He is quite serious in stating that he believes that even in
the large cities, such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Washington, Baltimore, etc., the Cause would not suffer if the membership were
reduced to fifteen. The Bahá’ís, who have been struggling for practically fifty
years to attract people to the Faith in these immense cities, have been wholly
unsuccessful, when one considers the slight numerical increase in the voting
lists. He therefore feels that they had better go out and teach in towns and
villages. They will be safer, in case war should break out, and they will be
better off, spiritually, away from these centres of intense materialism, where
so much time is wasted on trivialities and non-essentials. It is this sense of
urgency in arising, dispersing and teaching that should be conveyed to the
believers at the Summer Schools. - Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 23 May 1954 written on
behalf of Shoghi Effendi to a Bahá’í committee; compilation: ‘Potential
Calamities and Ensuring Sustainability of Communities’, prepared by the
Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)
