How can young adult Baha’is find avenues of service that fit around parenthood? Billie Kay Bodie of Burchard, Nebraska, raised these concerns in consultation at the recent 104th [...]
Life in Baltimore, Maryland, a city of row houses, centers on people’s front stoops. So when Baha’is began sharing the Faith’s teachings in the Collington Square neighborhood three years ago, all eyes were on them. They’d have to demonstrate to residents of one of the city’s poorest areas their love and sincerity. The catalyst, Tod [...]
The arts uniquely connect hearts to the divine and ease the burden of souls, say musicians Eric Dozier and JB Eckl. But when Baha’is get together, they say, the community’s otherwise awe-inspiring diversity presents a dilemma: How to craft a shared worship experience? Enter the Badasht Music Project. Through its recordings, website and visits to [...]
In Kansas City, Missouri, a local interfaith council raised the idea and the Baha’is ran with it. In Columbia, South Carolina, the Baha’is’ observance was one of eight in the area. What they all were celebrating was UN World Interfaith Harmony Week. The annual event was inaugurated only a year ago by the international body [...]
HIDDEN IMAGES – A Collaborative Photo Devotional
On July 24, 2011 friends from diversity of backgrounds attended the “Hidden Images” devotional gathering at the Baha’i Center in historic Tainan, Taiwan. “The process was simple. Each person received one quotation from a major religious background: Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Baha’i. The task was to interpret the words as expressed in reality [...]
The Word of God opens doors Baltimore, Maryland, Bahá’ís have discovered that the “universal desire to share the Word of God” is making it easier to forge friendships and earn trust. That is especially true, says Tod Rutstein, in neighborhoods populated mainly by people of other cultures. “The receptive neighborhoods we are currently working with [...]
Women of all backgrounds experience traditional ceremony as an extension of regular prayer gatherings in Durham, North Carolina.