When a new believer enrolls, they tell everyone they know about their experience

Here is an update on the second expansion phase in Kentuckiana, KY (A), and again, it is very exciting. The friends discovered 10 people who declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh. And now, this cluster has an organized and dedicated follow-up plan that is seamlessly connected to their teaching efforts. The friends are rapidly learning and immediately applying their new insights.

__ reports of their home visit:

Two of us went to visit __, a new believer. When we arrived at his home, there was another man who we had never met before. After greeting and an opening prayer, we decided that, although we had come to share deepening themes with __, we instead should share Anna’s presentation with the new person. So we asked the new believer, to help me share Anna’s presentation as well as to translate. So __ and I shared the whole presentation, while the other teacher was the silent prayer partner. And this new person declared! After spending more than an hour together, we left the place with joy and a spiritual feeling. . . .

The above report shows how important it is to do follow-up home visits as soon as possible with the new Bahá’ís. When a new believer enrolls, he or she tells everyone else they know about their experience. This is a crucial time to be nurturing and to be there. Though the original purpose of this home visit was deepening, the teaching team was flexible and we discovered another receptive soul.

So, if you haven’t scheduled a home visit, do it today! Then report back to E what happened so we can keep the database up-to-date and make sure none of the new believers slip through the cracks. If language differences make it difficult to communicate, please let us know what language they speak so we can provide materials for them in their language.

The last ten days have required a group effort and many Bahá’ís participated that haven’t served on teaching teams before. We made great progress during the expansion phase. Now it’s time to follow through and show the new believers how the Faith works in our daily lives.

We are asking each team to please return all lists and forms to E. Also, please return your teaching binders to J if you aren’t using them, or give them to the friends who will be carrying out consolidation. Also pick up the deepening theme folders from J. The area teaching committee will meet to discuss how the expansion phase went and figure out how to assist the teams in their consolidation work over the next two months.

"We respect your leadership and protection"

Seekers and new believers come to the Bahá’í Faith from all kinds of backgrounds and in all kinds of situations. It is important for the friends to be sensitive to the particular situation of any seeker or new believer that they meet. Each encounter will have its own special requirements. In the following story, a youth reached out to the Bahá’í community via the internet. The Seeker Response “regional specialist” who followed up took great care in her approach, making sure to involve from the very beginning this youth’s parents, and to be completely open and respectful to them. Here is the regional specialist’s report:

Dear S and B,

With exceeding joy and happiness, I’m writing to inform you about my conversation with __ tonight.

I had previously talked with her mother, who had indicated that I needed to talk to her father as well before doing anything else.

I was finally able to reach her father. This is how the conversation went: “Who is this?” I gave my name. “Who are you?” “I’m a Bahá’í in __.” “What is Bahá’í?” When I gave an explanation, my focus was on unity and our shared belief in Christ. . . .

I then told him, “Sir, my understanding is that your daughter is interested in the Bahá’í Faith. Since she is a minor and living in your home, neither I nor any other Bahá’ís will speak to her or invite her to anything without you and your wife’s permission. We respect your leadership and protection. We have no clergy, but there is an administration. So if I don’t sound like a preacher, that’s why.” I then offered to help arrange for a few Bahá’ís in their town to meet with him, his wife and their daughter. We chatted a bit more.

Then he said, “I’ll put my daughter on the phone. You can speak with her. It was nice talking with you.”

So now I have spoken with both of __’s parents. I am so thankful to Bahá’u’lláh for guiding me on what to say. No credit goes to me, only to the Blessed Beauty and for everyone’s prayers.

When __ got on the phone, we rejoiced in finally reaching each other! It was a happy moment. Since it was already late evening, I suggested that we talk a little now and speak again another time soon. Before talking about the Faith, I explained to her how important it is that she be transparent and open with her parents, and that the Bahá’ís in her town, and I, would be too. Her parents must give permission. I also asked her to think about the idea of local Bahá’ís coming to visit, since I am in another part of the region.

Please continue to pray for this youth, her parents and me.

Accompanying Local Assemblies to respond to online declarations of Faith

As more and more individuals are taking the opportunity to declare online their belief in Bahá’u’lláh, more and more local communities are learning how to respond to this growing population of “online registrants”. We are delighted to share an email conversation between one of the Seeker Response System “regional specialists” (who are the first responders to online registrants”) and a secretary of a Local Spiritual Assembly. It clearly and cogently outlines the key elements of the enrollment process and the various roles of the friends at the national, regional and local levels. It is also a wonderful example of empowerment through accompaniment. We’ve left in some of the “technical jargon” in the messages, because it is very relevant to Local Spiritual Assemblies who may in the near future have a new believer who enters the Faith through this channel in their own localities.

1. Regional Specialist to LSA:

Dear __ and __,

Greetings!

My name is __ and I serve the Seeker Response System for this region. As you may be aware, the National Spiritual Assembly has recently re-instituted the ability to declare one's belief in Bahá’u’lláh via the internet. At this stage in the process, when we receive such submissions, I contact the individual in order to affirm their belief in Bahá’u’lláh's Station and ensure they understand they are joining the Cause. . . .

