July 04, 2004
New Course; Registration Problems

The Wilmette Institute is pleased to be offering a new distance-learning course, The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, starting July 15. The three-month course will examine what may be Shoghi Effendi's most important and weighty epistle, one where he defines the station of Baha'u'llah, the Bab, `Abdu'l-Baha, and the Administrative Order. This letter is one of the most important a Baha'i can study, as it defines the basics of many Baha'i beliefs and outlines fundamental aspects of "Manifestationology" (or "Theophanology," as it has been called) and the Baha'i equivalent of "ecclesiology" (the Christian term meaning "theology of the nature of the church"). Detailed knowledge of Dispensation is a must.

Assisting our study of the letter will be Dr. Necati Alkan, a Baha'i who recently received his doctorarte from a German university in Middle Eastern Studies. A set of study questions has been drawn up for use in the course, which will supplement published study materials available in Morton Bergsmo's book. The course will also receive students enrolled by the Baha'i Academy in India, guaranteeing an international flavor to the course. Discussion of the course materials will take place over the internet and worldwide web, and via optional monthly conference calls.

The course costs $150 per individual ($120 for senior citizens, university students, and pioneers), $300 per group (which can have as many people as it wants, but they should be able to meet physically together twice a month).

To register, do NOT use the Wilmette Institute's on-line registration system; it is down for another week or two while the credit card processing system is updated. Instead, send the following information to registration@wilmetteinstitute.org:

1. Full Name:

2. Postal Address:

3. Telephone:

4. Fax, if any:

5. Email address:

6. Course to be Taken (Please specify, as we receive many registrations every week and they are for many different courses):

7. Tuition Payment: ($150, individual; $120, senior/student/pioneer; $300, group; $0, I am a member of a group that has already paid)

8. Name of local study group if you are a member (first member to sign up should give an exact group name and tell the other members, who must include it in their registration if they don't want to pay the individual rate):

9. Local study group password, if you are a member (first member to sign up should give the password to us and tell everyone else in the group):

10. Method of Payment:
** I will fax credit card information to 847-733-3548
** I will email credit card information to rstockman@usbnc.org (please repeat name and course on both emails and please split the credit card number in half, giving half on one email and the other half on the other)
** I will call in the credit card information to the Wilmette Institute's voice mail system (877-wilmette)
** I will pay by a check drawn on a US bank
*Credit Card information MUST include: full name on card, type of card, complete card number, expiration date, and please repeat the name of the course.