Blythe Walker learnt about the Bahá’í Faith through his mother, Mary.

She was a Christian but, after travelling to different countries and meeting people from around the world, she struggled to believe that only those of her faith would go to heaven.

“That concept never settled with her,” Mr Walker said. “And her ministers didn’t have the answers to this question that satisfied her thirst, so she independently went and started exploring the beliefs of other faiths.

“Her grandmother had a book on the Bahá’í Faith in her attic, and she found out a relative of hers was a Bahá’í. Through this she came to understand more about the Bahá’í teachings and eventually, probably over the course of a couple of years, decided she would declare herself as a Bahá’í, join this faith and align her views.

“I was six years old at the time. I grew up with one foot inside St John’s Church and the other in this new faith.”

It was an “interesting upbringing”, filled with both Christian traditions and Bahá’í principles. As he got older he decided to make the faith his own.

Last month, Mr Walker was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly in Bermuda. He will serve in the role with Bahá’í members Georgia Symons, Read Currelly, Leighton Rochester, Valerie Richmond, Anthony Ball, Oswald Hinds, Randy Vaucrosson and Daurene Aubrey, until next April.

Unlike other religions, the Bahá’í Faith doesn’t have any clergy or pastors. Its affairs are governed by elected officials at the local, national and international level. Each year, new elections are conducted in a spirit of prayerful reflection and by secret ballot, without nominations or campaigning of any sort.

Established by Bahá’u’lláh in 1863, the Bahá’í Faith is based on the belief that there is one God, but many paths.

They believe the different faiths are various manifestations of the same God at different times, originating in different parts of the earth. The overall philosophy of the Bahá’í is Oneness of God, Oneness of Religion and Oneness of Humanity.

“There are no individuals in positions of authority in the Bahá’í Faith, only elected ambassadors, responsible for administering the efforts of the Bahá’í community. This includes creating spaces for people to gather and providing children with guidance from the Bahá’í teachings,” Mr Walker said.

“It’s not a congregational community where someone stands at the front and preaches. Our gatherings are a time for learning in action, so people can see how to apply Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings for the betterment of the world. All individuals are called to share their faith.”

There are approximately 130 people in the local Bahá’í community.

Mr Walker likes that the religion encourages every individual to investigate their own faith, identity and life’s purpose for themselves.

“When you eventually leave this life you can’t say, ‘Well God, my minister told me to do that’. That’s no longer an acceptable defence in the eyes of God,” he said.

“It’s up to each person to take the initiative upon themselves to learn and grow in their faith.”

Mr Walker started to explore his relationship with God after seeing how the Bahá’í teachings helped his family get through some rough times.

“My parents’ marriage got better and it was through the faith that my mom had the strength to keep the marriage together,” he said. “Eventually my father [Jordy] ended up also becoming a Bahá’í a few years later, which helped him with some of his own personal struggles.

“It gave him the strength to go against societal expectations and norms at the time. Through that, and watching how the faith brought us together as a family, I started to see the Bahá’í teachings in action. It was an emotional more than an intellectual decision at that point, but was enough to shape my behaviour and my choices.”

He later had the opportunity to serve at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel.

“World peace is the overall aim and we are the only religion that is accredited with the UN Economic and Social Council since the 1960s, because of our contributions to solutions to the advancement of women and elimination of poverty.

“On a personal level, it’s about making the world a better place and the Bahá’ís are currently working globally to adopt an educational programme which starts with children nurturing their hearts, minds and spirits.”

The Bahá’í Faith does this through children’s classes, held in people’s homes throughout the island. The classes are open to everyone, including non-believers.

They also host junior youth programmes for ages 12 to 15. “We work to target or channel the energies of the youth, who some people might say are troublesome,” Mr Walker said. “We see them as wonderful forces of change. We offer a programme that uses stories that help them explore moral challenges and improves their ability to make choices. It also has a strong service component aimed at equipping to make the world a better place.”

Bahá’ís meet on the first Sunday of every month at 11.15am, and weekly every Thursday for discussions at 7pm at the Bahá’í Centre on Brunswick Street in Hamilton. All are welcome to join.

• For more information visit www.bahai.org