Pages

September 13, 2016

Margaret Stevenson - New Zealand’s first Bahá’í

Margaret was born on November 30th, 1865. Her first intimation of the Bahá’í Faith was through reading “The Christian Commonwealth” and she admitted later that “she did not think any more about it”. She received this journal from her sister who was in London studying music and had heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá address the congregation of St. John’s, Westminster at the invitation of Canon Wilberforce. She was so impressed that when another discourse given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at City Temple, London was printed in “The Christian Commonwealth” dated March 27th, 1911, she sent a copy of the journal to Margaret in New Zealand.

In 1912, Miss Dorothea, Spinney, a friend of Margaret’s sister, arrived in Auckland from London and stayed with Margaret at her home. Miss Dorothea Spinney gave recitals of Greek plays. While staying with Margaret she talked about the Bahá’í Cause and her own meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. This evidently touched a subconscious chord in Margaret.

To quote Margaret’s own words: “As a child, I used to wish I had lived when Christ was on earth. As Miss Spinney spoke, I remembered my childhood wish, and the thought came to me that I too might have denied Him as so many others had done. It was this secret thought that made me seriously think of what I heard from Miss Spinney, and through God’s grace and mercy I was enabled to grasp and believe in Bahá’u’lláh and His Message”.