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Learning to Administer Growth

The message below addressed by the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of India in May 2004 highlights a fundamental challenge that the growth of the Faith brought to the institutions everywhere:

That a steadily growing number of the rank and file of the Indian Bahá’í community would, cognizant of their duties to the Cause, assume their rightful place in the forefront of Bahá’í activity was one of our most ardent aspirations at the outset of the Four Year Plan, and it has been a source of immeasurable joy to us to witness the progress that has been made towards the fulfillment of this cherished goal, especially over the last year. The processes that you set in motion, which have been vigorously pursued during the current Plan, are beginning to bear their long-awaited fruits. The challenge now falls on the institutions of the Faith to learn to administer the affairs of a community of active supporters of the Cause, and we have every confidence that, through the sustaining grace of Bahá’u’lláh, this important requirement will be met.^[1]

As the two movements gathered momentum at the cluster level during the Five Year Plan, it became clear that some kind of scheme of coordination would need to be put in place to ensure continued progress. In its Riḍván 2004 message, the House of Justice acknowledged the relationship between the growth of the Faith at the cluster level and the need for administrative structures:

The movement of clusters from each level of activity to a higher one is well in hand and, as it proceeds, the kernel of avowed believers is being joined by a larger circle of people, still not Bahá’ís but enthusiastically involved in core activities of the Plan. Structures for administering intensive growth are already appearing in certain advanced clusters.^[2]

Such structures, then, began to emerge as a response to the demands of growth itself and became the object of learning in clusters where the two essential movements were well under way. The following letter dated 26 November 2003 written on behalf of the House of Justice to the National Assembly of India commended its efforts to find a suitable mechanism at the cluster level to coordinate the multiplication and deployment of human resources:

The House of Justice is greatly pleased to know that your Assembly is giving the question of growth at the level of the cluster such serious consideration. That you are, on the one hand, concerned to ensure that the institute process continues to gather momentum in each cluster and, on the other, eager to see the human resources thus generated systematically deployed in the field of service is a sign of the clarity with which you see the essential relationship between the various elements that sustain growth. The House of Justice will be interested to know how the efforts to establish appropriate structures at the cluster level progress and how the learning in the area advances.^[3]

A letter written on behalf of the House of Justice to the National Assembly of Mexico goes further and describes the two principal elements of an effective scheme of coordination:

Meeting the challenge of fostering such growth will depend on the establishment and effective functioning of certain administrative mechanisms at the level of the cluster. It will require, on the one hand, an individual believer named by the institute in each priority cluster who would act as a coordinator, responsible for ensuring that the number of study circles, children’s classes, and junior youth groups steadily multiplies. On the other hand, it will call for the formation of some kind of cluster-level committee with a capable secretary in charge of promoting the gradual increase in devotional meetings, arranging for systematic visits to the homes of newly enrolled believers, holding periodic reflection meetings, collecting vital statistics and encouraging the development of the Nineteen Day Feast and the strengthening of the Local Spiritual Assembly in each locality, with the help of the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants.^[4]

A letter dated 16 September 2003 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Philippines elaborates the scheme in more detail:

From all reports received at the World Center, it is clear that there are now a few clusters in the Philippines primed for accelerated growth. However, for such growth to occur, administrative structures will need to be put into place at the level of the cluster to support the processes of expansion and consolidation. The Universal House of Justice is happy to know that consultations are giving rise to a scheme that identifies clearly the roles of the institute and Regional Councils. According to this scheme, the Dawnbreakers Foundation [the national agency responsible for human resource development] will, we understand, name a coordinator for each of the clusters selected who will be responsible for ensuring that the number of study circles for adults and older youth, Bahá’í children’s classes and junior youth groups systematically multiplies. Such a coordinator would be required to work with a growing contingent of tutors and children’s class teachers in the cluster, maintaining their enthusiasm and helping them to improve the quality of their services.

