Hopes were high when a special introductory online presentation on the lives of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, with new material for the bicentenary season, was offered on the public Bahá’í website (www.bahai.us/bicentenary/).

And in the months leading to celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh on Oct. 21–22, many visitors to that web page did indeed learn about the Bahá’í Faith for the first time. “Is this a good time for a first visit to Bahá’í?” asked one inquirer who responded through the website. (Raise your hand if you think you know the answer.)

After communications offices at the Bahá’í National Center collaborated to produce the page a couple of months in advance of the bicentenary, many people were drawn to it through a two-pronged effort: Facebook and other social media were used to promote the page, and emails were sent to about 12,000 people who had inquired over the past five years through the website, the 800-22UNITE phone line, and the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.

In one case, the effort connected a man in the Northeastern States who for some time has been acquainted with Bahá’ís, impressed with the “unique Christian way of being” and the core of spirituality he has observed. He ended up attending celebrations three days in a row.

In filling out the form on the site to request information about bicentenary celebrations where he lives, this gentleman shared, “I have come to know several members of your faith, all of whom have, by their very carriage and actions, motivated me to learn more about this all-inclusive faith as a complement” to his membership in the North Star AME Zion Church in Newington Center, New Hampshire.

His inquiry was shared via the seeker response database, and a contact person near him, Inger Gregory, called him back promptly. They spoke about 25 minutes and she followed up by sending an invitation to their local events. In response, he sent a card with the message: “Dear Inger, isn’t it rare to find a tangible handwritten message in the mail. Thanks for the calendar of events and book of Bahá’í Writings. See you next week.”

Over the three days of the bicentenary weekend, he attended an evening devotional program and a potluck dinner and devotional in New Hampshire, and the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh celebration at Green Acre Bahá’í School in Eliot, Maine. He received literature and an invitation to an upcoming showing of Light to the World.

And there was yet another level to the responses. Many Bahá’ís who saw the web page or local announcements of bicentenary celebrations were able to reconnect to Bahá’í communities they had been out of touch with — or to connect for the first time after moving.

For example, one Bahá’í was surprised and excited to see an ad on a bus for the Los Angeles bicentenary celebrations, and called 800-22UNITE to reconnect with the Bahá’í community after many years.

Another Bahá’í who had been feeling disconnected was Mahmud. Hurricane Harvey displaced him from his job in Texas, and he was temporarily living in Chicago. He happened to call 800-22-UNITE on the morning of a Holy Day celebration in Chicago, and when he attended that night he met many Bahá’ís near him.

In Kentucky, a Bahá’í shared, “I would like to attend a celebration about the life of Bahá’u’lláh and be involved with the faith a lot more than ever before.”

Many Bahá’ís also reached out to find bicentenary celebrations to share with their family and friends in other parts of the country and even around the world — literally from as far as Timbuktu.