Written materials to make it easier to have meaningful conversations about the Baha'i Faith.
Each fireside is a written text to maintain a 2 hour discussion with a group of 2-8 people. They open with questions, ground discussion in passages from the Baha'i Writings, and never assume the reader subscribes to the teachings or is familiar with any Baha'i specific jargon.
They are free and open source — you're welcome to download them, edit them, mix them up, and contribute however you'd like.
Pick the materials that match where your group is at
Each fireside is tagged with a stage. The subjects, depth, and what the text assumes about the reader all shift accordingly.
| Stage | For | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | First-time encounters | Nothing assumed. Opens with universal human experience. |
| Investigation | Active explorers | Designed for people interested in exploring what the Baha'i Faith is. |
| Consolidation | Newly declared Baha'is | Designed for people who subscribe to the Baha'i teachings and want to learn how to apply them to their lives. |
| Service | Settled into the community | Continue with Ruhi and other institute materials. |
Four building blocks
Two or three. The first introduces the subject. The second goes deeper or shifts angle.
Invitations to share lived experience before reading. "Have you ever felt the presence of the divine?"
Written context interwoven with passages from the Baha'i Writings.
Less about the text, more about what the group thinks. The part where people forget what time it is.
People are already asking.
More people than you might think are searching for the Baha'i teachings. They tell their Baha'i friends, in so many words, that they want to know more about the Faith.
When someone asks like that, we should give them exactly what they're looking for — and we are encouraged to do so. These firesides exist to make that easy: a ready answer for an honest question.