From May 22-25, 171 Baha'i delegates in the United States will gather at the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Ill., to elect the nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. At the same time, Baha’i delegates in 181 other nations will gather to elect their National Spiritual Assemblies.

This year marks the 100th annual Baha'i national convention in the United States.

Delegates at the first convention, held in Chicago in 1909, established an organization called Baha’i Temple Unity, the first national institution in the Baha’i world.

The choir sings outside of the Baha'i House of Worship

Close to 200 talented voices from throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Africa will sing works from Baha'i scriptures and those of other religions in the second annual Baha'i choral music concert at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent.

After the concert in the auditorium lasting approximately 45 minutes, the choir will assemble outside on the steps of the temple -- weather permitting -- to perform rousing gospel music, traditional songs and other multicultural music. The outdoor portion will last about 20 minutes. Both parts of the concert are sung a cappella, and are free and open to the public.

More than 200 people from the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Africa will sing scriptural music in a festival May 15-18 at the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette.

The singers also will present a concert at 12:30 p.m. May 18 inside the 1,200-seat House of Worship, at Linden Avenue and Sheridan Road. The choir will then sing outside, weather permitting, on the House of Worship stairs at about 1:30 p.m. The concerts, performed without instrumental accompaniment, are free and open to the public.

Wilmette Bahá'í House of Worship

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to go to one out of the seven Bahá'í Temples located around the world. The temple was located in IL and represents the continent of North America. The following site shows the dome area that I sang in: http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple

I have never heard about this religion prior to my experience over the weekend. Coming from a nondenominational background, I was curious about what I was seeing.

To enable further restoration of the Baha'i House of Worship and begin construction of the new Visitors Center, the lower level of the temple, which currently houses the Visitors Center and bookstore, will be closed to the public for approximately one year, from May 19, 2008, to May 2009.

The Illinois Bureau of Tourism asked the state's residents and visitors to nominate their favorite destinations in Illinois. In May of 2007, seven of these were selected as the Seven Wonders of Illinois.