Ten years ago today, Norberto Rubén Batista was ordained a District Apostle. Only two years later he passed away suddenly due to heart failure. He was liked and admired by many in the Church in South America. A retrospective.

Malawi is the cradle of the New Apostolic Church in Central Africa. George Henwood, the later Apostle, was born here in 1901. He was one of the great pioneers of missionary work and instrumental in building up the church in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider will celebrate the upcoming service for the departed in Blantyre.

The president of the New Apostolic Church flies to Australia regularly. Still, District Apostle Andrew Andersen referred to the Chief Apostle’s recent visit as historic. The reason, all national leaders of the New Apostolic Church had been invited to a conference in Perth.

There has been a lot of talk about reconciliation over the past weeks. One man in particular was instrumental in quietly paving the way for this. Fifty years ago today, he was ordained into the ministry that preaches reconciliation: Hermann Engelauf.

Apostles around the world are involved in building our conception of ministry. What has been gathered in meetings and working groups to date is currently being discussed by the District Apostles in Perth. Here is an overview.

Two thousand kilometres to the nearest city and yet in the middle of a metropolitan area. This is where the District Apostles are convening for their second international meeting this year: originally called “place with plenty of sun”, it is now better known as Perth.

The apostolic churches are continuing their policy of reconciliation: at the beginning of the coming year, they want to close another chapter in their shared history. A ceremony has been planned at which a third statement will be signed.

What was the name of that warrior again who killed Goliath? Of course, David! Or was it a certain Elhanan? Anyone who reads the Bible carefully will find quite a few champions who killed giants.

Lausanne is beautifully set on Lake Geneva in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Surrounded by the Jura Mountains, the city enjoys a mild climate—a good destination for Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider, who will be visiting the congregation on Sunday to celebrate a divine service.

No other collection of laws has had such a high degree of influence on the cultural history of mankind as the Ten Commandments of God. Here the term ‘commandment’ is a translation of the Hebrew word for “instruction”. The Ten Commandments thus serve as direction and orientation for humanity.

The rapprochement of apostolic denominations is continuing: after declarations of reconciliation in Germany and Switzerland, as well as an initial meeting in South Africa, there has now also been a meeting in the Netherlands—and this one was in a much larger context.

War, terror, hunger, and poverty are the reasons why many people are leaving Africa and fleeing to Europe. What can be done to help the people at home. District Evangelist Jörg Leske, director of the aid organization Nak-karitativ, gives some answers in the following interview.

His name is not really all that well known, but he was one of the pioneers of what later came to be known as the New Apostolic Church. Apostle Friedrich Wachmann bought the first church building and published a devotional book. He was born 175 years ago to the day.

Magazines, hymnals, teaching material: long before Frankfurt, Leipzig was the centre of the New Apostolic publishing world. But this is not the only way the congregation which the Chief Apostle will be visiting this coming Sunday has gone down in history.

The detailed account of Lydia is quite remarkable, considering that it was such a male dominated world. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke gives her prominent coverage: the first Christian in Europe.

Lambaréné is a small city in west-central Gabon in West Africa. In Galoa, an indigenous language, the name means: “We want to try it.” This probably did not only apply in the time of Albert Schweitzer, but also today for the New Apostolic congregation.

Hospitality and honour, poverty and migration—these concepts define the life of the people in Albania. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider will be visiting this country in southern Europe this coming weekend, a country in which the New Apostolic runs nearly more nursery schools than it has congregations.

The theme set out in this month’s Divine Service Guide is interaction in the spirit and mind of Christ—a very topical and fascinating subject that is examined from various perspectives.