Utilizing Art to Invoke Action

 All of the proponents of the Five Year Plan call for action through specific activities. This workshop will provide participants with a tool to help invoke action. Having a tool can make it easier to open a conversation.

Participants will make cards with prayers, quotes, and artwork that they will actually use. The cards can be designed for a specific purpose depending on the activities the participants are involved in. Cards can be used as an invitation to a Devotional, Children’s Class, or Junior Youth Group Event. They can be used to share with someone on a home visit or as a thank you for participating in an event.
Presenter: Jackie Razavi

Why We Sing - Eric Dozier and the Youth
Presenter: Eric Dozier (for Youth and Jr Youth only)
 
1. The Evolving Role of the Institutions in the Five Year Plan,  with a special emphasis on the role of local spiritual assemblies.
Presenter: Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas  Anita Williams

2. The Vision of the Institute Process: The institute as a vehicle for individual and community transformation. The vision of the institute process:  The House has described the institute process as having "limitless potential', and also as "a process that seeks to raise capacity"  of people "to take charge of its own spiritual, social and intellectual development."  How do we as bearers of this healing Message of Baha'u'llah utilize and share the vision of this process with humanity? 
Presenter: Becky D. Louis

3. The Rich and Dynamic Continuum -  Milestones that Lead to Intensive Programs of Growth

"In its December 28th 2010 letter the Universal House of Justice describes the process by which an expanding nucleus of individuals work to generate a movement towards the goal of a new World Order as a "a rich and dynamic continuum," one shaped by the diverse opportunities and personal circumstances of the believers.

The objective of this workshop is to develop a deeper understanding of the principal milestones that delineate this fundamentally organic process, and how they lead to an intensive program of growth in a cluster. Through study, consultation, and use of the arts, workshop participants will also be tasked with conceiving of at least one activity they can start or assist with to contribute to the  systematic action of the plan in their own  clusters."   
Presenter: Auxiliary Board member Farzaneh Rasooly

4. Arising to serve the Covenant - Falling in love with the Universal House of Justice 
   
This workshop will assist the friends to study materials on the covenant from Ruhi Book 8 to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the station of the Universal House of Justice and our role in the Plan given to us as a precious gift by the Universal House of Justice.  The workshop will engage participants in a conversation about the station of the Universal House of Justice, the meaning of obedience in our new culture, and our role in this Plan as we arise to obey the House of Justice.
Presenter: Auxiliary Board member Nelufar Mohajeri

5. The Sweetest State:  Prayer - Self-Transformation in relation to prayer and recitation of the writings
     
A participatory and anecdotal exploration of communion with God, including addressing certain fundamental questions, such as: What knowledge is contained in revealed prayers? What is prayer's relation to human reality? How can this reality be distinguished from self-delusion? What is the relation between devotional gatherings and the oneness of mankind? What is the relation between the Universal House of Justice and the Prayers of the Three Central Figures of the Faith?
Presenter: James Williams

6. Accompaniment & Encouragement: Working side by side in the core activities

In this highly interactive workshop, participants will study specific guidance from the Universal House of Justice about accompaniment and will learn the importance of centering our thoughts at  all times "on helping one another scale the heights of service to His Cause and soar in the heaven of His knowledge."  
Presenter: Laura Arrowsmith

7. Meaningful and Distinctive Conversations: The building block for creating vibrant communities
   
This will be a workshop to explore the importance of proactively drawing upon the Creative Word to inspire our communication with friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Participants will have an opportunity to use materials from the Ruhi sequence as well as Guidance from the Universal House of Justice to understand the implications of having meaningful and distinctive conversations and how they are requisites in the process of community building. The workshop will use role play, memorization, reflection, and consultation as tools to enhance their learning. All ages and levels of experience are welcome!
Presenter: Weslie Ellison

8. Why We Sing – Unlocking the Power of Worship through Music

"I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth.
There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting."

In this prayer we see outlined the core of the process of spiritual growth. It dictates to us our purpose while here on this planet: 1.) to know God, 2.) to worship God, and 3.) to testify of God.
From this we can surmise that our quality of life is bound up in carrying out these three central acts as we strive on our quest toward spirituality. None of these is mutually exclusive and each reinforces the other. So to delve deeper into one contributes to the understanding of the others.

Our purpose in this workshop is to launch a community inquiry into worship which for our purposes here will be defined as the required, radiant, spontaneous expression of our love for God flowing from a heart on fire with that love.
...and all of this in the vibrant context of music, singing, and prayer!

Presenter : Eric Dozier



Community Building Café

Welcome to the “Community Building Café”!  Were you here last year, or is this your first time at the Café?   Either way, c’mon in, take a seat with a few friends at one of our small tables, and let’s enjoy some good conversation! Using the World Café method – intimate conversations on key questions in a relaxed café setting – we’ll draw upon the experience and wisdom of all present.  Last year, with the Ridvan 2010 message as our guide we considered the aspects of community building in some depth. Now, with the December 28^th letter to the Counselors and months more experience under our belts -- not to mention Saturday’s dynamic group of workshops -- what have we learned that can help us as we embark on the new Five Year Plan? Our café  encounter will expand our understanding and feeling of community. We’ll come away with new insights, enthusiasm and ideas for taking community building to new levels in our neighborhoods and clusters. 

Presenter: Peter Adriance