As this educational process gains in strength, there will be a corresponding increase in the number of those eager to render service to the Cause, to share their newly acquired knowledge, and to put into practice what they have been studying. In order to facilitate the efforts of such friends and channel their energies into effective collective action, a strong committee with a highly capable secretary will, it is assumed, be named by the Regional Council to operate at the cluster level. This committee would be assigned tasks such as promoting the spread of short-term teaching projects and devotional meetings in the cluster, in addition to overseeing a program of visits to the homes of newly enrolled believers and those less active in the community in order to deepen them in the fundamentals of the Faith. The establishment of the Nineteen Day Feast and the strengthening of the Local Spiritual Assemblies in the localities would also constitute one of the committee’s primary concerns, as would the collection of statistical information. The latter will be vital to the efforts to monitor the growth process not only at the cluster level, but also at the regional and national levels, and in this connection, the House of Justice welcomes the news that your member Mrs.…has been asked to assume the responsibility for encouraging the implementation of the Statistical Report Program throughout the country.

It is to be expected that much of the committee’s work could be carried out by its secretary, but it would also be possible for a few designated believers to discharge certain administrative functions. While maintaining clearly defined spheres of service, the institute coordinator and committee would collaborate closely to ensure that activities are synchronized effectively. For instance, an intensive campaign to raise the number of those who have completed the second course in the institute’s main sequence, which prepares them to share deepening themes, might well be followed by an equally intensive campaign of home visits. Similarly, although the committee would be charged with the task of arranging periodic meetings of consultations to reflect on progress in the cluster, the timing and the program of such events would be fully discussed with the institute coordinator. In the performance of all their functions, the committee and the institute coordinator would, of course, receive the unflagging support of the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants.^[5]

Of course, at the outset of the Five Year Plan, the House of Justice explained that the implementation of intensive programs of growth would “require the close collaboration of the institute, the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, and an Area Teaching Committee.”^[6] It was not until a sufficient number of clusters around the world began to reach the stage where they were ready to launch such programs, however, that the implications of this statement came to be realized. Some of these implications have been described by the House of Justice in “The Institution of the Counsellors”:

The involvement of the Auxiliary Board members in this process of design and implementation is multifaceted. They contribute to deliberations in which the worldwide aims and accomplishments of the Faith are analyzed, the condition of society and the forces operating within it are examined, opportunities and needs are detected. They bring their knowledge of the Faith to bear on consultations that generate shared vision and strategies for growth. Their familiarity with the friends and their talents, particularly as these are developed through the efforts of the training institute, enables them to draw attention to the characteristics of plans of action that are realistic and within the grasp of the believers. The network of assistants they each can name provides them with the means for stimulating activity at the local level and following it to completion. And above all, the love and respect in which they are held create for them the opportunity to act as standard-bearers and lead the community in action.^[7]

The House of Justice has further explained that “this challenging conception”^[8] of the work of the Auxiliary Board members with local communities calls for

… a fundamental departure from limited assumptions about social order which, in the world today, determine administrative theory and practice. For it aspires to infuse every act, individual and collective, with spiritual meaning. It places the sacred at the heart of community life, making it the focus of all reflection on activity.^[9]

Undoubtedly a great deal of learning about administering the affairs of communities made up of active supporters of the Cause will continue in the months and years ahead as expansion accelerates. Already, however, some of the challenges are beginning to emerge. The aforementioned letter to the National Assembly of the Philippines pointed to an important one:

As you can well imagine, if the gathering momentum in your community is to accelerate significantly, some of the friends will have to be called upon to dedicate a period of full-time service to the Faith at the level of the cluster. But a word of caution is in order. A system of the magnitude being considered will not come into existence and flourish if it depends primarily on the efforts of a cadre of remunerated workers. Such a system must receive its impetus from the spiritual energies of those steadfast and devoted souls who long to labor without expectation of financial reward in the path of God and experience the joy of contributing purely as volunteers to plans to build His Kingdom on earth, whether by acting as tutors, holding devotional meetings or participating in a teaching project. It is such selfless joy that should distinguish your community.

