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The Nineteen Day Feasts are regular community gatherings, occurring on the first day of each month of the Bahá’í calendar (and so most often nineteen days apart from each other). The Nineteen Day Feast serves to increase the unity of the community, and spiritually uplift the community members by having a devotional program, where readings and prayers from the Bahá’í holy writings are shared, and a social program where community members can socialize. The third part of a Feast is the administrative portion, which is a critical arena for democratic expression within a Bahá’í Community. Therefore, the administrative portion is limited to Bahá’ís. Bahá’ís from other communities may freely attend, though they may not vote on any recommendations that the community may put forward as recommendations to the Local Spiritual Assembly. Attendance at the Nineteen Day Feast is not obligatory, but is considered and a duty and a privilege for Bahá’ís since it is where they can enter into consultation with the rest of the community.

John Esslemont was a Prominent British Bahá’í from Scotland and author of the well-known introductory book on the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. John Ebenezer Esslemont was born in Aberdeen on May 19, 1874 the third son and fourth child of John E. Esslemont (1859-1927), a successful merchant, and Margaret Esslemont (neé Davidson). He came from an eminent family and was educated at Ferryhill School, Robert Gordon College, and Aberdeen University. He graduated in medicine in 1898 with honorable distinction. Unfortunately, Esslemont had contracted tuberculosis during his college days and this caused him to give up his promising career in medical research. He spent some time in Australia and South Africa and married Jean Fraser, his sister's piano teacher, to whom he was drawn by their mutual interest in music.

...if the bonds of love and unity cement family relationships, the impact will reach beyond its borders and affect society as a whole.

Bahá’í International Community, 1995 Oct, Turning Point For All Nations

The Ascent of Society is a penetrating study that describes the objective of personal spiritual growth as an "ever-expanding sense of self" that requires social relationships in order to develop. John Hatcher focuses on the Bahá’í belief that human history is a divinely guided process in which spiritual principles are gradually and progressively expressed in social institutions.

July 29:

• 1831: Birth of Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh and noted historian Nabíl-i-A'zam
• 1980: Death of Adelbert Mühlschlegel, Hand of the Cause of God and prominent German Bahá’í

This is an image of the future House of Worship planned for Santiago, Chile. In late 2002, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Chile and the Universal House of Justice announced a competition for the design of the mother temple of South America, to be built outside Santiago. Its sides will be composed of translucent panels of alabaster and cast glass. The interior structure will be a lattice structure of steel supporting the inside of the upper dome.

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