Intercontinental Conference
An Intercontinental Bahá’í Teaching Conference, usually referred to as Intercontinental Conference, were international conferences held for Bahá’ís to celebrate and consult on progress of the Bahá’í Faith. They were held in 1953, 1958, and 1967.
As the size of the Bahá’í community increased major teaching conferences were held for smaller regions with Oceanic and Continental Conferences being held instead in the 1960's and 1970's. A series of Regional Conferences were held in 2008 and in 2021 a large amount of local World Conferences were held.
Background[edit]
In November 1951 Shoghi Effendi announced that four Intercontinental Conference were going to be held for the Bahá’í community in 1953 as celebrations of the Bahá’í communities achievements and preparation for the Ten Year Crusade.[1] Four conferences were held for Africa, America, Europe, and Asia throughout the year of 1953 and represented the first time National Spiritual Assemblies collaborated with one another and the launch of the Ten Year Crusade.[2]
In October 1957 Shoghi Effendi announced another series of Intercontinental Conferences were to be held in 1958 to mark the midpoint of the Ten Year Crusade allowing another opportunity for Bahá’í communities to consult on the progress of their communities. Shoghi Effendi designated representatives to attend each conference on his behalf however he passed away before they took place. The Photograph of Bahá’u’lláh was displayed at the conferences.[3]
In its 1965 Ridvan message the Universal House of Justice announced that another series of Intercontinental Conferences would be held in 1967 to mark the Centenary of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh's Tablets to the Rulers. Unlike the previous Conferences the 1967 Intercontinental Conferences were all held simultaneously across the world.[4]
The expansion of the Faith throughout the 1960's allowed for Conferences to be held on a smaller scale than intercontinental and in 1968 a Oceanic Conference was held in Palermo, Sicily.[5] Across 1970 and 1971 eight Oceanic and Continental Conferences were held.[6] Between 1976 and 1977 eight International Teaching Conferences were held,[7] and in 1982 an additional five International Bahá’í Conferences were held between June and August.[8]
The growth and development of the Bahá’í communities has allowed for Conferences to be held on an increasingly smaller scale. In 2008 forty-one Regional Conferences were held, as opposed to Conferences on an Inter-continental or International level,[9] and in 2021 and 2022 many conferences were held at the local level across the world which were termed Global Conferences.[10]
List of Intercontinental, Continental, and Oceanic Conferences[edit]
1953[edit]
- February 12 - 18: Kampala, Uganda.
- May 3 - 6: Chicago, USA.
- July 21 - 26: Stockholm, Sweden.
- October 7 - 15: New Delhi, India.
1958[edit]
- January 23 - 28: Kampala, Uganda.
- March 21 - 24: Sydney, Australia.
- May 2 - 4: Wilmette, Illinois, USA.
- July 25 - 29: Frankfurt, Germany.
- September 27 - 29: Singapore.
1963[edit]
- April 28 - May 2: First Bahá’í World Congress, London, England.
1967[edit]
- October 5 - 10: Panama City, Panama
- October 5 - 10: Wilmette, Illinois, USA.
- October 5 - 10: Sydney, Australia.
- October 5 - 10: Kampala, Uganda.
- October 5 - 10: Frankfurt, Germany.
- October 5 - 10: New Delhi, India
1968[edit]
- August 23 - 25: Palermo, Sicily.
1970[edit]
- August: La Paz, Bolivia.
- August: Rose Hill, Mauritius.
1971[edit]
- January: Monrovia, Liberia.
- January: Singapore.
- May: Kingston, Jamaica.
- May: Suva, Fiji.
- September: Sapporo, Japan.
- September: Reykjavik, Iceland.
1976[edit]
- July 5 - 8: Helsinki, Finland.
- July 23 - 25: Anchorage, Alaska.
- August 4 - 6: Paris, France.
- October 15 - 17: Nairobi, Kenya.
- November 27 - 30: Hong Kong.
1977[edit]
- January 19 - 22: Auckland, New Zealand.
- January 27 - 30: Bahia, Brazil.
- February 4 - 6: Merida, Mexico.
1982[edit]
- June 25 - 27: Dublin, Ireland.
- August 6 - 8: Quito, Ecuador.
- August 19 - 22: Lagos, Nigeria.
- September 2 - 5: Canberra, Australia.
- September 2 - 5: Montreal, Canada.
1986[edit]
- New Delhi, India.[11]
1992[edit]
- Second Bahá’í World Congress
References[edit]
- ↑ Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, Baha'i Reference Library pdf edition, p 58
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 12 (1950-1954), Pg(s) 19. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 315. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 221. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 73. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 296. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) viii. Expression error: Unrecognized word "viii". View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) viii. Expression error: Unrecognized word "viii". View as PDF.
- ↑ https://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/
- ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1586/
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 731. View as PDF.
