Apostolic Church of South Africa - Apostle Unity
The Apostolic Church - Apostle Unity ( Apostoliese Kerk - Aposteleenheid ) is a South African free church in the tradition of the Catholic-Apostolic revival movement of the early 19th century. It was founded in Australia in 1889 and was founded in its current form in 1956 as a merger of a community that had separated from the New Apostolic Church (NAK) in 1955 and the South African congregations of the Apostolic Church of Queensland .
Their logo is the same as that of the Australian communities: a 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.
History of the Klibbe Group, South Africa
The Australian apostle Heinrich F. Niemeyer ordained Carl Klibbe (1852–1931) as an evangelist in 1889 and sent him on a mission to South Africa. Klibbe moved to South Africa and began his missionary work with little success at first. In 1893 he was called to be an apostle in Australia and on July 8, 1893, he was appointed apostle by Niemeyer. Since there was no Chief Apostle at that time , every apostle in the apostolic congregations had the right to ordain. In 1908, during a stay in Germany, Klibbe submitted to the Chief Apostle directly. In 1911, Niemeyer from Australia was excluded from the NAC because of different positions in relation to the primacy of the Chief Apostle and continued to run the Australian congregations of the Apostolic Unity Church independently of the NAC.
In 1913, Carl Klibbe met the same fate. He led the communities he founded, which at this time New Apostolic congregation called to continue, but he had to the communities for a long-standing dispute with the New Apostolic Church in 1927 in The Old Apostolic Church of South Africa to rename. In 1913 he called his son-in-law H. Velde as a priest in Swakopmund , Namibia, and sent him to Johannesburg , South Africa. He was later ordained an evangelist and elder. H. Velde was called as an Apostle on September 8, 1930 and set apart as an Apostle on April 3, 1931 in Hatton Vale, Australia. Both Klibbe and Velde kept in close contact with the Australian communities.
In 1955 the Apostolic Community Düsseldorf and H. Velde contacted him. Apostle Velde died on September 27, 1956 in a car accident in Wynberg, Cape Town. Only a few congregations of the Old Apostolic Church around the elder Petersen joined the Apostolic Church of South Africa - Apostle Unity .
The Old Apostolic Church refers to Carl Klibbe as its founder, because after a legal dispute with the New Apostolic Church in June 1927 he registered the Old Apostolic Church of South Africa . The history of this church and its development under the direction of H. Velde is largely unexplored.
History of the Erasmus group
At the same time as Klibbe was deposed, Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus appointed Wilhelm Schlaphoff († 1928) as an apostle on September 21, 1913 during his trip to Europe to continue some of the New Apostolic congregations in South Africa that followed Chief Apostle and Schlaphoff. Due to the message of the New Apostolic Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff , according to which the Second Coming of Christ would take place during his lifetime, there was unrest in the New Apostolic Church around the world and members of the opposition were expelled. In South Africa in 1954 the apostles Philippus Jacobus Erasmus (1904–1960) and D. C. S. Malan (1918–1968) as well as the chief apostle helper for the southern hemisphere, Heinrich Franz Schlapphoff (1894–1965), a son of Wilhelm Schlaphoff, were affected. They headed a thriving district with about 60,000 members and founded the Apostolic Church. A great many members followed them. Apostle Schlaphoff took no more active service.
Merger
Due to the sudden death of Apostle Velde, there was no longer a meeting with Apostle Erasmus. The elder of the Old Apostolic Church, Petersen, was asked by the Australian Apostle Zielke to meet with the Erasmus Malan group. On November 23, 1956, an agreement on the merger was reached in Cape Town. About 800 members and three churches were brought into what is now called the Apostolic Church of South Africa . In July 1956, the Apostolic Church of South Africa joined the international association of apostolic congregations .
Current situation
On May 14, 1972, two other apostles were called: Johannes Philippus Erasmus (1943–1986) and Josua Jeremia Joubert (* 1932). In 1978 Johannes Philippus Erasmus retired. He died on October 26, 1986. In 1989 a mission was established in what was then Homeland Venda . In February 1993 the South African congregations celebrated their centenary. At the end of July 1997, Apostle Joubert retired.
The fellowship has a creed with seven articles.
The church is currently divided into eight districts with a total of 34 parishes. The main areas of distribution are the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces . The seat and the head office are in Johannesburg .
- Church building
Cape Town Elsiesrivier Church
Cape Town Kraaifontein Church
Cape Town-Grassy Park Church
Pretoria Mayville Church
Johannesburg-Crosby Church
