he worldwide Bahá'í community may well be the most diverse and widespread of any organized body of people on earth. It is also among the world's most unified, a feature that is perhaps its most distinguishing characteristic.

Bahá'ís the world over come from all religious backgrounds: Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian, animist, and non-religious. Yet they study a common set of sacred writings, observe a unifying code of religious laws, and look to a single international administrative system for continuing guidance.

Their sense of unity goes beyond a shared theology. It is expressed in an abiding commitment to a global program for moral, spiritual and social progress that represents many of the finest ideals of civilization.

Promoting equality of women and men is a primary goal, as are ending racial and ethnic strife, promoting economic justice for all peoples, and ensuring access to good education for all. The community eschews all forms of superstition, emphasizes the importance of an unfettered search for scientific and religious truth, and sets for its followers the goal of meeting the highest moral standards. World peace and the establishment of a united global commonwealth have been and remain distinguishing concerns.

That public interest in the Baha'i Faith is mounting rapidly is undeniable. The Bahá'í community, comprising members of the Bahá'í Faith from all over the globe, now numbers some five million souls. They represent 2,112 ethnic and tribal groups and live in over 116,000 localities in 188 independent countries and 45 dependent territories or overseas departments. What was once regarded by some as an obscure, tiny sect is now recognized by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the second-most widely spread independent religion in the world, after Christianity. Its membership cuts across all boundaries of class and race, governing itself through the establishment of local and national elected bodies known as Spiritual Assemblies. Haifa, Israel, is the site of its international center and the seat of its world-governing council, known as the Universal House of Justice.


The members of the Baha'i Community of Petaluma, hope that you will enjoy visiting our local community website and learning more about our activities here in Petaluma & in the North Bay! If you would like to attend a Baha'i Meeting held here in Petaluma, please email us for more information.


With loving Baha'i greetings,

The Local Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of Petaluma

Take a tour of the Baha'i Houses of Worship.

Click here to find out more about the Baha'i World Faith.

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What is the Baha'i Faith?
Find out for yourself? Click here.

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The Unity of the Human Race:
as envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This world commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. ...(more)

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The Sacred Writings of the Baha'i Faith
"Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths." --Bahá'u'lláh ...(more)

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