Humbly Learning About Contributing to Discourses of Society
As groups of friends and families across Ontario are gathering to study the recent guidance of the Universal House of Justice, they are noting the broadening focus of the Nine Year Plan, encompassing three interconnected areas of endeavour: expansion and consolidation, social action and participating in the discourses of society. While “the endeavours of the […]
Camps, Campaigns and Service Reinvigorate the Friends Across Ontario
Amidst an ongoing pandemic and what often feels like the rising tide of a sea of uncertainties, one constant remains: a growing longing for joy, peace, and prosperity for all. As friends in Ontario continue to adjust to the evolving recommendations in a given locality, they are in essence, drawing on “characteristic creativity and determination […]
“This is Our Community”: Nipissing-Timiskaming Reaches a New Milestone
The friends in Nipissing-Tamiskaming not only increased the number of core activities but are rooting certain processes in the community.
A Vibrant Festival in the Victoria Hills Neighbourhood Kick-starts Fall Activities
Written by Maryam Ahrari, Emily Glabush & Núr Elmasri Summer has come and gone in a flurry, and we are not only reflecting on our learnings but sustaining a trail of neighbourhood activities which have continued into the fall here in Victoria Hills, Kitchener. One event that contributed greatly to the energy and spirit of […]
Reflections on Youth Service: Animating in Brockville and Ottawa
Contributed by Anis Alkhushi “…much depends on the ability of the institutions to draw on help from friends in other clusters, reinforcing the actions of an existing Bahá’í community by, for example, arranging the support of visiting teaching teams or tutors. In many places, the institute process begins with the assistance of believers from stronger […]
Fostering True and Lasting Friendships in Kipps Lane
Written by Carmelia Taheri & Emma Persaud Stepping into London’s Kipps Lane neighbourhood in the evenings, any onlooker can see youth coaching volleyball, children running around in the park accompanied by their parents, and junior youth playing basketball with their animators. With approximately 30 thousand inhabitants, it’s a lively and vibrant community. The first community-building […]
Beautifying the Neighbourhood Unity Centre in Sudbury with LiveLoveLouder
Written by: Rebecca Hamilton-Bachiu & Chandyn Bachiu The team in the Sudbury-Manitoulin Cluster entered the summer of 2020 with audacious goals to advance the community building process and were curious about the possibility of collaborating with likeminded organizations. The Universal House of Justice describes how “initiatives of this kind emerge organically out of the junior […]
Developing Virtues on a Farm in Martintown
The Tremblay-Savoie family lives on their farm, Nature’s Acres Homestead in Martintown, Ontario, in the Cornwall cluster. Alex and Zac, both participants in a junior youth group, created this video, wishing all the friends a Happy Naw-Rúz and describing daily life on their farm. With humour and joy, the twin brothers reflect on how their […]
Bringing our Questions to Families: Collective problem-solving around Children’s Classes and Junior Youth Groups
In both the Springdale neighbourhood of Brampton and the St. James Town neighbourhood of Toronto, youth from the local population who have graduated from children’s classes and the junior youth program are now tutoring, animating, teaching children’s classes, and beginning to coordinate activities. In both neighbourhoods, the expanding nuclei of friends holding activities are turning […]
Malika’s Magical Mask: Brampton Collaborators Publish a Children’s Book
In Springdale, a neighbourhood in Brampton, the community of friends serving and praying together has grown significantly and stirrings of social action have become apparent. The process of growth began in the Springdale neighbourhood of Brampton in 2011. In the years since then, numerous cohorts of young people have graduated from the junior youth program […]
“A True Rallying Point”: A New Neighbourhood Centre in Sudbury
In early November 2020, through support from the region, the friends in Sudbury were able to lease a neighbourhood centre, at the exact midpoint between the Flour Mill and Louis Street focus neighbourhoods, just a kilometer apart. Having their own space became a necessity after the summer and fall cycles of intense activity when, despite […]