Regional Training Institute

Regional Training Institute Board

As institutes advance as organizational structures, the role of institute boards assumes ever-greater importance.  The members of an institute board are appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly or Regional Bahá’í Council, in consultation with the Counsellors, usually for a term of two to three years.  Through various means, including meetings and special occasions for consultation, boards watch over the work of the institutes.  They follow the unfoldment of the learning processes associated with study circles, children’s classes, and junior youth groups, facilitate the formulation of vision, pay attention to the administrative matters of institutes, and liaise closely with the Counsellors and with National Assemblies or Regional Councils, as the case may be.  When they are composed of individuals with the requisite experience and who are personally involved in the community-building process, and when they are able to foster effective consultative relationships with others, appreciable progress can be made in a relatively short period of time.  Although all do not function in the same way and the issues they face vary in complexity, growing demands on institutes to continue attaining higher and higher levels of functioning require that boards too become increasingly capable of carrying out their responsibilities.

The Regional Training Institute of the Atlantic States is an educational center fostering the capacity to serve humanity among all age groups. The curriculum for this education program was developed through the Ruhi Institute and is used internationally. It is offered primarily through a system of distance education within a small group setting and facilitated by trained tutors, junior youth animators, and children’s class teachers with the purpose of translating what is learned from the Bahá’í writings and local reality into sustained service for the spiritual and social transformation of neighborhoods. The Universal House of Justice, which is the elected international council of the worldwide Bahá’í community describes the small group study environment:

“Specifically, the sequence of courses that we have recommended for use by institutes everywhere, which is facilitating so effectively the process of transformation under way, is designed to create an environment conducive at once to universal participation and to mutual support and assistance. The… individuals in this environment,… consider themselves as treading a common path of service …” 

Here is a video about community building efforts.

To order texts for study circles and junior youth groups, please download RTI Ruhi Book Order Form as of 13 June 2024 for your own copy, Fill it out and email to book.orders@rbcatlantic.org.

If you are interested in serving the Institute for a period please complete this interest form.

To contact the Regional Training Institute Board, email the Secretary: rti.secretary@rbcatlantic.org.

Submit permission forms here.