Apostolic Community (Free Church)

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Basic data
Logo:
Photo of the logo of the Apostolic Community eVjpg
Official name: Apostolic Community e. V.
Chairman of the board: Apostle Ulrich Hykes
Executive Director: Elder Ulrich Keller
Membership: VAG
ACK (guest member)
VEF (guest member)
Municipalities : 31.12.2018: 46
Parishioners: December 31, 2018: 3,586
Share of the
total population:		 0.0062%
Establishment date: January 24, 1955
Seat: Dusseldorf
Address: Cantadorstrasse 11
40211 Düsseldorf
Official Website: www.apostolisch.de

The Apostolic Community sees itself as a free church and department within the Church of Jesus Christ. It is a split from the New Apostolic Church and has its roots in the Catholic Apostolic congregations . The community was founded on January 24, 1955 in Düsseldorf. The trigger was the exclusion of District Apostle Peter Kuhlen and Apostles Siegfried Dehmel and Ernst Dunkmann from the New Apostolic Church. The Apostolic Community is, as e. V. organized and entered in the register of associations of the city of Düsseldorf. It currently has almost 3,600 members (excluding children) in 46 municipalities in Germany. A proportion of around 30%, which is below average for free churches, is active, so that around 1,100 members regularly take part in community life. The main distribution area is the Rhine and Vogtland as well as Saxony. There are diaspora communities in northern and southern Germany.

history

The Apostolic in Germany, an overview
Peter Kuhlen

The decisive factor for the divisions between the New Apostolic Church in Switzerland in 1954 and in West Germany in 1955 was the teaching of the then incumbent Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff that he would not die before Jesus came and took the elect to himself (the so-called first resurrection ). This teaching is known as the message in apostolic circles . In 1954 it was raised to dogma . Those of the ministers, especially the apostles , who did not announce this, were removed from their office and expelled from the New Apostolic Church. The highest-ranking exclusion concerned the Rhineland District Apostle Peter Kuhlen and his two fellow apostles Siegfried Dehmel (Oberhausen) and Ernst Dunkmann (Düren). With the bishops and elders who supported them, the three apostles founded the apostolic community in Düsseldorf on January 24, 1955, one day after the Frankfurt expulsion . They were joined by around 10,000 members. Chief Apostle Bischoff died in 1960 without any rehabilitation of the excluded ministers in the period that followed. It was not until 2005 that the Swiss sister church, the Association of Apostolic Christians, and the NAK issued a joint statement and apology for the events of the 1950s. In 2014 there was a “declaration of reconciliation” with the West German Church and in 2017 with the East German congregations.

In 1994 the Reformed Apostolic Community Association , founded in 1921 by Apostle Carl August Brückner , and the Apostolische Gemeinschaft eV zur Apostolische Gemeinschaft e. V. together. Both were previously sister churches in the VAG (see below). With German reunification there was no longer any reason to maintain two communities in Germany .

Municipality of Düsseldorf-Mitte

Structure and outline

Since January 1, 2019, the Apostolic Community has consisted of the local congregations, which are grouped together in three regional conferences (North, West, Southeast) and the central administration as a superordinate unit. The communities should work independently in the future and regulate their concerns as independently as possible. The administration provides the financial means and support from the departments (such as public relations, culture, ecumenism, etc.). The previous 10 districts that existed in the federal territory were dissolved.

The church leadership (2020 consisting of three apostles and two bishops) is responsible for all congregations in the federal territory; there is no longer regional responsibility for individual church leadership members. Temporarily, members of the church leadership are still responsible for the regional conferences. These should serve the coordination and consultation as well as cooperation of the communities in a spatial proximity. In them i. d. Usually represent the community leaders who meet regularly for the purpose of voting in person or virtually.

To better fulfill the tasks involved, seven departments were set up: finance, buildings / technology / inventory, culture, mission / evangelism / training, public relations, ecumenism, strategy. In this way, professional competence is to be bundled. In addition to those responsible (usually the previous (district) elders, bishops or apostles), lay people and ordained from the congregations also work in the departments.

