Bahá’ís all over the world will celebrate the 200th birthday of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith. Adherents of the Bahá’í Faith believe in gender equality, that humanity is one family and that science and religion must agree. In Pendleton, the Bahá’í Community is holding a celebration of Bahá’u’lláh’s 200th birthday at the Pendleton Center for the Arts.
The Bahá’í Faith was founded in 1863 while Bahá’u’lláh was exiled in Baghdad for his beliefs along with a group of followers that included his son, `Abdu’l-Bahá. Bahá’u’lláh was later moved to Acre, a city in modern-day Israel where he died in 1892, writing in his will that `Abdu’l-Bahá should take leadership of the Bahá’í Faith. `Abdu’l-Bahá began expanding the Bahá’í Faith beyond the Levant when he was released from prison in 1908.
Pendletonian Times conducted an email interview with Bill Young, a local Bahá’í who says that the 59-year-old Pendleton Bahá’í Community is a “cornerstone” of Oregon history as it is “likely the third Bahá’í Community established in Oregon.” According to Young, the Pendleton Bahá’í Community is “reaching out to groups and individuals interested in building a stronger Pendleton – both spiritually and economically.”
Young explained that “Bahá’ís are independent thinkers who believe that community building is key to creating a better world. … We have no clergy – we regularly study the volumes left to us by Bahá’u’lláh … The Bahá’í Faith is the second-most widespread religion in the world and the only religion to have grown faster than the population of the world in all major areas.”
The first person to bring the Bahá’í Faith to Oregon was Colonel Nathan Ward Fitzgerald, who in 1906 helped found Bahá’í Communities in Portland and Walla Walla, Washington.
The bicentenary celebration at the Pendleton Center for the Arts begins at 2:30 p.m. and will feature prayers for humanity, spiritually-inspired music and discussion of the urgency and importance of the Bahá’í message to the world. Refreshments will be provided and the public is invited to attend.