Priscilla Banks wasn't planning to move. Her apartment in Paradise, Nev., suited her fine; her rent wasn't about to go up. In December, however, she relocated three blocks northeast to the adjacent town of Winchester to help fellow members of her faith form a Local Spiritual Assembly, the administrative body that serves Baha'is in their communities.

Ms. Banks, who has been a Baha'i for the last 44 years, is what is known in the Baha'i Faith as a homefront pioneer - a Baha'i who leaves his or her home to take up residence elsewhere in the same country to spread Baha'u'llah's teachings.

The Las Vegas area, where the cities of Paradise and Winchester are located, houses eight other Local Spiritual Assemblies. The Baha'is of Winchester fervently wanted to be the ninth.

"They've been praying for this to occur for 30 years," Ms. Banks says. "I'm one of Baha'u'llah's fruit pickers. The Winchester Baha'is do the work, and then I arrive and pick up the fruit."

Modesty aside, Ms. Banks had a big role in helping the Baha'is in Winchester form an Assembly. On April 20, the 12 Baha'is in that town elected nine of their members to the Local Spiritual Assembly. On April 28, the Winchester Baha'is will hold a recognition ceremony for their new Assembly.

"One tiny match can dispel the darkness in a huge room," Ms. Banks says. "Electing an Assembly lights an entire locality with an eternal flame. Rather than travel to another community, we'll be able to hold our own Nineteen Day Feast (administrative and worship services for members of the Baha'i community) and other activities."

Local Spiritual Assemblies supervise all Baha'i matters in their areas, which includes holding devotional meetings, study circles, children's spiritual education classes, Holy Day observances and firesides (programs commonly held in a home to discuss the Baha'i Faith at an introductory level).

Local Spiritual Assemblies also reach out to the community by helping the disadvantaged and promoting the social, intellectual and spiritual interests of the community's residents.

Local Spiritual Assemblies (1,170 in the United States; approximately 11,000 worldwide) are elected each year by adult members of the Baha'i Faith in localities in which at least nine Baha'is reside. A locality may be defined by a town, village, city, parish or school district.

Forming a Local Spiritual Assembly in Winchester presented a distinct challenge, Ms. Banks says.

"Of the 12 of us, only one is under age 50. There are no children and no teens, but there is room to grow."