Our Mission:
Transform.
Our mission is to transform society and further the cause of unity.
Our mission is to transform society and further the cause of unity.
America at 250: Moving Forward Together is a community conversation initiative bringing people together to reflect on our shared future, listen across differences, build relationships and trust, discover shared values, and explore constructive ways to strengthen our communities.
These gatherings begin with a simple conviction: the future of America is shaped not only by what happens in national institutions, but also by the quality of the relationships and patterns of community life we build where we live.
Through meaningful conversation, reflection, and learning together, we explore questions such as: What qualities and values can help our communities flourish? What enables people of different backgrounds and perspectives to discover common purpose? And how can ordinary people move from shared hopes toward meaningful action together?
The conversations are nonpartisan and are not political debates. People of different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, and perspectives are warmly welcome.
Next Community Conversation
From Shared Hopes to Shared Action
How do ordinary people move from shared hopes to meaningful action together?
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 1:30-3:30pm | 1:30 - 33:30
Location
Irondequoit Public Library
1st Floor, Room 115
1290 Titus Avenue, Rochester, NY 14617
New participants are warmly welcome. No previous attendance is necessary.
About ROCforAction
The Bahá’í Community of the Greater Rochester Area in collaboration with an increasing number of movements, organizations, groups and individuals, strives to transform society and further the cause of unity, and contribute to solidarity in the community.
The Bahá’í Community engages people of all ages, faiths, and backgrounds in a process of community building through programs inspired by the Bahá’í Faith. Through a process of prayerful study, consultation, action, and reflection, children, youth, and adults engage in their own spiritual development. They explore spiritual concepts together and apply them in their communities. Capacities for service are developed and increasingly complex collective action becomes possible. Transformation of self and scoiety go hand in hand.
All programs are free.
A study circle is a small group that meets perhaps once a week for a few hours, usually in the home of one its members, to study courses, which include passages from the Bahá’í writings related to specific themes and acts of service. In response to the materials they study, participants, men and women, young and old alike, come to recognize that they have the power to re-create the world around them. As more and more people become committed to the vision of individual and collective transformation, capacity is gradually built in the community to reflect a pattern of life that places at its heart service and worship.
Family is the nucleus of human society and family life is the primary place to develop values and capacities essential to the betterment of society. The moral and spiritual education of children assumes vital importance in a world where the joy and innocence of childhood can so easily be overwhelmed by materialism. The ultimate aim of this program is for children to increasingly grow up free from all forms of prejudice, recognizing the oneness of humanity, and appreciating the innate dignity and nobility of every human being.
The Junior Youth Empowerment Program is a global movement that motivates young people aged 12 to 15 to work together with parents and community members to contribute to the well-being of their neighbors and the world at large. The program is founded on the idea that, to help young people achieve their highest potential, education needs to address both their intellectual and spiritual development. While inspired by the Bahá’í Faith, the program does not approach education in the mode of religious instructions. It affirms that young people have a vital role to play in helping communities grow.
The spirit of fellowship and harmony that binds us together is strengthened through acts of worship. Devotional gatherings are held in community centers or in one another's homes and consist largely of reading prayers and passages from holy scriptures in an informal, yet respectful, atmosphere. Uplifting music and song are often included. There are no rituals; no individual has a special role. These simple gatherings bring people of all backgrounds and beliefs together in prayer and generate a unifying spirit that begins to permeate the community.
Join us in forging a new model of community life where elevated conversations and service to others go hand-in-hand. Each of our core community building activities aims to foster inner transformation and create wider circles of inclusion.
Contact us to sign up for classes for children, groups for teens and pre-teens, study circles for adults, and prayer gatherings.
Contact us to serve as teachers of children's classes, animators of junior youth, and facilitators of adult study circles.