Brookfield Baha'is elect Local Spiritual Assembly

For further information:

Robert Malouf

262 794 2348  rnmalouf@hotmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brookfield, WI, April 25, 2013 –The Brookfield Baha'i community recently elected its nine-member governing council, known as the Local Spiritual Assembly, for 2013-2014. The election in Brookfield occurred at the same time as Baha’i elections around the globe.

Brookfield’s new Local Spiritual Assembly includes Mrs. Donna Choinsky, Dr. Manijeh Khorshidi, Dr. Mina Khorshidi, Mrs. Molook Khorshidi, Mrs. Tiffany Kress, Mr. Robert Malouf, Mrs. Vera Nickel, Dr. Reza Shaker, Dr. Vicki Taylor.

The Baha'i community has been active in Brookfield since the 1950s.

Local Assemblies minister to the needs of the community. They support community members who organize classes for the spiritual education of children, adult study circles, devotional programs, Holy Day observances and service projects. They also conduct Baha'i marriages, pray for members of the community and provide spiritual counseling on matters brought to the Assembly.

The Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), taught that in an age of universal education, there was no longer a need for a special class of clergy. Instead, He provided a framework for administering the affairs of the Faith through elected councils at the local, national and international levels. All Baha'i elections occur through secret ballot, without candidacies, nominations or campaigning. There are approximately 11,000 Baha'i Local Spiritual Assemblies around the world, elected each year from among the adult believers in every locality where at least nine Baha'is reside.

The Baha'i Faith, founded in Persia in 1844, is the youngest of the world's independent, monotheistic religions and is one of the fastest-growing, with approximately 170,000 members in the United States and more than five million world-wide.

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, visit www.bahai.us.

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Note to reporters:  For more background, check the Religion Newswriters Association’s “Source Guide on the Baha’i Faith” at www.religionlink.org/tip_090211.php.

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