Community of The Bahá'í Faith
Assemblies, not clergy.
Baha'u'llah abolished priesthood outright: every April, communities elect nine members by secret ballot with no campaigning — governance as a spiritual exercise.
How you joinDeclaration of faith — enrollment, no baptism, no clergy to approve it
Who leadsNo clergy at all: elected nine-member assemblies, local to worldwide
The unitThe local spiritual assembly — the faith's democratic cell
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held
Bahá'u'lláh abolished clergy outright, and the replacement is electoral: every April, Bahá'ís elect nine-member Local Spiritual Assemblies by secret ballot with no nominations, no campaigning, and no discussion of candidates — you write down nine names. Those bodies elect national ones, which elect the Universal House of Justice in Haifa. Members hold no personal authority; only the body acting together does, which is a deliberate design against the emergence of a priesthood.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideas
Ordaining women, and where the line is drawn.
Judaism
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The masjid.
Islam
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Caste has no standing here.
Sikhism · precept
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No creed — a covenant.
Unitarian Universalism · core tenet
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A presbytery writes its own will and dies.
The Restoration Movement (Churches of Christ) · story
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Everything in one purse.
The Twelve Tribes · core tenet
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