New Apostolic Church

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God is a God of order

God is a God of order. Nature follows the order established by God. The plan of salvation for us human beings was planned and executed in a well-ordered way by God. The Bible is full of the ordinances of God. Disorder and chaos are a sign of human influence. Through disorder and chaos, nothing divine and inspired by the Holy Spirit comes into being. Paul writes: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.“ – 1 Cor 14:33 (ESV)

Where God works, order and peace arise and not disorder, chaos and strife!

What does all of this have to do with the New Apostolic Church? If we take a closer look at the history of the origins of the New Apostolic Church, this quickly becomes clear. Let us pick out a few crucial events. In the beginning, the Catholic Apostolic Movement emerged. In the first third of the 19th century, the effects of the Holy Spirit apparently appeared again as at the beginning of the early Christian communities. Speaking in tongues, healing the sick and all sorts of miracles moved the minds.

The Irvingians’ speaking in tongues was not understood by anyone

However, a contemporary witness, the co-founder of another Christian movement, John Nelson Darby, judged these things differently: “But the apparitions in Scotland did not correspond to Darby’s idea of the presence of the Holy Spirit. He decidedly turned away from these circles, which then contributed significantly to the development of the Catholic-Apostolic congregations. He could not see any sense in the enthusiastic appearances. ‘At Pentecost’, he once wrote, ‘the languages were understood by everyone, the tongues of the Irvingians, on the other hand, by no one’.” (6)

Tumultuous conditions in England

Also in the congregation in London, which Edward Irving himself shaped, there were such phenomena, a contemporary witness: “I went to church … and was, as usual, much gratified and edified by Irving’s lectures and prayers; but suddenly I was unexpectedly interrupted by the well-known voice of a sister, who, no longer able to restrain herself, and shunning ecclesiastical order, hurried into the sacristy, and there gave free vent to the outburst, while another, as I heard, from the same impulse, hurried along the aisle and out through the main door to the church. The sudden mournful unintelligible sounds were heard by the whole congregation and caused the utmost confusion. The rising to their feet, the desire to see, hear and understand something from each of the 1,500 or 2,000 people present made a noise that one can easily imagine” (7). Tumultuous conditions in the church, worked by the Holy Spirit?

A false prophet – Heinrich Geyer

When the first secession from the Catholic Apostolic Movement occurred in 1863, anything but the order of God was also apparent. After the prophet Heinrich Geyer had tried in vain to call new apostles – the callings were rejected either by the apostles or the called ones themselves -, he designated on 10.10.1862, the elder Rudolf Rosochacky as an apostle. It happened at night without the knowledge of the still-living Catholic Apostolic Apostles. At that time, the Apostle Woodhouse was on a visitation trip with Heinrich Geyer in Königsberg. Rudolf Rosochacky accepted the call but was not presented as an apostle to the congregation in Hamburg until several months later in January 1863, when he was accepted by the congregation. Before that, however, in December 1862, Geyer was suspended by the angel (bishop) of the Berlin congregation due to differing views on the teaching regarding the rapture.

Back and forth in Hamburg – The 13-day apostle

The prophet was excommunicated after the events in Hamburg. (8) Only a few days after his recognition in Hamburg, Rosochacky turned against his calling, calling it an error and remorsefully returning to the Catholic Apostolic Movement. He wrote to F. Schwarz in Hamburg:

“When the congregation in Hamburg heard the news that another apostle was called, their first act was outrage against the order given to them by God. It was not possible that this was a work of the Holy Spirit … Who gave the church the right to recognize me as an apostle and to proclaim me as such? If my calling had been divine, no contradiction could have arisen with the other apostles, because an apostle of Jesus Christ cannot help throw out and depose the other apostles of the Lord … If he (Geyer) had really been driven by the Holy Spirit at that time and wanted to have me as an apostle of God, the call would not have been secret, it would not have had to shy away from the light … Let us now finally ask how it was possible to get so caught up in Satan’s intrigues, to go astray and sin as badly as we had done …“ . (9)

This was now the 13-day apostle, the split-off of the Hamburg church. What happened? What a mess. Was Rosochacky actually an apostle? If so, why was he not recognized by the other apostles and why did he later reject it? If not, was Geyer a real prophet who called Rosochacky as an apostle? Were the others not true apostles because they did not recognize the calling? How can a genuine apostolic movement emerge from a movement with false apostles? Where is the solid ground, the foundation? Is this confusion the working of the Holy Spirit?

