Such messages need space! They need an occasion to present themselves: New Year, Christmas, or Pentecost are ideal. Pentecost has long been a popular occasion for a uniform message. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider is taking a somewhat different approach.

“Labour in love” was the motto of the New Apostolic Church in the year 2014. Also for the new year Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider will set impulses. In his New Year’s message he puts the focus on a special source of strength: Joy in Christ

Joy is meant to be shared. And this was precisely what New Apostolic Christians around the world experienced—in particular with a view to the motto which the Chief Apostle had announced for the year. And it was in connection with this announcement that the Church marked a first this year.

The making of the divine services for 2017 has begun—at least for nearly 30 Apostles from around the world. They are the writers of the Divine Service Guide, which is distributed to nearly 200,000 New Apostolic ministers around the world. The go-ahead was given at a recent authors’ workshop.

Is our 2015 motto just a marketing slogan or is there more to it? This is a question posed by District Apostle Urs Hebeisen (South-East Asia), and he answers it in the same breath …

“Joy in Christ” is the motto that the Chief Apostle published for the New Apostolic Church at the beginning of the year. Since then this motto has not only accompanied the brothers and sisters around the globe orally and in writing, but it has also been illustrated in the meantime. Following is a closer look at the logos designed by the district churches and the ideas behind them.

To experience joy in Christ you sometimes have to make a point of listening carefully. Strength can be derived from the joy we find when we seek God’s proximity in the silence. This is something that District Apostle Rainer Storck from North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany points out in his article on our 2015 motto.

In order to get a better picture of the international motto for the year—“Joy in Christ”—the New Apostolic Church of South East Africa developed a logo, just as other District Churches have also done. But this insignia has a special additional message. District Apostle Mandla Patrick Mkhwanazi explains:

Joy is meant to be shared. This applies first and foremost to our “joy in Christ”. It is for this reason that nac.today has initiated a participation campaign: get creative and share your joy. The first submissions have already arrived.

Sharing joy! – That is the maxim of nac.today’s participation campaign on the motto for the year 2015. Joachim H. Böttcher-Domschat from Frankfurt on the Oder (Germany) has submitted a canon on the Bible text from the New Year’s Day divine service (Habakkuk 3: 18). The notes are available for download here.

Soft yet firm, someone who blazed the trail and someone who guided others on it, that was Chief Apostle Hans Urwyler. Today he would have turned 90 years of age.

China is a huge country and for the most part unknown. For the longest time it was completely shut off. Our nac.today correspondent Kerstin Kaehler has lived in China, the world’s most populous country, for the last 16 years. She describes what it is like to live there as an expat.

What aids can Priests resort to when making soul care visits? Since 2013, the New Apostolic Church Cape has been publishing a Devotional Journal for its ministers, an 88-page diary with articles based on Bible texts.

“At home worldwide” is the motto set out in the logo of nac.today. This is also the title of our weekly overview, in which we look at the happenings among our brothers and sisters around the world.

We still carry last year’s motto in our hearts. But what else happened throughout the New Apostolic world in 2014? Following is a look at the happenings around the world in the first half of 2014.

“Joy in Christ”, the motto of the New Apostolic Church for 2015, is unfolding more and more from service to service. What does it mean for us, what do we connect with it? Join our interactive project and help us illustrate the 2015 motto!

Merry Christmas! Pardon? Christmas is long gone. But not in Russia. According to the Russian calendar Christmas is today, 7 January. For New Apostolic Christians this time of the year is a bit of a balancing act between the cultures.

nac.today is the medium the New Apostolic Church has just launched. community is another medium that is in the starting blocks. Why? What for? An interview with the Chief Apostle.