First Stirrings

The first stirrings of social action can be viewed as an indication of a people cultivating within themselves the capacity to apply spiritual principles to the social and material betterment of society. Typically modest in scale, a vast majority of such initiatives are, by nature, fairly informal and of a limited duration.

The pattern of community life that Bahá’ís endeavor to create is one that weaves together acts of worship with activities that promote the common good. Learning is at the heart of these efforts. Gathering with other members of their local community, irrespective of belief and background, groups of individuals explore, through an ongoing process of study, action, consultation, and reflection, how to translate spiritual teachings to the life of the village or neighborhood in which they reside. In an environment that is free from any sense of superiority, these small groups of friends study materials that help them acquire the skills, attitudes, qualities, and knowledge needed to serve their communities. The energies of the participants are channeled into action through consultation, a process of collective decision-making prescribed in the Bahá’í writings. In addition to providing a space within which collective decisions can be taken, consultation also serves as a means of harmonizing points of view, promoting unity among diverse members of a community, strengthening the bonds of trust and love between individuals and institutions, and allowing new insights into complex issues to be brought forth and examined dispassionately.

“Irrespective of its scope and scale, all social action seeks to apply the teachings and principles of the Faith to improve some aspect of the social or economic life of a population, however modestly.”
—The Universal House of Justice

Study and consultation leads to well-informed and purposeful action. Among the acts of service carried out by individuals and groups are classes that tend to the spiritual education of children, a moral empowerment program that channels the energies of young people at a critical transitional age toward the betterment of society, circles of study that enhance capabilities for service among youth and adults, and gatherings for collective worship that strengthen the devotional character of the community. By arising to carry out these and other acts of service, men and women, young and old alike, come to recognize that, through the power of pure and goodly deeds, they have the ability to transform the world around them.

Activities of fixed duration

Often, in a locality where such a process of capacity building is in place and a pronounced sense of community exists, the first stirrings of heightened social awareness can be observed in the emergence of small groups which, addressing a particular social or economic concern, initiate a simple set of appropriate actions.

Most of the local initiatives of this kind are informal in nature and of fixed duration, coming to a close when their objectives have been met. They may be related to any one of a variety of concerns depending on the social conditions of a place. The forms they can assume are diverse and could include, for instance, efforts to support children in their education, activities to address an environmental issue, projects to respond to a particular health concern or prevent a particular disease, and initiatives to raise consciousness of matters of import. It is estimated that over 100,000 activities of this type occur annually in communities where Bahá’ís reside. A few examples of such initiatives are presented below.

Instances of Activities of Fixed Duration

In order to provide a space for meaningful conversations in the community, a family in a neighborhood in Stockholm, Sweden, arranged an artistic workshop in a public space open to all. Through this effort, a number of volunteers, including a few local artists, created a mural together on the theme of spiritual and material transformation.

Inspired by the important role that young people play in serving society, a group of youth in Makeni, Sierra Leone, created a film to convey information on effective health measures at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative assisted doctors, village leaders, and the broader community during a time of great need.

In Durham, the United States, a number of community gatherings were held to consult about how groups of families can share resources and support one another. Several initiatives emerged including a vaccination pop-up clinic and language classes for parents new to the country.

In Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, a group of youth were consulting about the local environment and decided to clean a river which had been littered with trash. The group also created a newsletter to raise awareness around protection of the environment and share uplifting news. Over time, a municipal official became aware of the clean-up effort and provided resources to reinforce the initiative.

A group of youth in Battambang, Cambodia, planted trees along a road to beautify the village and provide shelter from heat. The group did not anticipate that these efforts would later protect that section of the road from severe erosion at the onset of flooding one year later.

Bahá’í institutions and local officials worked shoulder to shoulder with communities in Dili, Timor Leste, to provide relief after a cyclone struck the island. The Bahá’í community facilitated the distribution of packages of food, mosquito nets, and other essentials that have assisted more than 7,000 people across 13 villages and neighborhoods, regardless of background or belief.

However modest such activities may be, they represent a response of a people to the particular challenges facing their own communities through the application of spiritual principles such as oneness, generosity, and trustworthiness. Viewed in isolation, their impact might appear insignificant. Yet, the transformative power of thousands upon thousands of such actions by a steadily growing number of people in diverse social realities, bound together in a common framework for learning, should not be underestimated. Furthermore, as such activities multiply within a community, they help to strengthen the social fabric, encourage a culture of participation and initiative, and enhance capacity for consultation and collective decision-making—contributing overall to the creation of an environment within which more complex development efforts can emerge. The page below entitled “A Diversity of Initiatives in a Community” offers an illustration of this.