The Bahá'í Faith in Guyana Official site for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í s of Guyana |
|
The Bahá'í Faith in Guyana +++++++++ The Bahá'í Faith World-wide
|
A brief history
The Faith Reaches Guyana The earliest recorded mention of the Bahá'í Faith in Guyana dates to 29 October 1927 when Leonora Holsapple Armstrong made public mention of the Faith in the capital city of Georgetown. Ms. Holsapple was on a trip from Brazil, where she lived, to visit her parents in the United States, when the ship stopped at Port Georgetown for one day. Ms. Holsapple quickly set about obtaining permission to give a lecture on the Bahá'í Faith in the city. She approached the parliamentary institution of the country, the Legislative Council, and that evening she delivered her presentation at the Town Hall. Accounts of her talk were subsequently published by the press under the captions “Lady Missionary expounds: Bahá'í Movement – Interesting Lecture by Miss L. S. Holsapple” and “True Religion and Universal Peace”. An interesting, very early, but indirect link between Guyana and the Faith is though Lady Sara Blomfield. She was a prominent early member of the Baha'i Faith in London at the beginning of the twentieth century. She produced several well-known books and hosted `Abdu'l-Bahá during both His visits to London in 1912 and 1913. It was her husband, Arthur Blomfield, who designed the well-known Saint George's Cathedral, one of Guyana's major landmarks. It must be noted, however, that this was in the 1880's before Sara Blomfield knew about the Faith.
The Early YearsNine years later in 1936 Mr. and Mrs. Blakeley traveled to Guyana from the United States to bring the beautiful message of Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet Founder of the Bahá'í Faith to the Guyanese people. During their seven week stay they met many distinguished citizens of Georgetown and gave a number of radio and newspaper interviews on the subject of 'World Peace according to the Bahá'í Teachings'. Mrs. Blakeley was referred to as the 'Lady of Peace' by the Guyanese public. As a result of the visit a group was formed, comprised of people from Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu backgrounds. This group continued to function every week for two years.
Institutions EstablishedIn 1955 the first institution of the Bahá'í Faith was established in Guyana. This institution was the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Georgetown referred to above and shown in the picture on the right. This step symbolised the permanent establishment of the Faith in Guyana. Since there are no ministers or clergy of any kind in the Bahá'í Faith, these institutions, each a body of nine adult members elected by the community annually, guide its affairs.
The Faith Expands and ConsolidatesBy the late 1990's Local Spiritual Assemblies were elected in communities from Georgetown to Lethem and from Corentyne to Essequibo. Bahá'í Centres were established in several communities across the country including Corentyne, Linden, Best and Lethem. In 2006 the Georgetown community gained its own Centre in Garnett Street.
Updated 2015 |
(c) NSA of the Bahá'í s of Guyana, 2017 |