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First Friday Conversations
1st Friday of the month, 6:00pm-8:30pm at the McKee residence.
For the address
contact Nancy@PizzaAndSocialJustice.org
Zoom
Link: https://zoom.us/j/326557993
If you feel
ready to engage in meaningful conversations about racism, what it looks like in the world
and in ourselves, and what we must do to begin rooting it out, this is the place to
come.
We will be serving pizza, followed by discussion on a topic related to
Racism/Social Justice.
The doors open at 6:00 with the meeting starting at 7:00 pm.
Zoom will be active at 6:45 for those who wish to stay home or are to far away to join us
in person.
Our goal is building a stronger community through sharing and
conversation.
Pizza Served at 6:00 pm Meeting Start time: 7:00 pm
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⋅ Donuts and Devotions
Every Sunday at Central Park in Naperville from 10-11am.
There is no prepared program and all are welcome! There is both reading and chanting
of prayers, followed by fellowship and donuts.
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⋅ Interfaith Devotions
Saturday September 14, 6-8 pm
Held at the Shahrokh residence. Please text (630)
805-1397 for the address.
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⋅ Fridays By The Fire
Every Friday
Held at the Dobbs residence. Pleases message (630-476-1437)
for the address.
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From the Area Teaching Committee
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Next Cluster Reflection Gathering is Saturday, October 19th. Location TBD.
Thank
you to everyone who was able to attend the last gathering. It was great celebrating the
accomplishments of the cluster, reflecting on devotionals in the community, hearing from
our Auxiliary Board Members, discussing home visits and how they strengthen bonds of
friendship, and making a plan for further outreach to the community.
“Not
infrequently, outreach to the wider community takes the form of a visit to a home,
sometimes after prior arrangements have been made with the residents, although not always.
What should be understood in this respect is that such visits are not isolated acts. A
visit to a home should be seen as one element of a coherent pattern of action that seeks
to enable specific populations to contribute to the construction of the society envisioned
by Baha’u’llah. At the heart of the matter, then, is how a campaign of teaching the Faith
by visiting homes related to the other activities being undertaken in a neighborhood-how
it relates to the efforts to hold meetings that strengthen the devotional character of a
wider community, to offer classes that foster the spiritual development of children, to
form groups that channel the energies of junior youth, to establish circles of study, open
to all, that enable people of varied backgrounds to advance on equal footing and explore
the applications of teachings to their individual and collective lives.” UHJ, 28 December
2008
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⋅Meaningful Discussions
Join in on studying sections from the Baha'i writings to provide a spiritual
perspective on challenges that are relevant to the community today.
Held Sunday mornings at 11AM at the Oak Park Baha'i Faith Community
Center
124 Madison, Oak Park IL
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⋅ Hour of Prayer
Held every Sunday at 10AM at the Baha'i Faith Community Center
124 Madison, Oak Park and over Zoom. Go to this website for details and links for
Zoom. https://opbahai.org/activities
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⋅Thursday Night Devotionals
Thursdays from 7:30pm-8:30 pm
Hosted by Karen Skaggs via Google Meet
Please message (815-546-6607)
or Karenskaggs95@gmail.com
for link.
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⋅Blended Sunday morning devotionals
Sundays at 9:00 am
Please join us on zoom or in person.
Hosted by Jim & Cheryl Dougherty
1848 Corregidor St Joliet, IL 60435
815-600-1335
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⋅Monthly Meditation
First Wednesday 7pm-8:30pm
Please join us at the Welcome Center of the Baha'i House of Worship (112 Linden Ave,
Wilmette, IL) as we explore meditation from the Baha'i perspective.
Eventbrite link for more
information
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⋅Fireside
Friday nights 6pm to 7:30pm
Held at the Bahá’í House of Worship Welcome Center (112 Linden Ave, Wilmette,
IL)
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⋅Devotionals at the Temple
Sundays 12:30pm to 1:00pm
Please join us at the Bahá’í House of Worship for a devotional followed by
discussion on a theme 1pm to 1:30pm
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⋅Men's Breakfast
Come and enjoy some flapjacks & Mancakes, wash it down with a gallon of hot
steaming java, and top that off with an ice cold cup of OJ. Now that's a
breakfast!
