the Bahá’í system of covenant, a system of institutional relationships, from the local level to the global,

... the Bahá’í system of covenant, a system of institutional relationships, from the local level to the global, ... required that ... Bahá’ís adhere to the guidance of a succession of supranational institutions—‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant, from 1892 to 1921; Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian, and his appointed deputies, the Hands of the Cause, from 1921 to 1963; and, from its first election in 1963, the Universal House of Justice—all believed to derive their inspiration and authority from Bahá’u’lláh himself. Charged with protecting the unity and integrity of the worldwide movement as well as with setting the direction of its growth and development...

(No Jim Crow Church, The Origins of South Carolina’s Bahá’í Community, by Louis Venters)