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10 April 2003

To the Friends Gathered at the Series of Youth Forums
Called by the Regional Bahá’í Council
of the Western States, U.S.A.

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We were delighted to learn that the Regional Bahá’í Council of the Western States has called upon selected Local Spiritual Assemblies to conduct a series of youth forums at this juncture in the unfoldment of the Five Year Plan. The Council is clearly conscious of the weighty responsibilities with which it has been entrusted and recognizes that the success of the efforts to advance the process of entry by troops across the region will depend, in no small measure, on your wholehearted and sacrificial participation in the plans of action now in place. We applaud the Council’s decision and urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to the progress of the Cause in your communities.

From your study of our 17 January 2003 message to the Bahá’ís of the world, you know that the challenge facing the institutions of the Faith in every part of the globe is to stimulate the movement of the clusters in their respective areas of jurisdiction from one stage of growth to the next. You are also well aware that this movement receives its impetus from another, that is, from the steady flow of believers through the sequence of courses adopted by their training institutes. In those clusters where the institute process is well established, three key activities—study circles, devotional meetings and children’s classes—tend to multiply with relative ease, creating an initial pattern of growth, to which other elements must then be added. Multiplying these activities ranks high among the priorities of the institutions everywhere, and you should not underestimate the importance of the part Bahá’í youth must play in this mighty endeavor. Who more than the young people of our communities can lend the collective energy needed to achieve so necessary an increase in the level of activity?

We hope, then, that you will become the most enthusiastic participants in the programs of growth in your clusters. You should take up with a true sense of responsibility, and in a spirit of joy that service to the Faith evokes, the task of rapidly increasing the number of study circles, devotional meetings and children’s classes in the Western States. Your efforts to meet this challenge will be greatly enhanced if you constantly seek out receptive souls in your schools, at your universities, and in the workplace and invite them to join you in your systematic study of institute courses.

Now more than ever you should be attuned to the interests of your peers and be confident that many will welcome the opportunity to delve into the Writings with you. The widespread turmoil in the world, so graphically displayed by ongoing occurrences, brings with it a heightened degree of receptivity to the Cause, especially among young people. You should remain ever conscious of the forces at work in society and seize on the opening they provide for you to extend the influence of the Faith. Your peers long to make sense of the events they see unfolding around them, both at home and on the global scene. You alone have the Message that can soothe their troubled hearts and provide them with the clarity of thought they desire. Be assured of our prayers at the Sacred Threshold on your behalf.

The Universal House of Justice