Bahá'í Faith in Australia
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The Bahá'í faith in Australia has a long history and a growing visible presence in the country.
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| Key scripture | |
| Kitáb-i-Aqdas · Kitáb-i-Íqán |
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| Institutions | |
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Administrative Order |
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| History | |
| Notable individuals | |
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Shoghi Effendi |
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Symbols · Laws |
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[edit] Establishment
In 1920 Englishman John Hyde Dunn, and his Irish wife, Clara, sailed to Australia and became the first Baha’is to set foot in this country. In 1922 the first Australians joined the Faith. They were Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Effie Baker, a Melbourne photographer.[1] News of John Esslemont's 1915 declaration of faith, and his forthcoming book Baha'u'llah and the New Era, had also spread to some of his associates, William and Annie Miller in Australia who then became Baha'is in the 1920s.[2] By 1928 a list shows Australia with 6 Local Spiritual Assemblies each with 9 members plus the general community.[3]
Soon Baha’i groups sprang up around the country. By 1934 there were enough Baha’is to elect a national governing body, the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand (in 1957 New Zealand separated to form its own National Assembly).[4]
In 1955 Fred Murray of South Australia was among the first Aboriginal people to become a Baha’i. After decades of service in the Australian community, Collis Featherstone was distinguished by being appointed as a Hand of the Cause of God in 1957 - he passed away in 1990. The Faith’s numbers surged in the early 1970s as young people found in the Baha’i teachings answers to spiritual questions and solutions to global issues.
[edit] Maturity
The Bahá'í House of Worship in Sydney, Australia was dedicated on 17 September 1961 and opened to the public after four years of construction. The initial design by Charles Mason Remey was approved in 1957 with seating for six hundred people. The building stands 38 metres in height, has a diameter at its widest point of 20 metres, and is a highly visible landmark from Sydney's northern beaches. It's surrounded by gardens contain native plants including waratahs, several grevillea including the unique caleyi, Australian wattle (Acacia) and woody pear, plus three species of eucalypts. Other buildings located on the site include a visitor's centre, bookshop, picnic area, hostel, caretaker's cottage, and the administrative offices of the Australian Baha'i community. [5][6] The property is set high in a natural bushland setting of 380,000 square metres (38 hectares) in Ingleside, a northern suburb overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This Temple serves as the Mother Temple of Australia.
The size and diversity of the community was boosted in the 1980s when Australia opened its doors to those fleeing the resurgence of persecution of Baha'is in Iran. See also Iranian Australians.
[edit] Emergence from Obscurity
From the 1980s onward various personalities associated with the Baha'i faith have been national figures in Australia. Combined with the swelling membership the religion has emerged from obscurity in Australia on national level. The first mark of this emergence is probably graduate of the University of Sydney, Tom Price. He was musical director of the Sydney Bahá'í Temple Choir in Australia for 14 years and became well known in Australia when he produced and co-wrote the double-platinum Bad Habits album by singer Billy Field, which was the largest selling album in Australia in 1981.[7] Price went on eventually to be director of the 420-voice choir and 90-piece symphony orchestra for the second Bahá'í World Congress in New York in 1992 and many other notable events. The 1996 Australian Census lists Bahá'í membership at just under 9 thousand Bahá'ís.[8] In the mid and late 1990s Cathy Freeman added some awareness of the religion in Australia as an Aboriginal Olympic medalist who grew up as a Baha'i.[9] The 2001 the 2nd edition of A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services added the Bahá'í faith in its coverage of religions in Australia and noted the community had grown to over 11 thousand.[8] A TV medical-drama called MDA - Medical Defense Australia, which went on the air on July 23, 2002 through 2005 with an ongoing Bahá'í character, Layla Young, played by a non-Bahá'í[10] actress Petra Yared.[11][12] And Luke McPharlin has been visible as a distinguished Australian footballer who mentioned his spiritual beliefs in his reasons for his sportsmanship.[13]
[edit] Publications
- Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand Author: Shoghi Effendi, Source: Australia, 1971 reprint.
- Arohanui: Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand Author: Shoghi Effendi Source: Bahá’í Publishing Trust of Suva, Fiji Islands, 1982 edition.
- The History of the Baha'i Faith in Australia (flash video)
[edit] References
- ^ Australian Baha'i History, Copyright 2006. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia.
- ^ William Miller (b. Glasgow 1875) and Annie Miller (b. Aberdeen 1877) - The First Believers in Western Australia The Scottish Bahá'í No.33 – Autumn, 2003
- ^ The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, Volume II, 1926-1928 (New York City: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1928), 182-85.
- ^ The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963, Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land, pages 22 and 46.
- ^ National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia (2006). Bahá'í House of Worship: Facilities. Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
- ^ National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia (2006). Bahá'í House of Worship: Construction. Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
- ^ Welcome to Audiophile Billy Field - "Best Of: You Weren't In Love With Me" comments
- ^ a b A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services "2nd" edition
- ^ Cos I'm Free (AKA Cathy Freeman) Transcript of Program
- ^ Australian Baha’i Community (2006-06-05). First Baha'i Character. www.bahai.org.au. Retrieved on 2006-08-12.
- ^ Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2005). Layla Young - Receptionist/Student Liaison Officer, MDA. abc.net.au. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
- ^ Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2005). Medical Defense Australia: Episode Guide. abc.net.au. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
- ^ Top sportsmen find support in faith, 11 August 2004 (BWNS)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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