Gerrard Sluter

Gerrard Sluter-Schlutius was a German-Canadian who pioneered to South America notably opening Guatemala and Colombia to the Faith. He was ultimately named a Covenant-breaker after refusing to cease political activities which had caused friction between the Bahá’í community and national governments.

Biography

Sluter was born in Germany and served in the German Navy, captaining a U-Boat, in the first World War. After the war he emigrated to Canada where he settled in Montreal and established himself as a businessman. He became a Bahá’í in November 1932 and was an active member of the Montreal Bahá’í community. In the mid-1930's he proposed that the Montreal Bahá’ís establish a Bahá’í village and in March 1935 he moved to Toronto shortly after his proposal was rejected. He corresponded with Shoghi Effendi throughout the 1930's receiving letters from the Guardian in 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1938.

In 1939 Sluter pioneered to Guatemala, quickly established a Bahá’í study group, and by the following year he had established a community of twenty-one believers. In 1940 he spent time traveling visiting San Salvador, Tegucigalpa in Honduras, and Costa Rica, before establishing himself in Bogotá, Colombia. He remained in Bogotá for an extended period and by 1944 there were six Colombian Bahá’ís in the city due to his teaching efforts with the assistance of fellow pioneer Winnifred Baker. He assisted with the establishment of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bogotá that year.

Sluter also assisted with the expansion of the Faith in Colombia beyond Bogotá producing an early Spanish-language compilation of Bahá’í quotes which was published in a teaching pamphlet in 1945, and inaugurating a teaching campaign to proclaim the Faith to a leper colony near the Colombian city Contratacion. He also began teaching the Faith through correspondence in 1945 which lead to the establishment of Bahá’í communities in Mogotes, Contratacion, Cartagena, and Medellin.

During his time in South America Sluter engaged in political activities which caused issues for the Bahá’í communities of Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia with their respective governments and Shoghi Effendi urged him to cease his political involvement. He persisted and was named a Covenant-breaker ending his association with the Bahá’í community. He later filed several lawsuits in Colombia aiming to have the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bogotá dissolved however he was unsuccessful.