Mr. __, who lives in your community, recently submitted his declaration online and we spoke by phone today. He indeed understands he is joining the Faith and at this point, the Office of Membership & Records simply needs your Spiritual Assembly's electronic "countersignature" to finalize the enrollment. I will forward the file to your community's eMembership program where it will reside in the "Pending Members" queue, awaiting your follow-up. An automatic email will be sent notifying you of this. Please note that there is no need to enter in new information into eMembership (as a typical enrollment), as this will create a duplicate file.

In order to expedite the process, we ask that you complete this precious soul's enrollment process promptly and see to it that he is accompanied in the path of service to the Blessed Beauty. Should you need assistance or are unable to get to his file in eMembership, we'll be happy to finalize the enrollment for you at the National Teaching Office. Please let me know if you have any questions - we are here to assist and you may contact me by phone or email.

With warm Baha'i greetings,

J

2. LSA reply to Regional Specialist

Dear J,

Thank you so much for such wonderful news. I have looked at the Pending File in the Membership record. The question I have is whether the LSA needs to approve or can I go ahead as the Secretary and Enroll Mr. __?

M and I know __ personally and were in a deepening class together and our community has tried to be as warm and welcoming as possible so I can state that from my interactions and experiences with him, he does have a very deep and good understanding of the Faith and knows what it means to join. Of course I cannot tell you how excited I am. Thank you again for giving us such wonderful news.

I look forward to hearing back from you about what to do with regards to his enrollment.

Warm Regards,

M

3. Regional Specialist reply to LSA

Dear M,

Thank you for your quick response!

The way the online registration and handling process is designed - at this point - is that once the affirmation has taken place (which I do by phone and in the future may work through a designated believer in the cluster), you may then simply go ahead as Secretary and finalize the enrollment.

As you see his file in the Pending area, please use this. (Some friends have been confused and entered in a whole new file for the registrant, creating a duplicate entry.) The Assembly may of course reach out to __, welcoming him to the community. But there's no need to wait for extra visits or affirmations to be conducted. In other areas, there have been upwards of 1 new registrant a week for the past month. Hence, working through a quick enrollment process (over the course of 2 or 3 days) is crucial. Deepening, and particularly using Book 2 themes, will obviously be important, but we need not hinge the enrollment on these taking place prior to finalizing his status.

I hope this answers your questions as we learn about the process by working through it. Once you finalize __'s file, I will receive an auto email. Of course, if you have other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes,

J

4. LSA to Regional Specialist

Dear J,

I went ahead and approved the pending enrollment. I hope it all went through. This is very exciting news for our community and I am so glad to be educated about this streamlined process. It is so much better.

Please confirm it is done and there is nothing more needed from my end.

Warmest Regards

M

5. Regional Specialist to LSA

Dear __ and __,

This truly has been exemplary of how the processing can go! And yes, once we understand just how it's designed to work, it is very simple. As our new believer stated, "I think the process is so genius and straight-forward!"

This time around, nothing is needed on your end, apart from accompanying him as you would any other new Baha'i according to the Framework. These new online registrants do come into the SRS database, and in time, you'll be able to see them alongside the seekers. For right now, we're ironing out the kinks and learning the processes at the regional level. As others come in around the cluster, I'll keep you in the loop and may give you some to affirm (as I did over the phone), while I handle the technical aspects.

In this case, __ was well known to you both and has himself done much deepening / study / participating. We will however get folks who have only briefly encountered Bahá’u’lláh's teachings, while never having met a Bahá’í. We handle them the same way: rapid affirmation on my part (or your part), rapid enrollment processing, and then systematic deepening and involvement in the core activities. For this, the ATC or your LSA could delegate a team to do the home visiting.

On a side note, because __ is from a sensitive country, his file is making a slight detour to the Office of Membership & Records for clearance. So there may be a slight delay before he shows up as a full status member. This is standard protocol and we all have done everything appropriately on our end. Where this is not the case, the full enrollment will be instant.

So, thank you dear friends, and hopefully we'll have another one soon!

Warmly,

J

The learning deepens the second time around

One of the most interesting teaching efforts to study are those clusters that have launched intensive programs of growth and are now on their SECOND cycle. In the first cycle, most of the time the focus of the reports is naturally the joys and delighted surprise of the friends as they discover what it is like to share the Message directly and see with their own eyes the receptivity. But it is in the second cycle that the friends start experiencing more fully some of the other aspects of the IPG, particularly that it is a long-term process. The requirements—and possibilities—that emerge when one looks at things from a long-term view are much vaster than a one-time teaching project. That is what is reflected in this brief report from Kentuckiana, KY (A), with teaching teams sharing their experiences from their second expansion phase. They have embarked on a commitment to a very diverse and receptive community, and are already seeing exciting results.

One team met with a gentleman who declared his belief in Bahá’u’lláh today. He has a wife and two children who weren’t at home, so he wants the Bahá’ís to return soon and share the Message with his family.

