Start of the Institute Process

In its message of 26 December 1995 to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors the Universal House of Justice announced that a Four Year Plan would be rolled out at Ridván.

• See as well the Ridván Message 153

  As the term "institute" has assumed various uses in the Bahá'í community, a word of clarification is needed. The next four years will represent an extraordinary period in the history of our Faith, a turning point of epochal magnitude. What the friends throughout the world are now being asked to do is to commit themselves, their material resources, their abilities and their time to the development of a network of training institutes on a scale never before attempted. These centres of Bahá'í learning will have as their goal one very practical outcome, namely, the raising up of large numbers of believers who are trained to foster and facilitate the process of entry by troops with efficiency and love.

The Four Year Plan (1996-2000) was launched with its focus on a single aim: a significant advance in the process of entry by troops. This work would require the informed participation of a great many souls and in 1996, the Bahá'í world was summoned to take up the vast educational challenge this entailed. It was called to establish a network of training institutes focused on generating an increasing flow of individuals endowed with the necessary capacities to sustain the process of growth. [Ridván Message 2021]
• See message addressed To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors dated 26 December 1995 concerning the Four Year Plan.
• See message to the Bahá'ís of the World dated 31 December 1995 announcing the new Plan. It was announced that Training Institutes would be established and they will be charged with developing human resources. The Counsellors and the Auxiliary Board members will be intimately involved in the establishment and operation of these institutes. The two arms of the Administrative Order will collaborate in the overseeing of the budget and planning program content, developing curricula and delivering courses. Should there be a board of directors then Auxiliary Board Members may serve on these bodies.
• The Universal House of Justice sent a Ridván message and Four Year Plan instructions to the Bahá'ís of the World and separate messages to eight regions.
• Riḍván 153 – To the Bahá'ís of the World
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in North America: Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the United States
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in Australia, the Cook Islands, the Eastern Caroline Islands, the Fiji Islands, French Polynesia, the Hawaiian Islands, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Korea, the Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and the Western Caroline Islands
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in Africa
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in Western and Central Asia
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in Europe
• Riḍván 153 – To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in Latin America and the Caribbean
• See The Significance of the Four Year Plan (PDF)by Andrew Alexander.
• For the definitive report see The Four Year Plan and the Twelve Month Plan, 1996-2001 Summary of Achievements prepared under the supervision of the International Teaching Centre.
• See Training Institutes, a document prepared for and approved by the Universal House of Justice, April 1998.
  • The training institutes focused on generating an increasing flow of individuals endowed with the necessary capacities to sustain the process of growth. It was recognized that certain activities were a natural response to the spiritual needs of a population. Study circles, children's classes, devotional meetings, and later junior youth groups stood out as being of central importance in this regard, and when woven together with related activities, the dynamics generated could give rise to a vibrant pattern of community life. [Ridván Message 2021]
  See as well the publication The Four Year Plan: Messages of the Universal House of Justice

The Universal House of Justice made further clarifications on the subject of Training Institutes in the message addressed to the Bahá'ís of the World as well as in the regional messages. It placed the establishment and development of training institutes in the context of the far-reaching changes that would characterize the progress of the Faith in this period of Bahá'í history.
"What the friends throughout the world are now being asked to do is to commit themselves, their material resources, their abilities and their time to the development of a network of training institutes on a scale never before attempted. These centers of Bahá'í learning will have as their goal one very practical outcome, namely, the raising up of large numbers of believers who are trained to foster and facilitate the process of entry by troops with efficiency and love." [Message from the Universal House of Justice Ridván 153, Training Institutes and Systematic Growth (Feb 2000), Mess86-01p489-490 para27-para30]
• Also see [Extracts from Messages re training institutes]

Further, in its message of 26 November 1999 it stated that "An impressive network of training institutes on a scale but dimly imagined at the start of the Plan has been established throughout the world. These nascent centres of learning have made significant strides in developing formal programmes and in putting into place effective systems for the delivery of courses. Reports indicate that the number of believers benefiting directly from training courses has climbed to nearly 100,000." [Message 26 November, 1999]

The publication of Building Momentum: A Coherent Approach to Growth by the International Teaching Centre at the request of the Universal House of Justice. Because of the cancellation of the 9th International Conference this publication had to be sent to all National Spiritual Assemblies rather than giving a copy to the delegates as had been planned. [BW03-04p35] See also TP367.
• See also the Message from the Universal House of Justice 17 January 2003.

The publication of Impact of Growth on Administration Processes by the International Teaching Centre on behalf of the Universal House of Justice.
• The PDF for Learning to Respond to Emerging New Realities: Messages from the Universal House of Justice can be found here. The document Impact of Growth on Administration Processes is part of that document.
• See also TP397.

It was announced that the property, formally known as "Providence Point", located near Lanark on the Clyde River, was purchased for the sum of $2.15M by the Ottawa Spiritual Assembly. The property included 60 Acres of land and 1,140 feet of waterfront. The 6,490 sqft Conference Centre included a 600sqft conference room and a dining room The property also had several small cabins. [from a report from the Ottawa Assembly Sharaf 178] iiiii
• Photos.