Need Feast ideas!

[cathych]

For those of you who are not Baha'is, let me begin by telling you what a Feast is: Baha'is all over the globe come together every 19 days for what is called a "Feast". You can, if you want, think of it as a Feast for the Lord. This Feast consists of 3 parts: 1. The spiritual portion, in which prayers are read. No minister is over a Feast at any time, the Baha'is themselves say prayers. 2. A business portion, in which the community frequently consults about the goings-on in their community. 3. A social portion. This sometime will include full-fledged meals, or sometimes just light refreshments. It is whatever the host of the Feast at that particular time wishes to do.

With that said, my dh is saying that our Feasts have gotten to be what he calls "in & out meetings." We do what we need to do, then every gets out the door, literally. Has anyone got any new ideas to liven up a Feast? What do you do in your community? We always have music at Feast, and many times we have had gospel choirs. We do serve varied foods depending on the hosts. Since I have traveled with a gospel choir, I have frequently been a part of other communites Feasts while on the road, & have incorporated the indeas that they use here. Can anyone else give me some new "life blood?"

[arthra]

WELCOME Cathych!

Thanks for posting here and again a warm welcome to you.

Sounds like you have some interesting Feasts with a choir and all...you have some resources in your community!

Recently in my community when it's my turn for Feast I select the readings usually from Ocean or the Baha'i Reference Library and I use a soft ware program from Dover Publishing to enhance the beauty of the readings with calligraphy. I might also include photos of Holy Sites on the page of the readings and then I distribute them at Feast. Most people appreciate this..

Also you could e-mail your community the selections that will be read at Feasts so if they cannot attend at least they can say the prayers themselves and maybe feel some solidarity with the community.

- Art

[bahai9]

You could also ask some of your Ruhi classes to host some of the Feasts. That nearly always brings some new approaches and alternative views and readings. Another thought would be to consider purchasing a set of booklets titled A Series of Twelve Devotional Programs available from the Baha'i Distribution Service if you wanted to get some thematic approaches to your Feasts. These programs include readings from so many other Faith traditions (Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc) that could inspire your folks. Junior Youth also provide some interesting approaches when they host (certainly their musical selections are quite, uh, a departure shall I say? from the routine.

Good luck! As a community of one here in Derry NH, I wield total control of my Feast gatherings! And believe me, they are quite unusual, each and every one! --Steve--

[arthra]

Another point I thought I would share under this topic is that there are some Baha'is that have difficulty reading the print in the Prayer Book ... some of us have glaucoma or vision issues... So what I would recommend is when printing the prayers on the computer use a large script..and one that isn't too ornate or fancy so it can be easily read.. Many children will also appreciate this!

- Art

[cathych]

Did you know that you are not supposed to use Ruhi as part of Feast? I am a Ruhi tutor, & Ruhi is supposed to be a seperate thing. Just for your info.

[bahai9]

Thanks, Cathy. I too am a Ruhi tutor. I think you misunderstood my suggestion. My suggestion was that perhaps the Ruhi students could pull together as a group to host the Feast. It wouldn't be a Ruhi exercise or class, just simply having the group pull the devotional element together, maybe agreeing on a theme and researching some supporting quotations for a reading or meditation, or in the music selection.

It was just a thought. Use it or lose it. The point you raise is a good one, though, and that is to keep the Feasts interesting and spiritually fulfilling, without having them become ritualistic. I find the younger members often to be the more creative and spirited. I always seem to walk away more connected across the generations following Feasts hosted by the Youth and Junior Youth. (Although I admit that I don't always really enjoy some of the music choices )

Good luck with your endeavors, and please pass along any successes and suggestions you may have come up with to the rest of us! --Steve--

[cathych]

oh, that is a good idea, I remember when we had young ones in the community, I let the children's class host the Feast, & they did everything, right down to the refreshments, we had little debbie cakes & soda! When my son was about 15 we let him host a Feast, & he had Metillica for the music!