Wow! Another team met with a family, and the mother and 3 children enrolled in the Faith. Another child who was visiting wants to become a Bahá’í also, but the teaching team will need to visit with his parents first.

Another team met some wonderful friends of __, who enrolled during the first expansion phase. This demonstrates how important it is for us to keep going back to this neighborhood. It will become easier and easier as we get to know more residents, and, more importantly, as they get to know us.

Everyone’s prayers and support are needed. If you wish to be on a team, call any of the coordinators and join in. You can do direct teaching, make home visits, help set up devotional gatherings in the homes of the new believers, help with children’s classes, be a silent prayer partner, etc. It’s not too late to participate!

Emergence of "the big picture"

With each cycle of an IPG, the friends gain more and more insights from their experiences: This approach works well, that approach doesn’t work so well. A is good and so is B and C, but when you put A + B + C together, things get really sustainable. And so on. This recent report from Phoenix, AZ (A) contains a lot of these types of insights (the one on children’s classes is particularly interesting). But what is really exciting is how the insights are collectively over time crystallizing into a “big picture”. And that big picture is how all the elements of the Plan are resulting in the emergence of a new community life and the empowerment of a growing number of new believers.

When the teaching teams understand coherence and have a unity of vision for building a spiritual community and are accompanied, they will begin to have systematic action in the neighborhoods and cluster at large. For instance, one team began devotionals with the purpose of inviting seekers to a Book 1 study circle. This has resulted in 8 seekers and 2 Bahá’ís in a regular study circle! Another team started with children’s classes, and then eventually organized devotional gatherings with the parents of the students. . . .

Forming neighborhood or “Book 2 teaching teams” (who visit new believers and share the deepening themes from Ruhi Book 2) is an effective way to help those friends who haven't yet found a particular path of service to arise.

We have tried very hard to hold regular neighborhood Feasts. This has allowed for consistent and improved quality of the Feast, and has been a success.

One new approach to children’s classes: Instead of offering to families to start a children’s class (and then looking for a teacher), we did the converse. We looked for an individual in the neighborhood who wanted to teach the class (with accompaniment from the friends). So she is helping organize the class and is studying Ruhi Book 3. In this way we are empowering the neighborhood from the beginning by raising up people of capacity. While we are of course also serving the neighborhood by offering the classes, our greatest service is the empowerment of new believers. We plan to do the same in other neighborhoods.

When holding Holy Day observances in the neighborhoods, this helps strengthen the community as a whole.

We have decided to build on existing strengths in the various neighborhoods. For example, if one neighborhood has a strong devotional gathering, we will work to strengthen other core activities around it.

Austin just explains it clearly and with love

Boy, I THOUGHT I understood what this Five Year Plan and all these IPGs were about. But leave it to the friends in Austin, TX (A) to show me how much more I have to learn! We’re sharing here a brief article from their most recent newsletter. It gives the most elegant, the most natural, the most simple explanation I have ever seen of what we’re supposed to do during the expansion phase of an intensive program of growth.

I think the true test of how well you understand and have internalized something is reflected in how clearly you can explain it to others. And the friends here have perfectly done so—as well as being loving and encouraging and empowering. They are truly showing that everyone can find a part to play in the expansion phase and it’s not complicated or mysterious at all.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Expansion Phase

Q. What should I do during the expansion phase of this cycle?

A. As someone you know (or don’t know) if they would like to hear what the Bahá’í Faith is about.

Q. What do I say?

A. Say:

1. God is unknowable; Manifestations are like mirrors

2. Bahá’u’lláh is the most recent Manifestation

3. The purpose of the Bahá’í Faith is . . .

4. Bahá’u’lláh

5. The Báb

6. The Covenant and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

7. Spiritual laws

8. Let them know how to join our Faith

(See “Anna’s presentation” for details.)

Q. Where do I do this?

A. Anywhere—in a fireside, in a study circle, after a devotional, with a coworker, with family, with a neighbor, in a neighborhood, with a long-time friend who may know something about the Faith but has never heard an overview of the essential facts about the Faith.

A wonderful resource for teaching is [link is on blog on “Resources” section on right margin]. This has many resources in many languages.

Of course your area teaching committee will provide resources and locations for collective direct teaching on the weekends of the expansion phase, however, this is but one path for teaching during this time. Please share with us your thoughts, plans, experiences or resources that have been helpful to you.

New Search Tool Added to the Blog!

Looking for a particular story on this site, you can’t remember exactly when it was posted or what labels it had, you just remember the name of the city in which the story took place or a particular phrase in the story?

Yesterday, we would have had to say, good luck (Ha Ha Ha), because there would have been no way to find what you were looking for other than clicking on every single story, one by one. In the early days when we had just a few dozen stories on this site, that would have been manageable. But, as with teaching, growth creates the need for new approaches and resources. And since you all have been teaching and teaching and teaching and then sending tons of stories of your experiences, this site has GROWN over the months big time!

SO AS OF TODAY there is now a “Search” tool on this blog (at the upper right corner). This allows you to search the content of the entire blog, including the resource links at the right. Type in any word or phrase, and all the stories that contain that word will come up. Enjoy!