What’s Happening?
What a brilliant reflection meeting on 3 July that really got us going. Things are starting to get intensive now. As of 9 July we have an intensive Book 1 Study Circle as well as a Book 3 happening. On the 16 July an intensive Book 2 is going to start. On the 23 July an intensive Book 7 is going to start. This should lead us nicely through the sequence and give everyone an opportunity to do the books intensively.
And the study circle figures are Carrickfergus: 0, Castlereagh: 0, Belfast: Eight Book 1’s, One Book 3, North Down: 0, Newtownabbey: 0, Lisburn: One Book 1.
Report by Area Coordinator Mahan Hashemi-zadeh
A Reflection Meeting is planned for September. This will be hosted by the friends in the Cookstown area (date to be announced). No doubt this gathering will increase the momentum in the Cluster.
Book 3 continues in an enthusiastic manner in Londonderry.
The first of a series of devotional meetings planned for Limavady has taken place. This is a project undertaken by the participants in the “Clarendon” Book 2 Study Circle after they completed the course.
Report by Area Coordinator Lesley Taherzadeh O’Mara
Throughout the cluster regular devotional meetings and firesides have been held and recently two Study Circles have been started in the Coleraine area, a Book 1 and a Book 2.
The Book 2 is being continued on from a Book 1 which had tremendous success. Several devotional meetings were held with different themes such as ‘Healing’ and ‘The Departed’ and the Study Circle has held a number of social events in Coleraine. Furthermore, one of the participants of the Study Circle declared and two of the other collaborators have stated their interest in studying the faith in the future.
In the Ballymena and Cullybackey areas there has been success with children classes. Recently some of the friends went on Pilgrimage to Haifa and based on meditation there have decided to propose holding children’s classes at a local Integrated school. While the friends await the response form the school after questionnaires were sent out to parents, they have heard from a few sources that there was a very favorable response to their proposal, news which comes as a source of great encouragement to the friends and the cluster as a whole.
Report by Area Coordinator Navid Agahi
In this issue I’d like to share with you a vision of where we would like to be. On this exciting smooth road – dug, filled and tarred by our Training Institute – that we are walking on, soon to be jogging along and then
In Ottawa, Canada the junior youth material through an interfaith initiative, the mayor and chief of police have endorsed the material and are asking the faith groups to use it with their communities. After a recent meeting one of the ministers had asked about ordering 40 copies for his congregation, as they have no such material for this age group and he was apparently quite impressed. And their steering committee is going to pilot it with two groups.
This has also lead to further cooperation with other organizations and the possibility of having high school youth serve as animators as part of their mandatory 40 hour volunteer requirement. If this goes well over the next six to nine months they will have a very good opportunity to approach the Boards of Education with a request that it be part of the curriculum.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
Report by Junior Youth CoordinatorAfnan Hashemi-zadeh
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