Apostle-less ‘General Christian Apostolic Mission’

Now this new group, later called the General Christian Apostolic Mission, was without an apostle, and there was uncertainty, perplexity and dismay arose. In Hamburg, while Geyer was absent, the priest Preuss was appointed an apostle by a deacon. Up until this point in time, offices were always and without exception called by the Prophet. Geyer describes this as follows:

“WhileI was in Berlin, the priest Preuss was called as an apostle in Hamburg by a deacon. I was called to Hamburg by the chief priest Schwarz to give advice, but I could not undo things that had happened. It was done in the way of disorder, just as Reuben mounted his father Jacob’s bed (Gen. 35:22 – Ed), so I could not kill such an illegitimate child. We had to bear our fate until this brother Preuss died on July 25, 1878. I’m silent about all the suffering that happened to us during that time.“ (10) So the prophet Geyer about the second apostle after the split from the Catholic-Apostolic Movement!

Disorder in Hamburg

Geyer, who himself had called Rosochacky by way of disorder, described the appointment of Preuss as disordered: “It was a fate that had to be borne, like an illegitimate child that could not be killed, which caused a lot of suffering!” This was now the second apostle after the split from the Catholic Apostolic Movement.

Unfortunately, we have not yet reached the New Apostolic Church. The General Christian Apostolic Mission initially had its congregations and followers in Hamburg, Berlin, northern Germany, and later also in Holland (where it was initially called Apostolische Zending and later Hersteld Apostolische Zendingkerk). In 1964, Geyer called 4 other Apostles (Stechmann, Hohl, Hoppe and Bösecke) for certain tribes (Apostle districts). The apostle Schwarz installed FW Menkhoff as apostle in 1872.

Riots in Hamburg

In 1878 there were tumultuous events during a church service in Hamburg. At that time, the community was in a rage. the question of the succession of the late apostle Prussia. Heinrich Geyer left the parish hall with the majority of the parishioners. Only a small number stayed with the insurgents. From this small number of parishioners – among them Fritz Krebs, who later became Chief Apostle, he had come specially from the Harz and supported the tumult – the New Apostolic congregations later emerged.

The events in detail: “On Sunday, March 31, 1878, he (Geyer) called the local subdeacon JFL Güldner as apostle for northern Germany and Scandinavia in the service of the Hamburg congregation“ . (11) At that time the apostle Preuss was probably suffering from stomach cancer on his sickbed. “Preuss, who obviously felt ignored, … appointed ‘still on his deathbed’ the elder Eduard Wichmann ‘as his successor’… Under the influence of Wichmann – who (according to F. Schwarz) ‘wished to be an apostle himself’ … – and Krebs, the opponents of Geyer and his followers tried to prevent the separation of Güldner by all means” (12).

An undignified church service

An eyewitness reports on the vocation service on August 4th, 1878 after the death of Apostle Preuss, who had died shortly before on July 25th, 1878:

“When the call (Güldner’s) was pronounced by the prophet Geyer, if I am not mistaken, a contradiction arose … from the community, I still remember for sure that F. Wachmann … shouted: “We have to divorce” … Then Wichmann got up, pressed the prophet Geyer down with both hands on his shoulder and said: “Now I want to take matters into my own hands” … As far as I know, Krebs and two other servants from the Harz were with Karl that morning Frank arrived at Alsterweg, but they did not come to the afternoon service … Then on the same evening such a meeting and vote actually took place in the apartment of the evangelist Gerstenkorn, the rejection of the apostle Güldner’s calling and the separation was decided … then the followers of the Krebs and comrades denied access to the chapel for the apostle Güldner and the prophet Geyer and their followers“ (12).

The ‚new order‘

This was no longer necessary: “The events in that service must indeed have been undignified … In any case, Geyer and his followers took off their robes, left the entire church and altar furnishings, and walked away from the “desecrated place” without saying a word in order to never enter it again, while an ear-witness told them … “shouted out those furious swear words after them” (13). Only a small remnant of about 50 church members remained. From this remnant and the small north German congregations, the apostolic congregation, the so-called ‘New Order’, developed. The actual birth of the New Apostolic Church can be seen in these events of 1878. Chaotic scenes followed in the rest of the congregation, which was now once again without an apostle. The other apostles were responsible for other tribes, more precisely apostle districts.

