Message from the National Spiritual Assembly regarding contribution goals
5 July 2019 / 12 Mercy 176
To all Local Spiritual Assemblies and
Regional Bahá’í Councils
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
In early June, with the joyful experience of National Convention still fresh in our minds and hearts, the National Spiritual Assembly and Counsellors assembled with a group of friends representing all Regional Bahá’í Councils, all Regional Institute Boards and five Local Assemblies from across the country. In a discussion that built on the consultation of the delegates – one that inspired the National Assembly to increase the contribution goals for the coming year – we explored how to strengthen the flow of material resources to support the thrilling prospects for growth before us.
As we mentioned in our recent letter to the friends in Canada, the account of a team of friends from the Vancouver and Toronto clusters who visited the Sydney, Australia cluster as part of a global process of learning galvanized the friends present at the Convention. In its response to the Convention’s message, the Universal House of Justice referred to “the sense of eagerness and strong resolve communicated in the message sent to us by the delegates to your National Convention” and called for “a spirited and courageous effort to respond to the burgeoning receptivity amongst their compatriots through sustained and dynamic participation in the process of community building”, particularly in this special period leading up to the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb. The material dimensions of this spiritual challenge are clearer than ever before: the need for youth to give time; for pioneers to settle in neighbourhoods and learn to release the powers of entire populations; for the acquisition of properties that serve the needs of these populations, among others.
The delegates directly linked this potential in Canada’s diverse communities, north and south, east and west, to the Ridván message’s momentous announcement that the time has come to build the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The call to erect an edifice to embosom His sacred remains, they observed, coincides with a marked increase in receptivity in the towns and cities, the neighbourhoods and villages He longed to visit. The work to which He bent his energies is now before us, an hour of fruition assisted by the mysterious forces released in this period of special potency. While we build His Shrine in the holiest place on earth, we grow the community whose seeds He planted in this country.
This vision compelled the National Assembly and the Counsellors to quickly consult at the Convention to review what we knew were the material needs of the next year in Canada as well as the projected contribution goals for other funds of the Faith. With the wholehearted encouragement of the delegates, $2 million was added to the 2019-2020 budget, bringing it to a total of $10.2 million.
Of this, an initial contribution goal of $500,000 for the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been established. It brings us great joy to announce that in only two months, this initial goal has not only been surpassed, more than double that amount has been received. We now call the friends across the country, while continuing to support the unique and historic project placed before us, to arise with equal love, determination and sacrifice to meet the remainder of the contribution goals that will accomplish the mission He conferred upon us in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, unfolding under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice. We are attaching a summary of Canada’s contribution goals and look forward with confidence and joy to the friends’ participation, material and spiritual, in this worldwide enterprise.
The National Assembly has been delighted to see the steps taken by various Local Assemblies and Councils to raise awareness of the need for a flow of resources, setting their own contribution goals towards the national total and sharing information with the friends about the pioneer requirements and the deputization fund. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance to your efforts.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF CANADA
Karen McKye, Secretary
