"Let this century be the sun of previous centuries...so that in times to come they shall glorify the twentieth century, saying the twentieth century was the century of lights..."

The positivity of this quote of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s, so at odds with most retrospective views of the century, became the motivational focus and theme of a very special Centenary Event held by the Northern Ireland Bahá’í community. On Thursday 18th November, after eighteen months of planning, Belfast’s prestigious Waterfront Hall saw a gathering of over 1,200 people from every area and walk of life join the Bahá’ís for a celebration of the humanitarian achievements of the people of Northern Ireland.

The event, entitled the "Century of Light" was an awards ceremony, attended by Mayors and Mayoresses, the Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Marie Moore of Belfast, dignitaries, local television and radio personalities, representatives of many charity, minority, and voluntary action groups, friends, relatives and even a school party.

The twentieth century was the century of life

The "Century of Light" commemorated the centenary of the Bahá’í Faith in Britain by celebrating the realisation of some of the basic principles of the Faith as demonstrated in the lives of Northern Irish people of all denominations. Groups and individuals throughout Northern Ireland were invited to nominate an individual or organisation who they thought had made a significant contribution to the areas of Peace, the Elimination of Prejudice, Equality, Human Rights or Courage. After a long process and a difficult task for the selected judging panel, five surprised and tearful recipients made their way on stage to collect their beautiful bronzed award statue.

Ken Mulligan, a dedicated and selfless worker in the social field received the award for Equality from presenter Sheila Rodgers of the Northern Ireland Equality Commission.

Anne Carr, who, among other achievements, is one of the leading lights behind the movement "Women Together for Peace", received her award from Frank McGuinness of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

The Elimination of Prejudice award was presented by Mayor James Currie OBE to the founder parents and teachers of Shimna Integrated College. Integrated education is a big step forward in this violently segregated part of the world; the founders of this particular school were so dedicated to the ideal of "education for all" that they sent their children to a school which initially had no funding, staff or premises!

The twentieth century was the century of international peace

Baroness May Blood MBE presented the Human Rights award to a sprightly Irene Leacock, an elderly lady who has campaigned for human rights and environmental issues since the 1950s.

The award for Courage was presented by blind waterski champion Janet Gray to joint recipients St John Ambulance, Omagh Division, the Order of Malta, Omagh, and Omagh Red Cross. This award recognised not only the courage shown by these separate organisations, thrown together by the horrific bomb attack of 15th August 1998, but of all the people of Omagh.

A special posthumous award was presented to Peter McLachlan, for a lifetime of achievement in the social field. This award was collected by his daughter, Heather.

The twentieth century was the century of divine bestowals...

The achievements of all the nominees were celebrated in an inspiring programme hosted by broadcaster Ann Hailes, and successfully blended the Words of Bahá’u’lláh with music, song, video and dance provided by local and international artists. Neil Everett a former Young Musician of the Year, enthralled the audience with his virtuoso reworking of jazz standards, while everybody’s favourites, Suzanne and Kingsley Swan brought their Caribbean exuberance. The beautiful voices of Zhenia Mahdi-Nau, Greta O’Shea, the Northern Ireland Bahá’í Choir, and broadcaster Lata Sharma made their mark, alongside the Ireland’s own Unity Dance Workshop and the world championship Irish dancers Scoil Rince Dalriada.

The diversity of ages, faiths, races and cultures was a feature of the "Century of Light" throughout the event, from planning to finale, and one of the contributing factors towards its success.

The press coverage was beyond our expectations. Articles and photographs appeared in all the national and many local newspapers, and interviews were broadcast on the main radio stations. A slot was even given to the event on the Northern Ireland province-wide TV channel UTV during the evening news programme. One of the most exciting developments in this area was a large, complimentary in-depth article on the Bahá’í Faith in the national paper, The Irish News, written by Anne Hailes. When first envisaging this event, the community here hoped that the name ‘Bahá’í’ would be shared with every household in Northern Ireland; it seems as if this goal has just about been achieved! Now the community, cheered by public receptivity to this audacious event, is beginning to take advantage of the exciting opportunities created.

...and the twentieth century has left traces which shall last forever

Just as the event was a ‘thankyou’ to those people in Northern Ireland who are helping to build the fabric of a strong, healthy society, so we would like to take this opportunity to thank anyone who played a part in the "Century of Light" event. Because of your participation thousands of people have been touched by the message of Bahá’u’lláh; many of the audience expressed to their Bahá’í friends their reluctance to leave the Hall as the event drew to a close. Because of your hard work and sacrifices the Bahá’í Faith is finally emerging from obscurity in an area of the world that so sorely needs peace. We feel that the spiritual repercussions have already begun; can it be only a coincidence that a few days after this event peace was declared in Northern Ireland - in the very same Hall?

A new one-day course Building Communities Others Want to Join - part two is available from later this month. This course has been developed by the Training Institute for England and is available to Assembly members who have completed the original course (Building Communities Others Want to Join - part one). Like before, the purpose of the course is to enable Assemblies to progress the activity and development of the local community. This is one of the prerequisites to advancing the process of entry by troops, the principal objective of the Four-Year Plan. The course looks to increase effectiveness in applying spiritual principles and developing talents and skills for planning teaching projects.

The course builds on the experiences and insights acquired from the first course. Specific attention is paid to the spiritual principles and competencies required by Assemblies to be effective "planners of teaching work". Using hands-on methods, participants will have the opportunity to review and evaluate what progress the Assembly has made in using and developing the talents and skills of the members of the community.

Collaborative effort relies on a mutual understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, talents and skills and our willingness to work within each other’s limitations. Building Communities Others Want to Join - part two allows participants to discover each individual Assembly member’s own unique range of talents and skills and how these can be used to increase the effectiveness of a community’s capacity to sustain projects and initiate new ones. The Course also provides a forum to apply these talents in an experimental way.

The course explores the spiritual principles underpinning effective planning and the history of planning in the development of the Faith. Case studies provide an opportunity for participants to evaluate how various communities apply these spiritual principles to implement teaching projects that reflect the diverse character of each community.