Fairfield’s Baha’i community to celebrate Ridvan starting Thursday

From April 21 to May 2, the Fairfield Baha'i community will celebrate the Festival of Ridvan (“paradise”), the holiest period of the Baha’i calendar, commemorating the Baha’i Founder's 1863 declaration as God's messenger for today.

Baha'i communities across the United States will hold gatherings for fellowship and devotions, as well as annual elections for the faith's leadership at the national and local levels.

In Fairfield, the annual election for the Local Spiritual Assembly, as well as in more than 1,000 towns and cities, in the United States, will take place on April 21, the first day of Ridvan. A celebration of this day, which is open to the public, will be held on Thursday, April 21 at 4PM.

Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, announced in 1863 that He was God's Messenger for today and the Promised One of all earlier religions. Baha'u'llah declared His mission to a small group of followers on an island in the Tigris River in Baghdad where He pitched His tent for 12 days. After His declaration, Baha'u'llah was sentenced to perpetual confinement in the prison-city of Akka (now in Israel) where He passed away in 1892.

Baha'u'llah taught that in an age of universal education, there’s no longer a need for clergy. Instead, he provided an administrative framework of elected, nine-member councils at the local, national and international levels. There are more than 180 National Spiritual Assemblies and 11,000 Local Spiritual Assemblies around the world.

The Baha'i Faith is the youngest of the world’s independent monotheistic religions and one of the fastest-growing, with about 175,000 members throughout the United States. Baha’is view the world’s major religions as part of a single, progressive process through which God reveals His will to humanity. Major Baha'i tenets include the oneness of humanity, equality of men and women, eradication of prejudice, harmony of science and religion, universal education and world peace. To learn more about the Baha'i Faith in America, check www.bahai.us.

The public is warmly invited to attend an outdoor commemoration of this festive season: on Thursday, April 21 at 4 p.m. in the backyard of 904 Fairview Dr., Fairfield. For more information, call 641-209-8999.