How I Became a Bahá’í by Andrea Roy
Submitted February 2026
This story could start in several ways. In one way, how I became a Bahá’í started with my Great-Grandmother, who became a Bahá’í as a young woman after a travel teacher came to her town in Pendleton, Oregon. A friend convinced her to go to the talk, and she remembered that when she was in a difficult situation she should say “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá!” The talk lingered in her mind, and a few days later when she was taking laundry up from the basement, up a horrible scary steep flight of stairs, the door at the top of the stairs was closed!
She said “Ya Bahá’u’l-Abhá!” and the door swung open! And she became a Bahá’í not long after then. One of her sons was my grandfather, who was thus raised as a Bahá’í and chose to become a Bahá’í when he was of age, married a young Bahá’í woman, and had my mother who chose to become a Bahá’í when she was of age, and then married a young Catholic man.
Before I was born my parents agreed that they would each teach both their children their religions, so that when my sibling and I were of age we could make our own investigation of truth. As a toddler I said both “O God Guide Me” and a Christian style prayer thanking God for things that happened today. As I got older my father stopped thinking of himself as a Catholic, so I was mostly educated as and thought of myself as a Bahá’í, although I was never a registered Bahá’í child in respect for my parents’ agreement.
The other place to start this story is when I was very nearly 15 years old. I had been contemplating whether I wished to declare as a Bahá’í, and announced my intention to declare around that time to my family. I wasn’t pressured to declare, my mother wanted me to be free to make my own choice. And while I thought about it a lot, I mostly recall trying to confirm my inner choice to be a Bahá’í, and not just fall into it by default or to make my family happy–which they were, but they made it clear that they loved me the same whether or not I chose to be a Bahá’í. And so a few days after my fifteenth birthday I went to my Bahá’í grandparent’s house to celebrate my birthday, and there I signed my declaration card.
While I was pretty sure of my choice and had really thought of myself as Bahá’í for a very long time, I knew oddly little about being an adult Bahá’í. I knew about fasting, since I had seen my mother fast every year for as long as I can remember, but I had read almost none of the Writings, read the Long Obligatory Prayer for the first time the night before I signed my declaration card, and had, generally, very limited knowlege of the details of Bahá’í beliefs.
What I did know was Bahá’í activities. My mother is on the Local Spiritual Assembly for our town, and so I went to a great many events, including attending childrens’ classes, playing in the other room with the other kids of study circle attendees, teaching childrens’ classes, being a member of two junior youth groups, and begging to be admitted to study circles at the age of 11. (I was told I was too young and had to wait, which still baffles me. I was very mature for my age! And I so wanted to study with the adults.) So I knew all about the activities and philosophies of Bahá’í activities, and that is what I believed in. I also loved and still love Progressive Revelation. I have to stop myself from always explaining the Faith to new people I meet in terms of Progressive Revelation, which is rarely the place to start. I started reading the news at 12 (and largely stopped at 18) briefly thought partisan political action would accomplish the need transformation of the world. Then realized that these politicians would not affect the transformation of the world, and that only the Bahá’í teachings will accomplish the needed transformation. And really, that’s how I still feel today. I believe that only through these community-building efforts will improve this world.
Prior to signing my declaration card I had been reading the Hidden Words, as I found it the most approachable. I loved the mystical elements, but didn’t really know what to do with that knowledge. Luckily for me, the following summer my mother and I went to a 10-day Dawnbreakers camp in California. We read the entire Dawnbreakers, and most or all of the Kitab-i-Iqán. This gave me the confidence to read the Writings on my own, and I read perhaps a page a night from as many as five different books. I read the Kitab-i-Aqdás in this time period, started going to study circles, taking Ruhi books 1, 2, 3, and 5 before I graduated high school. I served at a junior youth camp at 18 and as a regular animator for a junior youth group before graduating high school and moving on to college.
My top choice for college was Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, and they chose me back, so off I went! After being very shy for my first two years, I learned that my school offers free transportation twice a month to religious events within about an hour and a half of campus. I don’t own a car and haven’t met any other Bahá’ís who live in Grinnell, so I mostly didn’t do any Bahá’í activities before I learned that. And so in the Fall of my third year of college I got my invitation to Unit Convention, and finally I had both an event to go to and transportation to get there! I had a great time, but didn’t really follow up with anyone. So I tried again the next year, and this time people remembered me a little from last time, and because I knew how the transportation system worked better, I arranged to come to a Twin Holy Days celebration in Des Moines! I stayed with James and Linda Braun, who lovingly hosted me and took me to several events. Also during Unit Convention I heard that the Iowa Bahá’í History Project needed a youngish computer-comfortable person to join the project. That describes me, and as I had been looking for acts of service I could participate in remotely, I volunteered! I’ve been very happy to be part of the team and to be more involved in community life again.
I will graduate from Grinnell in May and intend to go on to graduate school. But before that, I want to defer my enrollment to do a Year of Service. The last four years I have done a lot of work on myself, but that is only half of my purpose: I have neglected my community for most of the past four years. So I look forward to serving the Faith more actively in the near future and for the rest of my life.
I’m delighted to post this story about Andrea, a new addition to our History Project team. When I ask Baha’is from Baha’i families to write their stories, they often seem puzzled and say something to the effect that “I grew up as a Baha’i.” But as we all know, faith in Baha’u’llah can’t be inherited. We are all called to independently investigate the validity of His claims and teachings and decide for ourselves. So there’s always more to the story. Thanks for sharing, Andrea!