Joyous gathering brings together institutions across the country
Participants view a presentation by Mrs. Antonella Demonte during a plenary session of the national institutional meeting. Photo: Eugene Pace
“How far can Canada go?”
This was one of the questions posed by International Teaching Centre member Mrs. Antonella Demonte in her plenary remarks to the participants gathered at the Toronto Bahá’í Centre for a national institutional meeting over the weekend of February 4-6, 2022.
The focus of the meeting was to allow various institutions serving the community to explore in-depth the Universal House of Justice’s message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors dated 30 December 2021. In the mornings, plenary remarks were heard on the key themes of the message, and in the afternoons and evenings, breakout sessions arranged by region gave participants the opportunity to reflect and plan. At the close of the meeting, representatives from each region read aloud these plans, written as letters to the Universal House of Justice, including pledges for the work to be carried out in the coming nine years.
Representatives of regional agencies from the Atlantic region consult during a breakout session. Photo: Bahá’í Canada
This was the first time that such a gathering has been possible since the pandemic. The National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, which hosted and organized the event, went to great lengths to ensure the safety of all participants, including assigned seating, use of face masks, and rapid testing on site. Those not able to attend in person were able to join in the consultations online.
More than 175 representatives of local, regional, and national institutions from across Canada attended the meeting. Special visitors from the Bahá’í World Centre, including Counsellor Demonte and Ms. Elisa Caney, member of the Board of Directors of the Bahá’í International Development Agency, addressed the gathering, as did Continental Counsellors Mr. Borna Noureddin and Mr. Ayafor Ayafor.
In these remarks it was emphasized that mutual support and collaboration among the three protagonists of the plan – the individual, the community and the institutions – was key to understanding this new Plan and releasing the society-building power of the Faith. Mrs. Demonte asked, “What does it look like to have a community as a protagonist that can be fortified against negative forces?”
Mrs. Antonella Demonte, member of the International Teaching Centre, addresses participants at the national institutional meeting. Photo: Bahá’í Canada
Similarly, Ms. Elisa Caney said that while Bahá’ís have always worked towards the betterment of the world, through the educational process, social action initiatives are taking on a more collective nature. What we should do is identify what social, economic and cultural barriers are impeding progress and take steps to remedy them. In Canada, efforts to help young people with homework, supplement math education and assist with university and college applications are examples of this.
Given that the current Nine Year Plan is much longer than the Five Year Plans to which we are accustomed, one refrain heard often throughout the weekend was to “see the end in the beginning” by fixing our gaze on the goals we hope to accomplish. Many speakers in their comments to the gathering encouraged the Canadian community to imagine the final results of the long road on which we are embarking, because, as Mrs. Demonte said, “when we look towards the end, we see glimpses of the civilization we are building, even in the interactions and conversations between people.”
Another key theme throughout consultations was that of dissemination — specifically, how to strengthen the process of swiftly disseminating learning from cluster to cluster so everyone may benefit from the experience of others. Many participants shared that they felt this a capacity that must be developed in order for the entire country to advance. As some clusters are progressing more rapidly along the continuum of growth, the system of sharing learning must also be strengthened. “To make sure,” as Counsellor Noureddin said, “that nobody and no cluster is left by themselves.”
Participants look at a chart from the Vancouver Island and Interior region that outlines the path for each cluster in the region to establish an intensive program of growth within the current series of Plans. Photo: Bahá’í Canada
Mrs. Demonte ended the weekend with the following quote from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, regarding the destiny of Canada:
Again I repeat that the future of Canada, whether from a material or a spiritual standpoint, is very great. Day by day civilization and freedom shall increase. The clouds of the Kingdom will water the seeds of guidance which have been sown there. Consequently, rest ye not, seek ye no composure, attach not yourselves to the luxuries of this ephemeral world, free yourselves from every attachment, and strive with heart and soul to become fully established in the Kingdom of God. Gain ye the heavenly treasures. Day by day become ye more illumined. Draw ye nearer and nearer unto the threshold of oneness. Become ye the manifestors of spiritual favors and the dawning-places of infinite lights!