2nd Saturday @ 8am
Egg House
24 E Miner St,
Arlington
Heights, IL 60004
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We started hosting a Ruhi class on Sunday mornings for Reflections on the Life
of the Spirit in February of this year. We set this class up to include two
Bahá’ís who wanted to participate in this book and for two member of the
community of interest who have expressed interest in studying more about the
Bahá’í Faith. One of the seekers is a retired gentleman who responded through
the Inquiry Management System after a visit he had at the House of Worship.
The other seeker is a woman who we met at the booth at TheosoFEST last
September. She had completed an interest card and I followed up with her.
Both of these seekers attended a fireside at the Movaghs in last November,
where I broached the idea of the Ruhi class. They both expressed interest and,
once the holidays were past, we set up for Sunday morning.
What has been very interesting and rewarding with this class has been the
participation and contributions of both seekers. Each brings a different
perspective to the material and each participates consistently. Their
contributions show a deepening respect for the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and we
all are learning a great deal in this study circle. Presently, we are nearing
the end of the third section, Life and Death. The consultations in class
continue to be deep, thorough, and inspiring.
This is the third study circle on Reflections on the Life of the Spirit that I
have facilitated that has included members of the community of interest. I
have also facilitated and participated in several with only Bahá’ís. I can
speak from experience that having members of the community of interest
participating in study circles brings in a lot of insights that go beyond the
insights of study circles of just Bahá’ís. There are, of course, some
different challenges, but there are also these benefits.
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August
has been a busy month! On Thursday 8/8/24 I attended a local Town Hall
with Congresswoman Delia Ramirez. In the crowd I only knew three people:
Michael Childress (DuPage County NAACP President & DuPage County
Board Vice Chair), Kim Reed (One Community Board member) and Mark Senak
(Glen Ellyn Village Board President). After the meeting, I had an
extended conversation with Mr. Senak about the need to connect with the
local population (beyond the wealthy white folks who are already engaged
in village life), discern what their needs are, and what the Village
can do to assist.
On
Saturday 8/10/24 we attended a packed performance by
Pastor/Grammy-winner Darius Brooks and the Tommies Reunion Choir at
Grace Central Church in Westchester. We got hugs from family members who
work for the choir, and then enjoyed 2 ½ hours of rousing and inspiring
gospel music.
Sunday
8/11/24 was the 17th anniversary of Peoples Community Church in Glen
Ellyn, and it was another full house. Pastor James Shannon has been a
supporter of Pizza and Social Justice since early in our existence, and
we’ve worked hard to nurture our relationship with him and the church.
The service was followed by a luncheon where we reconnected with several
people we’ve gotten to know over the years, including some who were
Adrian’s high school classmates. Six of us from Pizza and Social Justice
and the Baha’i Community attended.
Saturday
8/24/24 BRIDGE (Building Relationships In Diverse Groups for Equity)
luncheon. Adrian represented the Baha’i Faith on the discussion panel
(others were Muslim, Catholic, and Methodist); Foruzan, Yvor and I also
attended and spent time networking with representatives of several
faiths engaged in anti-racism work. Future events are planned, including
a shared calendar to advertise our activities to the group.
And
Choir begins again on September 1st after the August hiatus. My friend
Michele and her husband are coming to the House of Worship to visit our
rehearsal and hear us sing at the 12:30 devotions. She’s the choir
director at one of the Glen Ellyn churches; we connected at a Pizza and
Social Justice event last fall and have been in touch ever since.
Outreach is a wonderful thing!
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Questions from National Convention 2024
Organized by 9 Year Plan Themes, Val Dobbs, Delegate
Dear Friends,
It was an honor to serve in this capacity this Year. All of the Convention Report
Gatherings have been held. Thank you to those who reached out or responded to request.
