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Chicago’s Baha’i House of Worship: A Symbol of Unity and Community

June 17, 2021
Michaela Abrams
3 min read
The Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois was built in 1912 and normally plays host to 250,000 visitors a  year
The Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois was built in 1912 and normally plays host to 250,000 visitors a year
The city of Chicago has a known Baha’i population of around 3,000, who help to disseminate the rich culture and welcoming spirit of the Baha’i faith within their home city
The city of Chicago has a known Baha’i population of around 3,000, who help to disseminate the rich culture and welcoming spirit of the Baha’i faith within their home city

Michaela Abrams is a third-year student at Wellesley College in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a junior editor for The Wellesley News, and lives in Chicago, Illinois. 

The Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois is a wonder to behold. Standing at over 40 meters tall and surrounded by lush gardens, fountains, and walking paths, the temple is nothing short of breathtaking. According to Joyce Litoff, director of communications at the Baha’i National Center in Evanston, Illinois: “Baha’is see beauty as a quality of God. Nature reflects the beauty that we see as part of the oneness of God”. Thus, the gardens surrounding the temple and the temple itself were designed with beauty in mind. 

Designed by French-Canadian architect Louis Bourgeois (whose offices still stand across the street) and with the oversight of Abdu’l Bahá, the head of the Baha’i faith from 1892 until 1921, the temple is the oldest Baha’i House of Worship still standing. As one of the eight continental Baha’i temples, it was built to serve all of North America. The temple is filled with religious imagery and inscriptions, but is open to the public at large as a gathering place for people of all faiths and backgrounds. 

A History of Social Justice in the Baha’i Community

While the Baha’i House of Worship has hosted choral concerts and artistic and cultural events for many years, the temple’s Welcome Center has, according to Litoff, “a long legacy of promoting racial and social justice among Baha’is”. 

Shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic began, the Center hosted programs promoting social justice initiatives to the wider public. The emphasis on social justice is not unique to this venue, either; in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the local Baha’i center stands just meters away from the intersection where George Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. While the Minneapolis center stood as a symbol of unity during the protests following Floyd’s murder, it also played a more concrete role, providing food, toiletries, and other necessities to demonstrators and members of the Minneapolis community.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Illinois House of Worship has offered online devotional services to people in Chicago and across the world who sought social and spiritual connections during lockdown. 

“Devotional services, where people are invited to share their own prayers or poems, would run – especially in the beginning – for close to two hours,” Litoff said. “There were so many people wanting to participate: yearning for that connection while stuck in their own homes.” 

The Baha’i Community in Chicago and the World

Before construction began in 1912, Abdu’l Bahá approved the House of Worship’s location in or near Chicago, but recommended that it be built away from the city’s bustling downtown business districts. The town of Wilmette was ultimately chosen due to its proximity to Lake Michigan, its peaceful atmosphere and the abundant green space. 

The choice of location - away from the noise of the city - was important as the House of Worship is intended as a place of reflection. While Wilmette’s Baha’i community is small by itself, with just 60 known members, around 250,000 people come to visit the temple every year, enticed by its serene atmosphere, compelling history and beautiful architecture. 

An estimated 12,000 Baha’is have settled in the United States after fleeing Iran due to systematic religious persecution since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The city of Chicago has a known Baha’i population of around 3,000, who help to disseminate the rich culture and welcoming spirit of the Baha’i faith within their home city. Although it started in Iran, the Baha’i community is now a global organization with adherents from a wide range of backgrounds. As Litoff says: “The Baha’i faith originated in Iran, but it’s really world-embracing.” 

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