Helping the core activities support each other

The various core activities are each very useful in helping to build community. The friends in Ventura, CA (B) have been learning a lot from their efforts to establish core activities in their cluster. What is very interesting to see from their experiences so far is how the various core activities can mutually support each other.

Reflecting on the needs of the youth in the cluster led to the idea to start a junior youth group. While this group is working with Ruhi Book 3A, the hope will be to use the animator books later on. Ruhi 3A seems to be appropriate now as a starting place.

Some of the friends found that travelling distances became unsustainable. So it was suggested to start local activities . . . .

We have seen is that those that have regular devotionals are having them with their friends from the wider community; it is not just the Bahai’s who are having devotionals.

We have seen some friends helping each other with devotional gatherings by encouraging each other to contribute however they can. Some are singing and chanting. Some have found that after starting a Book 1 study circle, they can maintain participating by scheduling monthly devotionals with the group while finishing up Book 1. The flexibility of juggling schedules with a Book 1 and weaving in devotionals has really worked. In a couple of cases, with the help of other Bahai’s, the attendance and quality of the devotionals has really increased.