On this page you can find information on ongoing activities sponsored by the local Bahá’í community. If you’d like to hear more about attending them, please use the signup form at the bottom of this page to indicate your interest areas, and we’ll get back to you.
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Bahá’ís believe we all have a twofold moral purpose — to develop our inherent potentialities and to contribute to the transformation of society. The activities Bahá’ís around the world are engaged in reflect this purpose. The following activities–open to everyone–are at the heart of our efforts to contribute to building stronger communities, capable of facing the immense challenges confronting society today.
community Fridays
During the warm months, we invite members of the wider Ithaca community for evenings of fellowship in the outdoors. Adults share in engaging, facilitated conversations around meaningful topics. There are also children’s classes for various ages. We also just hang out and have fun together. This is a great way to get to know the Baha’i community and make new friends.
Please note, at this time, we humbly request attendees to wear masks and social distance in order to protect each other’s health.
Children’s Classes
Classes for the spiritual and moral education of children are offered on a weekly basis in several locations and are open to all. In these classes, children learn about spiritual qualities such as unity, truthfulness, humility and justice, through stories, games, songs, and age-appropriate discussions of passages from the sacred writings.
Learn more about the Baha’i perspective and approach regarding the education of children.
Junior Youth Groups
Special attention is given to early adolescents, “junior youth”, who are experiencing rapid physical, intellectual and emotional changes, in order to help them develop their latent powers so they can contribute to the material and spiritual progress of their local communities. Groups of young friends are formed in which they engage in study and meaningful discussion, organize service projects, and have time to enjoy each other’s company under the guidance of youth older than them. In Ithaca, junior youth groups have, as part of their service, painted a number of murals around the City, raised money for noble causes, and
The Ithaca Community is actively looking for participants as well as older youth who would like to serve as mentors.
More on junior youth here.
Study Circles
To build a better world requires an ever-growing pool of people capable of contributing to the accomplishment of the myriad tasks at hand, and great attention is given to the education of youth and adults. Using an innovative approach called a “Study Circle”, groups study together Sacred Writings, and discuss their meaning and how to translate these teachings into action. Topics include coherence between the material and the spiritual, the betterment of the world, prayer, and the life of the spirit. Service projects such as visiting others to study prayers, teaching children’s classes, and accompanying others on their respective paths of service.
Devotional Gatherings
Service and worship are at the heart of the pattern of community life that Bahá’ís around the world are trying to bring into being. Bahá’ís host gatherings in which friends, Bahá’ís and others alike, unite together in prayer, often in one another’s homes. Devotional meetings such as these serve to awaken spiritual susceptibilities within the participants, and in concert with the acts of service they perform, lead to a pattern of community life that is infused with the spirit of devotion and focused on the attainment of spiritual and material prosperity.
Baha’i Holy Days
We have several dates when we commemorating significant events in the Baha’i year, and we’d love to have you celebrate with us.
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Have questions? Or want to get in touch directly? Please contact us.
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O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.
Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words
Ithaca Bahá'ís 