Twelve Month Plan (2000-2001)
| Twelve Month Plan (2000-2001) | |
| Epoch | Fifth Epoch |
| Coordinator | Universal House of Justice |
| Protagonists | All National Spiritual Assemblies |
The Twelve Month Plan from 2000 to 2001 was one of a series of Plans carried out under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice.
The Plan was intended to prepare Bahá’í communities for a cycle of plans beginning with a Five Year Plan in 2001 which was to focus on advancing the process of entry by troops through systematic action with the Universal House of Justice noting the following regarding one of the aims of the Twelve Month Plan in a 1999 letter:
National communities should enter the Five Year Plan confident that the acquisition of knowledge, qualities and skills of service by large contingents of believers, with the aid of a sequence of courses, will proceed unhindered. Ample attention must also be given to further systematization of teaching efforts, whether undertaken by the individual or directed by the institutions.[1]
The Plan introduced the formulation of teaching plans for small geographic areas, emphasized the importance of developing human resources through a sequence of courses administered by a Training Institute, recommended that teaching plans be formulated through the collaboration of the Training Institute, the Auxiliary Board, and an Area Teaching Committee and that they be structured around periods of a few months, and emphasized the importance of the Bahá’í community facilitating activities which saw to the educational and spiritual needs of children and junior youth.
Prelude to the Plan[edit]
In November 1999 the Universal House of Justice announced that a Twelve Month Plan would begin at Riḍván 2000 to be focused on bringing programmes and systems developed to advance the process of entry by troops into operation:
It is essential that, during the one-year effort, national and regional institutes everywhere bring into full operation the programmes and systems that they have now devised. National communities should enter the Five Year Plan confident that the acquisition of knowledge, qualities and skills of service by large contingents of believers, with the aid of a sequence of courses, will proceed unhindered. Ample attention must also be given to further systematization of teaching efforts, whether undertaken by the individual or directed by the institutions.[1]
It also noted that the International Teaching Centre had identified patterns for systematic activity through focusing on small geographic areas and that Area Growth Programmes had been established prior to the Plan, through the collaborative efforts of Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies, which were to be monitored to ensure teaching methods were refined for incorporation into future Plans.[1] The message also noted the importance of educating children and junior youth in the course of the Plan:
Strategies to advance the process of entry by troops cannot ignore children and junior youth, if the victories won in one generation are not to be lost with the passage of time. It is imperative, then, that at this point in the process of systematization of the teaching work, definite steps be taken to ensure that the vision of the community fully embraces its younger members. The education of children, an obligation enjoined on both parents and institutions, requires special emphasis so as to become thoroughly integrated into the process of community development.[1]
In its 2000 Riḍván message the Universal House of Justice noted the following regarding building on the completed Four Year Plan:
What was so carefully begun four years ago—the systematic acquisition of knowledge, qualities and skills of service—must be augmented. Wherever they exist, national and regional institutes must activate to the full the programs and systems they have adopted. New institutes must be formed where such needs have been identified. Greater steps must be taken to systematize the teaching work undertaken through individual initiative and institutional sponsorship.[2]
The message also emphasized the importance of focusing on the needs of children and engaging with older children as the distinct demographic of junior youth:
Even though children’s activities have been a part of past Plans, these have fallen short of the need. Spiritual education of children and junior youth is of paramount importance to the further progress of the community. It is therefore imperative that this deficiency be remedied. Institutes must be certain to include in their programs the training of teachers of children’s classes, who can make their services available to local communities. But although providing spiritual and academic education for children is essential, this represents only a part of what must go into developing their characters and shaping their personalities. The necessity exists, too, for individuals and the institutions at all levels, which is to say the community as a whole, to show a proper attitude towards children and to take a general interest in their welfare.[2]
Among the young ones in the community are those known as junior youth, who fall between the ages of, say, 12 and 15. They represent a special group with special needs as they are somewhat in between childhood and youth when many changes are occurring within them. Creative attention must be devoted to involving them in programs of activity that will engage their interests, mold their capacities for teaching and service, and involve them in social interaction with older youth. [2]
Execution of the Plan[edit]
In January 2001 a Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors was held at the Bahá’í World Centre to allow for consultation on the work of the Plan. During the Conference the Seat of the International Teaching Center was inaugurated with over eight hundred Auxiliary Board members and the surviving Hands of the Cause, 'Alí-Akbar Furútan and ‘Alí-Muḥammad Varqá, attending the commemoration of the occasion.[3] Upon the completion of the Counsellors Conference the Universal House of Justice announced that the Bahá’í Faith had entered the Fifth Epoch of the Formative Age.[4]
The Universal House of Justice issued a message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors during the event which noted the importance of the training institute and their administering of study circles focused on sequential courses to the work of the Bahá’í community:
The continued development of training institutes in the diverse countries and territories of the world, then, must be a central feature of the new Plan.
