28 October 1993
To all National Spiritual Assemblies
Dear Baha’i Friends,
The Universal House of Justice has decided that The Bahá’i
World should have a new format and be published annually. Such frequency of
appearance was intended by Shoghi Effendi when the publication was founded, but
circumstances made it impossible to produce it so regularly. The first volume
of the new annual series is scheduled to be published by the end of December
1993 and will focus on the Holy Year.
Beginning in 1926 as Baha'i Year Book, this publication has remained a major record of Baha’i activities and achievements. Assuming the title The Baha'i World, each volume from the second to the tenth appeared biennially; subsequent volumes until the nineteenth covered longer periods of varying lengths; volume XX, currently in preparation, will be the last of the old series and will cover the period of the Six Year Plan. The issuance of the first volume in the new series will precede the production of that extensive record.
The disclosure of current information about the Faith to the public in such a publication was an expectation that won Shoghi Effendi’s unstinting support and encouragement. He himself provided much of the material for each volume and supervised its development. His attitude was expressed in a letter dated 12 December 1929 written by his secretary on his behalf and which, describing The Baha'i World as “destined mainly for the non-Baha’is,” said, “he has tried to attract through its pages the attention of educated and enlightened people and especially leaders in every country, with a view to acquainting them with the broad and fundamental principles of the Faith and to winning their consideration of the Movement as a growing force for good and for peace throughout the entire world. . . . Indeed Shoghi Effendi has made it a point to send copies to as many leading men as possible. . . . "
The House of Justice feels that the availability of a well-written, liberally illustrated, attractively designed annual record of Baha’i activities will facilitate the efforts of the friends and Spiritual Assemblies to present to non-Bahá'ís at all levels of society current information about the Cause in a volume of moderate size. With this in mind, it has assigned the Office of Public Information at the World Center the responsibility for editing and producing The Baha'i World in its new format. In due course, that Office will provide you with detailed information about the series, which is to be produced in both hardcover and high-quality paperback editions, making each volume suitable for presentation to representatives of libraries, educational institutions, government offices, social organizations and the media.
Besides the proclamation possibilities of The Baha'i World, it will, of course, remain for the friends an important reference source which many will wish to acquire for their personal use.
With loving Baha’i greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)
