What we have described in the preceding paragraphs and in so
many messages over the last decade and a half can best be viewed as the latest
in a series of approaches to the growth of the Bahá’í community, each suited to
specific historical circumstances. This divinely propelled process of growth
was set in motion by the fervour generated in the Cradle of the Faith more than
one hundred and sixty years ago, as thousands responded to the summons of a New
Day, and received impetus through the exertions made by early believers to
carry the message of Bahá’u’lláh to neighbouring countries in the East and
scattered pockets in the West. It acquired greater structure through the
Tablets of the Divine Plan revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and gained momentum as the
friends spread out systematically across the globe under the direction of the Guardian
to establish small centres of Bahá’í activity and erect the first pillars of
the Administrative Order. It gathered force in the rural areas of the world as
masses of humanity were moved to embrace the Faith, but slowed considerably as
the friends strove to discover strategies for sustaining large-scale expansion
and consolidation. And, for fifteen years now, it has been steadily accelerating
since we raised the call at the outset of the Four Year Plan for the Bahá’í
world to systematize the teaching work on the basis of the experience it had
gained through decades of difficult but invaluable learning. That the current
approach to growth, effective as it is, must evolve still further in complexity
and sophistication once it has taken root in a cluster, demonstrating ever more
notably the “society-building power” inherent in the Faith, few would fail to
recognize.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 28 December
2010 addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
