In 1957, as the midway point of the crusade approached, the Guardian, exhausted by thirty-six years of unremitting labor, died while on a visit to London. As Shoghi Effendi had no heir, the work of the Faith after November 1957 was coordinated and directed by the twenty-seven Hands of the Cause until the victorious completion of the crusade in April 1963, at which time the first Universal House of Justice was elected by the members of fifty-six National Spiritual Assemblies convened at the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa by the Hands of the Cause. Immediately following this historic election, Bahá’ís from all parts of the globe gathered in London at the first World Congress of the Faith to celebrate the Centenary of the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh and to rejoice in the worldwide spread of His Faith. The supreme institution of the Faith today is the Universal House of Justice, created by Bahá’u’lláh in His Most Holy Book, invested with authority to legislate on all matters not covered in the Bahá’í Writings, and assured divine guidance in the Sacred Text itself. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His Will and testament, lays down the method of election of the Universal House of Justice, define sits station and duties more clearly, and asserts that it is under the direct guidance of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh and is the body to which all must turn. The unique and distinguishing feature of the Bahá’í Faith is the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, the bedrock upon which the Faith raises all its structures and bases its development. Its uniqueness is that for the first time in religious history the Manifestation of God, in clear and unambiguous language, provides for the authorized interpretation of His Word, and ensures the continuity of the divinely appointed authority which flows from the Source of the Faith. Interpretation of Scripture has always in earlier religions been a most fertile source of schism. Bahá’u’lláh, in the Book of His Covenant, vested in His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, full powers for the interpretation of His Writings and for the direction of His Cause. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His Will and Testament, appointed His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith and sole interpreter of the Writings. There is no priesthood within the Faith and no individual may claim special station or guidance; authority is vested in institutions created within the Bahá’í Scriptures. By virtue of these unique provisions, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh has been preserved from schism, from the depredations of unauthorized leadership, and above all from the infiltration of man-made doctrines and theories, which in the past have shattered the unity of religions. Pure and inviolate, the revealed Word of Bahá’u’lláh, with its authorized interpretation, remains throughout the Dispensation the uncorrupted and incorruptible source of spiritual life to men.