Class Kit Builder

Stories

1. Thornton Chase: The First Westerner to Embrace the Faith

   Shoghi Effendi's account, in *God Passes By*, of Thornton Chase — the Chicago insurance executive who in June 1894 became the first American and the first Westerner formally to embrace the Bahá'í Faith, and who would later be honoured by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as *the first Bahá'í of the United States.*

   — Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By

2. The Laying of the Wilmette Temple Cornerstone

   Shoghi Effendi's narration, in *God Passes By*, of the Master's laying of the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár at Wilmette in May 1912 — a moment the Guardian describes as the inauguration of the construction of the first House of Worship of the Bahá'í Dispensation in the Western world.

   — Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By

3. The First National Spiritual Assembly of America

   In 1925 the *Star of the West* carried the announcement of the formation of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada — the inaugural national institution of the American Faith, elected in convention at the Wilmette Temple grounds.

   — Star of the West Editors, Star of the West

Discussion questions

Coloring page

The Nine-Pointed Star

The number 9, the highest single digit, has long been associated in the Bahá'í community with completeness and unity. The nine-pointed star is the most familiar Bahá'í symbol.

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