Welcome

The purpose of the Corby Baha'i web site is to provide information for you, whether you are just browsing, investigating the Baha'i Faith and its offer of a spiritual way of life, or looking for how you can become a member of this diverse, worldwide community.

I live in Corby, Northamptonshire. I first became aware of the Baha'i Faith when my daughter showed me a pamphlet, and the following caught my immediate attention.

The Baha'i Faith:

recognises the unity of God and His prophets;

promotes the oneness of the entire human race;

demonstrates the basic oneness of all religions, and religion, in harmony with science, as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations;

exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship;

inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for men and women;

condemns all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national;

glorifies justice as the ruling principle in human society;

upholds the independent search after truth;

advocates compulsory education for all;

abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth and provides solutions for economic problems on national and international levels;

establishes the institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations;

provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of mankind.

Baha'i Fund

Only Baha'is can contribute to the Baha'i Fund. Under no circumstances are funds for Baha'i purposes collected from non-Baha'is. Contribution to the Fund is purely voluntary and secret. No form of compulsion or coercion, however subtle, is permitted.

Baha'i Administration

The Baha'i Faith has neither clergy nor personal leadership. It is governed by an Administrative Order outlined by the Founder of the Faith. There are local, national and international institutions of the Faith.

Local and National Spiritual Assemblies are elected annually. There is no nomination or electioneering and voting is carried out by secret ballot.

The supreme administrative and spiritual body of the Baha'is of the entire world is called The Universal House of Justice. It is elected once every five years by all the National Assemblies at an international convention.

Who is a Baha'i?

"Wherefore it is incumbent upon all Baha'is to ponder this very delicate and vital matter in their hearts, that, unlike other religions, they may not content themselves with the noise, the clamour, the hollowness of religious doctrine. Nay, rather, they should exemplify in every aspect of their lives those attributes and virtues that are born of God and should arise to distinguish themselves by their goodly behaviour. They should justify their claim to be Baha'is by deeds and not by name. He is a true Baha'i who strives by day and by night to progress and advance along the path of human endeavour, whose most cherished desire is so to live and act as to enrich and illuminate the world, whose source of inspiration is the essence of divine virtue, whose aim in life is so to conduct himself as to be the cause of infinite progress. Only when he attains unto such perfect gifts can it be said of him that he is a true Baha'i. For in this holy Dispensation, the crowning glory of bygone ages and cycles, true faith is no mere acknowledgement of the unity of God, but rather the living of a life that will manifest all the perfections and virtues implied in such belief."

So my investigation began. I agreed with everything I read but struggled with the claim that this was a new revelation from God, the "return" promised in the Bible and all the other major religions. It is only when I began to appreciate the volume, nature and scope of the Baha'i holy writings that my doubts disappeared. Here indeed was the guidance for this age, the framework for building God's kingdom on earth. This is the main theme of the Bible and what Jesus taught his disciples to pray for in the Lord's Prayer.

In the next three years I was privileged to meet Baha'is in Zambia, Zimbabwe, the USA, Canada and eventually in London. Without exception I found the communities to be very warm and welcoming - no pretence, no false smiles, just genuine, friendly, open-minded people striving to take responsibilty for their own spiritual, social and intellectual development, to make the world a better place for all. Information was readily given, without any attempt to "convert". So in 1996 I became a member of this positive, optimistic, outward-looking movement.

Read some personal stories, what other people have said about becoming and being a Baha'i, and how their lives have been transformed by living the Baha'i life.

Explore this website to learn about the beliefs and practices of the Baha'is and find information about the various activities of your Baha'i neighbours. You will find links to the BBC and other websites of interest here.

The pictures on this page show two "survivors" of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. They were taken in May 2008 when I visited my daughter in Japan. Hiroshima was of great interest to me because my Faith is working for universal and permanent peace.

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