# Not Quite So New in Kansas

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-21 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Duane L. Herrmann, Not Quite So New in Kansas, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Not Quite So New in Kansas
> Duane L. Herrmann
> 
> Our Way With Words
> 
> 20041
> 
> Everyone knows that there are Jews, Muslims and Buddhists in Kansas and others outside the
> Christian tradition, but there is one religious community in our state, which is nearly unknown. That
> community has been in Kansas for over a century, grown from one small locality to now be spread
> across the state. It has quietly gone about its practices and attracted little attention. One would think
> it would not be possible for a statewide organization to be relatively unknown after a century, but it
> is true.
> 
> This is the community of the Bahá'í Faith. When people first hear the word “Bahá'í " (which
> rhymes with Hawaii) they think it is something new, but the Bahá'í Faith is not new to Kansas.
> 
> Interestingly enough, the Kansas Bahá'í community is the second oldest Bahá'í community west
> of Egypt. Before there were any Bahá'í communities in Europe, most of Africa or all of South
> America, there was a Bahá'í community in Kansas. We were second (the first was Chicago).
> 
> Barbara Ehrsam of Enterprise, Kansas invited the Bahá'í teacher in Chicago to spend the summer
> at her home. He and some of his family came the summer of 1897. He gave classes which resulted
> in "a small group of believers" after he left, thus the Kansas Bahá'í community was born.
> Interestingly newspapers all across north-east Kansas carried some mention of those classes in
> 1897. Most of the believers in Enterprise eventually moved to other cities or other interests but one
> moved with her family to Topeka in 1906 and the Topeka Bahá'í community has been continuous
> since that time.
> 
> Originally published in Our Way With Words, published by Kansas Authors Club to mark the
> centennial of the organization, on pp. 23-35.
> Barbara Ehrsam was a Swiss immigrant to this country and married men who were both also
> Swiss immigrants. Her family settled near Valley Falls. Her first husband, Joseph Hilty, was killed
> in an accident after his service in the Civil War. She and her brother then moved further west to
> where their sister and her husband had settled on the Smoky Hill River and founded the town of
> Enterprise. There she married Jacob Ehrsam the mechanic who had helped build her brother-inlaw’s mill on the river. Jacob then founded a machine company that operated for a hundred years.
> 
> After her children were grown, Barbara was searching for a deeper meaning in life. She, as well
> as her sister, had the fanciest house in town and the social status of their economic position, but she
> sought a deeper meaning in life. In this search she investigated many different points of view. The
> Bahá'í message was one that attracted her interest. Basically, the Bahá'í faith says that there is one
> Creator of the universe and one human race. God has educated the human race through special
> messengers who have come at different times. Separate religions have developed from the messages
> they have brought. The time has now come for the human race to acknowledge the validity of all
> these messengers and their messages, and stop fighting each other. Peace is the next stage of human
> development and some guidelines and decision making tools are offered to achieve that goal.
> 
> Bahá'ís believe the latest Messenger from God is Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God. He was a Persian
> nobleman of the nineteenth century who was imprisoned for forty years for teaching that the Qur’án
> is not the last word of God, that women are equal to men, etc. Bahá'ís are to pray and study the
> word of God every day and improve the society in which they live. Backbiting and gossip are
> serious spiritual offences. Families are the foundation of society and farming is the most important
> occupation. Any work performed in a spirit of service, is considered to be worship. The life of a
> Bahá'í is to be one of continuous worship. These are high goals, but without goals nothing can be
> achieved, and it is the effort towards them that is most important.
> 
> Bahá'ís practice what they preach, though they don't actually preach. There is no clergy in the
> Bahá'í Faith, so there is no preaching. Bahá'í worship is not liturgical and consists of reading from
> the scriptures of the world's religions and prayer. Meditation and singing are included to the extent
> which each local community desires. Funds are not solicited at worship services and it is forbidden
> to accept money for Bahá'í purposes from those who are not Bahá'ís.
