Wheaton Bahá'í Community

	The Wheaton Bahá'í Community

	Who are the Bahá'ís? We are your friends and neighbors and co-workers. We are families and singles, professionals and tradespeople, school kids and college students, parents and seniors. We come from all walks of life and just about every racial, cultural or ethnic background you can imagine. Some of us are from Bahá'í families of several generations, and many of us are relatively new to the Bahá'í Faith. When you meet the Bahá'ís, it is quickly clear that we are a very diverse group of people. In fact, that's a major belief of our Faith, that we express our unity in our diversity.

	Bahá'ís have lived in the Chicagoland area since 1892. Many people are familiar with the Bahá'ís through visiting the beautiful Bahá'í House of Worship on the lakefront in Wilmette - the only Bahá'í House of Worship in North America. Locally, Bahá'ís have lived, worked and worshipped right here in Wheaton and throughout DuPage County for decades.

	We are often asked if we have ministers or priests, but there is no clergy in the Bahá'í Faith. Instead, the Bahá'ís throughout the world have an elected leadership. Once a year, the Bahá'ís in Wheaton, like their sister communities all over the United States and in other countries, elect a council of nine members. That council, called the Local Spiritual Assembly, manages the spiritual, social and financial health of its community.

	The Wheaton Assembly proudly marked its 41st anniversary on April 21, 2008.