In any village, town, or city where a number of Bahá'ís live, the local Bahá'ís develop an organised form of community life. The community meets together for worship, consultation, study, children's classes, celebrations, and other activities.

If the community has at least nine adult members, it forms a "Local Spiritual Assembly". This Assembly is a body of nine women and men, elected each year by the Bahá'í residents of a civil district from among themselves.

There are 45 Local Spiritual Assemblies in New Zealand and more than 17,000 in the world.

The Local Spiritual Assembly is responsible for developing unity and fellowship among the individuals and families in its community and for encouraging them to develop a way of life that is inspired by the Bahá'í teachings. It is the basic administrative unit of the worldwide Bahá'í community.

Some of the roles performed by the Local Assemblies include arranging the regular meetings of the community, making plans for the community's development, encouraging community members to contribute their ideas and initiatives towards such plans, and promoting the welfare of youth and children.

The Assemblies also coordinate efforts by community members to share the Bahá'í teachings with the public. The Bahá'í community sees that its greatest duty is to make the message of Bahá'u'lláh more widely known, which is offered as a gift that fosters unity and satisfies the world's thirst for a genuine spirituality.

Local Spiritual Assemblies operate as "loving shepherds", guiding their communities through encouragement and education. They aim to be democratic in spirit, listening carefully to the views of community members. One of the functions of the regular community gathering, the Nineteen Day Feast, is to be a forum where Bahá'ís consult together and make recommendations to the Local Spiritual Assembly.

The method of election of Local Spiritual Assemblies reflects the spirit of service that these institutions embody. The elections are held prayerfully by secret ballot, and every adult member of the community is automatically a candidate, so there are no nominations. There is no electioneering — in other words, no individual may promote themselves or others for election to office.

Decision-making within a Local Spiritual Assembly is carried out through a consultation process where the ideas expressed by each person present are valued equally and considered on their merits. For example, the views of the chairperson do not carry more weight than the opinions of other members. This form of consultation is seen as a collective effort to discover the truth, in contrast to the style of discussion, or debate, where strong personalities assert themselves.

Each Local Spiritual Assembly regards itself as being ultimately responsible to God for the wisdom of its decisions and for carrying out its duties with diligence. The institution of the Local Spiritual Assembly was established by Bahá'u'lláh himself. The sacred writings of the Bahá'í Faith give direction to every Local Spiritual Assembly throughout the world in serving humanity.