The Bahá’í community in Bermuda has selected new members to serve on its National Spiritual Assembly, the religious group said today.

Members were elected when delegates met on April 26 and 27 at the Bahá’í National Centre in Hamilton for its 44th National Annual Convention.

The event was held as Bahá’ís celebrated the Festival of Riḍván, a global event in the religious community.

“Delegates to the National Convention, representing all of Bermuda’s nine parishes and the two municipalities, consulted on the community’s present reality,” the group said.

The newly elected members are Read Currelly, Blythe Walker, Anthony Ball, Cheryl Peek-Ball, Tanisha Edwards, Georgia Symonds, Oswald Hinds, Arlene Brock, and Shyama Ezekiel-Fagundo.

During the meeting, members discussed a range of topics, including “the centrality of education for our children, junior youth and young people, recognising that children and youth are the most precious treasure a community can possess, for in them are the promise and guarantee of the future of Bermuda and our world; contributing to social transformation”.

Members also addressed issues such as “building vibrant communities, the importance of worship and service for the wellbeing of everyone, contributing to the spiritual and material progress of our society, and, what the Bahá’ís and those labouring alongside them are doing to promote this”.

The Festival of Riḍván commemorates the twelve days that Baháʼu'lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith spent in the Riḍván Garden before leaving Baghdad in 1863.

Riḍván signifies “paradise” in Arabic. The first, ninth, and the twelfth days of the Festival of Riḍván are specially commemorated as holy days, the religious group said.

Meanwhile, the assembly said doors will be open to the public each first Sunday of the month at the Bahá’í National Centre on Brunswick Street in Hamilton. Services start at 11am.

It added: “All are invited to share in devotions from the world’s religious scriptures, and writings from Bahá’í scripture addressing today’s pressing needs: the wellbeing of our children, education, equality of men and women, justice, and creating a more peaceful and just world, to cite a few.”