Get Involved
Our Calgary community, like many other communities across the world, is diverse, bringing together people of different ages and experiences, cultures and religions, and various family backgrounds. Regardless of our varied circumstances, we aspire in collaboration with our like-minded friends and neighbours, to contribute to a materially and spiritually prosperous community, based on principles such as justice and the oneness of mankind.
Service to humanity is service to God.
Infusing a spirit of service in our education, work, family, leisure and spiritual life, allows us to avoid a fragmented approach to living, and helps us work towards a life in which these aspects complement one another.
Negative forces such as racial prejudice and discrimination and social class hinder individual and collective growth, while positive forces such as the desire for knowledge, aspiring for change, and strong belief in the importance of family, significantly advance our community.
Prayer Gatherings
Devotional meetings or prayer gatherings spring up naturally in a communities where conversations about the spiritual dimension of human existence is growing. In diverse settings, Bahá’ís and their friends and families unite with one another in prayer. There are no rituals; no one individual has any special role. Gatherings consist largely of reading prayers and passages from the Bahá’ís and any Faith/religion in an informal yet respectful atmosphere.
Study Circles
Imagine an ongoing conversation among friends in thousands upon thousands of neighbourhoods, villages, schools, universities, and workplaces—concerned with contributing to the advancement of civilization through applying Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. As the number of participants in the conversation grows, processes to achieve collective spiritual and material goals in each space are set in motion. These are study circles.
Children’s Classes
In recent years, training institutes around the world have been playing an increasingly important part in the training of teachers to conduct classes for the spiritual education of children. The materials being developed for use by the institutes emphasise the acquisition of spiritual qualities—for example, truthfulness, generosity, and kindness, to name a few—which are considered attributes of God that are reflected in the mirror of the human heart.
The primary, the most urgent requirement is the promotion of education. It is inconceivable that any nation should achieve prosperity and success unless this paramount, this fundamental concern is carried forward.
Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program
Falling between the ages of 12 and 15 and representing a transition from childhood to youth, “junior youth”— experience rapid physical, intellectual, and emotional changes. A new level of awareness fosters in them an increased interest in profound questions and in their talents and abilities. During this short and critical three-year period, ideas about the individual and society that may very well shape the rest of their lives are formed. Calgary Jr. Youth programs provide a safe space where feelings of worry, discomfort, and doubt are directed towards selfless service to humanity.
Prayer Study
For those interested in the Bahá’í teachings, Bahá’ís across Calgary have prayer studies — an opportunity to go in depth and learn about the prayers and writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Similar to Bible or Quran studies, prayer studies explore the deeper meanings of prayer and how it can affect our daily lives.
Fireside Chats
Baháʼís around Calgary have gatherings to discuss things like world peace, equality of women and men, racism, and so many more topics that are important in evolving societies. Baháʼís call these gatherings “firesides”—warm, informal gatherings and discussions about the Baháʼí teachings.
Imagine a group of your friends gathering together in a home talking about the teachings of religion and why they’re important for the modern world.
This is a Fireside. Baháʼís have gatherings like these just about anywhere people live in the world, and you’re invited.
What Calgarians Think
“I really like the Bahá’í study circles, I learned a lot and made some great friends.“
“My kids love the children’s classes and I love that they are learning how to be spiritual young people.“
“I wanted to learn a bit about the Baháʼí Faith and for me, the Fireside was a perfect space.“