ded rapidly forward along two parallel tracks: the expansion and
consolidation of the Baha'i community itself and, along with it, a
dramatic rise in the influence the Faith came to exercise in the life of
society. While the range of Baha'i activities greatly diversified, most
such efforts tended to contribute directly to one or other of the two main
developments.

A decision taken by the House of Justice at an early point in the period
proved crucial to all aspects of both teaching and administrative
development. Realization that there was no successor to Shoghi Effendi
brought with it recognition that neither would the appointment of new
Hands of the Cause be any longer possible. How essential the functions of
this institution are to the progress of the Faith had been demonstrated
with unforgettable force during the anxious six years between 1957 and
1963. Accordingly, in pursuance of the mandate authorizing it to bring
into existence new Baha'i institutions,(119) as the needs of the Cause
require, the House of Justice created, in June 1968, the Continental
Boards of Counsellors. Empowered to extend into the future the functions
of the Hands of the Cause for the protection and propagation of the Faith,
the new institution assumed responsibility for guiding the work of the
already existing Auxiliary Boards and joined National Assemblies in
shouldering responsibilities for the advancement of the Faith. The great
victories celebrated at the end of the Nine Year Plan in 1973, splendid in
themselves, reflected the extraordinary ease with which the new
administrative agency had taken up its duties and the eagerness with which
it had been welcomed by believers and Assemblies alike. The moment was
marked by another major development of the Administrative Order, the
creation of the International Teaching Centre, the Body that would carry
into the future certain of the responsibilities performed by the group of
"Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land", and from this point on
coordinate the work of the Boards of Counsellors around the world.

Envisioning the course that the growth of the Cause would follow, Shoghi
Effendi had written of "the launching of worldwide enterprises destined to
be embarked upon, in future epochs of that same [Formative] Age, by the
Universal House of Justice, that will symbolize the unity and coordinate
and unify the activities of ... National Assemblies."(120) These global
undertakings began in 1