- 1922-03-05 — Shoghi Effendi wrote to the American Bahá'ís calling for the establishment of local assemblies wherever nine or more believers reside and directing that all activities be placed under the authority of the local and national assemblies. [BA17-25; BBRSM120-1; CB300]
- 1922-04-00 — Shoghi Effendi sent verbal messages through Consul Schwarz to Germany and Ethel Rosenberg to Britain to form local spiritual assemblies and to arrange for the election of a national spiritual assembly in each country. [CB293; ER209, 211-12; PP56]
- 1922-04-08 — Bahíyyih Khánum wrote a general letter to the friends acknowledging the letters of allegiance received and saying that Shoghi Effendi was counting on the friends for their cooperation in spreading the Message adding that the Bahá'í world must, from now on, be linked through the Spiritual Assemblies and local questions must be referred to them, She announced Shoghi Effendi's temporary absence and his appointment of her as his representative. [GBF19]
- 1923-03-00 —
An article entitled `Bahai Organization: Its Basis in the Revealed Word' was published in Star of the West. [SW13, 12:323-8]
- The purpose of the article was to convince those who were opposed to a structured form of Bahá'í administration. [BBRSM123]
- 1923-03-12 —
Shoghi Effendi wrote to Bahá'ís in America, Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Australasia about Bahá'í administration, outlining the process for annual elections of assemblies and calling for the establishment of local and national funds. [BA34-43; PP330]
- See ER223-4 for the response of the British Bahá'ís.
- In the same letter, as a Post Script, he included a list of the best known and most current Bahá'í terms transliterated with a recommendation that this be adopted as standard for all Western Bahá'ís with a promise that the Haifa Spiritual Assembly would provide a supplement. The transliteration scheme was mostly based on a standard adopted by the Tenth International Congress of Orientalists which took place in Geneva in September 1894. [BA43; PG208-209]
- From the June 1923 issue of Star of the West, attempts were made to introduce the voting system although these are at first very patchy. The first books that appeared to be trying to put the system into use are Esslemont's Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era and Herrick's Unity Triumphant (the latter not entirely consistently), both published in 1923. Although some books appearing in 1924 did not follow the system, from this time on, books and other printed material published under Bahá'í auspices have followed it. [Transliteration by Mojan Momen]
- A list of transliterated terms appeared in BW1p131 and expanded lists appeared in subsequent volumes.
- 1925-04-10 — Shoghi Effendi wrote to the American National Spiritual Assembly indicating that the word 'assembly' was to apply only to the elected body of nine believers in each locality or to the national assembly, not to the believers as a whole. They had been using the term to mean the community of Bahá'ís. [BA83; SBBH258]
- 1928-00-00 — The publication of Bahá'í Administration, a collection of communications to the American Bahá'í community from the Guardian between 1922 and 1929. Revisions were published in 1933, 1936, 1941 and 1945. Additional messages and an expanded index was added in 1968. [WOBpv, BAiv]
"His letters to Bahá'í institutions and to Bahá'ís in general began
almost at once, and many will be found in Bahá'í Administration,
beginning January 21, 1922. Early or late, his communications were
not merely writings, they were the dynamic that moved the Bahá'í
world. These letters in effect built the Administrative Order, its
most vital features being found there. They taught the Bahá'í
Assemblies how to be, how to consult, what their duties were. The
book also contains the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws drawn up
by the international lawyer Mountfort Mills, carefully reviewed by
Shoghi Effendi, and adopted in 1926 by the National Spiritual
Assembly of the United States and Canada, at this time under one
jurisdiction. (Khan, back in America by then.
Shoghi Effendi wished all National Spiritual Assemblies to adopt,
with necessary local adaptations, this Declaration of Trust and ByLaws,
which set forth the character and objectives of Bahá'í communities
worldwide."
[Cited from AY304] - 1937-04-20 —
In the period from the inception of the Guardianship to 1937 Shoghi Effendi laid the foundation of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh in conformity with the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Some of the major accomplishments were:
- Continued the translation work that began while he was still an assistant to 'Abdu'l-Bahá and later as a student at Oxford.
- Explained the principles and structure of the Administrative Order.
- Developed the constitutional structure of the local and national spiritual assemblies.
- Clarified the relationships of these assemblies with the community of believers and elucidate the manner of their election and operation.
- Emphasized that the Administrative Order was the channel through which the spirit of God would flow and instructed that they be ever watchful lest "the means supersede the end". [Pg209]
- Imparted the vision of the new world order through his letter which have become to be know as "The World Order Letters". [PG209-215]
- 1997-04-21 — The Universal House of Justice restricted the formation of Local Spiritual Assemblies to the first day of Riḍván. This measure had the effect anticipated; there was a decrease in the number of these institutions but the fall was not drastic. [Message from the Universal House of Justice Ridván 2000]
- 1997-05-30 —
In its message of 30 May 1997 the Universal House of Justice announced that they have authorized the formation of "State Bahá'í Councils" or "Regional Teaching and Administrative Committees" to be called "Regional Bahá'í Councils. Their intention was to provide a balance between centralization and decentralization. This structure had been in place in some countries, notably India, for some years prior to this time. See 23 May, 1986. [TP87-90]
For a synopsis of the letter see The Establishment of Regional Bahá'í Councils in Certain Countries, Their Characteristics and Functions.
The distinguishing effects of the establishment of Regional Bahá'í Councils were the following:
- It provided for a level of autonomous decision making on both teaching and administrative matters, as distinct from merely executive action, below the National Assembly and above the Local Assemblies.
- It involved the members of Local Spiritual Assemblies of the area in the choice of the members of the Council, thus reinforcing the bond between it and the local believers while, at the same time, bringing into public service capable believers who were known to the friends in their own region.
- It established direct consultative relationships between the Continental Counselors and the Regional Bahá'í Councils.
- It offered the possibility of forming a Regional Bahá'í Council in an ethnically distinct region which covered parts of two or more countries. In such a situation the Council was designated to work directly under one of the National Assemblies involved, providing copies of its reports and minutes to the other National Assembly.
- The greater degree of decentralization involved in the devolution of authority upon Regional Bahá'í Councils required a corresponding increase in the capacity of the National Spiritual Assembly itself to keep fully informed of what was proceeding in all parts of the territory over which it had ultimate jurisdiction.
- 2005-07-00 —
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