The apostles, bishops and elders together form the board of the community. The assembly of delegates decides on amendments to the statutes, receives the annual report of the management and gives its discharge. The delegates are elected by the members every five years, most recently in 2017. One delegate was elected per district for every 300 members or part thereof. After a district dissolution in 2019, a new election mode must be found. Ordinary assemblies of delegates take place once a year, i. d. R. in November. The assembly of delegates consists of the board of directors, the delegates elected in the general assemblies as well as the youth secretary appointed by the board and the representatives of the Rhineland Youth Association.

Previous structure

After the Church was organized in January 1955, the local congregations were organized into districts called i. d. Ruled by an elder or bishop. Initially, these were identical in the Rhineland with the districts of the New Apostolic Church (NAK) from which they emerged. As far as there were some members, the parish locations were also adopted analogously to the NAK.

Theology and teaching

The theology of the Apostolic Community originally corresponded to that of the New Apostolic Church .

In addition to structural changes, major reorientations and reforms in theological issues have been carried out in the community, especially since the 1970s, especially in the understanding of the church , ministry and sacrament . In the first phase, the focus was on breaking away from specifically New Apostolic ideas, in particular on the understanding of ministry; in a second phase - from the mid-1980s - an attempt was made in part to return to the ideas of the Catholic Apostolic communities and the Notae ecclesiae . A textbook What we believe in two volumes (1984 and 1991) presents the teaching. The parts relating to the sacraments were replaced in July 2005 by a new publication. Likewise, the Apostolicum in its Lutheran version was introduced as a creed . The first three articles had been in effect since 1984 in a slightly different form with the addition of three further articles. These have been deleted without replacement. Since 1992 the ecumenical version of the Lord's Prayer has also been prayed in the congregations.

The theology therefore no longer corresponds to that of the New Apostolic Church today, but has moved far away from it.

Church understanding

The apostolic community sees itself as a particular church of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church . Membership is declared by joining and is only dependent on baptism and no longer, as in the past, on sealing. The baptism in the name of the Triune God , which was performed in other churches, is recognized without restriction and no longer needs to be confirmed, as was previously the case. The baptism of the Apostolic Community is also recognized by other churches.

Understanding of ministry and apostolate

The apostolic community knows the apostleship as the leading magisterium . This is not seen as necessary for salvation. This official title, which is otherwise not common in free churches, does not claim to be exclusive, but describes a ministry called and authorized by Jesus. At the same time, apostolic authority is not only accepted for one's own community, but also acknowledged that it can potentially be present anywhere in the Church of Christ without an explicit apostolic office having to exist there. All ministerial gifts have their authority directly from Jesus Christ , Head of the Church. Emphasis is also placed on the common priesthood of believers . One understands workforce as a gift-oriented concentric model.

Understanding of the Sacrament

The Apostolic Community knows and celebrates three sacraments : Baptism, Communion, and Sealing. There are three different images for the one and perfect salvation of God.

  • In baptism , she celebrates God's covenant that he makes with people. The believing acceptance of baptism brings about the new birth out of water and the Spirit, the acceptance into the new covenant, the implantation in the spiritual body of Christ. The baptism of children is due to the will and the profession of faith of their parents. It is baptized under running water in the name of the Triune God.
  • In the Lord's Supper she celebrates redemption from sin and reconciliation with God. It is a memorial meal for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, a table and living community with the present Lord and a view into the future.
  • In the sealing she celebrates the Holy Spirit , who was poured out at Pentecost . It is through this Spirit that God acts in man, enabling him to recognize Christ as his Lord and to grow in faith. It has not officially been carried out on children since 2005, but like the evangelical confirmation at a young age. In addition - a novelty in apostolic congregations - it is no longer tied to the apostolic office.

