Dear Bahá'î Friends
The Council has consulted on the challenge recently highlighted by the National Spiritual Assembly in its letter to the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom of 22 June 2005: to give full effect to the requirement of the Five Year Plan to rapidly increase the number of children’s classes in all clusters. While aware of the enormous implications of the change in culture necessitated by the move away from community schools, the Council is also excited by the opportunities this challenge offers the Northern Ireland community.
A large number of our children both presently and in the past attended the George Townshend Bahá'í School. We wish to place on record our profound gratitude to those individuals and communities who gave so much, so enthusiastically and so lovingly, to make the school such a success. The children that have passed through the school, and also the adults attending the accompanying adult classes, were greatly enriched through their participation. In addition, a pool of experience in the education of children has been accumulated over the years that will now be put to good use at a local level.
Nearly every aspect of Bahá'í community life is being challenged to grow and develop in the new culture that is emerging in the Bahá'í world under the direction of the Universal House of Justice. We may see this particular advancement like a dandelion that has reached its maturity and must scatter its seeds into the winds of change that new plants will grow farther afield.
The Council is confident that the human resources developed over the years in children’s classes, and more recently by the Training Institute, provide our community with the essentials needed to meet the challenge we now face. During the coming months the Institutions will be considering in depth how to meet this challenge. However, in the meantime, we would urge local Assemblies, groups and isolated believers to consult the Training Institute’s children’s class co-ordinator.
With all our love, Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland.
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