Everyone called everyone an apostle

Wichmann was appointed as an apostle by Preuss but not yet called and appointed by anyone! There were wild apostolic calls, but these did not actually lead to new apostles. F. Schwarz writes: “The wife of the one elder called her husband by prophecy, and the son called his father to be an apostle in the tribe; so there were already two apostles. A maid called her master to be an apostle, so that was three. A fourth was quietly called by other prophecies. Yes, I know of several brothers who thought they could be apostles for the tribe“ (14). It was only later that this ‘new order’ was called the New Apostolic Congregation and only from 1921 the New Apostolic Church. We can again ask the question here: Who was a real apostle, who was a false apostle, who was a real prophet, and who was a false prophet?

Appointments via appointments also in Braunschweig

It should be mentioned briefly that one year later, on July 25, 1879, undignified scenes occurred again in Braunschweig when the question of Güldner’s appeal was discussed again. Also present were Apostles Schwarz, Menkhoff and Hohl, the prophets Marticke and Fritz Krebs. An eyewitness reports: “One asked God “whether Güldner was an apostle”, and when no answer came to three questions, one literally shouted at God “why he gave no answer”. This went on for a while until the whole congregation fell into such an ecstasy that appeals were made over appeals, one screamed this, the other that. One called out this one, and the other screamed, “No, it shall be him.” … The end of the story was that Menkhoff first took over the management, and then Krebs was designated” (15).

We also learn the following from an original report of what happened in Braunschweig: “As can be seen from the entire appearance of the apostle Schwarz, the rebels had deliberately misinformed this apostle about the personality, faith, and ability of apostle J. Güldner. … Only, therefore, can it be explained that Apostle Schwarz even rejects the answer God gave him through the prophet Marticke from Berlin when he asked God in this meeting in Braunschweig whether Güldner was an apostle called by the Lord” (16). “Wichmann, who was appointed as an apostle by Apostle Preuss and was called as an apostle by his wife and son in the turmoil of August 4, 1878, was installed as a bishop by Apostle Menkhoff, but a few months later Menkhoff >>removed him from office because of lack<< of time.“ (17).

The takeover of power by Apostle Fritz Krebs

In 1895, the future apostle Fritz Krebs took advantage of the death of Apostle Schwarz to extend his sphere of influence to Holland and finally introduce the Chief Apostle office, which had not existed in the present sense until then. This also led to unrest and divisions. The turbulence did not subside. The history of the New Apostolic Church is above all a succession of conflicts within its own ranks, divisions, and exclusions. Even during the time of Chief Apostles Niehaus and Bischoff, there was a great deal of suffering, many exclusions, and secessions. The author of the book “God has ways in the desert “ documents in detail over 100 splits and excommunications since 1863!

It would go beyond the scope of this article to describe everything in detail. I will only briefly name the more significant groups that have split off from the New Apostolic Church or that have arisen through excommunication, in order to make this fact clear: Hersteld Apostolische Zendingskerk / Netherlands (1897), Hersteld Apostolische Zendingsgemeente (1900/1930), Community of Divine Socialism / Apostle Ministry of Judah (1902), Apostolic Church of Queensland (1911), Reformed-Apostolic Congregation Association (1921), Apostle Ministry of Jesus Christ (1923), Apostolic Genootschap (1940), Christians of our time (1949), Apostolic Congregation of Saarland (1951), Apostolic Church / Apostel Unity (South Africa 1954), Apostolic Community (1955), United Church of India (1974), Apostolische Gemeinde e.V. (1989).

A Minimum of Information for Assessment

We have now taken a lot of time to shed some light on the development of the New Apostolic Church. Granted, it has become quite extensive, but this is the minimum of information that is necessary to get a reasonably correct picture of the beginnings of the New Apostolic Church. In view of this, it sounds strange to read, among other things, the following presentation about the emergence of the New Apostolic Church in an informational publication: “By prophecy from the Holy Spirit, the first apostles and other church ministers were called beginning in 1832. The first churches of the new apostolic faith were born in England, in Albury and London. From the second half of the 19th century, the New Apostolic Church developed from these beginnings” (18).

