From Bahaitext

A simple companion to the Five Year Plan is a booklet that breaks down the Five Year Plan in simple language with added annotations.

Contents 1 Preface 2 Index 3 The Plan 3.1 The Individual 3.2 The Community 3.3 The Institutions 4 The Year Ahead 5 Notes

Preface

As
mentioned
the
Five
Year
Plan
is
very
simple;
here,
we
will
illustrate
just
that.
Please
 read
the
preface
about
the
purpose
of
this
booklet
before
reading
on.


What
is
this
all
about?
 ‐ Right
now,
hopefully
you
are
reading
this
between
2006‐2011,
we
are
in
the
fifth
 epoch
of
the
Formative
Age* ‐ The
Universal
House
of
Justice
in
its
26
December
1995
message
focused
the
 Bahá’í
world
on
learning
how
to
grow
and
sustain
that
growth.
The
first
step
 was: o To
systematize
our
efforts
to
develop
human
resources
and
to
do
so
 through
the
training
institute*.
  But
that
didn’t
happen
right
away
in
1995;
since
then,
we’ve
been
 putting
together
the
different
elements
and
now
it
has
given
birth
 to
a
framework
for
action
that
only
needs
to
be
acted
upon.

How
did
we
go
about
it? ‐ In
2001
the
Universal
House
of
Justice
divided
us
into
geographic
clusters
and
at
 last
it
was: o Possible
to
think
about
growth
on
a
manageable
scale
& o See
it
as
two
movements: 1) First,
individuals
going
through
courses
(Ruhi,
that
is*) 2) Second,
the
movements
of
clusters
from
one
stage
of
growth
to
the
 next. o So,
unlike
ever
before
the
process
of
expansion
(teaching)
and
 consolidation
(deepening)
was
understood.
There
was
a
clear
 understanding
of
what
needed
to
be
done
and
the
Universal
House
of
 Justice
called:  Action!

Why
did
we
go
about
it? ‐ The
aim
of
this
plan
is
raise
our
capacities
as
individuals,
communities
and
 institutions,
so
we
could
advance
the
process
of
entry
by
troops,
which
is
the
aim
 of
the
Bahá’í
world
until
2021;
the
end
of
the
first
century
of
the
Formative
Age.
 So,
if
you
are
going
to
be
around
for
some
years,
be
assured
that
the
focus
isn’t
 going
to
change
and
it’s
going
to
intensify.
Read
on
to
see
how
you
can
serve
and
 survive.

Index

The
Plan

The Individual

The Community

The Institutions

The
Year
Ahead

In
the
Riḍván
2010
message
the
Universal
House
of
Justice
announced
the
achievement of
our
goal:
establishing
1,500
intensive
programs
of
growth
worldwide,
one
year
in
 advance. With
a
full
year
at
hand,
we
are
given
the
opportunity
to
strengthen
our
communities
in preparation
for
the
tasks
that
we
will
undertake
in
the
next
global
enterprise
(aka,
the
 2011‐2016 Five
Year
Plan).
 To
see
how
the current
Plan
has
unfolded
so
far
and
where
we
are
headed to
in
the
year
 to
come,
you
may
read
the
Riḍván
2010
message*.

What
else needs
to
happen
within
the
next
twelve
months?
 At
this
stage,
we
are
to
reflect
on
the
nature
of
the
contributions
our
communities
have made
to
the
society
and
begin
to
think
about
two
interconnected
activities:
 1)
Involvement
in
social
action
& 2)
Participation
in
the
prevalent
discourses
of
society.

What
does
that
mean?
 Refer
to
paragraphs
25‐33
of
the
Riḍván
2010
message to
see
how
the
Universal
House
 of
Justice
explains
it.


Notes

Formative
Age: The
Formative
Age
refers
to
a
time
period
that
began
with
the
passing
of
 ‘Abdu’l‐Bahá
that
marked
the
end
of
the
Heroic
Age
in
which
the
Central
Figures
lived.
 It
will
last
until
the
Golden
Age
is
established
and
consists
of
several
epochs,
which
so
 far
have
ranged
somewhere
between
15
and
25
years.

Training
Institute In
their
28
December
2005
message,
the
Universal
House
of
Justice
adopted
the
 curriculum
of
the
Ruhi
Institute
to
be
used
worldwide.
Read
the
message
to
learn
why!

Riḍván
2010
message The
message
is
available
in
many
languages via
the
official
Bahá'í
websites
or
can
be
 obtained
in
print
from
your
Local
Spiritual
Assembly.
The
English
version
is
11
pages
in
 length,
consists
of
three
sections
and
33
paragraphs.