United in purpose: national governing body sends message of encouragement to Australian Baha’i community

With “hearts filled with abiding joy and gratitude”, the national governing body of the Baha’i Faith, the National Spiritual Assembly, has sent a message to the Baha’is of Australia reflecting on the progress made in Australia since the launch of the Nine Year Plan in April 2022. 

The Nine Year Plan is a spiritual enterprise devoted to strengthening community-building efforts in a diversity of settings across Australia and the world. The international governing body of the Baha’i Faith, the Universal House of Justice, stated in a message to the Baha’is of Australia that: 

One of the most significant developments during the first phase of the Plan, the National Assembly states, has been the rise of groups of families and households praying, studying, and serving together, strengthening the spiritual and social well-being of their neighbourhoods and reflecting the family as the basic building block of community, and beyond, of the entire social order.  

“The Universal House of Justice now broadens this vision, highlighting how other natural groupings – ‘such as women or youth, farmers or educators, and animators or children’s class teachers’ – can likewise become protagonists, applying Baha’u’llah’s Revelation to community life and inspiring wider participation in its advancement,” the National Assembly states.  

Centres where the community-building endeavours are especially intense have also multiplied since the start of the Plan and greater numbers of people are engaging in educational programs and community-building initiatives. The message states that regular educational programs, including festivals and camps, are being undertaken in about 30 centres across Sydney with a “steady flow of participation in the institute process as more people learn to apply the Word of God to transform their lives and communities”.  

The message touches on the strengthening of social action initiatives during the course of the past four years. Social action projects of fixed duration have increased notably from 266 in 2022 to 1051 in the year leading to Ridvan 2026 with families and communities “increasingly identifying practical ways to respond to the needs of society through community-based initiatives.” “Examples include the youth empowerment community-based initiative in the Torres Strait Cluster, which seeks to foster the capacities of young people to contribute to the well-being of their communities, and the Mosman Park sisterhood initiative in the Perth cluster, which creates spaces for women to accompany one another in service and contribute to the development of their neighbourhood,” the National Assembly shares. 

The progress of the youth movement has also been of note, as well as the progress made on the restoration of the Sydney Baha’i House of Worship and the commitment to working alongside Indigenous communities. The National Assembly is “gratified by the re-formation this Ridvan of the Local Assemblies of Alice Springs and Santa Teresa and the formation of the Local Assembly of Laramba in Central Australia”. 

The National Assembly spoke to the mode of learning underpinning the country’s progress to date. “Institutions and communities are becoming more capable of identifying what needs to be learned, acting and reflecting regularly, and sharing insights widely,” the message shares. 

Entering the second phase of the Nine Year Plan, the National Assembly states that focus will need to be centred on strengthening the Ruhi Institute process and the development of facilitators and volunteers who are ready to propel the community-building process forward. “… increasing the number and strengthening the capacity of tutors, teachers, and animators will be vital to sustaining progress,” the message reads. 

Other spheres of focus include the deployment of individuals with community-building experience to areas where the efforts require further strengthening, as well as the nurturing of souls to the point where they wish to formalise their membership in the Baha’i community. 

“Even as the forces of disintegration intensify in our society, the signs of an evolving capacity among people to respond to Baha’u’llah’s healing message are unmistakable. Let us therefore advance with trust in His confirmations, united in purpose and committed to building communities that offer hope, foster refuge, and strengthen the cohesion of our society,” the message reads. 

The National Assembly ends its message with the following heartfelt words from the Universal House of Justice: