THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICEDEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT19 April 2007The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United StatesDear Baha'i Friends,The Universal House of Justice notes that several days ago you sent to each of the delegates to yourforthcoming National Convention a copy of your 2007 annual report, which presents much of the sameanalysis on the progress of the Five Year Plan in the United States contained in the 19 March 2007letter that you had addressed to it. When sending your report to the delegates, you had not yet had thebenefit of the guidance provided in the response dated 12 April 2007 written to you on behalf of theHouse of Justice. It therefore asks that you share with the delegates gathered at the Convention thismessage, which sets out some of the points made in the letter of 12 April.While it is natural for the friends to be concerned over the current low rate of enrollments in the UnitedStates, it is important to step back and look at this development in a broader context. Enrollments havebeen in an overall decline in the United States for more than three decades, as the American Baha'icommunity, like so many others, gradually abandoned efforts to register large numbers because itcould not sustain the rapid expansion of the Faith. Indeed, it was precisely to meet the challenge of sustainability that the Four Year Plan set the Baha'i world in 1996 on a path of intense learning aboutthe growth of the Faith. In this light, what must be recognized is that the most recent sharp declinefrom some 2,000 to 1,000 annual enrollments occurred between 1997 and 2003, a period during whichan appreciation for the provisions of the global Plans had not yet been fully gained in the United Statesand, as a result, emphasis was being given to certain kinds of measures to proclamation through themedia, to initiatives designed specifically for and by Local Spiritual Assemblies, to inspirational appealsintended to capture the believers' imagination and stir them to action, and to extensive analyses of diverse topics. It should be clear, then, that a return to such measures will not serve the needs of theAmerican Baha'i community. This is not to suggest that there is no room for proclamation in the plansof action, for example, for a cluster in which the institute process is sufficiently advanced and in whichnew souls need to be attracted to firesides and core activities. Nor is it to diminish the importance of the evolving role Local Assemblies play in the new realities being created at the grassroots. However,what is essential is for such roles and functions to take shape within the framework for action that hasbeen elaborated in the message dated 27 December 2005 to the Conference of the Continental Boardsof Counsellors.The present Five Year Plan calls for an understanding of how the diverse elements described in thatmessage come together to create conditions conducive to the growth of the Faith. In every cluster theinstitutions and agencies guiding the process the Auxiliary Board members and the institute, togetherwith the Area Teaching Committee need to examine the dynamics of growth on a regular basis andanalyze the way in which these elements are working together, in order to identify gaps and determinewhat adjustments should be made. The analysis thus achieved must, of course, be the subject of thorough consultation in a reflection meeting with the generality of the believers, drawing them into thedecision-making process. If there are insufficient numbers moving through the sequence of institutecourses, steps will need to be taken to overcome this difficulty. If an environment is not being fosteredin which friends with capacity to serve as tutors feel empowered to accompany others in their initialattempts to carry out acts of service, the spiritual requisites for the creation of such an environmentshould be explored. If those who have completed the courses are not being consistently mobilized inthe field of service, if a growing number of seekers are not being brought into activities, if receptivepopulations are not being reached, then thought must be given as to how to remedy the situation notonce, but over an extended period of time in which an ongoing process of consultation, action, andreflection leads to a better and better understanding of how to achieve sustained growth. RegionalBaha'i Councils will have to ensure that this becomes the mode of operation in cluster after clusteracross the United States.As such learning increasingly occurs at the cluster level, it will be important for it to be channeled to theCounsellors and the National Spiritual Assembly so that in their joint consultations they can consider