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: https://www.louisventers.com/

* Louis Venters is a professor at Francis Marion University: https://www.fmarion.edu/

* Baha'i Communities in South Carolina: https://find.bahai.us/community/south-carolina

* Louis Gregory: https://bahaipedia.org/Louis_Gregory

* Who Were the Hands of the Cause?: https://www.bahaiblog.net/2014/06/hands-cause/

* Louis G. Gregory Baha'i Institute: https://www.lgbi.org/

* Louis Venters' book 'No Jum Crow Church': https://amzn.to/2UjTOWp

* Louis Venters' book 'A History of the Baha’i Faith in South Carolina': https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467117494

* Bahai Blog interview with Louis Venters about 'No Jim Crow Church': https://bit.ly/3eKJpMs

* Video news report by Mandy Noell about the Baha'i Faith in South Carolina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t0F7HyFf1Y&feature=emb_logo

* Baha'i House of Worship for North America (also known as a temple) in Wilmette, USA: https://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple/

* Baha’i Temples: A Brief Introduction: https://www.bahaiblog.net/2018/07/bahai-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?': https://www.bahaiblog.net/2014/08/youve-become-bahai-now/

* Baha'i Year of Service: https://bahaipedia.org/Year_of_service

* Baha'i community in Togo: https://www.bahai.org/national-communities/togo

* The Nineteen Day Feast and Why it’s Important: https://www.bahaiblog.net/2012/11/the-nineteen-day-feast-and-why-its-important/

* The Universal House of Justice: https://universalhouseofjustice.bahai.org/

* Shoghi Effendi: https://www.bahaiblog.net/2013/11/shoghi-effendi-a-bridge-to-the-world/

* Abdu'l-Baha: https://www.bahai.org/abdul-baha/

* The Bab: https://www.bahai.org/the-bab/

* Baha'u'llah: https://www.bahai.org/bahaullah/

* Abdu'l-Baha in the United States: https://centenary.bahai.us/abdul-baha-in-america

* 'Century of Light' document commissioned by the Universal House of Justice: https://www.bahai.org/library/other-literature/official-statements-commentaries/century-light/

* The Training Institute: https://www.bahai.org/action/response-call-bahaullah/training-institute

* Ruhi sequence of courses: https://www.ruhi.org/materials/list.php

* Children's Classes: https://www.bahai.org/action/family-life-children/childrens-classes

* What is the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program?: https://www.bahaiblog.net/junior-youth/

* What is the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program? [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrfGBM0kGfc&feature=emb_logo

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Thanks for listening!

-Rainn Wilson