Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver
City in Canada
Members of the LSA of Vancouver in 1939.
Location of Vancouver
History: Firsts
-	Local Assembly	1927
How to contact:
-	Phone	604-323-9919
-	Email	bahai_vancouver@hotmail.com bahaibook@smartt.com
-	Address	5880 Main Street Vancouver, BC V5W 2S8
-	Province	British Columbia
-	Country	Canada
Official Website		http://www.vancouverbahai.org/ https://www.westvanbahai.ca/
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Vancouver is the largest city in the Canadian province of British Columbia; the population of its metropolitan area is the third highest in Canada at 2,116,581 people.

History

Pioneering Work

The first Bahá’í activity in Vancouver was a visit from Howard MacNutt in 1913. This was followed by an extensive visit from Marion Jack and Laura Luther in 1920. Marion Jack said of her visit:

"Proofs are in evidence all the time of the heavenly Beloved One that everywhere people now have capacity. Never since it has been my joy to serve have I seen so many thinking and unbiased souls as in the west, - and if it is possible for any Bahai friends, who are seeking for a new field of labor, to come as far west as British Columbia, may they come and live in Vancouver. When a Bahai home is opened up here, meetings can begin."

Marion arranged for Jinab-i-Fadil, a Persian Bahá’í scholar, to visit Vancouver in January and February 1921. Four people declared themselves Bahá’ís on the last day of Fadils February visit, one of whom was Rhoda Harvey, who began holding firesides in her home. In 1921 Christina Moore pioneered to Vancouver from Seattle and assisted Rhoda and four more people declared themselves as Bahá’ís in 1922.

Louis Gregory made a teaching trip to Vancouver in the early 1920's and spoke at five meetings arranged by Marion Jack, however the impact of these meetings is not known.

In June 1926 May Maxwell and Elizabeth Greenleaf visited Vancouver and began a teaching campaign. John Bosch, George O. Latimer and Laurence Woodfin visited Vancouver from America in January 1927 to continue the campaign and eight locals became Bahá’ís by the time it ended.

Administrative Development

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Vancouver was established in January, 1927 as a result of the teaching campaign. It was the second Local Spiritual Assembly in Canada. The Assembly was invited to send representatives to the 1927 National Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, although they would not be able to cast a vote for the National Assembly. In 1928 the Assembly sent one delegate to vote for the National Assembly.

Twenty-one percent of Canadians to become Bahá’ís declared in Vancouver between 1913 and 1927.

In the early 1930's growth of the Vancouver community slowed, partly because some were cautious about expressing their Faith publicly due to Government suspicion of unfamiliar groups. In 1932 it was decided that study groups should only be attended by Bahá’ís. In 1935 Vancouver Bahá’í News began publication, a new Bahá’í Centre was purchased, and the Assembly began meeting more regularly, signaling the end of an insular period of the community.

In late 1937 the Spiritual Assembly of Vancouver arranged for a series of Bahá’í talks and fireside discussions to be broadcast by radio on Station CKMO. In 1938 the talks were broadcast on a larger station, allowing for simultaneous weekly broadcasts across the whole of British Columbia.

In 1938 the number of delegates sent by the Vancouver community to the National Convention increased from one to two. The Vancouver Assembly was incorporated as a society in British Columbia under the Societies Act on March 25, 1939.

In 1940 the Vancouver Assembly sent a letter to the Canadian Department of National Defence requesting that Bahá’ís be exempt from combat duty which received a letter of acknowledgement. Shoghi Effendi approved of the letter and regarded it as a step forward in the recognition of Bahá’í administrative institutions.

In late 1943 Amelia Collins visited Vancouver for three days before travelling on to Calgary. On May 23, 1944 a banquet to commemorate the Bahá’í Centenary was held in Vancouver at the Devonshire Hotel which was attended by fifty people. The Vancouver Assembly also arranged for a fifteen minute talk on the Centenary to be broadcast over radio.

In early November 1945 John Robarts visited Vancouver and stimulated teaching activity.

The 1951 Canadian National Convention was held in Vancouver from April 27 to April 29. Rúḥíyyih Khánum attended the Convention and presented a lock of Bahá’u’lláhs hair on behalf of Shoghi Effendi. She visited the city again for a few days in 1960 during a tour of the United States and Canada.

On December 16, 1958 the Vancouver Local Spiritual Assembly received a Certificate of Registration under the Marriage Act from the government of British Columbia giving the Chairperson of the Assembly the legal authority to conduct marriages. It was the first Assembly to receive legal recognition for Bahá’í marriage in Canada.

Recent Activity

In 1969 nine conferences were held by the North American Continental Board of Counsellors for the purpose of deepening the Bahá’í communities of the United States and Canada with one being held in Vancouver. 462 Bahá’ís attended making it the largest Bahá’í conference ever held in Canada at that time. Hand of the Cause William Sears attended and spoke at the conference. The Vancouver community was also visited by Hand of the Cause 'Alí-Akbar Furútan in 1969.

In 1970 a three day conference attended by Bahá’ís and the wider community was held, and Rúḥíyyih Khánum, who was visiting Canada, delivered a talk. The conference was attended by 800 people from 144 communities including Samoa, Hawa'ii and Alaska.

In 1975 several teaching and deepening projects were planned in Canada, to commemorate ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's 1912 visit to the country. John Robarts assisted with organizing Vancouver's commemoration program and approximately 500 Bahá’ís from across western Canada attended a commemoration function at which Robarts spoke. Robarts assisted in the opening of a new Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Vancouver the same week as the commemoration, at a ceremony attended by 200 people.

In 1976 Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir visited Vancouver. He spoke about the construction of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, resulting in a contribution of $450 to the building fund, and encouraged the Vancouver community to teach the Faith to the Native American community in the Vancouver area.

A National Teaching Conference was held in Vancouver in 1976. A Regional Conference was held in Vancouver in 1977, at which John Robarts gave four talks, one on his experiences teaching the Faith, one telling stories about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, one on the Ten Year Crusade in Canada, and one on the power of prayer.

There was an increase in the level of teaching across Canada in late 1978 and early 1979, which was reflected in Vancouver with over 200 Bahá’ís attending a meeting and many volunteering to participate in teaching projects to assist a teaching campaign for British Columbia. Thirty-three localities were opened to the Faith and three Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed in British Columbia during the campaign.

‘Alí-Muhammad Varqá visited Vancouver in November 1980. He delivered a talk on developing a personal teaching plan to 300 Bahá’ís, and also spoke at a meeting for Bahá’í youth emphasizing the role they could play in the community.

In August 1985 both the Bahá’í International Health Agency's fourth annual conference and the tenth annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies were held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

In 2017 Mayor Gregor Robertson of Vancouver proclaimed October 22 as the Bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, and the City Hall of Vancouver was lit green in recognition.

See also

• Simon Fraser University