> 
> All members of the Bahá'í community participate to the extent each wishes to. Women are not
> restricted or limited to any certain roles. Diversity is encouraged to such an extent that, if an
> election for a position is tied by a minority and someone else, the minority automatically wins. All
> elections are democratically conducted with no campaigning or nominating. Voting is an act of
> prayer in the individual's heart. Service to the community is an act of worship.
> 
> Kansans from all backgrounds have found the Bahá'í message to be an inspiring and encouraging
> one. Kansas Bahá'ís have been farmers as well as urban residents. They have been college
> professors, skilled laborers or held other occupations. They have come from every religion
> represented in Kansas and nearly every culture and ethnicity.
> 
> In the century since its beginnings in 1897, the Bahá'í community of Kansas has grown to every
> corner of the state. In addition to Enterprise and Topeka, other Bahá'ís, in the early years, lived in
> Kansas City (1898) and Wichita (1902). These were years when the American Bahá'í community
> was beginning to grow and become organized. Real growth in Kansas came in the latter half of the
> twentieth century. Today there are local Bahá'í communities in about 100 cities all across Kansas.
> 
> Bahá'í communities are administered by councils of nine members, on the local, national, and
> international levels. At the local and national level these are called "Spiritual Assemblies." The first
> efforts at administrative organization in Kansas took place in Topeka in 1920. It was not until 1935
> that the first Spiritual Assembly there was formed. Other Spiritual Assemblies were gradually
> organized in other Kansas cities: Wichita- 1955, Kansas City -1958, Lawrence 1964, Salina 1968,
> etc.
> 
> Starting a religious community poses challenges other than simply getting organized. Laws
> needed to be changed so the religious community could function. The first Bahá'í wedding was
> performed in Kansas in 1950, but it had no legal validity, a civil marriage was also required. This
> situation continued until 1968 when the Kansas statutes were amended to recognize Bahá'í
> marriage.
> 
> One reason the Bahá'í community may not have a high profile in Kansas is a lack of buildings.
> Bahá'ís have preferred to spend their money helping those in greater need instead of having
> buildings for themselves. So, they generally meet in homes or other places from time to time.
> Money from Bahá'ís in Kansas has gone to all parts of the world to build schools, medical clinics,
> agricultural projects and educational radio stations, just to name a few. There is a Bahá'í center, a
> multi-purpose facility, in Wichita. It was opened in 2002, a century after the first Bahá'ís had lived
> in Wichita.
> Local Bahá'í communities have engaged in a wide range of service activities to benefit the larger
> society. These have included highway trash pick-up, child mentoring, ESL classes, medical
> assistance, serving meals or simply offering strangers cold water on a hot day.
> 
> In 1997 the Bahá'ís of Kansas came to Enterprise to celebrate their centennial birthday. For that
> day, the population of Enterprise increased by one third. The celebration included a parade, a brief
> historical sketch, dramatic skits, historic tours and an art exhibit. Bahá'ís from as far away as Florida
> and New York attended. Two special guests were Kansas Bahá'ís who had also been former
> members of the international Bahá'í council at the Bahá'í World Center in Haifa, Israel. One was a
> native Kansan, born near Winfield, the other had been a professor at the KU Medical Center.
> 
> To have two of the nine members of the international council being from Kansas is a distinction
> indeed! Kansas Bahá'ís have also distinguished themselves in literary and artistic pursuits, in
> personally assisting in medical and educational projects in different parts of the world, and directly
> helping local Bahá'í communities in other nations.
> 
> Kansas has a rich history of alternative religious communities. Most of these have not lasted past
> the life of their founder. For the Bahá'í community to not only survive, but flourish, is a noteworthy
> accomplishment. And, that Kansas Bahá'ís have had an influence on the international Bahá'í
> community, up to the highest levels, is laudatory. For over a century, Bahá'ís have brought honor to
> the state of Kansas, yet the state of Kansas has remained largely unaware. Perhaps this account will
> help to enlighten and inform those who may have heard of the Bahá'í Faith and wondered what
> Bahá'ís are doing in Kansas
>
> — *Not Quite So New in Kansas (Used by permission of the curator)*