Local Spiritual Assembly
Online Registration Process.
Welcome!
Guidance - Universal House of Justice 12/31/2021
“Over time, many such souls begin to identify themselves with the Bahá’í community, especially as they gain the confidence to participate in community life through service. Of course, the community welcomes any degree of association that a person would like to maintain, great or small. Yet to recognize Bahá’u’lláh as a Manifestation of God and accept the privileges and responsibilities that are uniquely associated with membership in the Bahá’í community is a singular moment in a person’s spiritual development, quite distinct from regular involvement in Bahá’í activities or voicing support for Bahá’í principles.”
“Experience has shown that the environment created by community-building endeavours in a locality enables anyone who wishes to take this step to do so with relative ease. Wherever these endeavours are under way, it is important for the friends to remain mindful that the doors of the Faith are wide open and to give encouragement to those who stand at the threshold. And in areas where such endeavours have been well established for some time, many believers are discovering that a vibrant, expanding pattern of activity can naturally lead to families, groups of friends, and even clusters of households being ready to enter the Cause. For in spaces where the possibility of joining the community can be discussed openly and inclusively among those who share a sense of collective identity, souls can more easily feel emboldened to take this step together. Bahá’í institutions, especially Local Spiritual Assemblies, must adopt a mindset that allows for such developments, and ensure that any obstacles are removed.”
Role of the Seeker Response Coordinator with the LSA:
The role of the Council appointed Seeker Response Coordinator that accompanies the online registrations is to follow up with the Local Spiritual Assembly to make sure they received the email notification and see the registrant name in E-membership2. The coordinator may share guidance about the process and answer questions as well as encourage outreach by the LSA to the registrant within 24 hours of the registrant’s submission.
If an LSA Secretary does not respond to the coordinator in a short amount of time, calling other members of the Assembly is encouraged.
There are two online forms for seekers: Bahai.us Contact Us and Bahai Teachings Connect With Baha’is in Your Area.
There is only one form online that people who wish to register as a Baha'i member can fill out. It is part of the Bahai.us website, and is called “Become a Baha’i”
The online form is one option for registration.
Registering with the Assembly by signing a declaration card is still a viable option. The preferred path to enrollment is through Local Spiritual Assemblies when a registrant/declarant lives within the boundaries of the community.
This means that the person can be directly enrolled through Emembership2, and does not have to fill out an online form, or if they do fill out an online form the LSA verifies and forwards the new believer through Emembership2 to the National offices for enrollment. (Note: Registered Groups cannot enroll new members.)
Online forms for registrants and seekers:
Recent Changes for online Registrant handling: Two paths
As of April 2024
The Verification Conversation: A person becomes a Bahá’í by recognizing Bahá’u’lláh as the Messenger of God for this age and informing the Bahá’í community of their desire to join the Bahá’í Faith. A representative will contact you to confirm your decision.-Become a Baha’i form
Confirming a new declarant’s belief is an important part of the enrollment process. It should not be a rigorous or lengthy procedure, but should ensure that the individual is sincere in his or her declaration of faith. Reviewing with the declarant a basic overview of the fundamental verities of the Faith is, in most cases, sufficient to ascertain this. Such confirmation can be carried out by any individual that the Assembly trusts to perform this service. As growth accelerates, close collaboration with the cluster agencies, particularly the Area Teaching Committee, is crucial.
"…Those who declare themselves as Bahá’ís should become enchanted with the beauty of the Teachings, and touched by the love of Bahá’u’lláh. The declarants need not know all the proofs, history, laws, and principles of the Faith, but in the process of declaring themselves they must, in addition to catching the spark of faith, become basically informed about the Central Figures of the Faith, as well as the existence of laws they must follow and an administration they must obey." (From a message from the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies, July 13, 1964: Teaching the Masses, p. 2)
The doors are open for all of humanity to enter the Bahá’í community, irrespective of their present circumstance. Associated with this invitation is the expectation that all those who accept Bahá’u’lláh as a Manifestation of God will make a sincere and persistent effort to modify those aspects of their conduct which are not in conformity with His Law.