This is not to say that material means are not necessary. Clearly some financial resources will have to be channeled into each cluster when it reaches a certain level of development, and some funds may need to go towards the subsidies of a few individual believers who are charged with duties related to administration and coordination, but are lacking the personal material means that would allow them to provide such full-time services without financial support. However, if such subsidies are given to perform the kinds of services that the institute process is preparing the generality of the believers to carry out as part of the natural unfoldment of Bahá’í community life, for example conducting devotional meetings and children’s classes, confusion will set in and the promise for growth will remain unfulfilled. In general, the utmost wisdom and care will have to be exercised in channeling resources into the clusters; otherwise budgets will soon reach unsustainable proportions, and the entire enterprise will become prohibitively expensive.^[10]

Not only is the flow of financial resources into the cluster an immediate concern. So, too, is the need to channel contributions from the cluster to the regional or state level and up to the national level. A letter written on behalf of the House of Justice warmly acknowledged the efforts of the National Assembly of India to think about this two-way flow:

Obviously only in those states that have attained a certain level of growth will you want to open up the possibility of having the State Treasurer appoint a trustworthy person in each of the more advanced clusters to serve as his or her assistant. It is understood from the document submitted to you by Mr.…that such an assistant would be primarily responsible for collecting and forwarding contributions to the State Council and for disbursing funds to the Cluster Growth Committee on behalf of the Treasurer. This is a promising idea, and you are advised to make sure the plan of action takes a systematic approach to its implementation. The House of Justice will look forward to learning about your experience in this regard.^[11]

From the passage above it becomes clear that “related to the judicious use of material resources at the cluster level is the question of the administration of funds at all levels of the community—the national level, including the National Spiritual Assembly and its agency [for human resource development], the regional level and the local level.”^[12] It is in this light that the following was written on behalf of the House of Justice:

As the growth of the Faith steadily gathers momentum in country after country, and provisions are put in place to sustain the processes of expansion and consolidation in clusters around the world, the question of sound financial management by National Spiritual Assemblies and their agencies assumes increasing importance. Specifically, it seems that, if some National Assemblies are to succeed in taking advantage of the tremendous opportunities now presenting themselves, they will require assistance in developing their capacity to manage their fiscal affairs and in refining a financial system which ensures efficiency, transparency and accountability at all levels of the community, from the national to the local.^[13]

But the flow of material resources to and from the cluster is not the only one requiring attention. Equally important is the flow of information, largely in the form of statistics. The following paragraph from a letter written by the Department of Statistics at the World Centre to several National Assemblies explains the nature of a computer application designed to assist in maintaining this flow of information:

The program, referred to as the “Statistical Report Program,” is conceived on the premise that a country is divided into clusters, most of which consist of a number of local communities. When the program is fully operational in a country, the membership and other data for each locality will be collected and recorded at the cluster level, transmitted to the regional and national levels, and eventually to the Bahá’í World Centre, where it will be incorporated into the worldwide statistics on the Bahá’í community. It is hoped that adopting this system will foster a dynamic process in which membership and locality records are continually being updated and the information shared from one level to the next. In this sense, the program is intended to provide a picture of the current situation at a given date (a statistical snapshot) in a locality, cluster, region, or country, and not a historical record. The program can generate a set of reports at every level and thus be used as a tool for monitoring and planning growth.^[14]

In a recent letter written on behalf of the House of Justice to the National Assembly of Germany, the significance of this flow of information is underscored:

In this connection, the House of Justice understands that you are among a small number of National Spiritual Assemblies that have achieved an accurate baseline of data on their communities in the Statistical Report Program, the instrument designed here at the World Centre for collecting and maintaining statistics from the cluster to the national levels. You are commended for this achievement and are encouraged to ensure that the information provided by the program is used as a means for keeping abreast of the developments in the community at all levels and for guiding it accordingly.^[15]

It is important to note from the above that the House of Justice views both the flow of material resources and information as a means of supporting the work of the Faith at the grassroots. Further, what is becoming clear is that the administration at each level of the community is directly affected by the one below it. “It is quite likely that by looking to the requirements at the regional level,” a letter written on behalf of the House of Justice has advised, “you will gain a better idea of how the practices and procedures at the national level should be established.”^[16] In this connection, the National Assembly of India was encouraged to proceed with plans to begin examining its administrative machinery at the cluster level and to observe

… the workings of the new structures you are putting in place to support the processes of expansion and consolidation, with the aim of determining their implications for the administrative affairs of the State Bahá’í Councils and then, of course, for the operation of your National Center and the functioning of your national agencies.^[17]

Clearly, then, the refinement of the administrative machinery at the regional and national levels is another area of learning that will need to receive increasing attention. The passage below from a letter dated 27 May 2005 written on behalf of the House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Russian Federation offers insights in this respect. Noting that “with the division of countries into small geographic areas, clusters have become a new arena of activity,” the letter explains that “in practical terms, this means that many decisions having to do with the expansion and consolidation of the Faith are now made at that level.” It goes on to state,

With such far-reaching developments occurring at the cluster level, the strengthening of Regional Bahá’í Councils takes on special significance. You yourself have recognized that it would indeed be difficult in a country as widespread and diverse as Russia for your Assembly to be in close and continual contact with communities and believers. The Regional Councils, on the other hand, have an intimate knowledge of the resources of the believers in their regions, the capacity of the local Bahá’í communities, and the capabilities of the Local Spiritual Assemblies. As they assume increasing responsibility for the promotion of the Faith within their regions, they will continue to grow in their ability to analyze the strengths and needs in their areas and, based on this analysis, to devise ways to assist in the implementation of the Plan. It is thus in the effective functioning of the Regional Councils that the House of Justice feels the answers to your concerns lie.

At the national level, your Assembly has the responsibility to reinforce the efforts of the Regional Bahá’í Councils to carry out their challenging duties. This will involve keeping a loving and watchful eye over them, providing encouragement and guidance when needed, ensuring the availability of basic literature, augmenting their financial resources to take care of their ever-expanding activities, and implementing an efficient system for the collection and dissemination of statistics—that is to say, serving the manifold needs of the Regional Councils with the aim of empowering them to act with confidence and efficiency. Regional Bahá’í Councils will, of course, go through various stages of development; some will initially require a greater degree of direction, while others can even now function with a wide degree of latitude.^[18]

It is within the context of such weighty responsibilities that the Universal House of Justice described to one National Spiritual Assembly some of the characteristics of those to be appointed as members of Regional Bahá’í Councils:

As you know, the [Regional] Bahá’í Councils have a crucial role to play in the effective prosecution of the Five Year Plan. Your greatly blessed community, standing among the front ranks of the supporters of Bahá’u’lláh in Africa, is already moving a sizeable number of clusters to the point where intensive programs of growth can be established and sustained. The next Plan must witness a further multiplication of this number. It is therefore vital that the National Assembly exercise wisdom in its selection of the members of the Councils from among the nominees, both those elected by members of Local Spiritual Assemblies and those recommended by the Auxiliary Board members. With the specific duties of the Councils in mind, you should choose those women and men who, through their proven experience in the activities of the Plan, their capacity to participate in the learning process, and their upright character and constructive attitudes, can best advance the process of entry by troops in the various provinces. Much will depend on the quality of your deliberations, which should be carried out in a true Bahá’í spirit, standing humbly in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, forgoing self-interest and all partisan concerns, and thinking only of the best interests of the Faith that you all hold dear.^[19]

Of course, not all countries have the conditions necessary to warrant the establishment of Regional Bahá’í Councils. Irrespective, it is the task of all National Spiritual Assemblies “to decide how to deploy the resources it has available to it at any time.”^[20] Whether a country is large or small, whether its current set of activities is relatively simple or complex, the National Assembly needs to give careful consideration to administrative arrangements at the national level. “While every Assembly must guard against over-administration,” the House of Justice has explained, “it is essential for a degree of administrative work to be performed in order to coordinate and assist the work of expansion and consolidation and carry out other essential functions at the national level.”^[21] In this connection, the House of Justice provided the following comments to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States:

Commitment to establishing sound intensive programs of growth in a realistic number of clusters across the nation should provide the basis for addressing the many questions associated with the necessary adjustment of your administrative and financial affairs to meet the challenges of massive expansion.… In considering the nature of these mechanisms, you will want to bear certain points in mind.

With learning about the nature of growth unfolding so rapidly at the grassroots, programs related to the expansion and consolidation of the Faith can best be managed at the regional or cluster level to ensure they evolve in accordance with practical experience. The efforts of national agencies should be examined to determine whether they overlap with the responsibilities granted to agencies at those levels. Where redundancies occur, the programs of national agencies may need to be modified significantly, or perhaps be eliminated altogether, so as to avoid creating confusion, diffusing focus, or dividing participation among an array of programs which, no matter how valuable in themselves, would end up at cross purposes, competing for the limited time and energies of the believers.^[22]