Friedrich Krebs (clergyman)

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Friedrich "Fritz" Krebs (born July 30, 1832 in Elend ; † January 21, 1905 in Braunschweig ) introduced the office of Chief Apostle in the New Apostolic Church and was the first to exercise it.

Life

Almost nothing is known about his childhood and youth. He must have grown up in the neighboring village of Sorge for a few years . From his statement, often repeated later, “I was born in misery and was brought up in sorrow”, one can conclude that he lived in very poor circumstances at the time. Friedrich Krebs later worked as a railway foreman in Schladen. A tailor's journeyman brought the testimony of the reestablished apostolic office there, which he had received during a visit to his brother in Hamburg. The Catholic apostolic community there had been excluded by the apostle Francis Valentine Woodhouse in 1863 because they, together with their bishop Friedrich Wilhelm Schwarz , recognized a new call to the apostle, which the other apostles rejected. The General Christian Apostolic Mission emerged , from which the “New Apostolic Church” developed through further division in 1878. Their first apostle, Carl Wilhelm Louis Preuss , came to Schladen in 1864 and donated the Holy Spirit baptism ( sealing ) to Friedrich Krebs and other believers in a nearby wooded area that was already part of the religion-free Kingdom of Prussia . It was the first sealing of the “new apostolic order” outside of Hamburg. At the same time, Friedrich Krebs was ordained a sub-deacon.

With great enthusiasm he campaigned for his new faith in his area but also in neighboring Braunschweig. That was not easy at that time, because in the Kingdom of Hanover there was no religious freedom until 1866. He also found no support in his family, because neither his wife Minna, with whom he had been married since 1855, nor his six children ever accepted his new faith. In 1866 Fritz Krebs was ordained a priest and in 1874 an elder. For professional reasons, he moved with his family to Wolfenbüttel and built a community there too. As his area of ​​responsibility grew, his job at the railway came in very handy, as it allowed him to make the many train journeys for free. After the death of Apostle Preuss, he was ordained bishop on June 27, 1880 and a year later, on May 27, 1881, as apostle. Many “prophecies from the Holy Spirit” had, in his opinion, pointed to him as the successor of the Apostle Prussia.

In 1894 he retired and was awarded the Crown Order IV class for his services as railway master by Kaiser Wilhelm II . Now he could fully devote himself to his calling as an apostle.

Until the death of the apostle Friedrich Wilhelm Schwarz from the Netherlands in 1895, the apostles worked largely independently in their field of work (then referred to as "tribe", following the example of the ancient Israelite tribes) and only occasionally came together to form a "circle of apostles" . Apostle Schwarz was the highest teaching authority and strove for the unity of the apostles. Already during his lifetime he showed his special spiritual connection to the Apostle Krebs. After his death, the other apostles submitted to the apostle Krebs' leadership. The title of “Chief Apostle” was introduced at the instigation of Friedrich Krebs in order to ensure the unity of the New Apostolic Church through a supreme office. From 1896 he was referred to as the "Chief Apostle" himself. At Pentecost 1897, he had this title confirmed by all the other "Apostles" in Bielefeld. However, the chief apostle's office only received general recognition as a leadership position under his successor.

Chief Apostle Krebs ordained eight other Apostles during his term of office. In addition to Germany, the Netherlands and the USA, apostolic congregations could also be founded in Switzerland, Sweden, Argentina, the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), South Africa and Australia. As early as 1898, Krebs designated Apostle Hermann Niehaus as his successor as Chief Apostle in the event of his death.

Chief Apostle Friedrich Krebs died on January 20, 1905 of the consequences of pneumonia.

predecessor	Office	successor
Office newly created	Chief Apostle of the New Apostolic Church 1896–1905	Hermann Niehaus