At the age of around 14, the young believers are confirmed after a two-year confirmation class and thus take their parents' baptismal vows on their own responsibility. Further acts of blessing take place at wedding ceremonies, anniversary weddings and funeral services.

The monthly magazine Der Herold has been published since 1954. Initially, the Swiss Association of Apostolic Christians was responsible; since the 1970s, the editorial department has been with the Apostolic Community in Düsseldorf. In the 1970s and 1980s there was still a magazine called Blickpunkt , but it was merged with the Herold in the early 1990s . On January 1, 2011, the title "Blickpunkt" was revived and now refers to a bimonthly, color magazine in A4 format that replaces the Herold.

Offices

The apostolic community knows the following offices: apostle , bishop , elder , evangelist , shepherd , church elder and deacon .

There is no strict hierarchy, but there is a different degree of responsibility. The ordination of women has been possible in all districts since 2004. There were deaconesses in the Reformed Apostolic Apostle districts before 1955, but due to the West German influence there were no further ordinations after 1955. At the moment women work in different ministries in almost all parishes (deaconess, priestess, parish elders, bishops). In the spring of 2004, three women were ordained as deacons for the parishes of Borken and Voerde in the Wesel district, and three deacons for the parishes of Düsseldorf-Eller, Düsseldorf-Gerresheim and Düsseldorf-Mitte followed in the New Year's service in 2005 in the Düsseldorf district. In November another ordination took place in the Düsseldorf district for the Düsseldorf-Benrath community. The first ordination of women in the Apostle District of Cologne took place at the New Year's service in Düren in 2006 for this community. Two women have been ordained in Vogtland and southern Germany since 2006. The ordination in Saarland took place for the Saarbrücken congregation at the beginning of June 2007. On March 1, 2009, during a service in Bocholt, another deaconess for the Wesel district and Ursel Schneider (Borken congregation), the first priestess of the apostolic community, were ordained. Schneider was one of the first three women to be ordained deaconesses in the spring of 2004 in Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia. Christine Fritzen was ordained as a priestess on October 25, 2009 in the Düren congregation. On June 14, 2015, Elke Heckmann from Greiz became the first woman to be appointed to the service of elders and thus to the board. She was ordained the first female bishop on February 19, 2017. The collaboration in the community is usually voluntary. Only the apostles are normally employed and are paid on the basis of the federal employee collective agreement. In addition, two employees work in the administration.

The ordination of employees takes place under the aspect of gift orientation. The leadership of the congregations is usually the responsibility of a church leader appointed by the apostle. In recent years, community leadership groups with different tasks and responsibilities have been formed in many places to support the community leaders. There are also communities where, due to a lack of community leaders, a steering committee or leadership group temporarily exercises leadership collectively.

In 2016 the service and concept of priests were redefined. Since the Bible speaks of elders of the congregation in the letters of the New Testament and no sacrifice takes place in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, it was decided to dispense with the term priest and instead speak of (congregational) elders. Since the end of 2016, no new priests have been ordained, only elders.

liturgy

Altar and lectern in the municipality of Greiz

The apostolic community has a simple liturgy . There is a fixed structure that is strongly reminiscent of regional church services. Since the revision of the liturgy and the introduction of the congregational and divine service regulations, from January 2012 the divine service has or can have fixed, optional and variable parts. In almost all congregations there is a Sunday morning service with communion, in some congregations there is also a service (with sermon but without communion) or a devotion (without sermon and without communion) on Wednesday evening. A normal Sunday service is divided into (including the 10 fixed components, which are defined in form, content and position in the service, in bold):

  • Invocation
  • Opening prayer
  • Word reading (Bible word for the sermon)
  • Salutation / greeting of the community
  • Choir or community singing
  • possibly serving other ministers and / or witness service from the community
  • Introduction to the Lord's Supper (children from the children's worship service taking place at the same time join the congregation with the supervisors)
  • Repentance through silence, meditation, song of penance , prayer
  • common prayer of the community of the Lord's Prayer
  • Communion celebration with the components of acquittal, thanksgiving prayer, segregation, invitation and evening meal
  • Closing prayer
  • Blessings and triple sung amen of the church
  • Choir or community singing
  • Discontinuations

Optional components, which are given in form and content if they are used, are praise, moderation of the service, entry of those involved in the service at special services (e.g. wedding ceremony, confirmation), opening song, choir singing, congregation singing, additional text readings, Speaking of psalms, testimony, creed and announcements.

