The Council for Wales has designated the Ninth Day of Ridván, 2000 as a Memorial Day to remember our fellow co-workers who have passed on during the 50 years of the Faith in Wales. Throughout Wales on that day memorial services can be held in any way that the local communities would wish e.g on a regional, community or even on an individual basis. The Council for Wales would like to send out suitable readings and contributions on the lives of these beloved Bahá’ís and hasasked Beatrice Kent to collect these contributions.

If you have a memory of a Bahá’í, a poem or anything written by them or an order of the funeral service please could you send them to Beatrice at Karlstad, Brynhyfryd Terrace, Energlyn, Caerphilly, CF83 2QQ. Tel: 01222 882063. Please send them by end of December.

Over the past year, the Board of Counsellors in Europe has organised a series of intense seminars for members of National Spiritual Assemblies, the Auxiliary Board and the Training Institute Boards. The principal aim of these seminars was to provide a forum for the exchange of experiences and to consolidate the lessons learnt in order to re-focus all efforts on the primary purpose of training teachers of the Cause. These gatherings also served an educational role, providing the friends with a more profound understanding of many aspects relating to the institute process and its key role in the Four Year Plan.

Participants from the United Kingdom attended the seminar in Italy (in June), which was blessed with the presence of Counsellor Gustavo Correa from Colombia, in addition to the European Counsellors, Patrick O’Mara, Ilhan Sezgin, Tiberiu Vajda and Sohrab Youssefian. Members of the Bahá’í institutions of thirteen countries (Albania, Cyprus, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Malta, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia, Turkey, United Kingdom, the Ukraine) were present at this gathering. The participation from the United Kingdom was particularly strong with the National Spiritual Assembly being represented by two of its members as well as the presence of five members of the Auxiliary Board, and members of all four Bahá’í Councils and Training Institute Boards (for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).

The calling of this conference with only one year left to the end of the Four Year Plan imbued the daily proceedings with a sense of urgency and mission to accelerate the development of the institute in the various countries. Mr Correa shared illuminating experiences of "distance-education" delivery of courses through the use of study circles, as well as curricula consisting of well-conceived sequences of courses. The four European Counsellors, addressed the participants on other themes relating to the institute, such as: training institutes as a vehicle of teaching, the roles and responsibilities of the institutions, training teachers of the Faith, catering for different populations, and linking participants with teaching projects and activities.

The presence of numerous members of the institutions responsible for course design and implementation at this educational seminar, fostered a greater unity of vision of the growth of the Cause. The collective results of this unique gathering were to create a renewed consciousness of the fundamental role of the institute in the teaching work and a greater determination to effect the training in our communities that our Beloved Supreme Body has called for.

The understanding of the Training Institute for England following this seminar, grew significantly as many new insights were gained, preparing the path for a fresh approach to these vital centres of learning. We are now very excited about the immediate prospects of training in the English Bahá’í community. Watch this space for future developments!

The Board of the Training Institute for England

Members of the Council for Northern Ireland have been involved in several important events during May, June and July. Along with other members of the Northern Ireland Community, some of us attended the Community Day of the State of the World Forum. We all found this to be a very useful and educational day.

The Council was also approached by a funeral director in the Belfast area about the possibility of our doing a Bahá’í blessing for a Chinese lady’s funeral. This came about as a direct result of a Bahá’í, living about 10 miles from Belfast, having contact with their local funeral director and giving him a copy of the Bahá’ís magazine. The blessing was beautifully and sensitively done by the friends in the community and was very much appreciated by the Chinese family. The receptionist at the funeral home also listened in to the service and afterwards said how beautiful the readings had been and requested a copy of them. It just goes to show that you can never tell what may come from giving someone a Bahá’í book -many thanks to those from the community who helped.

On a purely Bahá’í front, two members of the Council went to Accuto, to meet with members of Training Institutes, National Spiritual Assemblies, Board Members and Councillors from all over Europe as well as members of the other UK Councils. They had a most enjoyable and informative few days hearing about and talking about Training Institutes in countries such as Cyprus, Albania, Slovakia/Croatia, Italy, Ireland and Ukraine.

