R Carmarthen Area Baha'i Community R
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- Youth camps
- Residential hostel and camping week-ends are held for
various age groups. The largest gathering takes place
over the late August Bank Holiday at Biblins Camp Site in
the Forest of Dean for older youth. For junior youth a
hostel-based week-end takes place at Port Eynon on the
Gower.
- Welsh Spring school
- Following many years as a non-residential school at
Narberth in Pembrokeshire, the 1999 Spring School became
a residential one based at Carmarthen's Trinity College.
This is an annual event taking place over the Easter
week-end and includes lectures, workshops and social
activities.
- Discussion evenings
- One of the Baha'i principles is the independent
investigation of truth. Put another way one should
question ideas and beliefs rather than blindly accepting
what others believe. Many Baha'i communities hold
discussion evenings usuallly in people's homes. This
gives an opportunity for vistors to listen to discussions
and join in with their own questions and thoughts.
- Conferences on women's issues
- Another Baha'i belief is the equality of men and women.
In the summer of 1997 the County hosted its first
conference specifically dedicated to women's issues.This
has become a regular event held residentially usually in
the Talley area near Llandeilo over a week-end.
- Home of the Mensa Baha'i Sig
- This Special Interest Group within MENSA is run from
Carmarthen. It serves as a discussion forum on Baha'i
concepts with an occasional news letter.
- Home of the Baha'i Guest Service in the U.K.
- This provides a medium for visiting Baha'is to stay with
Baha'i host families. It began in the Netherlands nearly
twenty years ago and spread to the countries of Western
Europe a few years later. It now has co-ordinators in
most European countries and is slowly extending to be a
world-wide service.
- Home of the Baha'i Youth Conference for
North-West Europe ("Wetlands")
- Most years Baha'i Youth and their friends from many
European countries descend on Trinity College on the
outskirts of Carmarthen during the post-Christmas period
for the annual Youth Conference. It was nicknamed
"Wetlands" because the majority of the
particpants come from the wetter countries of Europe!
- Tranquillity Zones
- A new concept: it consists of a thirty-minute programme
of readings and music with the aim of creating a
stress-free space during the course of a busy day. It is
intended to put the particpants in touch with the
spiritual side of themselves and produce an atmosphere of
inner calm which may stay with those involved for
sometime afterwards. Tranquility zones have been
requested by a number of outside organisations in the
area for the benefit of their staff.
The County of Carmarthenshire is divided into a number of
Baha'i Custer Communities. Apart from the one covering the
lower Towy Valley, which includes the county town of Carmarthen,
there are other clusters for the Llanelli and for the Newcastle
Emlyn areas.
The Baha'i Faith has no priesthood and is therefore largely
self-governing In localities where the Baha'i community is more
populous the adult Baha'is elect annually a nine member Local
SpiritualAssembly ("LSA") which is responsible for the
administration of the Baha'i Faith within the locality. The City
and County of Swansea has had an LSA for over thirty years.
Decisions are arrived at by a process of consultation and
authority is thus confined to instiutions and is not in the hands
of individuals.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the
United Kingdom ("NSA")
is the national administrative body and is elected in a similar
way to the local institutions. It was first elected in 1923 and
is one of the two oldest National Assemblies in the world.
The Regional Council for Wales
This body also comrises nine membrs and is elected
annually be the members of the Welsh LSAs and has develoved
authority from the NSA in respect of many National functions
within the principality.
The world-wide Baha'i Community is well represented on the
World-Wide Web. Other sites worth a visit are:
Electronic mail address of the web master
Beckett@martinjane.freeserve.co.uk
E-mail Address of the organiser of the women's conferences and
for events in the Llanelli area:
ttrobertsjonesi@aol.com
E-mail Address for youth activities:
richardsheila@swannfg.freeserve.co.uk
E-mail Address of the Biblins youth camp:
Tim.Melville@ntlworld.com
Web address
http://www.martinjane.freeserve.co.uk
Welsh language versions of Baha'i Prayers
(Gweddiau Baha'i) and The Hidden Words (Y Geiriau Cudd)
as well as the leaflet What is a Baha'i (Cyflwyno'r
Ffydd Baha'i) are available electronically (via the Web site of
the Baha'i Council for Wales - www.acemake.com/bahaiwales or www.bahai.org.uk/wales/wales.swf) and in hard copy.
It is the aim of the Baha'i Community in Wales to increase the
availability of Baha'i literature in the Welsh language.
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Last revised: December 14, 2002.