Annual Local Spiritual Assembly Election
April 12- April 27, 2021
Dear Baha’i Friends,
This year the Nashville Baha’i Center continues to be closed to large group gatherings. it will not be possible to have an in-person annual meeting for the first day of Ridvan, April 19, 2021. Therefore, the Assembly is providing two different options to the community for voting as outlined below. Every Bahá’í in good standing who is at least 21 years old and living in Metropolitan Davidson County is eligible to vote. Voting can take place between Monday, April 12 until Tuesday, April 27th.
In considering who to vote for you will want to think of the nine people who best combine the necessary qualities of “unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.”
3 WAYS TO VOTE
OPTION 1: ONLINE BALLOTING SYSTEM (April 12 until April 27)
All eligible voters (21 years or older) with a Baha’i Online Service Account (BOSA) can cast an online ballot. To login and complete your vote using this method:
ONLINE VOTING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Go to www.bahai.us/community/login
2. Click Login
3. Login with your User ID and password.
4. Click on the link in the top right corner that says “ACCESS OBS”
If you do not have a Baha’i Online Services Account and you want to vote online, you can create an account using the directions below.
Creating a Baha’i Online Services Account Directions
1. Go to www.bahai.us/community/login
2. Click Login
3. Click “Create a Baha’i Online Services Account” (If you don’t know your Baha’i ID #, call or text Juliet Traub (615-423-5781) or Sue St Clair (615-496-0965)
OPTION 2: MAIL-IN OR DROP OFF PAPER BALLOT (To be received by April 27)
You can either mail your ballot (a piece of paper with the 9 names you are voting for) to the Baha’i Center or drop it off at the Baha’i Center’s private locked postbox at the Baha’i Center gate. Please follow the ballot preparation instructions below:
PAPER BALLOT INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Write 9 names on a ballot
2. Place the ballot in a small inner envelope, with no marking that can identify the voter.
3. Seal the ballot envelope and place in a large outer envelope.
4. Write your name and address in the upper left corner of the outer envelope as the sender of the letter and mark “ballot” below your name. Add your Baha’i ID number next to your name.
5. Address the outer envelope to: Nashville Baha’i Center, 1556 Bell Road, Nashville, TN 37211. We recommend that if you mail your ballot to do so by Thursday, April 15th, but all votes received by Monday, April 19th will be counted.
OPTION 3: COMPLETE YOUR PAPER BALLOT AT THE BAHA’I CENTER (Sunday Mornings of April 18 or 25th)
Drop off your ballot inside the Baha’i Center on Sunday, April 18th or Sunday, April 25th between 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM. If you prefer to complete your ballot at the
Baha’i Center, on either of those Sunday mornings, there will be ballot paper and envelopes for you to do so. (Remember to wear a mask)
Loving regards,
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Nashville
2021 Election- Eligible to Serve
PLEASE STUDY THE FOLLOWING QUOTES PRIOR TO VOTING
THE NATURE OF BAHÁ’Í ELECTIONS
Quotations from the Writings of Shoghi Effendi
“…I earnestly appeal to every one of you … to … endeavor to approach your task … with that purity of spirit that can alone obtain our Beloved’s most cherished desire. Let us recall His explicit and often repeated assurances that every Assembly elected in that rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and detachment is in truth appointed of God….”
“Let them exercise the utmost vigilance so that the elections are carried out freely, universally and by secret ballot. Any form of intrigue, deception, collusion and compulsion must be stopped and is forbidden.”**
“Beware, beware lest the foul odour of the parties and peoples … and their pernicious methods, such as intrigues, party politics and propaganda—practices which are abhorrent even in name—should ever reach the Bahá’í community, exert any influence whatsoever upon the friends, and thus bring all spirituality to naught. The friends should, through their devotion, love, loyalty and altruism, abolish these evil practices, not imitate them. It is only after the friends completely ignore and sanctify themselves from these evils, that the spirit of God can penetrate and operate in the body of humanity, and in the Bahá’í community.” *
“The strength and progress of the Bahá’í community depend upon the election of pure, faithful and active souls.”**
“I feel that reference to personalities before the election would give rise to misunderstanding and differences…. We should refrain from influencing the opinion of others….”