In June we also had a very useful weekend of training in external affairs and Bahá’í diplomacy. The National Secretary Barney Leith and Dan Wheatley came over to Northern Ireland to run this first training weekend for Northern Ireland. The Council, the Association of Bahá’í Women and a few invited Bahá’ís attended. We had a most instructive and amusing two days - many thanks Barney and Dan.

All the members of the Council have recently gone through a special training course on consultation. This was prepared and led by the Training Institute at our request. We all have found it to be of great assistance. We are very grateful to the Institute, and to Denis Coyle and Kiyan Khosravi in particular.

Within the community, one major event stands out for mention. That is the bar-b-que and sale that were arranged to raise funds to help with the costs of Summer School. In spite of it being a rainy day, it raised an amazing £1,316.50. Any money not needed for Summer School is going to the Council as some of their allocated funds. Great work by everybody concerned, especially the organiser, who prefers to remain annonymous. It is much appreciated.

Kevin Costner’s daughter in "Field of Dreams" said - "If you build it, they will come". The same is true of a well-functioning University Bahá’í Society. There are as many different ways of running a Bahá’í Society as there are Bahá’í Societies. What are you interested in doing? - Parties, dinners, talks, football, café crawls, forums, Interfaith prayers, outings, Firesides, art, music?

If last year’s Bahá’í Society, or the one your friend was in, just invited professors to talk, don’t think you have to do the same. The secret of a Bahá’í Society is giving people something they ENJOY (whether they’ve never heard of the Bahá’í Faith or are fifth generation ...). Be imaginative!

Have you got a Local Spiritual Assembly? If so, they may be able to give you some help with money. The University may also help you financially, although they may want you to charge your members a small fee. (Anyone at all can be a member.) It helps if you can elect someone as Treasurer, and keep accurate records and keep receipts for everything you spend! The University may want to see your records. Keeping finances is not hard, and there will always be people you can ask for help. You may also want to elect a President or a Secretary, if you have enough people.

Get together to decide what you are interested in, how often you want to do it, who’s going to run it, and so on.

Making it work - this is necessarily brief. It would be a lot of help to you to look at The Bahá’í Societies Handbook, which is available on the Internet.

Advertising - let people in the university know what you’re doing. If you ’re going to make posters, make them attractive, put striking pictures on them, and grab people’s attention. Leave time to put lots of them up!

Termcards - these do a lot of your advertising work for you. People can pin them up on their noticeboards and be reminded of your future events.

Webpage - its surprising how many people will find their way to your webpage! You can put any information you want there (your termcard, a history of the Faith, etc), and you can link to other Bahá’í sites.

e-mail lists - let you send out reminders to people on your list about Bahá’í Society events.

Joint events - give you a chance to meet a whole new audience: eg: organising an event with a Jazz Society, or with an Interfaith society, etc.

Freshers’ Fair - probably the most important event of the year. You will have a chance to tell thousands of students about the Bahá’í Society as they walk past your stall. Think carefully about how you will prepare for it. How will you decorate the stall (flowers, rugs, tablecloth, music, sultanas, pictures of the Bahá’í Temples, quotations)? Will you have leaflets to give out? How will they look? What will they say? How will you describe the Bahá’í Society to people who ask about it? Would you find it interesting if you’d never heard of it?

Do it! - If you need any help or advice please contact the Youth Task Force at the above address.

"Defuse the bomb" - one of the youth activities at the "Warriors of the Covenant" weekend in Gloucestershire.

Sunday 4th July was not only Independence Day in the United States, it also marked a special occasion here in England. A historic occasion for the first gathering called on by the relatively recent addition to the Bahá’í administration in this country - the Bahá’í Council for England.

Over two hundred people gathered in Nottingham for the launch of the "Make your mark 157" campaign. This campaign, as the name suggests, aimed to encourage all Bahá’ís residing in England to take to heart, and put into action, the potent words of the Universal House of Justice, Ridván message 156 -

"Dear Friends: The days pass swiftly as the twinkle of a star. Make your mark now, at this crucial turning point of a juncture, the like of which shall never return. Make that mark in deeds that will ensure for you celestial blessings - guarantee for you, for the entire race, a future beyond any earthly reckoning."

