Those elected members of the National Spiritual Assembly were: Elizabeth Wright, Judy Filson, Susanne Tamas; Enayat Rawhani, Deloria Bighorn, Todd Smith, Karen McKye, Gordon Naylor, and Borna Noureddin. [BC Vol 22 No 1 May/Jun 2009 p12]

Beth, a teacher by training, has taught English in Arizona, China, Japan, and Sakhalin Island, then pioneered to Nunavut where she, among many other things, started a painting project, "The Arctic Youth Art initiative," which has reached youth in many Inuit settlements and led to her winning this award.

The officers: Chairman— Borna Noureddin; Vice-chairman— Susanne Tamas; Secretary—Karen McKye; Assistant Secretaries—Judy Filson and Todd Smith; Treasurer—Fariborz Sahba. [From a letter S18776 from the NSA]

She first learned of the Faith from Val (Mrs Hayden Nichols neé Valeria Lamb in Lisbon in 1948. Val had been taught by Beulah Storrs Lewis in 1936 in Los Angeles. [DRDA157]

She pioneered to her native Hungary, Säo Paulo, Brazil, various place in Canada and spent three and a half years in Martinique.

In 1995 she published her first autobiography, it was in Hungarian. Her English autobiography was called Dreams, Nightmares, and Dreams Again and it was published in 2000 by White Mountain Publications. [DNDA76]

Her Master's thesis at Laval University was A proposed world order: Baha'i teachings and Institutions 1968. [DRDA120,144]

Gale was a member of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Milton and formerly lived in Shelburne and in Saskatoon.

She was the mother of Dr. Susan G. Burland (George T. Plumb of Hinsdale, Ill.), Anne L. Burland of Albany, N.Y., and William B. Burland of Saskatoon. [from the Halifax Herald 10/18/2007]

• For a biography see Sole Desire Service Cause An Odyssey of Bahá'í Service: Gale and Jameson Bond by Don Brown published by George Ronald.

Elected to the National Spiritual Assembly for a term of one year were Judy Filson (Assistant Secretary), Karen McKye (Secretary), Gordon Naylor, Borna Nourredin (Vice-Chair), Enayat Rawhani, Fariborz Sahba (Treasurer), David Smith, Susanne Tamas (Chair), and Mark Wedge. [BC Vol 20 No 1 Summer 2007 p18]

His wife Allison, (b.1942 on the Siksika Reserve), was given the name, "One Who Likes Victory." The Healy family have represented their Fist Nation at the Calgary Stampede Village and took an active role in the activities.

Sharing their culture both at home and abroad has become a way of life for the Healys. World travellers, they have taken their traditional culture and spiritual beliefs to such widely-scattered places as Siberia, India, New Zealand, Scandinavia, St. Lucia and Dominica, and Greenland. On their overseas trips, Allison and Earl often meet with aboriginal people. They found similar concerns everywhere, such as the loss of indigenous languages and the need to teach them to the young people. Some of the cultures have lost their dances and are trying to bring them back. [IndigenousBahais.com]

What is the function of the Regional Bahá'í Councils?

The primary responsibility of Regional Councils at this time is to support and guide the work of expansion and consolidation in cluster after cluster. Not only does this require them to interact directly with training institutes, Area Teaching Committees, and Local Spiritual Assemblies operating in their respective regions, they must also function in close collaboration with the Counsellors and their auxiliaries …Regional Councils gather and analyze essential information, ensure the efficient use of financial resources, and arrange for the dispatch of homefront pioneers. Moreover, they maintain regular communication with the friends in their regions, keeping them apprised of the progress of plans and facilitating the rapid dissemination of lessons learned. – February 22, 2012 Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice

The House of Justice highlights, among other things, the need for Councils to pay close attention to the operation of the regional institute, including the scheme of coordination the institute establishes at the level of the cluster. The Councils must ensure, too, the timely appearance and dynamic functioning of Area Teaching Committees. The discharge of these duties, carried out with the assistance of the Counsellors and their auxiliaries, will serve to foster the participation of increasing numbers of the friends in a rising number of programs of growth--and this, in turn, conduces to the sound development of the individual, the community, and the institutions. — August 9, 2012 Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States

The Convention also welcomed Mr. Douglas Martin, former member of the Universal House of Justice who now resides in Canada, and Mr. Larry Clarke, retiring after more than 20 years of service at the Bahá'í National Centre. Those elected to the National Spiritual Assembly for 163 B.E. were: David Smith, Gordon Naylor, Fariborz Sahba, Don Rodgers, Enayat Rawhani, Mark Wedge, Judy Filson, Susanne Tamas, and Karen McKye.

