UK Bahá’í Curriculum

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SECTION NINE   ATTAINMENT TARGET TWO

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH AND OTHER RELIGIONS

d) COVENANT AND ADMINISTRATION

The Covenant is what separates us from oblivion. It is the umbilical cord for the soul. It is the fulcrum by which to lever the world. It is the driving force of the universe. Adherence to it in times of great danger causes all the angels, the Concourse on High and the creatures of the world beyond to rush to assist the faithful. No power can overcome it, all powers are its servant. To skirt its boundaries is to invite insanity and immolation.

 

The administrative order is the channel, the vehicle of the covenant in the material realm. It is the instrument by which the covenant can exert its influence on the human race.

 

No covenant in the history of humanity has been so clearly preserved, so clearly explained, nor so well provided with the means by which it might be affirmed, enacted and renewed.

 

No system of government in the panoramic sweep of human life on this earth has ever approached the beauty, the symmetry, the sensitivity, the grandeur or transformative potency of the administrative order of Bahá’u’lláh. It is a machine of infinite possibilities which can be operated by the simplest, purest souls to generate nothing less than a new world civilisation.

 

How can any Bahá’í parent or teacher fail, then, to impart to their children and youth the wonders of the covenant and administration? Socrates consulted the Oracle to learn the truth. Bahá’ís have only to turn their hearts to the covenant and consult with their divine institutions and truth can be theirs for the asking.

Programme of Study for Covenant and Administration

COVENANT

  1. The nature and purpose of Covenants from the Bahá’í viewpoint
  2. The Covenants of God throughout the history of religion
  3. The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh
  4. The sources of the Covenant
  5. Obedience to the Covenant
  6. Covenant breaking

ADMINISTRATION

  1. The Administrative Order, its nature and purpose
  2. The sources of the Administration
  3. The individual
  4. Consultation and the Nineteen Day Feast
  5. The Bahá’í Calendar, Holy Days and Fast
  6. The Local Spiritual Assembly and its agencies
  7. The National Spiritual Assembly and its agencies
  8. The Universal House of Justice and its agencies
  9. Voting, elections and conventions
  10. The Guardianship
  11. The Hands of the Cause of God
  12. Counsellors
  13. Auxiliary Board Members
  14. Assistants to the Auxiliary Board
  15. Community worship and Houses of Worship and their dependencies
  16. The institutions and buildings of the Bahá’í World Centre

TEACHING PLANS

  1. The nature and purpose of the teaching plans
  2. The source of the plans in the Tablets of the Divine Plan
  3. The teaching plans, their history and development to the present
  4. The process of Entry by Troops

KEY STAGE APPROPRIACY

KS 0, KS 1: Here Covenant and Administration might chiefly be approached through making promises and how to keep them, introduce the Nineteen Day Feast, Naw-Ruz, etc.

KS 2: Introduce the basic idea of a covenant as a binding agreement, introduce the Bahá’í calendar, and the Local Spiritual Assembly, allow students to explain and describe their own experiences.

KS 3: Greater sophistication of approach, dealing in broader sweeps and greater depth, looking at all three areas in all aspects.

KS 4: Enable students to discuss all aspects of the Covenant and Administration with confidence, to be confident in acting on their knowledge and understanding of the Covenant and Administration, and to know how to enhance these in themselves and others.

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