apostles.today

The news was given by District Apostle Charles Ndandula that Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider will visit Lusaka, Zambia at Pentecost 2015.

Zurich. The first District Apostle Meeting of this year initiated several projects. Among others, the District Apostles resolved to create a new Finance Committee (we reported). It is to aid in bringing about greater transparency for the financial resources expended by the Church in order that the responsibilities for significant operations in the Church can be governed in accordance with the best available knowledge and practices.

Dortmund/Zurich. “We praise God and give thanks to His servant”—it was with this simple statement that the international leader of the New Apostolic Church, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider, opened Sunday’s divine service in Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle. With emotional words he retired District Apostle Armin Brinkmann, who had served in ministry for many years, before going on to ordain his successor, the new District Apostle Rainer Storck.

On January 18th District Apostle Leonard Kolb described, in a nation-wide broadcast, how he, the Apostles and Bishops of the USA see future congregational gatherings during the midweek.

Zurich. The new year 2014 has a new motto: “Labour in love!” In his divine service on New Year’s Day in Stuttgart, Germany, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider, the spiritual leader of the New Apostolic Church, used the words of the Lord Jesus as an appeal to all Christians to make a special profession of faith: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Zurich. The past year 2013 was an anniversary year for the New Apostolic Church. It was celebrated with numerous national and international events. Having emerged in 1863 from a small Catholic Apostolic congregation in Hamburg, Germany, the New Apostolic Church today numbers over ten million members around the world. New Apostolic Christians gather to worship in over 60,000 congregations. Following are some excerpts from a year in motion.

Rome. Pope Francis regularly receives many believers for general audiences in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Recently a Priest from Argentina took this opportunity to hand him a Spanish edition of the Catechism of the New Apostolic Church. Concerning this, Argentine District Apostle Norberto Passuni writes: “It is advantageous for us as Argentines that the Pope comes from our country.”

Zurich. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider called his predecessor in ministry a “wise man with great vision”. The majority of New Apostolic District Church leaders from around the world attended the memorial service for the highly respected and popular Chief Apostle, who had directed the affairs of the New Apostolic Church over the seventeen years from 1988 to 2005. It was in gratitude and sadness that they gathered in the Zurich-Hottingen church to take leave of Richard Fehr, who passed away on 30 June 2013, shortly before his 74th birthday.

Zurich/Herford. Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, the international leader of the New Apostolic Church, chose the New Year’s Day divine service in his native city of Herford, Germany to officially usher in the 150-year anniversary of the Church: “The year 2013 is to be a year of profession!” In connection with this he referred to the great accomplishments of previous generations, without which the Church, as it stands today, would be inconceivable.

Zurich. “For the first time ever, a systematic description of the New Apostolic doctrine has been developed. Naturally there have already been other works describing significant elements of the New Apostolic faith […] Nevertheless there have been increasing calls for a more comprehensive description of our doctrine.” So it says on the first page of the Catechism of the New Apostolic Church. Yesterday evening there was an information evening originating in Zurich to mark the work’s official introduction.

Zurich/Herzliya. The first print of the New Apostolic Catechism is in the hands of Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber: the international Church leader was only too happy to pick up a copy of the extensive work. This brings a year of intensive work to a close, as at least the German-language version of the Catechism is to be published by mid-December. The work is also scheduled for publication in a number of other languages in January of next year.

Cologne/Zurich. It was a high point of the church year for New Apostolic Christians around the world: Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber conducted the Pentecost divine service in Cologne on 27 May 2012. The spiritual leader of all New Apostolic Christians called out to the believers with a special Pentecost message: “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” The sermon revolved around the question as to how children of God are to lead their lives in our time. What is important is to keep faith, always be willing to make peace, subordinate our will to God’s will, and draw strength for daily life from the resurrection of Christ.

Cologne/Zurich. One of the items in the program for the Saturday of the Pentecost weekend in Cologne was a meeting of the European Apostles A total of 45 Apostles from Europe, as well as all the District Apostles and District Apostle Helpers of the world, had assembled for this occasion. Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber began with an emotional prayer for the unity of the Church and the welfare of all congregations. A comprehensive spiritual portion followed.

Zurich. In the divine service on Pentecost Sunday, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber will appoint a Chief Apostle Helper. “I would like to set an early course for the future,” stated the international Church leader, who will turn 65 this year. The date when he himself will retire remains open—perhaps in 2013 or 2014—however the work of a Chief Apostle Helper will already lighten his load quite perceptibly now.

Zurich. At today’s meeting, the International District Apostle Meeting came to a final decision on the German text of the Catechism. This final consultation meeting was also attended by members from the project group The New Apostolic Faith (PG TNF). It was unanimously decided that the current version of the text would be used as the basis for further translations.

Zurich / Johannesburg. Only five weeks after his festive retirement, District Apostle Johann R. Kitching from Johannesburg, South Africa has died. He lost his life yesterday afternoon in a tragic accident. Chief Apostle Leber’s initial reaction: “We are very, very sad.”