“…the elector … is called upon to vote for none but those whom prayer and reflection have inspired him to uphold.”
“The electors … must prayerfully and devotedly and after meditation and reflection elect faithful, sincere, experienced, capable and competent souls who are worthy of membership….”**
“…the friends must wholeheartedly participate in the elections, in unity and amity, turning their hearts to God, detached from all things but Him, seeking His guidance and supplicating His aid and bounty.”*
“If we but turn our gaze to the high qualifications of the members of Bahá’í Assemblies … we are filled with feelings of unworthiness and dismay, and would feel truly disheartened but for the comforting thought that if we rise to play nobly our part every deficiency in our lives will be more than compensated by the all-conquering spirit of His grace and power. Hence it is incumbent upon the chosen delegates to consider without the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of any material consideration, the names of only those who can best combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.”
*Translations from Persian letters of Shoghi Effendi **Translations from Persian letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
For more information please contact Becky Buckhosh at beckytecky1020@gmail.com
Service Opportunities
Preparing and Distributing Food Donations
Haywood Elementary School is serving as a food distribution center for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Below are the volunteer opportunities they have available:
Location: Haywood Elementary School, 3790 Turley Dr, Nashville, TN 37211
Wednesday mornings: Preparing and organizing donated food (loading boxes of food) at Haywood Elementary School.
Wednesday mid-day: Distributing donations by loading food boxes into cars and/or transporting food to families without transportation.
To volunteer you must sign up for an available date here.
Donating Perishable Food Items
Cole Elementary School
Anytime: Anyone who would like to donate perishable food items to a local school and surrounding community can deliver them to the two large refrigerators outside of Cole Elementary School, 4060 Colemont Dr, Antioch, TN 37013. Anyone in need can obtain up to 3 items from the refrigerators.
April 2021
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Local Spiritual Assembly nashvilleassembly@nashvillebahai.org
Members: Sharouk Fani, Faran Ferdowsi (Treasurer), Talieh Ferdowsi, Karen Streets-Anderson (Chair), Sue St. Clair (Secretary), Juliet Traub, Laura Ware, Jim Traub (Recording Secretary, Vice Chair), Juliet Crossley
Appalachian Regional Bahá’í Council secretary.rbcapp@gmail.com
Members: Elizabeth Price (Secretary), Aram Ferdowsi, Alison McGee, Craig Turner, Bita Rahmanian, Craig Turner, Jackie Jenkins, Niaz Khadem
Area Teaching Committee nashvilleatc@gmail.com
Members: Laura Ware, Mahsa Etimadifar, Robin Ballew, Jaleh Namjouyan
- Facilitates and oversees gatherings for reflection on, and review of, efforts to transform the spiritual life of Nashville’s neighborhoods.
- Coordinates all devotional gatherings in Nashville
Study Circle Coordinator Shereen Cook
- Coordinates all study circles in Nashville
Webmaster Juliet Traub
- Updates website and website calendar of events
Nashville Statistic Officer stats.tn250@gmail.com (Linda Hendrickson)
- Keeps track of statistics relating to activities and individual progress through the Ruhi institute courses.
Area Feast Coordinators
- Coordinate Nashville area feasts and other activities in neighborhoods divided into the following areas:
Area 1: 37211, 37222
Area 2: 37011, 37013
Area 3: 37072, 37115, 37116, 37076, 37201, 37206, 37210, 37214, 37216, 37217
Area 4 : 37015, 37072, 37143, 37189, 37207, 37208, 37209, 37218, 37219, 37221, 37228
Area 5 : 37027, 37203, 37204, 37204, 37205, 37212, 37215, 37220, 37235
Area 1 & 2 (English) Coordinators: Gina Mendello, Woubit Atnafe, Parisa Heidari area1@nashvillebahai.org
Area 1 (Persian) Coordinators: Fariba Bakhtiyari, Mahsa Etemadifar, Siamak Olfati
Area 2 (Persian) Coordinators: Roya Hamdi, Shahrooz Eshraghi, Behzad Akbari
Area 3 Coordinators: Charlene Cage, Sue Senchuk, Susan Crossley
Area 4: N/A, nashvillearea4@gmail.com
Area 5: Ahdieh Shabazian, Shanaz Soroush