EU027 Unit Convention

Schedule

10:00
Doors open, Registration
10:30
Conference begins Welcome by convener
Opening devotions
Children move to activity room Guidance for elections and instructions for use of OBS
Election devotional
11:00
Election of Delegate
11:30
Presentation of Treasurer's materials from National and remarks from the hosting LSA treasurer.
Election results - teller's report
Consultation
12:30 (or as indicated by delegate)
Closing prayer
Group Photo
Lunch
1:45
Adjournment - facility must be clear by 2:00

Location

106 Village Drive, Staunton VA 24401
The Gallery 1828 where your event will be held is labeled #5 on the Blackburn Inn map.

 

Parking

We recommend all attendees enter from Richmond Avenue rather than Greenville Avenue for a more direct route to the event space. All attendees should park in either the Spa and Conference Center at #15 or in the Overflow Lot at #16. It is recommended you and anyone bringing items to load in, utilize the street parking outside The Gallery 1828 entrance on Village Drive for ease of access. These spots are limited which is why we encourage you to direct the attendees to park in the other two lots. Any attendees requiring handicapped parking should follow the route indicated in the second map attached to this email titled Handicapped Great Hall Parking" following West Village Drive.

 

Opening Devotions

  1. All praise, O my God, be to Thee Who art the Source of all glory and majesty, of greatness and honor, of sovereignty and dominion, of loftiness and grace, of awe and power. Whomsoever Thou willest Thou causest to draw nigh unto the Most Great Ocean, and on whomsoever Thou desirest Thou conferrest the honor of recognizing Thy Most Ancient Name. Of all who are in heaven and on earth, none can withstand the operation of Thy sovereign Will. From all eternity Thou didst rule the entire creation, and Thou wilt continue for evermore to exercise Thy dominion over all created things. There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise. Illumine, O Lord, the faces of Thy servants, that they may behold Thee; and cleanse their hearts that they may turn unto the court of Thy heavenly favors, and recognize Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self and the Dayspring of Thine Essence. Verily, Thou art the Lord of all worlds. There is no God but Thee, the Unconstrained, the All-Subduing.
    —Bahá’u’lláh
  2. O my God! O my God! Thou seest me in my lowliness and weakness, occupied with the greatest undertaking, determined to raise Thy word among the masses and to spread Thy teachings among Thy peoples. How can I succeed unless Thou assist me with the breath of the Holy Spirit, help me to triumph by the hosts of Thy glorious kingdom, and shower upon me Thy confirmations, which alone can change a gnat into an eagle, a drop of water into rivers and seas, and an atom into lights and suns? O my Lord! Assist me with Thy triumphant and effective might, so that my tongue may utter Thy praises and attributes among all people and my soul overflow with the wine of Thy love and knowledge. Thou art the Omnipotent and the Doer of whatsoever Thou willest.
    —‘Abdu’l‑Bahá

Election devotional

  1. Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God! Make manifest the rivers of Thy sovereign might, that the waters of Thy Unity may flow through the inmost realities of all things, in such wise that the banner of Thine unfailing guidance may be raised aloft in the kingdom of Thy command and the stars of Thy divine splendor may shine brightly in the heaven of Thy majesty. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, verily, art the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
    —Bahá’u’lláh
  2. Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! Sanctify mine eye, and mine ear, and my tongue, and my spirit, and my heart, and my soul, and my body, and mine entire being from turning unto anyone but Thee. Give me then to drink from the cup that brimmeth with the sealed wine of Thy glory.
    —Bahá’u’lláh

Closing devotions

  1. In the Name of God, the Most High! Lauded and glorified art Thou, Lord, God Omnipotent! Thou before Whose wisdom the wise falleth short and faileth, before Whose knowledge the learned confesseth his ignorance, before Whose might the strong waxeth weak, before Whose wealth the rich testifieth to his poverty, before Whose light the enlightened is lost in darkness, toward the shrine of Whose knowledge turneth the essence of all understanding and around the sanctuary of Whose presence circle the souls of all mankind. How then can I sing and tell of Thine Essence, which the wisdom of the wise and the learning of the learned have failed to comprehend, inasmuch as no man can sing that which he understandeth not, nor recount that unto which he cannot attain, whilst Thou hast been from everlasting the Inaccessible, the Unsearchable. Powerless though I be to rise to the heavens of Thy glory and soar in the realms of Thy knowledge, I can but recount Thy tokens that tell of Thy glorious handiwork. By Thy Glory! O Beloved of all hearts, Thou that alone canst still the pangs of yearning for Thee! Though all the dwellers of heaven and earth unite to glorify the least of Thy signs, wherein and whereby Thou hast revealed Thyself, yet would they fail, how much more to praise Thy holy Word, the creator of all Thy tokens. All praise and glory be to Thee, Thou of Whom all things have testified that Thou art one and there is none other God but Thee, Who hast been from everlasting exalted above all peer or likeness and to everlasting shalt remain the same. All kings are but Thy servants and all beings, visible and invisible, as naught before Thee. There is none other God but Thee, the Gracious, the Powerful, the Most High.
    —Bahá’u’lláh

Acknowledgements

The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Albemarle county would like to acknowledge the original indigenous inhabitants of this area, the Monacan Indian Nation. We further acknowledge the site of our convention is originally the Western State Hospital, originally build in 1825, and may have used enslaved laborers.