Acknowledging the baptisms of other denominations is not as simple as it sounds, and the journey there has had its ups and downs in church history. A number of things had to be set into motion before the New Apostolic Church was in a position to acknowledge the baptisms of other Christian denominations.

A New Apostolic church building that is 350 years old—you don’t see that every day. But the Schildesche quarter of the city of Bielefeld is home to a venerable historic monument that still keeps our attention today. A little excursion into history.

“One time doesn’t even count,” people often say in an attempt to diminish the weight of individual decisions and put them into a broader perspective. And indeed, what counts in the long run is not the individual misstep, but rather the fundamental inner values of the person.

Naturally baptism belongs inside the church—doesn’t it? Not necessarily: the sacrament has spent a good part of its history just outside the church doors, or in other spaces altogether. This is the story of how baptism made its long journey into the church, only to slip back outside again briefly, and finally end up back inside.

Water is life. And baptism is new life. But how much water does baptism require? And how is one supposed to perform the act anyway? Theologians have arrived at three answers—and archaeologists are offering a fourth. Is there a single right answer?

She was much more than an anonymous secondary character in the Bible—to this day, Judaic tradition regards Miriam, the dancing prophetess, as a positive and important woman. And this despite the fact that she lived in a time when the world was ruled by men.

Some assigned the death penalty to baptism. And others established their very own “thousand-year kingdom of peace”. And it all began with an issue that still divides the denominations today.

It is not all that uncommon for a pendulum to swing to the other side. This too is part of the story of Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff, who died on 6 July sixty years ago—to the dismay of many brothers and sisters.

The divine service themes in the month of July are filled with contrast: they range from God’s loving grace to His strict law, from the hallowed Sabbath to the prohibition against killing.

Acceptance, cleansing, total renewal: Scripture knows many interpretations of baptism. What the sacrament meant to people in concrete terms has changed in the course of history. Often it was a matter of politics and society.

Incense, candles, ornate robes? Without Apostle Menkhoff, divine services in the New Apostolic Church would perhaps still look like this today. Here is a tribute on the 125th anniversary of his death.

The workspace of all Christians is the world. It is through believers that the triune God desires to speak and act. And that is precisely how the Son of God set everything up: His gospel needs a church in which it can be preached. Thoughts on the feast of Pentecost 2020.

It is always quite a lot of work, but it is worthwhile in any event. When the Chief Apostle steps behind the altar on Pentecost Sunday, there will be hundreds of thousands who will see and hear him—despite the corona crisis.

Easter is the feast of the resurrection of the Lord. It is the principal feast in the liturgical calendar of Christian churches. Easter is both commemoration and expectation, for Christ resurrected so that we too can resurrect.

When people do renovations, they are usually planning something special. And that is precisely what is happening right now in the middle of Germany. After all, Pentecost will already come on Easter this year. And the Chief Apostle will visit every interested party at home—online.

Seven, three, or two: how many sacraments are there actually? Not even all the Christian denominations are in agreement with themselves when it comes to that question. But there is one point of intersection which all of them do acknowledge—almost all of them, that is.

Easter is the “feast of consolation and hope”. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider really means it. To underline this he wants to send out a strong signal—with a worldwide divine service.

The term ‘sacrament’ and the Bible—it’s just one of those things: the idea is there, but not the actual word. The term only made its way into Christian vocabulary later on—and it even took two tries! Here is a story about semantics.