Drawing on the wealth of experience now accumulated in this area of endeavor, institutes will have to provide their communities with a constant stream of human resources to serve the process of entry by troops. Elements of a system that can meet the training needs of large numbers of believers have already been tested worldwide and have proven themselves.[5]
In its message it also re-emphasized the importance of children's education:
At the outset of the Twelve Month Plan we underscored the need for Bahá’í children to be nurtured spiritually and to be integrated into the life of the Cause. There is every indication from the response of the friends thus far that a raised awareness of the importance of child education will, in fact, be a hallmark of this brief yet significant Plan. A new impetus has been given to Bahá’í children’s classes. Increased awareness has also brought to light opportunities to offer moral and spiritual education to children in general, as exemplified by the success of the efforts to introduce courses on the Bahá’í Faith into programs of official school systems.[5]
The message also explained the importance of the Bahá’í community continuing to teach the Faith emphasizing the importance of individual initiative and noting the role of Auxiliary Board members:
Training alone, of course, does not necessarily lead to an upsurge in teaching activity. In every avenue of service, the friends need sustained encouragement. Our expectation is that the Auxiliary Board members, together with their assistants, will give special thought to how individual initiative can be cultivated, particularly as it relates to teaching. When training and encouragement are effective, a culture of growth is nourished in which the believers see their duty to teach as a natural consequence of having accepted Bahá’u’lláh.[5]
The message also noted that the Counsellors were to assist national communities in formulating plans for systematic growth with the methodology of focusing on small geographic areas with boundaries to be determined on a case by case basis:
There are many countries where increased institutional capacity, particularly at the level of the region, now makes it possible to focus attention on smaller geographic areas. Most of these will consist of a cluster of villages and towns, but, sometimes, a large city and its suburbs may constitute an area of this kind. Among the factors that determine the boundaries of a cluster are culture, language, patterns of transport, infrastructure, and the social and economic life of the inhabitants.[5]
In the message the Universal House of Justice advised that care should be taken with teaching plans to ensure growth was sustainable by ensuring intensive activity was undertaken in areas with an established Bahá’í administrative system and training institute:
It is important that national communities not rush into establishing intensive programs in an area before conditions are propitious. These conditions include: a high level of enthusiasm among a sizeable group of devoted and capable believers who understand the prerequisites for sustainable growth and can take ownership of the program; some basic experience on the part of a few communities in the cluster in holding classes for the spiritual education of children, devotional meetings, and the Nineteen Day Feast; the existence of a reasonable degree of administrative capacity in at least a few Local Spiritual Assemblies; the active involvement of several assistants to Auxiliary Board members in promoting community life; a pronounced spirit of collaboration among the various institutions working in the area; and above all, the strong presence of the training institute with a scheme of coordination that supports the systematic multiplication of study circles.[5]
The message also noted that systematic activity should be undertaken through the collaboration of a training institute, Auxiliary Board members and assistants, and an Area Teaching Committee, and that teaching should incorporate efforts undertaken by both individuals and Bahá’í institutions.[5] Regarding specific goals of teaching plans, and how they were to be structured, the Universal House of Justice advised the following:
Among the initial goals for every community should be the establishment of study circles, children’s classes, and devotional meetings, open to all the inhabitants of the locality. The observance of the Nineteen Day Feast has to be given due weight, and consistent effort should be made to strengthen the Local Spiritual Assemblies. Once communities are able to sustain the basic activities of Bahá’í life, a natural way to further their consolidation is to introduce small projects of social and economic development—for example, a literacy project, a project for the advancement of women or environmental preservation, or even a village school. As strength builds, the responsibility for an increasing number of lines of action is to be devolved onto the Local Spiritual Assemblies.
Throughout the endeavor, periodic meetings of consultation in the area need to reflect on issues, consider adjustments, and maintain enthusiasm and unity of thought. The best approach is to formulate plans for a few months at a time, beginning with one or two lines of action and gradually growing in complexity. Those who are actively involved in the implementation of plans, whether members of the institutions or not, should be encouraged to participate fully in the consultations. Other area-wide gatherings will also be necessary. Some of these will provide opportunity for the sharing of experience and further training. Others will focus on the use of the arts and the enrichment of culture. Together, such gatherings will support an intense process of action, consultation and learning.[5]
The message also noted that while plans should incorporate the above guidance they should also be tailored to local circumstances and that other activities not specifically mentioned such as "public information activity, proclamation efforts, external affairs work, production of literature, and complex social and economic development projects" remained indispensible to the work of the Bahá’í community and were also to be addressed in plans.[5]
Completion of the Plan[edit]
Upon the completion of the Plan the Universal House of Justice noted the following in its 2001 Riḍván message:
Despite its brevity, the Twelve Month Plan had an importance beyond the objectives specifically assigned. The Plan was a dynamic link between a highly eventful epoch in Bahá’í history and the immensely promising prospects of a new one, for which its achievements have so well prepared the community. It has been etched in our annals, too, for the enduring effects of the Faith’s activities at the end of the twentieth century - a century that deserves to be reflected upon by any Bahá’í who wishes to understand the tumultuous forces that influenced the life of the planet and the processes of the Cause itself at a crucial time in humanity’s social and spiritual evolution.[6]
Regarding accomplishments of the Bahá’í community during the Plan the message reported the following[6]:
- Training of children's class teachers and inclusion of junior youth in the institute process taking place in several countries.
- The publication of Century of Light, a review of the twentieth century prepared at the request of and under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice.
- The Bahá’í Faith being represented at several millenial events at the request of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
- The Bahá’í World News Service launching its website.
- The completion of the Seat of the International Teaching Center.
- The re-establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly of Indonesia.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 26 November 1999 message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the World
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ridvan 2000 message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the World
- ↑ 14 January 2001 message from the Universal House of Justice to the Conference Marking the Inauguration of the International Teaching Centre Building
- ↑ 16 January 2001 message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the World
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 9 January 2001 message from the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ridvan 2001 message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the World