It was these words that the Bahá’í Council for England wanted immortalised in this country, through the increased ardour and tempo with which the friends act to share the precious message of Bahá’u’lláh with all those who cross their paths. We will not be alone as we respond to four clear means by which we can participate in this campaign -

• identifying one person we can assist to embrace this Faith
• individually holding our own regular firesides
• saying the campaign prayer every day
• attending the Training Institute "Make me a teacher of Thy Cause" course

The vision and goals were communicated to those present with power and encouragement from representatives of the Learned Arm, National Spiritual Assembly, Training Institute Board for England and the Council for England itself - with the additional energy added by the singing of the children and the powerful use of music. Whether we were able to attend this meeting or not, we can all become a spiritual part of this campaign by calling for assistance with this campaign prayer -

Thou knowest, O God, and art my witness, that I have no desire in my heart save to attain Thy good pleasure, to be confirmed in servitude unto Thee, to consecrate myself in Thy service, to labour in Thy great vineyard and to sacrifice all in Thy path. Thou art the All-Knowing and the All-Seeing. I have no wish save to turn my steps, in my love for thee, towards the mountains and the deserts, to loudly proclaim the advent of Thy Kingdom, and to raise Thy call amidst all men. O God! Open Thou the way for this helpless one, grant Thou the remedy to this ailing one, and bestow Thy healing upon this afflicted one. With burning heart and tearful eyes I supplicate Thee at Thy Threshold.

O God! I am prepared to endure any ordeal in Thy path and desire with all my heart and soul to meet any hardship.

O God! Protect me from tests. Thou knowest full well that I have turned away from all things and freed myself of all thoughts. I have no occupation save mention of Thee and no aspiration save serving Thee. -‘Abdu’l-Bahá

It was surprising but truly wonderful to see so many friends at the Launch of the "Make Your Mark 157" campaign. For the Council it was the fruit of several weeks intensive planning, but for us as a whole, the Bahá’í Community of England, it was the beginning of that final stretch towards the culmination of the Four Year Plan. The next nine months promise to be hard work indeed, but the Council has faith that the results of these labours will be real and tangible successes in both the fields of expansion and consolidation.

As part of its committment to advancing the process of Entry By Troops within the context of the campaign, the Council will be hosting a series of sub-regional gatherings in January 2000 - in London and the South East; the South West; the Midlands; and the North of England. These will provide opportunities, in a more intimate atmosphere, to celebrate the victories won; and to plan for the capture of those goals still outstanding.

In addition, the Council has decided to maintain contact via a Nineteen Day Feast communication on a regular basis for the remainder of the Plan, and hopes to continue meeting through its individual members with many communities in the ensuing months.

Friends in the region will have received the first edition of the Council’s quarterly newsletter - The English Bahá’í. The editorial board will be thrilled to hear your comments and suggestions, and may be contacted via: The Editorial Board, c/o Dr Isatou Hyde-Forster, Alafia, 27 Coombe Rise, Saltdean, Brighton BN2 8QN

Have you held a Centenary event in your area? If the answer is "yes" please make sure that a copy of the programme, flyers, press cuttings, photos, etc. have been sent for inclusion in the Centenary book. Post to: Mrs Marion Weinberg, 5 Rhodaus Close, Canterbury CT1 2RE Tel: 01227 768458.

And finally... the Council is sad to announce the leaving of its longest serving member, Laili Cleasby. Laili has been pivotal in the formation of the Council’s secretariat as well as providing sage advice (and treats!) for us less experienced members, making our initiation less harrowing. She shall be missed. Her replacement is Naghme Adab, a doctor from Liverpool, currently engaged in research. Laili’s departure has necessitated the appointment of a new secretary, and the Council is delighted to announce Mrs Tifanni Razavi has taken on that role.

With loving greetings, The Bahá’í Council for England