March 27. On this day in 1957, Shoghi Effendi appointed Agnes Baldwin Alexander as a Hand of the Cause of God, replacing Hand of the Cause of God Gorge Townshend who had passed away two days previously in Dublin.

 

March 27. On this day in 1957, Shoghi Effendi appointed Agnes Baldwin Alexander as a Hand of the Cause of God, replacing Hand of the Cause of God Gorge Townshend who had passed away two days previously in Dublin.

George Townshend was an Irish Anglican clergyman who had renounced his orders to the Anglican Church in 1947, at the age of 70. Shoghi Effendi designated him a Hand of the Cause of God in 1951 and once said of George Townshend that he feels "Mr. Townshend's services to the Faith can best be rendered by his writing about it, as he obviously has an outstanding ability in this direction..." Of the books that Townshend wrote, Christ and Bahá’u’lláh is notable for the changes made from the original publication to subsequent editions published after the passing of Shoghi Effendi. For example, a statement about the "first and present Guardian" has been removed and a section discussing "the lineage of succeeding Guardians" has been replaced with a section discussing "divinely guided institutions" in general. 

Agnes Baldwin Alexander had been born in Honolulu on July 21, 1875, to descendants of Christian missionary families, the Baldwins and the Alexanders, who were among the families of whom James A. Michener said, "They came to the islands to do good, and they did right well."

She became a Bahá’í in 1900 while visiting Italy.

After returning in 1901, she remained in Hawaii for 12 years, and of her experiences there wrote Personal Recollections of a Bahai Life in the Hawaiian Islands.Upon 'Abdu’l-Baha's request, Agnes Baldwin Alexandermoved to Japan in 1914. In 1921 she became the first to introduce the religion to Korea. Except for extended vacations in Hawaii, Alexander spent over thirty years in Japan. Also at the request of 'Abdu’l-Baha, Alexander became an early advocate of Esperanto and used that new international language to spread the Bahá’í teachings at meetings and conferences. At Shoghi Effendi's request, Alexander wrote two histories: Forty Years of the Bahá’í Cause in Hawaii: 1902-1942 and History of the Bahá’í Faith in Japan: 1914-1938. Both of these volumes were published posthumously. In 1957, Shoghi Effendi appointed her a Hand of the Cause of God. In 1964, Alexander represented the Universal House of Justice, at the election of Hawaii’s first National Spiritual Assembly, which is distinct from the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. After suffering a broken hip in 1965, and spending two years in a Tokyo hospital, Alexander returned home to Honolulu in 1967. On January 1, 1971, Alexander died. She was buried behind Kawaiahao Church with her missionary forebears.