The variable parts that are not fixed in form, content and position in the service include: creative support of the sermon or reading through text presentation, allusion, meditation, music or media use, intercessions, prayer fellowship, open altar and "living community" ( e.g. birthday notes, personal prayer requests, personal blessings, illnesses, thanks and special projects) as well as the announcement of a death.

If more than one ministerial officer is present on a Sunday, one or more of them can reflect on the Bible word after the main sermon. There is no particular hierarchical order. However, this “service” is not limited to ordained workers.

The Lord's Supper usually takes place every Sunday, whereby it is understood as a memorial meal to which all those present (including guests and children) can participate. It is celebrated in both forms, with the host in wine resp. Juice is immersed ( intinction ). In most communities, it is common for people to communicate in rows. Since this leads to “compulsory participation”, individual communion is tried out in some places.

In many congregations there have been Easter candles for years, and in some congregations a lectern has been introduced for word reading, texts in church services and announcements.

Until 2005 the Apostolic Community used the Apostolic Hymnbook published in 1959 , which contained 612 hymns , which were divided into the rubrics of worship, sacraments, acts of blessing, the Christian church year and on special occasions . Since 2005 it has been replaced by a new hymn book called Sing to the Lord . This is available as a unanimous parish and four-part choir edition. It comprises 604 hymns, which are divided into the three main sections of the Christian church year, the celebration of worship and life in faith .

Church building

The community holds its services in specially built or rented premises. The oldest buildings are likely to be the former Eben Ezer Methodist Church in Zwickau, built in 1884, and the former cemetery chapel in Ulm. In Netzschkau and Greiz as well as in Oelsnitz there are buildings that were built or acquired by the Reformed Apostolic Congregation Association between 1921 and 1950. The churches in Duisburg-Beeck and -Hamborn, in Düren, Düsseldorf, Essen and also Cologne are functional buildings from the 1960s that are still very reminiscent of the New Apostolic churches of that time. In part, it was the same architect, Franz Kupp, who planned and built the buildings. With the communities in Emmerich, Düsseldorf-Eller, Voerde, Völklingen, Euskirchen and Uebach-Palenberg, attempts were made to set their own architectural accents. The municipalities of Hamburg, Dresden and Lünen are prefabricated churches.

The older buildings are usually two-story and have a community room, cloakrooms, kitchen and sanitary facilities and a youth / children's room or an office room on the ground floor. The actual church service room is located on the upper floor, usually with a gallery. At its front there is an altar, which also serves as a sermon place. Above or next to it a simple cross. Usually the organ table is also in the front. The municipality of Düsseldorf-Mitte is the only church in West Germany to have a pipe organ that was built in 1960 by the Eberhard Friedrich Walcker company from Ludwigsburg. In East Germany there are several pipe organs, u. a. in Netzschkau, Zwickau and Greiz. The newer churches are mostly at ground level and, in addition to the high church hall, have community rooms.

