Current Plan Goals
Historical Context
At the beginning of the last Five Year Plan, the Atlantic Region had three clusters that were sustaining 100 or more core activities. Quickly, we set out to ensure that every grouping in each subregion had such a cluster, one that could serve as a reservoir of human resources and experience.
As the work in neighborhoods became the focus of attention, the next horizon became increasingly clear: to increase the number of centers of intense activity. Every cluster past the Second Milestone would need to establish such a center, and all clusters past the Third Milestone would have to develop the capacity to sustain multiple centers.
The National Spiritual Assembly’s call for every household to establish a regular devotional gathering appear to have stimulated greater focus and attention among the generality of the friends on the exigencies of the Plan, significantly increasing the number of devotional gatherings and their corresponding participation. The next step is to build the capacity of those involved in every devotional space to invite others into the Training Institute, drawing on a sequence of capacities described in the 3 May 2018 letter of the International Teaching Center.
The linked and regularly updated map shows cluster groupings, individual clusters and their Milestone status. To see the map in full-screen view, click on the icon in the upper right corner of the map.
Framework Guiding the current Nine-Year Plan
In light of our collective consultations around the 30 December 2021 and Ridván 2022 messages of the Universal House of Justice, we can view our goals in the table below in context of the following among the aims of the Nine Year Plan in the Atlantic Region:
- The movement of all clusters along the continuum of development.
- An increase in the number of clusters with at least one center of intense activity, as well as in the number of clusters past the Third Milestone with multiple such centers.
- The engagement of large numbers of youth, many of whom will dedicate periods of time to the service of the Cause, whether they are formally enrolled or not.
- The existence of a basic junior youth program emerging in each cluster past the Second Milestone, and of a junior youth group in each cluster moving from the first to the Second Milestone. This will require dedicated human resources to closely follow this line of action and how the Training Institute pursues it.
- A doubling of the number of core activities, and participation in them, by Ridván 2024.
- A process of learning about enrollment in one, two or a handful of centers of intense activity, as well as in a few expanding nuclei among the generality of friends.
Much could be written about the geographic spread of the conferences, the extraordinary impetus they imparted to the new Plan, or the heartfelt expressions of joy and enthusiasm they evoked from those who attended. But in these few lines we wish to draw attention to what they signified about the development of the Cause. They were a reflection of a Bahá’í community that sees kinship, not difference. This outlook made it natural to explore the Nine Year Plan at gatherings to which all were welcome. The friends considered the Plan’s implications for their societies in the company of not only individuals and families, but local leaders and authority figures as well. Bringing together so many people in one place created the conditions for a transformative conversation about spiritual and social progress, one that is unfolding the world over. The special contribution that such gatherings—at once open, uplifting, and purposeful— can make to an expanding pattern of community development in a cluster is a valuable lesson for Bahá’í institutions to bear in mind for the future.
¶5 Riḍván 2023, THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
| Projected movement of Clusters | Current | By Ridvan 2024 | By Ridvan 2026 | Total by Ridvan 2031 | ||
| Milestone 2 (10s of facilitators of 100s of participants in core activities ) | 33 | 35 | 34 | 27 | ||
| Milestone 3 (100s of facilitators of 1000s of participants in core activities ) | 15 | 15 | 20 | 30 |