Meeting with Greenway MP enriches understanding of Baha’i community-building efforts 

The Baha’is of Blacktown have met with their federal member of Parliament to share how the local Baha’i community-building endeavours are strengthening the social, spiritual and economic life within the locality. 

In January, the local governing body of the Baha’is of Blacktown, the Local Spiritual Assembly, met with its MP, Member for Greenway and Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, to share the progress of the local Baha’i community and to strengthen a collaborative relationship.  

During the meeting, the Local Spiritual Assembly shared updates with Ms Rowland about the efforts to build vibrant communities in several of the neighbourhoods and localities within the electorate.  

Clips from films that have been produced at the grassroots in Mount Druitt were shared, highlighting the impact of several initiatives that have been undertaken to improve the social, spiritual and economic life of these communities.

Efforts being undertaken by a group of families in The Ponds to strengthen a culture of mutual support between the families on their street were also highlighted. Ms Rowland shared that despite the rising cost of living pressures and challenges that individuals and families are facing, there is clearly still a longing on the part of those engaged in these initiatives to be part of something bigger than themselves and to contribute to societal well-being.  

Ms Rowland was also struck by how inviting the Baha’i community is towards embracing people from all backgrounds to come together in unity and find common ground. It was acknowledged that many of the problems we see in our localities, such as crime, are outward symptoms of the deeper issues that society is facing around belonging and identity.  

The efforts of the Baha’i community are striving to address these fundamental issues and a passage from the international governing body of the Baha’i Faith, the Universal House of Justice, was shared:  

“We are all too aware that the community … cannot expect to be unaffected by the travails of society. Yet, though it is affected by these travails, it is not confused by them; it is saddened by humanity’s sufferings, but not paralysed by them. Heartfelt concern must prompt sustained effort to build communities that offer hope in place of despair, unity in place of conflict.”¹ 

1. Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2024 message to the Baha’is of the World.[↩]