Paul Bartlett wrote:
>
>
> On Wed, 16 Apr 2008, Susan Maneck wrote:
>
>> Dear Doug,
>>
>> We have known for quite some time how to get enrollments.
>
> Although in the estimated two hundred Baha'i firesides I have attended,
> two of which were of some years' running, I have seen few enrollments,
> at least publicly.
I believe your experience is typical. But Susan is also right.
Firesides or similar functions which occur regularly and which non-
Baha'is can attend on a regular basis have been popular not because
they attract large number of declarants but because those who do
declare tend to have a good knowledge of the Faith by the time they
declare and often remain in the Faith. I would guess that most of the
Baha'is who post here came into the Faith either through some such
process or by being brought up as Baha'is.
But we have known that, in most societies, we can get far higher
declaratioon rates by other methods. Door to door, charismatic style
meetings, targetting specific ethnic or cultural groups, etc can
generate large numbers of declarants. In the past this has often been
seen as a complete waste of time because the 'declarants' know
practically nothing about the Faith and are rarely interested in it.
Many have just signed the card to get rid of you. An alternative view
is that although most of such declarants are paper Baha'is only, the
small percentage who found it genuinely interesting, investigate
further, and becomefully fully fledged Baha'is are still a better
'return' than those coming in though firesides. A complicating factor
is that there are differring views within the Faith about this style
of teaching. Some find it distasteful.
A major problem has been the lack of human resources. When an area
has decided on plan B - i.e. try some mass teaching and get large
number of declarants - they have tended to devote all their resources
to the 'teaching' and the ongoing firesides etc are generally not
there.
A major focus of the current planning is to ensure that both wings are
there. Yes we must have intensive efforts to let as many people as
possible know about Baha'u'llah but only to the extent that we can
offer a real service to those we contact.
> However, one point needs to be noted very strongly. Most of the
firesides I attended were not really for presenting the
> Faith to non-Baha'is (personally I dislike being called a "Seeker"). The
overwhelming majority of them (including the one I was asked to
> co-present three times) were really deepening sessions for Baha'is.
This certainly happens. Particularly when non-Baha'i attendees are
rare or so regular as to know just as much as the Baha'is themselves.
A few years ago there was a book published about how to hold
firesides. It was excellent and its strong advice was not to invite
Baha'is to firesides.
<snip>
>
>> [...] and adult study circles which ideally are held at the
>> neighborhood level. That way when people enroll we are not faced with
>> the logistical nightmare of trying to get these people to meetings.
>> The meetings are held in their own neighborhoods, preferably in
>> walking distance.
>
> Certainly in densely populated areas this could be practical, but in
> other areas not. When I was taking Ruhi Book One, my car was in the
> shop one night. I am a great exercise-walker, but it took me three
> quarters of an hour to walk to the session. Not many people are going
> to do that many times.
You were lucky. When I declared I was 50 miles from the nearest
Baha'is. The problem is recognised and one strategy is to concentrate
the teaching in areas where there are the neighbourhood resources. In
particular door to door work around any Baha'i Centre , book shop or
similar is recommended in Australia.
That really is the whole point of the current plan. One must see
teaching as an exercise that covers long periods of time and goes
through various phases and there is no point in starting a process
until one is sure the capability is there to handle all phases.
>
>> Among the skills taught in these study circles is
>> how to conduct home visits to seekers, new believers or even inactive
>> ones.
>
> Home visits? That is a new one to me. I never heard of such a thing
> in my area. At least not to inquirers.
I think Susan picked her words carefully here. Ruhi book two teaches
about home visits but only in relation to deepening new believers and
it was apparently written in a context where the Internet or even
Baha'i books are unavailable or too expensive. I don't think the
examples and training in the book are at all relevant to Australia and
I assume not to America. Also the implications of the book didn't
reflect Australian cultural values as to the protocol of visiting
people. However in the last year or two people have recognised the
value of home visits and they are certainly being encouraged and
taught, if not exactly in the study circles, at least in association
with them.
A method which is currently in vogue here is that at the initial mass
teaching events enquirers are offered 'packages' - such as join a
study circle, send your kids to our childrens cl*****, or have six
home visits over the next month at a time of your choosing. Clearly
when doing that sort of thing one must be very confident one has the
available people and that one doesn't offer the package too often. It
is only really practical in large communities.
I fully admit that my locality
> may not necessarily be typical, but there are supposed to be hundreds
> of Baha'is just in my immediate suburban county, divided into various
> communities (I wonder if they are too divided),
They probably were but over the last half dozen years these
communities have been amalgamated into clusters. The communities
still exist and are the legal structure of the Faith but all teaching
and deepening is really done at the cluster. The development of
clusters was/is an evolution rather than fiat. In your area the
cluster may scarcely be functioning yet but in other areas the cluster
is the be all and end all.
A slightly sad side effect of this is a distinct weakening of local
democracy within Faith. The clusters, if they have any administrative
structure at all, are run by appointed rather than elected officers.
> so surely it cannot be
> grossly atypical.
>
No I don't think your area is atypical but you may have missed how
rapidly the Faith is changing. You might find it interesting to ask
your local Baha'is if you can attend a cluster reflection meeting (if
you haven't already done so). In Australia at least they are open to
the general public though it is rare indeed for non-Baha'is to turn
up.
It might be an eye-opener to you as to how the structure, plans, and
even the vocabularly of the Faith has changed in the last few years.
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