Spiritual Assemblies should, to a certain extent, be forbearing in the matter of people’s moral conduct, in view of the terrible deterioration of society in general. It would be a profound contradiction, however, for someone to profess the intention to be a Bahá’í, yet consciously reject, disregard or contend with aspects of belief or practice ordained by Bahá’u’lláh. It would only be reasonable, therefore, for a Local Assembly to request that a person with such views wait until this contradiction is resolved before enrolling in the Bahá’í community.
- Letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated January 20, 2009, to a Local Spiritual Assembly-glsa
Who is Authorized to Verify a Registrant?
When a representative of a Local Spiritual Assembly or other authorized Bahá’í institution is satisfied that the declarant’s belief has been confirmed, he/she approves and countersigns the declarant’s registration.
Important links:
As per the National Assembly, outreach to the Registrant should occur within 24 hours from the receipt of their request.
Some reasons an LSA would ‘remove’ a pending registrant:
NZ
When the Assembly has reservations about an enrollment:
If the Local Assembly has significant concerns or recommends denying the enrollment, it should consult with its member of the Auxiliary Board for Protection and, after incorporating the guidance received, send a report to the Office of Community Administration (community@usbnc.org) and copy the Office of Inquiry Services (bahai-info@bahai.us), attaching copies of all documents associated with the application for enrollment, including the original completed Bahá’í Registration card, if one was used.
If a card used, the Assembly should also keep a photocopy of the card in its permanent records. The National Assembly will decide if the enrollment can be accepted.
glsa
How to remove a pending registrant from Emembership2
An online Registrant can be sent back to the IMS by the LSA.
Enroll or Remove from Pending Members–blue vs. red buttons
Welcoming the New Believer: Membership packet and ID cards
Once an enrollment has been approved and recognized, the new believer may then attend Bahá’í functions, vote (if 18+), and be elected to administrative bodies (if 21+).
When the enrollment is recorded in UnityWeb, the new believer is issued a Bahá’í identification card and receives instructions on how to set up a Bahá’í Online Services account (BOSA). New believers also receive a welcome letter from the National Spiritual Assembly together with some basic information about the Bahá’í Faith and the American Bahá’í community.
Prior to gaining access to their Bahá’í ID card, if a new believer wishes to attend an event that requires them to show a Bahá’í membership card, the local community may endorse the new Bahá’í until he/she is able to access their Bahá’í ID.
Physical copies of Bahá’í ID cards and membership packets are now being issued as a standard practice. Replacement ID cards can be requested if needed from the Office of Membership and Records: contacted by email at membership@usbnc.org or by phone at (847) 733-3445.
Prayer for the seeker:
Thou, my God, Who guidest the seeker to the pathway that leadeth aright, Who deliverest the lost and blinded soul out of the wastes of perdition, Thou Who bestowest upon the sincere great bounties and favors, Who guardest the frightened within Thine impregnable refuge, Who answerest, from Thine all-highest horizon, the cry of those who cry out unto Thee. Praised be Thou, O my Lord! Thou hast guided the distracted out of the death of unbelief, and hast brought those who draw nigh unto Thee to the journey's goal, and hast rejoiced the assured among Thy servants by granting them their most cherished desires, and hast, from Thy Kingdom of beauty, opened before the faces of those who yearn after Thee the gates of reunion, and hast rescued them from the fires of deprivation and loss—so that they hastened unto Thee and gained Thy presence, and arrived at Thy welcoming door, and received of gifts an abundant share.
O my Lord, they thirsted, Thou didst lift to their parched lips the waters of reunion. O Tender One, Bestowing One, Thou didst calm their pain with the balm of Thy bounty and grace, and didst heal their ailments with the sovereign medicine of Thy compassion. O Lord, make firm their feet on Thy straight path, make wide for them the needle's eye, and cause them, dressed in royal robes, to walk in glory for ever and ever.
Verily, Thou art the Generous, the Ever-Giving, the Precious, the Most Bountiful. There is none other God but Thee, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Exalted, the Victorious.
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá