Collis Featherstone
Collis Featherstone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Harold Collis Featherstone May 13, 1913 Quorn, South Australia, Australia |
| Died | September 29, 1990 Kathmandu, Nepal |
| NSA member | Australia & NZ 1949 - 1957 Australia 1957 - 1962 |
| ABM | Australia 1954 - 1957 |
| Spouse(s) | Madge Featherstone |
| Signature |  |
Harold Collis Featherstone (May 13, 1913 - September 29, 1990)[1] was an Australian Bahá’í who served as a National Spiritual Assembly and Auxiliary Board member and was appointed a Hand of the Cause of God.
Biography[edit]
Featherstone was born in the town of Quorn in South Australia in 1913. His father worked for South Australian railways and he lived in several towns in his youth until his father was appointed a Station Master and the family settled in Smithfield, a town to the north of Adelaide. He travelled from Smithfield to Adelaide every day to attend Adelaide High School from 1925 to 1928 and became an active sportsman playing tennis and cricket. He was confirmed in the Church of England in his youth, however he had not been baptized beforehand which resulted in tension between him and the church authorities.[2]
In the 1930's Featherstone moved to Adelaide and began to work in an office while attending a night school to study accounting. He also began attending Churches from three different denominations of Christianity including the Unitarian Church.[2] In 1934 he began studying dye making and he became a partner in a precision engineering business in 1938. He also met Madge Green in the 1930's and they married in March, 1938, and went on to have four daughters and a son.[3]
In 1944 the Featherstone's were introduced to the Bahá’í Faith when Madge began attending meetings at which Bertha Dobbins spoke about the Bahá’í Faith, discussing them with Collis.[4] He borrowed a copy of The Dawn-Breakers through Madge and was inspired after reading the Báb's proclamation to the Letters of the Living. The Featherstone's attended firesides for several months and declared in December, 1944.[2] They met Clara Dunn when she visited Adelaide in 1945 staying with her for a few days and Featherstone wrote to Shoghi Effendi for the first time that year beginning a correspondence with him.[3]
Featherstone immediately became an active member of the Bahá’í community and in 1946 he began making monthly teaching trips to the town of Kingston with Harold Fitzner making a bus trip that took several hours to reach the town. He eventually purchased a car and was able to drive other Bahá’ís including Clara Dunn and Shirin Fozdar to the town to assist with teaching efforts. In 1948 the Featherstone's were elected to the inaugural Local Spiritual Assembly of Woodville, the second to be established in South Australia, and in 1949 he was elected a delegate to the National Convention for the Assembly. He was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand at the Convention and served on the body, and the succeeding independent National Spiritual Assembly of Australia, for almost two decades.[5]
In April 1953 the Featherstone's moved from Woodville to Port Adelaide to help form a Local Spiritual Assembly.[5] In October the same year they traveled to New Delhi, India, where they attended an Intercontinental Conference held to launch the Ten Year Crusade and after the Conference they went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and met with Shoghi Effendi in person. Due to their family and business commitments the Featherstone's were unable to pioneer in support of the Crusade and instead provided financial support for others pioneering.[6] In 1954 Clara Dunn, who had been appointed a Hand of the Cause for Australasia, appointed Collis Featherstone as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for Australasia alongside Thelma Perks. He was also appointed the secretary of the Asian Teaching Committee formed to coordinate pioneers in the Pacific and he established the Koala News, a newsletter to keep the pioneers connected to one another.[7]
In late 1954 Featherstone made his first international trip for the Faith visiting New Zealand and Fiji in his capacity as Auxiliary Board member. In 1955 he visited Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and in 1956 he visited Indonesia. As of 1957 Clara Dunn had fallen into ill health and Featherstone and Thelma Perks began writing reports on her behalf for the Guardian as she was no longer able to write reports herself and the Guardian approved of the decision. In October 1957 Shoghi Effendi appointed Featherstone as a Hand of the Cause himself and Shoghi Effendi passed away one month later. He attended the Conclave of the Hands in the Holy Land after the Gurdian's passing at which the Hands consulted on the future of the Bahá’í Faith.[7]
