Tag: community

Nine lives? No, nine major faiths working as one. . .

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Thames Valley Baha’i Community has welcomed a government-sponsored initiative to encourage people of all beliefs to help improve their local neighbourhoods.

Launched at the national Baha’i centre in London, it’s a move to promote collaboration between the UK’s nine major faith communities – Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian.

Shawn Khorassani, a Thames Valley Baha’i, said: “This announcement is great news, coming as it did just a couple of weeks before Naw-Ruz – which symbolises new beginnings in the Baha’i faith. Unity is very important to Baha’is. We hope this will help to cement relationships between the UK’s nine major faiths.”

The program, titled “A Year of Service”, aims to recognise the role of faith in inspiring charitable work. Twelve special volunteering days are being held during 2012, each of them coinciding with an existing religious festival and focusing on a distinct theme for community action.

Reflections from National Baha’i Convention . . .

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National Convention delegate Richard Friend (left) with observers Shohreh and Anthony Fleming

Reflections on a message from the Baha’i Universal House of Justice (the community’s world governing council), provided the focus for more than 700 members of the UK Baha’i Community who gathered at their National Convention in Nottingham earlier this month.

Baha’is from the Thames Valley were amongst 600 observers who joined 95 delegates (elected by Baha’is at local level across the country), who focused on the neighbourhood-level community building that Baha’is the world over are committed to.

Delegates shared their experiences and thinking about how the building of spiritual, social and material capacity is the foundation of community building. They spoke about the way Baha’is work with people of all faiths and none to improve the well-being of all.

Shohreh Fleming, from West Berkshire, was an observer at National Convention. She said: “The Convention encourages all delegates, whether veterans or first-timers, to speak freely. I was touched by the ethos of careful listening and the fact that all contributions are accorded equal respect.”