From ‘Congregations’ to ‘Small Group Community Building’: Localizing the Bahá’í Faith in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China

Abstract

In the second half of the 20th century, the Bahá’í faith experienced rapid growth in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Consolidating large numbers of new believers into viable communities has presented great challenges to Bahá’í institutions, including in Chinese communities. Since the late 1990's, a new pattern of discourses and practices has emerged with the aim of nurturing a sustainable pattern of Baha’i community building. One aspect of this approach has been a critique of a "congregational" religious culture which implies boundaries between believers and non-believers, leaders and laypersons, and private religiosity and community service. Instead, an approach centred on study, devotion, and action in small groups at the grassroots, is becoming the focus of Bahá’í communities. This article compares the dynamics of small group community building among Bahá’ís in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, and the evolving relationship between small groups and Bahá’í electoral institutions characterized by practices of “religious citizenship” at the local and global levels. The study illustrates the localization of a global religion in three different Chinese socio-political contexts.