Carl Wilhelm Louis Preuss

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Carl Wilhelm Louis Preuss (born January 12, 1827 in Matzdorf (Matuszowice), district of Crossen / Niederlausitz, † July 25, 1878 in Hamburg ) was the first incumbent apostle of the general Christian apostolic mission , from which the New Apostolic Church later emerged.

Life

After the early death of his parents, he grew up with his grandparents in Linum near Fehrbellin (Brandenburg), was confirmed in the Lutheran Church and then learned the carpentry trade. As a journeyman, he went on a journey and got to know the Catholic-Apostolic congregations in Berlin . It is believed to have been sealed by Apostle Thomas Carlyle around 1850 . On June 14, 1855, he was ordained a priest in Berlin, also by Apostle Carlyle.

A year later he gave up his work in Rathenow and was sent to Hamburg by Bishop Carl Rothe. There he was supposed to be in charge of the Catholic Apostolic community. The state had banned them from gathering and expelled their officials from the city. Since Priest Preuss came to Hamburg as a carpenter looking for a job and not as a clergyman, he was allowed to hold private religious meetings. He practiced his profession until 1866. In 1860 he married Anna Maria Todtmann, a religious sister from his community.

The Hamburg community developed so well that in 1858 Bishop Rothe sent the elder Friedrich Wilhelm Schwarz to Hamburg as reinforcement.

The Catholic Apostolic Congregations came into being in England in the 1830s. “Prophecies of the Holy Spirit” had called 12 apostles who now tried to unite Christianity under the leadership of these apostles. Since they did not find approval from the clergy of the other Christian churches, a new church came into being. In 1855 the Apostles Mackenzie, Carlyle and Dow died. Efforts, especially by the German prophet Heinrich Geyer , to replace the deceased apostles were rejected by the remaining apostles.

On October 10, 1862, meanwhile only six of the twelve English apostles were still alive, the prophet Geyer appointed the elder Rudolf Rosochacki as an apostle in Königsberg (East Prussia). This new appointment was welcomed with joy by the Hamburg community. Apostle Francis Valentine Woodhouse then expelled the Hamburg congregation and its ministers, including Bishop Schwarz , Prophet Geyer and Priest Preuss, from the Catholic Apostolic Church. Apostle Rosochacki resigned from his office as apostle after reproaches from Bishop Rothe and his own wife and remained in the Catholic-Apostolic community. Now the excluded Hamburg congregation stood there without an apostle, but continued to gather for prayers and worship.

On April 12, 1863, the priest Louis Preuss was called an apostle by the prophecy of a deacon. The absent prophet Geyer later confirmed this calling as coming from the Spirit of God. Bishop Schwarz also placed himself under his new apostle, until he was called to be an apostle himself a short time later. In addition to the Catholic Apostolic Churches, a new apostolic branch (“new order”) called itself General Christian Apostolic Mission was created .

Apostle Preuss followed his calling with great effort and worked on the internal and external development and expansion of the new apostolic congregations. He had to endure hostility and persecution and was arrested several times because of the lack of religious freedom.

In 1864, a subsidiary of Hamburg was established in Schladen (Harz). On July 25, Apostle Preuss carried out the first sealing of the “new order” outside of Hamburg in a nearby wooded area that already belonged to the religion-free Kingdom of Prussia . The later apostles Friedrich Krebs , H. Friedrich Niemeyer (founder of the Apostolic Church of Queensland ), Heinrich Wachmann and probably Gustav Ruff were among those who were sealed . The municipality of Schladen achieved great importance for the expansion of the municipalities in central Germany.

In the last years of his life there were tensions with the prophet Heinrich Geyer, who wanted to see himself superior to the apostle, since at that time all offices were called by the prophets.

After the death of the apostle Preuss, the prophet Geyer introduced JF Güldner as the new apostle to the Hamburg congregation. Before his death, however, Apostle Preuss had given Elder Wichmann the management of the Hamburg congregation. This and the other apostles did not recognize the call of the new apostle. The church was divided.

The followers of Geyer and Güldner kept the name General Christian Apostolic Mission and disbanded years later.

The remaining Hamburg congregation received a new apostle in Friedrich Krebs in 1881 after the orphaned district had been temporarily cared for by Apostle Friedrich Wilhelm Menkhoff . Together with the other apostles and congregations of the “new order”, they called themselves the New Apostolic Congregation , or later the New Apostolic Church , to which around 10 million members worldwide today profess.