In reply to your email of 23 October 2002 to the Universal
House of Justice, we have been asked to convey the following. It is not
possible, given all of the instructions and exhortations addressed to the
believers by Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi, that the House of
Justice would ever advise communities that are free to pursue teaching plans
that it was not timely to talk about such efforts and enrol new Baha'is. Nor
could it, contrary to Baha’u’llah's explicit command, allow any other activity
in the Baha'i community to diminish the responsibility of individuals to teach
the Cause. Precisely the opposite is true. A major object of the recent
emphasis on establishing training institutes is to increase the capacity of
individuals to teach the Cause effectively. Study circles, which are local
extensions of an institute, are intended to serve this purpose.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter
dated 31 October 2002, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to
an individual believer)
