Mass teaching

A mass teaching team in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1971.

Mass teaching is the proclamation of the Bahá’í Faith to as many people as possible, reaching all demographics, in a certain geographical area. The term began to be widely used in the Bahá’í community in the 1960s when the scale of Bahá’í teaching campaigns increased and entry by troops, a precursor to mass conversion, began to be observed in some areas.

Although mass teaching efforts successfully secured large amounts of declarations, many communities struggled to develop methods to teach large numbers of new believers effectively in order to consolidate growth. As a result, with the launch of the Four Year Plan, the Universal House of Justice began to encourage the Bahá’í community to develop a culture focused on systematic action in order to learn more effectively about expansion and consolidation.

Background

For relevant quotes see the Bahai9 compendium entry:

Mass teaching

The Universal House of Justice wrote the following regarding the importance of teaching on a mass scale in a 1964 message:

"When the masses of mankind are awakened and enter the Faith of God, a new process is set in motion and the growth of a new civilization begins. Witness the emergence of Christianity and of Islam. These masses are the rank and file, steeped in traditions of their own, but receptive to the new Word of God, by which, when they truly respond to it, they become so influenced as to transform those who come in contact with them.

In a 1967 letter the Universal House of Justice wrote:

"The paramount goal of the teaching work at the present time is to carry the message of Bahá’u’lláh to every stratum of human society and every walk of life. An eager response to the teachings will often be found in the most unexpected quarters, and any such response should be quickly followed up, for success in a fertile area awakens a response in those who were at first uninterested."

While the concept of mass teaching is explicitly focused on the expansion and growth of the Bahá’í community the Universal House of Justice also noted the following in a 1966 letter to National Spiritual Assemblies engaged in mass teaching:

"While this vital teaching work is progressing each National Assembly must ever bear in mind that expansion and consolidation are inseparable processes that must go hand in hand. The interdependence of these processes is best elucidated in the following passage from the writings of the beloved Guardian:

“Every outward thrust into new fields, every multiplication of Bahá’í institutions, must be paralleled by a deeper thrust of the roots which sustain the spiritual life of the community and ensure its sound development. From this vital, this ever-present need attention must, at no time, be diverted; nor must it be, under any circumstances, neglected, or subordinated to the no less vital and urgent task of ensuring the outer expansion of Bahá’í administrative institutions. That this community … may maintain a proper balance between these two essential aspects of its development … is the ardent hope of my heart.”

To ensure that the spiritual life of the individual believer is continuously enriched, that local communities are becoming increasingly conscious of their collective duties, and that the institutions of an evolving administration are operating efficiently, is, therefore, as important as expanding into new fields and bringing in the multitudes under the shadow of the Cause."

Methodology

In July 1964 the Universal House of Justice issued a message to all National Spiritual Assemblies in which it shared some general methods being used by National Spiritual Assemblies engaged in mass teaching:

• Distributing Bahá’í literature to new Bahá’ís immediately.
• Holding training courses a few weeks in length to deepen new Bahá’ís.
• Holding weekend training conferences to deepen new Bahá’ís.
• Ensuring training courses and conferences are held regularly and not delayed due to a community not yet having a Teaching Institute building.
• Travel teachers ensuring local communities are deepened on basic Bahá’í knowledge such as:
  • Importance of teaching
  • Prayer
  • Fasting
  • Nineteen Day Feasts
  • Elections
  • The Fund

The message also noted the following negative tendencies which had been observed in mass teaching advising that travel teaching be done in teams or that different travel teachers be sent to areas to ensure any irregularities were detected:

"a) Visiting pioneers or teachers may find in some places newly enrolled believers not so enthusiastic about their religion as expected, or not adjusting to standards of Bahá’í life, or they may find them thinking of material benefits they may hope to derive from their new membership. We should always remember that the process of nursing the believer into full spiritual maturity is slow, and needs loving education and patience.

b) Some teaching committees, in their eagerness to obtain results, place undue emphasis on obtaining a great number of declarations to the detriment of the quality of teaching.

c) Some travelling teachers, in their desire to show the result of their services, may not scrupulously teach their contacts, and in some rare cases, if, God forbid, they are insincere, may even give false reports."

The Universal House of Justice noted the methods in the message were suggestions and not strict guidelines to be followed and in a 1967 message it stated:

"The same presentation of the teachings will not appeal to everybody; the method of expression and the approach must be varied in accordance with the outlook and interests of the hearer. An approach which is designed to appeal to everybody will usually result in attracting the middle section, leaving both extremes untouched."

In relation to the issue of when people should be enrolled as Bahá’ís after being introduced to the religion the Universal House of Justice made the following comment in a 1980 letter:

"… As you are aware, the beloved Guardian encouraged early enrollment of new believers upon their declarations, and not the creation of obstacles to their acceptance. After declaration, follow-up with deepening is imperative, and it may be that some will fall away. However, those who remain are the true fruits of the teaching endeavor and may include persons of great merit who might have been lost to the Cause through arbitrary early judgements."

History

Efforts to engage in mass teaching began in 1960 when Hand of the Cause Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir visited the Philippines and helped launch campaigns which involved teams traveling to many villages and rural areas to teach the religion. Also in 1960 the National Teaching Committee of South and West Africa held discussions on pursuing a Mass Teaching Program at a teacher training school held in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, and the National Spiritual Assembly of India began working towards undertaking mass teaching efforts by establishing a school to train Bahá’í teachers in Samgimanda, Madhya Pradesh, that year.

In 1961 Muhájir visited India and helped launch mass teaching in the country, with a conference being held in Samgimanda in January. Three hundred people declared at the conference, many from surrounding villages and Muhájir organized for them to hold their own mass teaching conferences in their own villages with hundreds of people declaring at each conference. In order to consolidate the sudden mass conversions taking place an Indian Bahá’í Teaching Institute was established in December 1961. This initial period of mass teaching resulted in the Bahá’í population of India increasing from 850 in 1961 to 65,000 in 1963.

In August 1961 the Malayan Summer School incorporated mass teaching with attendees being taken on 'field excursions' to participate in mass teaching efforts. In 1962 the Bahá’í community of Hawaii was requested to begin mass teaching and the states Extension Teaching Committee began coordinating efforts, and the Belgium Bahá’í community discussed mass teaching at their National Convention. In 1963 a Teacher Training Institute was held in Korea to launch efforts, and mass teaching began in Ceylon. In 1964 one of the goals set for the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States for the Nine Year Plan beginning in 1964 was supporting mass teaching efforts in Bolivia.