Baha’i Blogcast with Rainn Wilson – Episode 58: Louis Venters

Hello and welcome to the Baha’i Blogcast with me your host, Rainn Wilson.

In this series of podcasts I interview members of the Baha’i Faith and friends from all over the world about their hearts, and minds, and souls, their spiritual journeys, what they’re interested in, and what makes them tick.

In this episode, I’m joined virtually by Dr. Louis Venters, an author and history professor who specializes in African American studies and the Baha’i Faith in South Carolina. Louis tells us how he became a Baha’i, and also explains how the Baha’i Faith became the second largest religion in South Carolina, sharing some of the history and the nuances that come with that, especially as a result of the Jim Crow era. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

To find out more about some of the things we covered in this episode, check out the following links:

• Louis Venters’ website: www.louisventers.com

Louis Venters is a professor at Francis Marion University.

• Baha’i Communities in South Carolina
• Louis Gregory
• Who Were the Hands of the Cause?
• Louis G. Gregory Baha’i Institute
• Louis Venters’ book: No Jim Crow Church

Louis Venters’ book: A History of the Baha’i Faith in South Carolina

• Bahai Blog interview with Louis Venters about ‘A History of the Baha’i Faith in South Carolina’: Louis Venters’s Book About the History of the Baha’i Faith in South Carolina
• Here’s a video news report by Mandy Noell about the Baha’i Faith in South Carolina: Breaking the Baha’i Code
• Louis mentions the Baha’i House of Worship for North America (also known as a temple) in Wilmette, USA.
• Find out more about Baha’i Temples here: Baha’i Temples: A Brief Introduction
• Louis talks about not knowing what to do when he became a Baha’i, so we thought this article may be interesting: So you’ve become a Baha’i. Now what?
• Baha’i Year of Service
• The Baha’i community in Togo
• The Nineteen Day Feast and Why it’s Important
• We mention The Universal House of Justice
• We mention Shoghi Effendi
• We mention Abdu’l-Baha
• We mention The Bab
• We mention Baha’u’llah
• Find out more about Abdu’l-Baha in the United States.
• Louis mentions document commissioned by the Universal House of Justice called ‘Century of Light‘.
• Louis mentions the Institute Process and Study Circles. Use these links to find out more about Baha’i Study Circles and ‘The Training Institute‘ which use the Ruhi sequence of courses.
• Children’s Classes
• What is the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program?
• What is the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program? [VIDEO]

You can find all of our episodes here on the Baha’i Blogcast page, and be sure to ‘subscribe’ to the Baha’i Blogcast for more upcoming episodes on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Soundcloud.

Thanks for listening!

-Rainn Wilson

Posted by

Naysan Naraqi

Naysan is passionate about using the arts and media to explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Back in 2011, Naysan started up the Baha’i Blog project, channeling his experiences in both media and technology companies to help create a hub for Baha’i-inspired content online.