- 1976-01-01 — On the weekend of January 1—4, the newly-formed Canadian Association for Studies on the Bahá'í Faith held its first annual meeting at Cedar Glen, a conference centre 30 miles north of Toronto. The postal strike had made it impossible for the executive committee to provide adequate notification to the members, and this together with the very bad weather, suggested that attendance would be quite small. The committee, therefore, reserved space for only 50 people. No fewer than 80 participants turned up. Moreover, they came from every province in Canada, except Prince Edward Island, and from as far north as the Yukon. Fifteen local Spiritual Assemblies each sent a representative, and of course a number of the members of the Association were present in a dual capacity as representatives either of their own Spiritual Assembly or of a campus club.
Seven speakers presented papers in a wide range of academic disciplines. The speakers were:
'Abdu'l Misagh Ghadirian-"August Forel: His Life and Enlightenment".
Douglas Martin-"The Bahá'í Faith and Its Critics".
Luc Dion, a student of Physics at the Université du Québec in Chicoutimi-"La realité du monde e l'existence de Dieu". He had the distinction of being the first Bahá'í student to present a formal paper and also presented the first paper in French.
Hossain Danesh-"Violence and Apathy".
William Hatcher-on the relationship between science and religion.
Don Rogers-"The Function of Revelation in Artistic Expression".
Glen Eyford-"Spiritual Education".
A decision was taken to begin the publication of Bahá'í Studies.
In addition, the "Ballet Shayda" presented a group of three dances on Saturday evening. [BC Issue 291 February 1976 p6]
- 1976-12-31 — The second annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Studies took place at Cedar Glen, in Bolton, and was attended by some 100 Bahá'ís from all the provinces and a few from the United States.
Three original papers this year were presented by Dr. William Hatcher, Mr. Douglas Martin and Dr. John Hatcher. Two students, Heida Lakshman and John Taylor also presented papers.
The Ottawa company, based in Ottawa, Le Ballet Shayda presented their original piece entitled Journey. [BC Issue 300 February 1977 p6] - 1983-04-21 — In 1983 the institution of the National Convention went through another of its periodic bouts of growing pains. Attendance again was limited to the delegates and the members of the two participating Institutions, the Board of Counsellors and the
National Spiritual Assembly, although members of the Auxiliary Board were also welcome as guests and observers.
Prior to the Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly had sent to all delegates a list of questions on which it felt the incoming membership of the Assembly would most urgently need the delegates' advice. In the same mailing, the delegates received the Annual Report from the National Assembly and reports from each one of the national committees.
Those elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly were: Douglas Martin (sec'y), Hossain Danesh [chair), Jane Faily, Ed Muttart (treasurer and ass't sec'y), Ruth Eyford, Michael Rochester (vice), Glen Eyford, Husayn Banani, and William Hatcher.
[CBN Vol5 Issue3 July/Aug 1983 p23; CBN Vol5 Issue 2 May/Jun 1983 p20] - 1985-00-00 — The publication of The Bahá'í Faith; The Emerging Global Religion by William Hatcher and Douglas Martin. It was first published by Harper and Row, San Francisco and has seen numerous reprints. {BEL 7.1143 p87]
Outlines the history, teachings, structure and community life of the international Baha'i community, in an updated edition that includes coverage of the Baha'i Faith's views about world peace and the equal roles of women. - 2005-11-27 —
The passing of prolific author and founding member of the Association for Bahá'í Studies of North America, Dr. William S. Hatcher, in Stratford, Ontario. (b. 20 September, 1935 in Charlotte, NC).
- He served on the National Spiritual Assemblies of Switzerland (1962-65), Canada (1983-91) and the Russian Federation (1996).
- He was an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Toledo for three years before coming to Canada in 1968 with his wife Judith. He served as professor of mathematics at the Université Laval until 1995.
- He was appointed to the first Board of Trustees of the Huqúqu'lláh for Canada in November of 1991. [CBNJan92 p2; 14 November, 1991]
- He was the author of vast number of articles and books including, Logic and Logos (1990), Love, Power and Justice (1998), and The Bahá'í Faith, The Emerging Global Religion (co-authored with Douglas Martin). [BWNS416, BW05-06p240-241]
- The Universal House of Justice wrote in tribute: "The Bahá'í world has lost one of its brightest minds, one of its most prolific pens. He will long be remembered for his stalwart faith, forceful exposition, and penetrating insights."
- The family of Dr. Hatcher built an on-line repository of his collected works. Contributions of
recordings of his talks or other works by William Hatcher can be submitted for consideration for the site by using the contact form.
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