Apostolic Church of Queensland

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
logo

The Apostolic Church of Queensland is a free church in Australia that has its roots in the English revival movement of the Catholic Apostolic congregations . It was established in 1886 as an independent organization registered in Queensland and not a split from the New Apostolic Church . Since 1956 it has been associated with various other free apostolic communities in the Association of Apostolic Congregations.

The church's logo is the 4R symbol. The four "R" s stand for: RIGHT - ROYAL - RIGHTEOUS - RICH. Right about the scriptures, royal about the bridal church of Christ, righteous about partaking in the body and blood of Christ, and rich about Christ's promises to his apostles.

Emergence

The young evangelist Heinrich Friedrich Niemeyer was sent to a mission in Australia by Chief Apostle Friedrich Krebs in 1883 . He settled there and began missionary work in Hatton Vale, Queensland. He was mainly successful among German immigrants. After a short time the "Apostolic Unity Church" in Queensland, Australia had already 80 followers. In 1886 he was called an apostle and ordained as an apostle on a visit to Germany . When, after the death of Krebs, the new Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus increasingly emphasized the primacy of the Chief Apostle over the other Apostles and implemented various changes in the New Apostolic Church, a conflict arose. After an apostles conference in Germany, Niehaus declared Niemeyer removed from office in 1911. However, all Australian members of the Apostolic Unity Church continued to follow Niemeyer. The history of the New Apostolic Church there only begins after 1911.

During the First World War , Niemeyer was interned as a German. As a result, his health deteriorated very much and shortly after his release he died in 1920. His son Wilhelm (Willy) had already been ordained as an apostle in 1912 and took over the leadership of the church. After 1918, German was also replaced by English as the language of preaching and the name was changed to "The Apostolic Church of Queensland". At that time there was probably still a prophetic office, which called the other official gifts. It was apparently abolished, because in the period that followed, appointments and appointments were made according to dreams.

Willy Niemeyer's successor was Emil Zielke, who installed two apostles in 1961: Arnold Edward Zielke (1905–1988) and Arnan Niemeyer (1908–1995). The church was divided into two wards: North and South Queensland. Arnan Niemeyer's successor was Mervyn Zischke (1927–1988) in 1977. In 1988 the two Australian apostles died in very short succession without having appointed or named successors. Because of the connections within the association, it was the responsibility of the European apostles to appoint new church leaders. There were clear differences between Europe and Australia, as dreams played a major role on the fifth continent. It was not until September 23, 1990 that the elder Kenneth Dargusch (South Queensland) and the priest Clifford Flor (North Queensland) were ordained apostles in the 2,000-person central church in Hatton Vale (Australia).

The church is divided into a northern and a southern district. The northern district is headed by Apostle Clifford Flor from Bundaberg and includes 16 parishes. On January 26, 2020, Father Wayne Schneider of the Maryborough Ward, Bundaberg was ordained an Apostle. Apostle Kenneth L. Dargusch from Hatton Vale presides over the southern district with 12 churches.

From Australia, an ongoing missionary activity began in the Philippines in the 1990s, which led to the establishment of the United Apostolic Church of the Philippines with 19 congregations in 3 districts. In India, Pakistan, Myanmar, New Zealand, Kenya and Canada there is also missionary work and church building is carried out.

Teaching

The European apostles of the Association of Apostolic Congregations have gradually reformed the teaching of the New Apostolic Church since the 1970s and in 1984 made their own comprehensive doctrinal statement with the book of faith What we believe , which is biblically oriented. The apostles of Australia and South Africa have joined this. The book of faith is translated and is called the Book of Faith . In the 1990s, the European apostles of the association began to discuss the ordination of women and finally to decide in 2003 and to fundamentally revise the understanding of the church, the sacraments and ministry. The Australians and South Africans only partially followed. Therefore, in addition to strong liturgical deviations, there are now also doctrinal deviations from the European congregations.

In the southern hemisphere, the apostleship is emphasized much more strongly and viewed as necessary for salvation. The common priesthood of the faithful is therefore of little importance compared to the ordained ministry.

Web links