US Baha'i News

The Baha’i House of Worship will host two concerts as concluding events in the Seventh Annual Baha’i Choral Music Festival, Sunday, May 26, 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The concerts are free and open to the public. No tickets are required. The soaring dome of the temple’s auditorium provides a beautiful, inspiring space with incredible [...]

Brilliant Star children’s magazine, published by the Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly, won two Awards of Excellence this year in the DeRose-Hinkhouse awards program of the Religion Communicators Council. The newest edition of Green Acre on the Piscataqua, a book on the history of the venerable Bahá’í school in Maine, also won an Award of Excellence. [...]

I am of Korean descent and was born in Maui, Hawaii, in 1923. I was the first Korean-American member of the Baha’i Faith. I am one of six children, and although my family was quite poor, we were well cared for and happy. My father was the only night watchman on a plantation and had [...]

By Sally Weeks Nearly 20 years ago, Ludwig Tuman, composer, pianist, music educator and producer, wrote the book, Mirror of the Divine, which described a new perspective among artists that is beginning to take root in the world–a global approach. “This phenomenon is neither modern nor postmodern,” said Mr. Tuman. “As the world contracts and becomes more interconnected, [...]

My first remembrance of religion was of a Christian Revival in rural Florida in the late fifties. The Preacher was speaking in tongues and some people were high stepping in the aisles. Many had both hands raised high, looking up and talking to God. At the end of the sermon a woman hobbled to the stage on [...]

By Janet Ruhe-Schoen (Author of “A Love Which Does Not Wait”, stories of Baha’i Women who have made a mark on history.) Dr. Susan Isobel Moody, born in 1851 in Amsterdam, New York, knew author Rudyard Kipling’s refrain, “East is East and West is West, and ne’er the twain shall meet,” but lived instead by [...]

Photo Gallery Progress is being made on the Welcome Center at the Baha’i House of Worship. Click to enlarge and browse a gallery of related photos. Early winter had no power to deter progress on construction of the new House of Worship Welcome Center, as the steel framework of the building on the west side [...]

Violet Esther May Wuerfel Clark’s profound belief in humanity’s oneness found religious expression not long before the midpoint of her 100-year life when she accepted the Baha’i Faith, and bore further fruit in her retirement when she relocated as a pioneer to support development of the Faith in Belize and the Virgin Islands. Violet passed [...]

Rafael Jess Portillo, 62, San Salvador, El Salvador Rafael Portillo found and enthusiastically served the Baha’i Faith in the United States, then in midlife returned to assist in the development of Baha’i communities in his native El Salvador. He passed away December 14, 2012. A letter of tribute from the National Spiritual Assembly of the [...]

Ernest “Nick” Hockings, an Ojibwe tribal member, devoted many years to educating the public, through performance and public advocacy, about the history and culture of the region’s indigenous peoples. A longtime Baha’i and teacher of the Faith who was a member in the 1990s of the Baha’i Regional American Indian Teaching Committee serving the Central [...]

Channing Z. Snyder was committed for much of his life to environmentally sustainable approaches to farming and energy, as well as spreading the unifying message of Baha’u’llah since 1977. He combined these callings in his 10 years as a Baha’i pioneer in Finland. Chan passed away October 30, 2012, having lived for many years on [...]

Hooper Dunbar, retired member of the Universal House of Justice, provided some thoughts on coherence in his address that closed the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida: “There’s this wonderful message we heard reviewed about social action. And in the very inception of that it talks about interacting processes. … Shoghi Effendi, in his [...]

“Patience, Grasshopper.” Television viewers of a certain age will recall that sage advice — delivered often, in one form or another, to an eager young Shaolin priest on the ‘70s show “Kung Fu.” Build your capacity. Act, learn from your actions and act some more. Accompany others as you yourself are accompanied. Achieve coherence within [...]

By Sally Weeks Nearly 20 years ago, Ludwig Tuman, composer, pianist, music educator and producer, wrote the book,  Mirror of the Divine, which described a new perspective among artists that is beginning to take root in the world–a global approach. “This phenomenon is neither modern nor postmodern,” said Mr. Tuman. “As the world contracts and becomes more [...]

Key points from “Coherence: Learning to Weave a Tapestry of Action,” the opening talk by S. Valerie Dana, deputy secretary of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, at the recent Rabbani Trust conference in Orlando, Florida: For some time, we have had the word “coherence” in our vocabulary. We have seen it in messages from the [...]

An ongoing process of action, reflection, consultation, study and the application of those learnings through further action is marking efforts nationwide to share the vision and teachings of Baha’u’llah with friends and neighbors. Witness these three recent examples shared with The American Baha’i: Guidance translates to action Baha’is serving the King Estates neighborhood of south [...]

Kian Glenn has both an opportunity and a problem. Many of her acquaintances on the north side of Chicago would like to work for social change. “In my circles there’s a strong sense of need to do some kind of action,” she says. They include “friends in more corporate work who aren’t feeling fulfilled and [...]

Key points from “The Nature of Systematic Learning,” a panel discussion at the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida, with George Costant, Natasha Bruss and Kaveh Shahidi: George Costant, Social Action Desk of the National Spiritual Assembly Related to the need for systematic learning, ‘Abdu’l-Baha wrote: “Know that nothing which exists remains in a [...]

As we build our capacities to serve God and humanity, Nichole Agarwal of Riverside, California, commends to our attention the example of Kathryn Kim. A newly registered Baha’i who was raised in a nonreligious home, Kim has told Agarwal that through the Faith she found her channel to serve humanity. Indeed, she spends many hours doing [...]

There’s a reason Nwandi Lawson titled her workshop at the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” She hopes each of us becomes the kind of neighbor the late Fred Rogers was to generations of young television viewers and their parents. “Doesn’t he just epitomize neighborhood?” asks Lawson. [...]