  • Church building

  • Emmerich Church

  • Duisburg-Hamborn Church

  • Dusseldorf-Eller church

  • Church Düsseldorf-Mitte

  • Church Essen-Mitte

  • Hamburg Church

  • Uebach-Palenberg Church

  • Ulm Church

  • Zwickau Church

  • Euskirchen Church

  • Cologne Church

  • Church Dresden

International cooperation

There has been an international association of the apostles of the following split off communities of the New Apostolic Church since 1956. This is called the "Association of the Apostles of the Apostolic Congregations". Colloquially, externals repeatedly speak of the Association of Apostolic Congregations (VAG, also: United Apostolic Church). This is factually incorrect. In publications of the four European church communities, the self-designation "Association of Apostolic Communities in Europe" has been used since 2010 or in pronouncements "Association of the Apostles and Bishops of the Apostolic Communities in Europe":

Among other things, due to the introduction of the ordination of women in Europe in 2003, contact with the South African and Australian apostles who reject it is limited. The last joint apostles conference took place in Germany in 2005.

Ecumenism

Local congregations of the Apostolic Community are guest or full members in local working groups of Christian churches (e.g. Bottrop, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Greiz, Cologne, Krefeld, Langenfeld, Nuremberg, Wuppertal). The ACK of North Rhine-Westphalia was accepted as a guest member in autumn 2004, while the ACK Bavaria was accepted on November 15, 2005. At the end of 2007, the ACK Saxony was accepted as a guest. In 2010 the application for membership in the Federal ACK was submitted, which was approved in March 2013 at the ACK membership meeting in Fulda. On December 16, 2013, the community was informed that the required majority of member churches had been reached and that nothing stood in the way of admission. The recording itself took place on March 27, 2014 in a church service during the spring conference in Erfurt. In addition, individual districts and / or parishes are involved in ProChrist and in the Evangelical Alliance . In May 2015 she was accepted as a guest member of the Association of Evangelical Free Churches .

Talks with the New Apostolic Church, which were intensified on its initiative in 2001, were initially declared canceled by the Apostolic Community after an information evening of the NAK on December 4, 2007. The background to this decision was the accusation that the NAK had chosen a tendentious and historically distorting presentation with an obviously deliberately snubber attitude and failure to comply with a joint agreement on the joint development of the historical background. During the meeting of historians on February 5, 2007 in Hanover, attended by representatives of the New Apostolic Church and representatives of the Association of Apostolic Congregations, sources were presented which were not included in the history report published by the New Apostolic Church on December 4, 2007. In the meantime the NAK apologized for the manner of the presentation, but not for the content. In February 2008, the VAG issued a declaration in which clear conditions for resuming contacts are specified. However, shortly before his retirement, Chief Apostle Leber endeavored to establish new contacts with the aim of reconciliation through numerous publicly effective gestures of reconciliation - without, however, addressing the actual discussion points. From the beginning of March 2014, representatives of the NAK (retired Chief Apostle Leber, retired District Apostle Brinkmann and District Apostle Klingler) and the AG (Apostle Groß and Bishop Hykes) met for talks in Dortmund. On November 29, 2014, a ceremony took place in Düsseldorf with the publication of a declaration on reconciliation between the two churches. From April 2016, the history of the separation of the Reformed Apostolic Congregation Federation from 1921 was worked out together. This led to a second declaration of reconciliation on March 11, 2017, which was signed in Greiz.

See also

literature

  • V. Knowledge: Theological developments of the Association of Apostolic Congregations (VAG) from 1956 until today . Re Di Roma, Remscheid 2007, ISBN 3-940450-19-7
  • E. Diersmann: "You should recognize them by their fruits". The legacy of Friedrich Wilhelm Schwarz, 100 years of apostolic communities in the Netherlands, a historical overview . Re Di Roma, Remscheid 2007, ISBN 3-940450-20-0
  • V. Knowledge: Called to Freedom - A portrait of the Association of Apostolic Communities (VAG) and its member churches . Re Di Roma, Remscheid 2008, ISBN 978-3-86870-030-5

Web links

Commons : Apostolic Churches  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ apostolisch.de (PDF; 318 kB)
  2. ↑ apostolisch.de (PDF; 383 kB)
  3. ↑ apostolisch.de (PDF; 72 kB)
  4. ↑ apostolisch.de (PDF; 31 kB)