54. Release from Service of Two Members of the Universal House of Justice

54

Release from Service of Two Members of the Universal House of Justice

17 January 2005

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Beloved Friends,

54.1 Considerations of age and the related needs of the Cause have prompted Mr. Douglas Martin and Mr. Ian Semple to request permission to relinquish their membership on the Universal House of Justice in accordance with Article V.2.(c) of its Constitution.

54.2 It is with deep regret that the House of Justice has accepted the resignation of these much-loved members, which will take effect on the date that the by-election to replace them is completed. Mr. Semple was first elected to the Body in 1963 and Mr. Martin in 1993. We wish them well in the next stage of their service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

54.3 We call upon the members of all National Spiritual Assemblies to cast their ballot for the election of two members to the Universal House of Justice to succeed Mr. Martin and Mr. Semple. We exhort all electors to ponder the sacred responsibility now resting upon their shoulders and to uphold scrupulously and prayerfully the sanctified spirit of Bahá’í elections.

54.4 Each National Assembly member should record his or her vote for two male adult believers, each name on a separate piece of plain paper, and enclose them in an unmarked envelope, which should then be sealed. That first envelope should be placed in a second one which should also be sealed, and on which the elector should write his or her own name and the name of his or her National Assembly. The member should then immediately send or take this ballot to the National Assembly’s Office.

54.5 As soon as all nine ballots have been received at the National Office, they should be airmailed in one package, with a list of the ballots enclosed, to the Universal House of Justice. The National Office should immediately notify the Bahá’í World Centre by email, fax or telephone of this fact.

54.6 If fewer than all nine ballots have been received at a National Office by Tuesday, 1 March, the ballots which have been received must be sent that day. Late ballots should be forwarded by the National Office as soon as they are received, and the World Centre should be informed in each case of the number of ballots which have been dispatched.

54.7 The results of this by-election will be announced at Naw-Rúz.

54.8 Supplications are being offered at the Holy Shrines that Bahá’u’lláh may guide and protect you all in the exercise of this divinely conferred responsibility.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice