Community life - Growing together in spirit and service
The Bahá'í community in Winnipeg offers a range of activities that bring people together for prayer, study, and service to the wider community. All are welcome.
Devotional Meetings
Devotional meetings bring people together in collective worship — reading and reflecting on sacred writings, offering prayers, and cultivating the spiritual sensibilities that sustain a life of service. They are held in homes, community spaces, and wherever people choose to gather.
These gatherings are open to everyone, regardless of background or belief. There is no requirement to speak or perform — you may come simply to listen, to reflect, or to add your voice to those of others.
What to expect
- Prayers and sacred readings
- Music and devotional songs
- Quiet reflection
- Open to all faiths
Study Circles
A study circle is a small group of people who come together with a tutor to work through the Ruhi Institute's main sequence of courses. The atmosphere is one of joy, calm, and meditative serenity — a space to read, to reflect, to discuss, and to build the understanding that sustains meaningful service.
The courses explore themes such as the life of the spirit, service to others, and the forces shaping individuals and communities. They are designed to enhance the capacity of youth and adults alike to contribute to the well-being of their communities. Friends and neighbours from every background are welcome to join.
Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.
Children's Classes
Children's classes focus on the development of spiritual qualities — the beliefs, habits, and patterns of conduct that make for a worthy and meaningful life. Through stories, songs, prayers, art, and cooperative games, children are helped to discover and strengthen virtues such as honesty, kindness, generosity, and a love of learning.
Classes are open to all children in the neighbourhood between the ages of 5 and 11. The program is carried out by trained teachers who are themselves walking a path of service.
Program highlights
- Stories
- Songs
- Prayers
- Art
- Cooperative games
- Ages 5 to 11
Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment
The years between 12 and 15 are a crucial period of development — a time when young people are forming their identity and deciding what kind of person they want to be. The junior youth spiritual empowerment program accompanies them through this stage, helping them direct their energies and talents toward the advancement of their communities.
Small groups of junior youth meet regularly with an older youth animator to work through texts that develop their powers of expression, their moral reasoning, and their capacity for service. The program is open to all young people in the neighbourhood, regardless of background.
The animating spirit
Service
Bahá'ís understand service as an expression of love for humanity and as the means by which spiritual qualities are developed. Such qualities are not acquired through focusing on the self — they grow in the act of giving. Devotion sustains this impulse; service gives it form. Together, they give rise to a pattern of community life infused with the spirit of worship.
This understanding harmonizes being and doing, and individual and collective transformation. To serve one's community is to participate in the building of a better world — and in so doing so, to transform one's own character.
Principles in action - Two dimensions of one unfolding process
The Bahá'í community is engaged in a twofold endeavour: attending to the inner life of the individual and contributing to the transformation of society. These are not separate aims — they are inseparable.
- Oneness of humanity. The principle that all people belong to one human family is the pivot round which the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith revolve — not merely an ideal, but the foundation of all community action.
- Individual and collective transformation. Spiritual qualities are not acquired through focusing on the self; they develop in service to others. Personal and communal growth are inseparable and mutually reinforcing.
- Devotion and service in concert. Worship awakens spiritual susceptibilities; service gives them expression. Together, they give rise to a pattern of community life infused with the spirit of devotion.
- Learning through action. Community building is approached as a process of learning — not theoretical study alone, but reflection on lived experience, adjusting course, and growing through the work itself.
- Universal participation. Every person has a contribution to make. Our activities are open to all, and every voice is valued in the conversation about building a better world.
- Material and spiritual civilization. The Bahá'í community rejects any false separation between inner life and practical action. Building a just world is itself a spiritual undertaking.
Connect with the Bahá'í Community
521 McMillan Ave
Winnipeg, MB R3L 0N4
(204) 452-0139
LSA@winnipegbahais.org