Dear Baha'i friends,
As the Baha'i Administrative Order rapidly expands throughout the world it behoves everyone associated with it to familiarize himself with its principles, to understand its import and to put its precepts into practice. Only as individual members of Local Spiritual Assemblies deepen themselves in the fundamental verities of the Faith and in the proper application of the principles governing the operation of the Assembly will this institution grow and develop toward its full potential.
It is because the principles of Baha'i Administration are
new to so many who are now being called upon to serve as members of Local
Spiritual Assemblies that we felt the need to make available in brief form some
of the texts and instructions which apply. No attempt has been made to put
together a complete compilation of all texts from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi, but it is hoped that the enclosed extracts
will suffice as an introduction to a more profound study of the subject, and
lead to a more efficient functioning of Local Spiritual Assemblies everywhere.
We call upon you to consider ways and means of sharing this
material with the friends, and especially members of Local Spiritual
Assemblies, as quickly as possible. In many instances, of course, the material
will need to be translated; in other instances many of the quotations included
in the compilation may already be available to the friends in their own
language.
With loving Baha'i greetings,
The Universal House of Justice
(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)