The reader must get the impression here that the New Apostolic Church emerged directly from the Catholic Apostolic Movement and is comparable to it. The fact that there are hardly any parallels in most areas (doctrine, structure of ministries, liturgy, etc.) is just as little made clear by this presentation as the questionable development towards today’s New Apostolic Church.

Is the New Apostolic Church now on the right track?

It may feel good to be at home in the New Apostolic Church. The parishioners are nice, the services and the singing give you a feeling of security and belonging. You may have an order and you are needed. You might think, what do I care about yesterday’s issues, we live in the present and now everything is completely different. Is everything completely different? Is the New Apostolic Church now on the right track? The doctrine is still at odds with Scripture. The apostles of the New Apostolic Church cannot be apostles of Jesus Christ. A firm foothold in a doctrine of faith firmly anchored on biblical ground still does not exist! The origin happened in disorder and chaos and the teaching of the New Apostolic Church is still unbiblical and not trustworthy due to its changeability.

Who Is Reliable, Who Can We Trust?

Check, check, check

After what has been written above, you may ask yourself, can we believe all of this? That is a legitimate question because the Bible asks us to examine everything that is brought to us in matters of faith. In the book of Acts, Luke describes: “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” – Acts 17:11 (ESV) The apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians: “but test everything; hold fast what is good“ – 1 Thess 5:21 (ESV) Another passage that clearly calls for testing the teachings of those who proclaim doctrines is Phil. 1:10: “so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ“ – Phil 1:10 (ESV)

So I ask you to once again thoroughly examine the teachings of the New Apostolic Church and its apostles. But do believe what I have written without checking. But place everything under the light of the Holy Scriptures, this is the only reliable standard that we have been given by God to orient and judge us. Also, check what has been written in relation to the New Apostolic genesis with the available literature (see Bibliography).

It is not about the reformation of a faith community

I still want you to know, I myself was New Apostolic from birth for over thirty years. This writing did not come out of disappointment or because I want to harm the New Apostolic Church. I am very concerned about everyone who is a member of the New Apostolic Church. My love for you and for my Lord Jesus Christ drove me to write down these lines for you. It is not about reforming an entire religious community, no matter how desirable this would be. It’s about every single soul, it’s about you and your eternal future!

There is one you can trust for sure and that is Jesus Christ. He says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“ – John 14:6 (ESV)

Jesus Christ is the truth! In the scriptures of the New and Old Testaments, we learn about Jesus Christ, the truth. He also tells us how to come to God the Father, through Him! He is also the way and whoever treads this path comes to the Father and thus to life, therefore Jesus is also the life! Jesus Himself says in chapter 3, verse 20 of His Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. – Rev 3:20 (ESV)

The Lord knocks!

Do you hear the Lord knocking? Have you already opened the door for him?

Open the door for him, turn to him in prayer and ask him to come into your life, ask him to forgive your sins. Such a prayer might go something like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, you know that I have sinned against you in my thoughts, words, and actions. And how many times could I have done good and didn’t? Please forgive me. I repent of my sins and want to turn away from everything that is wrong. You gave your life for me on the cross. Therefore I am giving you my life now. And I beg you, take possession of it. Come as my Redeemer who will save me. and as my Lord who guides me. Come as my friend who surrounds me. I thank you for hearing me! Amen.”

If you have prayed this prayer with all your heart and meant it seriously, then you have now accepted Jesus into your life. Now he lives in you through his Holy Spirit.

Heaven rejoices

What happens now? You are now a child of God, great joy is now in heaven. You are now a Christian too. Have a look around your place to see if there is a Christian church that is faithful to the Bible. You can recognize them by how they feel about the Bible and what is at the center of their life and preaching. If they view the Bible fully as the Word of God, as true, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without flaw, if Jesus is the center of their preaching and fellowship, then you are at the right place.

Fellowship with Christians will strengthen you and will bring joy to your life at the same time. Read the Scriptures for yourself, it is the written Word of God. In the Bible, you will discover the will of God, how to participate in it, and also His will for the future of the world. Of course, you are also welcome to contact us.

The Lord bless and keep you

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