Celebrating milestones in Te Wai Pounamu

As we enter the fourth year of the Nine Year Plan, the South Island has seen a remarkable series of developments, with three clusters recently achieving important milestones by Ridván 2025.

We are delighted to share with you the heartfelt reflections and news of these accomplishments, as highlighted by the South Island Regional Bahá’í Council in a recent letter to the Bahá’ís of Te Wai Pounamu. You can read the full letter here and see the wonderful progress made by each of these clusters in their unique journeys.

North Canterbury Cluster

The North Canterbury cluster, made up of Waimakariri, Hurunui, and Kaikoura districts, has officially traversed the first milestone on its path of growth. With a focus on devotional gatherings, children’s classes, and junior youth groups, the community has built a strong foundation for sustained expansion. This milestone reflects the emerging strength and cohesion of the cluster, and the community is now poised for even greater strides in the coming year. In a recent gathering, the friends in North Canterbury identified characteristics from the following passage that were present in their cluster, and recognised that they had traversed the first milestone.

“Within every cluster, the level of cohesion achieved among the core activities must be such that, in their totality, a nascent programme for the sustained expansion and consolidation of the Faith can be perceived. That is to say, in whatever combination and however small in number, devotional gatherings, children’s classes and junior youth groups are being maintained by those progressing through the sequence of institute courses and committed to the vision of individual and collective transformation they foster. This initial flow of human resources into the field of systematic action marks the first of several milestones in a process of sustainable growth.” - paragraph 4 from the message of the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, 28 December 2010

Central Otago Cluster

Just two weeks before the North Canterbury announcement, the Central Otago cluster, encompassing the Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes Districts, reached its own milestone, moving ahead of schedule in launching an intensive programme of growth and traversing the second milestone. This is a pivotal moment for the community, as it begins to embrace a more structured and coordinated approach to its activities. Characteristics of the second milestone of growth are highlighted in the following excerpt:

“It signals the maturation of an ever-expanding, self-sustaining system for the spiritual edification of a population: a steady stream of friends is proceeding through the courses of the training institute and engaging in the corresponding activities, which serves, in turn, to increase the number of fresh recruits into the Faith, a significant percentage of whom invariably enters the institute process, guaranteeing the expansion of the system. This constitutes another milestone that the friends labouring in every cluster must, in time, reach.” - from a message of the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, 28 December 2010, paragraphs 6 & 9

Central Otago gathering with Counsellor Tessa Scrine and Auxiliary Board member Mr Mosi Pesa, to read the reality and agree that the cluster has traversed the second milestone

Coastal Otago Cluster

Coastal Otago, which covers Dunedin, and Waitaki and Clutha Districts, has also celebrated a tremendous achievement by passing the third milestone in its growth. This milestone signifies the community’s readiness to further accelerate its efforts, engaging an even larger number of people in their educational and devotional activities and the further expansion of core activities. Characteristics of the third milestone of growth are highlighted in the following excerpt:

“The institute process comes to be supported by a growing number of friends serving capably as tutors who, cycle after cycle, offer the full sequence of institute courses between them, at times with marked intensity. Thus, human resource development proceeds with minimal interruption and generates a constantly expanding pool of workers. While it continues to draw on a diverse range of the cluster’s inhabitants, those taking its courses in the greatest numbers are often the youth. The transformative effect of studying the Word of God is experienced by the many whose lives are touched in some way by the community’s activities.” - Message of the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, 29 December 2015, paragraphs 23 & 24