With this years Convention about a month away, here are the questions that the Delegates
were asked to consider in 2024 . Maybe they are useful to you before Unit Convention to
guide your thoughts before the consultation.
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A Moment of Historic Portent: Contributing to Social Transformation
The National
Assembly’s Questions:
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Racial unity–What constructive suggestions derived from insights gleaned from
progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the
National Assembly) do you have on how “to promote race unity in the context of
community building, social action, and involvement in the discourses of society”?
(Universal House of Justice, July 22, 2020)
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Spiritual health–What constructive suggestions derived from insights gleaned from
progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the
National Assembly) do you have on building spiritually healthy communities,
particularly in the context of youth entering the Faith and moving towards
Bahá’u’lláh? For those who enroll, in what ways is their understanding being shaped
by the Laws revealed by Bahá’u’lláh?
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Educational Endeavors and the Training Institute
The National Assembly’s Questions:
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Institute process–What constructive suggestions do you have, derived from insights
gleaned from progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the
perspective of the National Assembly) on how “participation of individuals and
families in the institute process has…increased consciousness of the importance of
education in all its forms”? Do you have suggestions and recommendations on how such
experiences “serve as portals through which…the wider society could come into an
encounter with the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh”? (Universal House of Justice, December
30, 2021, Ridván 2021)
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What constructive suggestions do you have, derived from insights gleaned from
progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the
National Assembly) on how “institutions and communities [can create] spaces for
young people and [support] their efforts to encourage more and more souls to benefit
from the institute’s programs”? (Universal House of Justice, December 30, 2021)
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What constructive suggestions do you have, derived from insights gleaned from
progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the
National Assembly) on how qualities and abilities cultivated by the institute are
helping to contribute to the process of growth?
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Movement of Clusters
The National Assembly’s Questions:
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International pioneering goals–What insights and suggestions do you have that can
enrich the perspective of the National Assembly on how the American Baha’i community
can fulfill its international pioneering goals for the Nine Year Plan, enhancing the
progress already made?
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Growth–What constructive suggestions do you have, derived from insights gleaned
from progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of
the National Assembly), on how the goal of growth is finding success, including
among “families, groups of friends, and even clusters of households being ready to
enter the Cause”? (Universal House of Justice, December 30, 2021)
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What constructive suggestions do you have, derived from insights gleaned from
progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the
National Assembly) on fostering a spirit of universal participation within clusters?
In what ways are “families and individual believers” deciding to “see themselves as
belonging to an expanding nucleus that widens “the circle of activities” wherever
they live, whether in neighborhood centers of intense activity or in other parts of
the cluster? (Universal House of Justice, December 30, 2021)
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Growth of the Fund–What constructive suggestions do you have on how the American
community can address the escalating need for material resources in the coming years
and how can it meet this challenge?
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Learning from the Most Advanced Clusters
The National Assembly’s Questions:
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What constructive suggestions do you have, derived from insights gleaned from
progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the
National Assembly) on bringing ever greater numbers of friends into the fold of the
community building process, and learning to work within distinct populations? Have
you seen results in your own region from the House of Justice’s worldwide strategy
that encourages those in stronger (such as reservoir) clusters to help other nearby
clusters to advance in the framework of the Plans?
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What constructive suggestions do you have, gleaned from progress unfolding within
your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the National Assembly),
concerning how insights from learning in the field have been disseminated? How can
we enhance that flow of information?
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What constructive suggestions do you have, derived from insights gleaned from
progress unfolding within your region (and which can enrich the perspective of the
National Assembly) on the evolving role of Local Assemblies in light of the vision
offered by experiences in advanced clusters? What can you share about the
relationships that will need to be established and strengthened?
A full copy of my notes from the 2024 Convention can be emailed to you. Just reach out and
ask. With loving gratitude,
Val Dobbs
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Please send in any events, narratives, pictures, or arts that you would like shared! You
can email them to [email protected]
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Northern Illinois Baha'is
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2N500 Bernice Ave.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
United States of America
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