An "Outward-Looking Orientation"
"When the Universal House of Justice called on the Bahá'ís at the beginning of the Five Year Plan to open their study circles, children's classes, and devotional meetings "to all the inhabitants of the locality," that phrase signalized a change in the culture of Bahá'í communities, a change that is intimately linked with the efforts of the Faith to grow and to embrace humankind.
In reaching out to all inhabitants of a locality we are inspired by the words of Bahá'u'lláh: "This Day a door is open wider than both heaven and earth." Making a concerted effort to open the portals of our community life to the outside world requires both courage and imagination. Stories abound of the creative measures Bahá'í communities around the globe are employing to attract seekers to their activities."
The atmosphere of devotional gatherings and physical arrangements have been described by
'Abdu’l-Baha: “These spiritual gatherings must be held with the utmost purity and consecration, so that from the site itself, and its earth and the air about it, one will inhale the fragrant breathings of the Holy Spirit.” -Selections from the writings of 'Abdu’l-Baha p.93-4