This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

Within the boundaries of each nation, nine Baha’i's are elected to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly which has jurisdiction over the local Spiritual Assemblies, Groups, and isolated believers who reside within those boundaries.
The divinely ordained Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel, is also com-
II	I	1
posed of nine Baha’i's from throughout the world Baha’i community and is the
I l
supreme administrative and interpretive body for the world Baha’i Community.
I I
At each national headquarters of the Baha’i Community, there will one day stand a house of worship, open to the members of all religions. Presently there is one on each continent, with the North American House of Worship located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wilmette, Illinois, Local Communities hold meetings in the homes of individuals, or where finances of the Community permit, a center is purchased for local gatherings. In Bay St. Louis, 117 St.
II	I	V
Charles Street is open to both Baha’i's and non-Baha’i's as a place to learn
more about the Faith.
in 1844	the	Herald	of the	Baha’i Faith	called	the	Bab	(the Gate)	declared his mission	in	Persia.	The Bab's mission	was	to	announce to	the	world
the coming of the next messenger of God, whose advent would unite all the diverse peoples of the world under one banner in devotion to God as promised
t	I
in all the Holy Scriptures. In 1863 Baha’u’llah (The Glory of God) declared
his mission as the one foretold by the Bab and the Holy Scriptures. Millions
of individuals from many races, religions, nations, and different soci&l and
economic backgrounds have declared their belief in the validity of this messenger
i i
of God and have embraced the Baha’i Faith. During the past 133 years the World
t i i t
Baha’i community has encompassed the globe with Baha i's residing in every
continent, country, and locality around the planet.
"The Tabernacle of unity hath been raised:	Regard ye not one another as
strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch.”
Baha’u’llah