Training institute

A speaker at a reflection meeting in London, United Kingdom reports on activities of the local training institute.

A training institute is an agency, or institution, which exists for the training of individuals through the development of both spiritual insights and practical skills of service, accomplished through structured study of Bahá’í teachings. The ultimate goal of a training institute is to empower participants spiritually and morally by helping them build their capacity to engage in acts of service to humanity. This is carried out through an educational process—referred to as the institute process—involving groups (study circles) who study a set of materials with the help of a tutor.

Training institutes figured prominently in Plans set forth by the Universal House of Justice beginning in 1996 with the Four Year Plan, superseding the teaching institutes that had featured in earlier Plans. In some countries, a training institute may have permanent premises. For example, in the United Kingdom, a Training Centre was established in December, 2019.

Role and function

A training institute may directly organise study circles, may co-ordinate training for cluster co-ordinators, may ensure a means of supply for training materials, or undertake other activities which promote training generally. The Baha'i World Centre has published several booklets comprising guidance which has been given by the International Teaching Centre as to the role and functioning of training institutes. The Universal House of Justice makes it plain that a training institute constitutes an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly. Paul Lample, in his book Creating A New Mind, says:

The training institute, "an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly," has the responsibility for "developing human resources in all or part of a country." The Counselors and Auxiliary Board members are "intimately involved" in its work.

History

Teaching institutes

Main article: Teaching institute

Sharing the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh has taken many forms throughout the world. Beginning with the Ten Year Crusade in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bahá’í communities around the world experienced a rapid rise in enrollments as teaching efforts bore fruit. This influx of new believers called for the development of methods to deepen and consolidate their knowledge of Bahá’í teachings and beliefs, and help them to arise to serve their communities in various ways, including participation in continued teaching efforts. Thus, in addition to the seasonal schools which had existed for some time, events known in some areas as "teaching institutes" began to be held.

Various modes and venues for deepening in the Bahá’í teachings would bring together individual Bahá’ís, who were often scattered across large areas, for joint study in a central location. Topics studied included Bahá’í history, laws, teachings, and administrative order. Emphasis was put on common elements of Bahá’í life, such as the spiritual teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, prayer, fasting, Nineteen Day Feasts, elections, and the Bahá’í funds.

Early conference institutes

Members of Area National Teaching Committees gathered for a "conference institute" in Wilmette, USA.

In February 1950, members of Area National Teaching Committees assembled in Wilmette, Illinois for a gathering that would set a pattern for teaching institutes throughout the United States. Participants at this "Conference Institute", as it was called, studied materials prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly with the aim of deepening their understanding of the Covenant and the Bahá’í Administrative Order.

The effectiveness of this gathering became the subject of much discussion at the 1950 National Convention. Recommendations were made that the materials and methods it used be made "the bedrock of the teaching plan for the coming year", and that similar methods be used to prepare American pioneers to Latin America. These institute gatherings were eventually developed into a key element of the Two Year Plan of Preparation launched by the American National Spiritual Assembly to prepare the American Bahá’í community for the Ten Year Crusade. In a message announcing the Plan, the Spiritual Assembly described institutes as being "designed to prepare the individual soul, to give each individual the knowledge of the meaning of God's Covenant; quicken each soul through God's Creative Word; to orient each soul within the Bahá’í Community."

Spread of teaching institutes

A 1970 teaching institute gathering in Agoue, Benin, with Ruhiyyih Khanum in attendance (seated, right).

In its message of Ridván 1964 announcing the goals of the Nine Year Plan, the Universal House of Justice called for the establishment of thirty-two teaching institutes around the world.

Teaching institutes were held in a variety of locations, including hired quarters, Bahá’í centres or purpose-built structures:

In some countries it may continue to be an activity conducted either in local Bahá’í Centres or possibly housed in hired quarters, like most Summer Schools. However, in other countries, and particularly in mass teaching areas, it may have to be a modest structure acquired or erected in the rural areas where the majority of the believers reside rather than in capital cities, to obviate transportation expenses for those attending.

Although the Universal House of Justice did encourage National Spiritual Assemblies to acquire permanent quarters for their teaching institutes, it also noted that "such an Institute is a function and not necessarily a building", and that the work of teaching institutes could proceed in any place where the required number of teachers could be supported. The term "institute process" became widely popularized in the 1990s with the release of the Ruhi book series.

Permanent training institutes

The general spread of the Ruhi Institute's sequence of courses necessitated some sort of co-ordination, and it is usually this which is undertaken by a training institute. The Universal House of Justice called for a network of such institutes throughout the world.

Systematization

The modern concept of the training institute arose during preparations for the Four Year Plan, when the Universal House of Justice called for Bahá’í communities to focus on the systematic development of human resources on a large scale, noting that this required "that the establishment of institutes be viewed in a new light". They referred to the teaching institutes that had arisen around the world as

“ organizational structures dedicated to systematic training... to endow ever-growing contingents of believers with the spiritual insights, the knowledge, and the skills needed to carry out the many tasks of accelerated expansion and consolidation, including the teaching and deepening of a large number of people... ” — Universal House of Justice