Challenges and triumphs: How collective action leads to fruitful endeavours

LANE COVE, SYDNEY – A group of families in the community of Lane Cove, Sydney are learning how collective action and sustained commitment can lead to the most fruitful endeavours. 

Earlier this year, the Baha’is organised their annual Bus Tour to the Sydney Baha’i House of Worship as part of the local Lane Cove festival. 

Having hosted the tour for the past 20 years, this year’s participation saw a surge in numbers, with about 100 individuals joining the journey to the Temple. 

The tour opened the door for more people in Lane Cove, as well as those already involved in its community-building activities, to gain a further understanding of the spiritual teachings of the Baha’i Faith and the various initiatives which the community facilitates including moral and spiritual educational programs for young people and adults, as well as social transformation projects. 

Member of the Local Spiritual Assembly (the local governing body of the Baha’i Faith), Saba Zare, says the tour resulted in more people viewing the Baha’i House of Worship in a “new” and more accessible light. 

“It is important to reiterate the fact that the Temple is not for Baha’is only,” he says. 

The engine of unity: action and reflection

The Lane Cove Baha’i community is comprised of about 70 adults. Zare says the energies and capacities of nearly every member were drawn upon for the planning and execution of the tour. 

“It literally takes everybody in our community to pull one of these events off,” he says. 

Community members each had a role to play – whether through inviting friends to the tour, helping with logistics and catering, engaging in heartfelt conversations on the day, or following up with those who attended. 

Central to this effort, Zare says, is a commitment to constant improvement and a cycle of action and reflection so the community can continually refine its approach. “We reflect deeply about the challenges and the triumphs from every single activity of this nature, both as a community and as an Assembly,” he says. 

“One thing that we have always been conscious of is improving the quality of these events rather than focusing on the numerical quantity of people that attend.” 

A Temple for everyone

Over the past few years, the Lane Cove community has been making an extra effort to communicate the Temple’s universal nature in the lead up and during the bus tour. Zare says this has also contributed to more people taking part. 

He says it was time the House of Worship was seen in a new light. 

“Communicating what the temple means to Baha’is and what it means to broader society becomes very important,” he says. “To reiterate the fact that scriptures from every major religion are shared at the services, that people are welcome to come and pray and meditate in their own time whilst it’s open.” 

With the Temple environment inherently transformative, Zare says participants felt more comfortable engaging in meaningful conversations. He says people started to see how the Temple could become a part of their everyday life. “All of a sudden [the Faith] becomes more approachable,” he says. 

The next step, he says, is to continue reflecting and acting as a collective to strengthen the bonds of unity in the locality while “really walking” alongside everyone to solidify their relationship with the Baha’i House of Worship. 

“The children’s classes have already organised in December to go to the Temple on a Sunday for a service, have some lunch and then go to the beach after.”