During the Ministry of the Custodians, from 1957 to 1963, Featherstone maintained a correspondence with his Auxiliary Board members, individual Bahá’ís, and Assemblies to support the development of the Australasian community in addition to running his engineering business. He made twenty-nine visits to fourteen countries during the period and attended five Conclaves of the Hands in the Holy Land. In 1961 he toured Central America as John Robarts, who was to make the journey, was too ill to travel.[8] The same year he visited Baghdad during his journey to the Conclave of the Hands visiting the Bayt-i-Aʻzam and Garden of Ridvan.[9]
In 1963 Featherstone attended the First International Convention at which the Universal House of Justice was established and the First Bahá’í World Congress held in London, England, to celebrate the conclusion of the Ten Year Crusade.[8] After the Universal House of Justice was established Featherstone began to travel internationally more extensively at the request of the Institution often travelling to Asia in addition to travelling across Australasia. In 1964 he oversaw an expansion of the Auxiliary Board appointing additional Board members. In June 1968 the Universal House of Justice established the Continental Boards of Counsellors which assumed the responsibility for directly overseeing the functions of the Auxiliary Boards, leaving Featherstone with more time to devote to teaching the Faith.[9]
Between 1968 and 1976 Featherstone visited forty-nine countries on teaching trips, often accompanied by his wife as their children were now adults. He sold his engineering business in 1976 as the Universal House of Justice requested that he devote himself to full time service and in 1977 he and Madge pioneered to Rockhampton, Queensland.[10] In May 1983 the Universal House of Justice invited Featherstone to serve as a Hand of the Cause in the Holy Land, as opposed to being assigned to Australasia, however he was not required to move his residence to the Holy Land.[11]
Featherstone continued to travel internationally extensively even after suffering two heart attacks during 1986 and a third less severe heart attack in 1988. In September 1990 he suffered another heart attack while visiting Kathmandu, Nepal, during a tour of Asia and he passed away.[10] The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after his passing:
DEEPLY GRIEVED ANNOUNCE PASSING VALIANT HAND CAUSE GOD COLLIS FEATHERSTONE WHILE VISITING KATHMANDU, NEPAL, COURSE EXTENSIVE JOURNEY ASIA. HIS NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS STAUNCH, FEARLESS DEFENDER COVENANT, HIS UNCEASING COMMITMENT PROPAGATION CAUSE ALL PARTS WORLD, ESPECIALLY PACIFIC REGION, HIS UNREMITTING PERSEVERANCE FOSTERING ESTABLISHMENT LOCAL, NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER, HIS EXEMPLARY DEVOTION TO WRITINGS FAITH, HIS OUTSTANDING PERSONAL QUALITIES UNSWERVING LOYALTY, ENTHUSIASM, ZEAL AND DEDICATION, DISTINGUISH HIS MANIFOLD SERVICES THROUGHOUT MANY DECADES. OFFERING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES BOUNTIFUL REWARD HIS RADIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. ADVISE FRIENDS EVERYWHERE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL GATHERINGS, PARTICULARLY IN MASHRIQU'L-ADHKARS, RECOGNITION HIS MAGNIFICENT ACHIEVEMENTS.[12]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Rabbani, R. (Ed.) (1992). The Ministry of the Custodians 1957-1963. Bahá’í World Centre. pp. p. xxiii. ISBN 085398350X.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 810. View as PDF.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 811. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 809. View as PDF.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 812. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 813. View as PDF.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 814. View as PDF.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 815. View as PDF.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 816. View as PDF.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 817. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1983). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 628, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 818. View as PDF.
Reference[edit]
- Harper, Barron (1997). Lights of Fortitude (Paperback ed.). Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-413-1.
External Links[edit]
- H. Collis Featherstone at Find a Grave
