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"lighten and uplift
them, so that they may soar on the wings of the Divine verses"
-Baha'u'llah
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Two new
members join Universal House of Justice
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HAIFA,
Israel, 24 March 2005 (BWNS) --
Two members of the Universal House of Justice
have left the Baha'i Faith's international
governing council after many years of service.
Mr.
Ian Semple, 76, served as a member of the
Universal House of Justice since it was first
elected in 1963. Mr. Douglas Martin, 78, served
as a member since 1993.
Re-elected
successively to five-year terms, Messrs Semple
and Martin requested the Universal House of
Justice for permission to resign their office
owing to considerations of age and related needs
of the Faith.
The
request was granted and they served until a
by-election to replace them was completed. The
by-election was held by postal ballot and the
results were announced on 21 March 2005. (Go
to related story) |
The Seat of the Universal House of Justice,
Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
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Both Mr.
Semple and Mr. Martin had extensive experience in the
Faith's activities before their election to the
nine-member council, which has its Seat on Mount Carmel
in Haifa, Israel.
Born in
1928 in England, Mr. Semple did his national service in
the British Army from 1947-50 during which period he
earned a commission in the Royal Corps of Signals.
He studied
at Pembroke College, Oxford, obtaining a BA in German
and French Language and Literature in 1952 and an MA in
1955. He subsequently studied accounting in the City of
London, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1955 and
becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants in England and Wales.
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Mr.
Semple became a member of the Baha'i Faith in 1950
and was first elected to the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles in
1956. He served on that body, latterly as its
secretary, until he moved to Haifa upon his
election in 1961 to the International Baha'i
Council, on which he served as assistant
secretary.
From
1957-61 he also served as a member of the
Auxiliary Board for the propagation of the Baha'i
Faith in Europe. |
Mr. Ian Semple (left) and Mr. Douglas Martin. |
Mr. Semple
has delivered many addresses on the history and
teachings of the Baha'i Faith. He is married to Mrs.
Louise Semple (nee Gloor) and they have three children.
Mr. Douglas
Martin was born in 1927 in Ontario, Canada. He holds a
Bachelor's degree in business administration from the
University of Western Ontario and a Master's degree in
history from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. His
wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Martin, passed away in 1999.
Mr. Martin
was a consultant in advertising and public relations
until he devoted himself exclusively to Baha'i
administration and scholarship.
He was a
member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is
of Canada from 1960-85, serving as its general secretary
from 1965-85. From 1985-93 he was director-general of
the Baha'i International Community's Office of Public
Information at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa.
With Dr.
William S. Hatcher, he co-authored "The Baha'i
Faith: The Emerging Global Religion," published by
Harper & Row and later by the US Baha'i Publishing
Trust. He has also published articles and scholarly
monographs and lectured widely on the Baha'i Faith.
He is a
former editor-in-chief of "One Country," a
Baha'i international news magazine, and "The Baha'i
World," a series of annual reference volumes. He
was a founding member of the Association for Baha'i
Studies, serving on its international executive
committee from 1974-85.
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