Annual report of the National Spiritual Assembly [BC Vol 19 No 1 May 2006 p7-8]

• He served on the National Spiritual Assemblies of Switzerland (1962-65), Canada (1983-91) and the Russian Federation (1996).
• He was an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Toledo for three years before coming to Canada in 1968 with his wife Judith. He served as professor of mathematics at the Université Laval until 1995.
• He was appointed to the first Board of Trustees of the Huqúqu'lláh for Canada in November of 1991. [CBNJan92 p2; 14 November, 1991]
• He was the author of vast number of articles and books including, Logic and Logos (1990), Love, Power and Justice (1998), and The Bahá'í Faith, The Emerging Global Religion (co-authored with Douglas Martin). [BWNS416, BW05-06p240-241]
• The Universal House of Justice wrote in tribute: "The Bahá'í world has lost one of its brightest minds, one of its most prolific pens. He will long be remembered for his stalwart faith, forceful exposition, and penetrating insights."
• The family of Dr. Hatcher built an on-line repository of his collected works. Contributions of recordings of his talks or other works by William Hatcher can be submitted for consideration for the site by using the contact form.

Abstract: This bi-lingual collection of stories presents a unique treasure for members and friends of the Baha'i Faith who are interested in history of the Faith as well as the important art of storytelling. The accounts recorded in this volume have been carefully translated into English from the original Persian and Arabic and include accounts by and about: The beloved Master 'Abdu'l-Baha, Haji Mirza Haydar 'Ali, Dr. Zia Baghdadi, Dr. Yunis Afrukhtih, 'Ali Akbar Furutan, Adib Tahirzadih, Abul-Qasim Faizi and other dearly-loved and historic figures.

The following were elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly: Mrs. Karen McKye, Mrs. Judy Filson, Mr. Husayn Banani, Mr. Mark Wedge, Mr. Gordon Naylor, Mr. Enayat Rawhani , Mrs. Susanne Tamas, Mrs. Susan Lyons, and Mr. Donald Rogers. [BC Vol 16 no 3 July 2003 p15]

• See Bahá'í Chronicles.

The book was written in response to the message from the Universal House of Justice dated 1 September 1983.

Holding a musical concert outdoors was not like doing it with the natural acoustics of a hall. To counter wind noise, wind socks had to be fitted on all the microphones on all of the instruments of the orchestra and then reverberation and other effects added on a mixing console.

Other Canadians who participated in the musical tribute were mezzo-soprano Patricia Green, tenor Stuart Howe and baritone Brett Polegato. [BWNS118; BWNS120]

The main focus of the evening was a theatrical performance entitled A Life So Noble, which had been inspired by Ruhiyyih Khanum's life. Written by Canadian-born actress/writer Beverley Evans and directed by Annabel Knight, the show took four major aspects of Khanum's life and character and personified them in four women actresses, Maria Friedman, Beverley Evans, Sarah Clive and Kerry-Ann Smith, who told her story using words taken from Ruhiyyih Khanum's own lectures and writings.[BWNS124]

The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the new city of Gatineau was elected at Ridván 2001. Those elected were Laylee Rohani Delaney, Pierre Austin, Ruth Vanderstelt, Bernard Cardin, Peter Brady, Muguette Brady, Alain Robitaille, Pamela Stellick and Patrick Marshall.

Annual Report of the National Spiritual Assembly [BC Vol 13 No 2 June 2000 p21]

Those elected to the National Spiritual Assembly for 157 B.E. were: Mark Wedge, Susan Lyons, Gordon Naylor, Enayat Rawhani, Susanne Tamas, Husayn Banani, Karen McKye, Judy Filson and Margot Leonard. [BC Vol 13 No 2 June 2000 p19]

She learned of the Faith while working in a doctor's office in Prince George, British Columbia, in 1966. She is remembered for her bi-weekly trips to Reserves some two hours from her home, usually by herself and sometimes in the harshest of winter conditions. In 1991, a year after her husband, Murdo, passed away she received permission to pioneer, departing for Abaco, Bahamas, residing there for nine years as a retiree. She travelled all over the island countless times, visiting the friends, but also opened her home to any number of neighbours and friends, tutoring the children of the local primary school, and continuing the volunteerism she began in Canada. She served on the Spiritual Assembly of Central Abaco and was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly, serving as its unpaid Secretary for the last three years of her life. [From a message from the Department of the Secretariat dated 2 April, 2000; BC Vol 13 No2 May 2000 p45]

Her greatest love was teaching the Native people of Canada and Greenland. She travelled to Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and attended the dedication of the Houses of Worship in the the United States, Samoa and in India. [BW28p309]

This autobiographical account by this extraordinary lady spans from the early days of World War II as the wife of a diplomat in Portugal, to her later years as a Bahá'í pioneer in Brazil, Martinque, and Canada. Of Hungarian origin and education, she brings a unique view of her life, and of the Bahá'í Faith.