Heinrich Friedrich Niemeyer

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Heinrich Friedrich Niemeyer (born December 11, 1853 in Schladen , † February 29, 1920 in Hatton Vale ( Queensland , Australia)) was an apostolic and New Apostolic clergyman and apostle . He is the founder of the Apostolic Church of Queensland .

origin

Heinrich Friedrich Niemeyer was born in Schladen in the Harz Mountains. As a child, he was one of the first parishioners who were appointed by Apostle Carl Wilhelm Louis Preuss on 25/26. July 1864 were sealed . In his mother's house, services for the General Christian Apostolic Mission took place early on . Later he received the priest and in 1883 the evangelistic office .

In 1883, at the age of 30, he emigrated to Australia. On June 23, 1883, HF Niemeyer arrived in Queensland with his wife and three children. He settled in Hatton Vale. There he began to do missionary work for the apostolic faith and to gather a congregation . This consisted mainly of German emigrants.

Ordinations and a.

  • priest
  • 1883 evangelist
  • 25th July 1886 Apostle - mission festival in Osterode am Fallstein by Apostle Menkhoff and Krebs

Activity as an apostle

In 1886 he was singled out at a mission festival in the Harz Mountains by Apostle Friedrich Wilhelm Menkhoff and Apostle Friedrich Krebs (clergyman) after a previous prophetic call to become an Apostle, so that he could work there independently after his return to Australia.

In 1906 he visited Europe again and took part in an apostle meeting as the oldest apostle or "elder apostle". At this meeting, Niemeyer wanted to push through his ideas, which he did not succeed. Apparently he had already advertised emigration in Lower Saxony and the Rhineland in 1906. Niemeyer had won German compatriots for the government in Queensland as farmers. The English government in Queensland preferred German immigrants to English because they cultivated and cultivated the land.

Emigration Acquisition

Niemeyer campaigned, probably primarily or exclusively in the Apostolic Churches, for emigration to Australia. However, the conditions for the German emigrants were not as rosy as they were described. A number of emigrants complained that they had to live there in poverty. The German apostles and the chief apostle reacted by issuing a leaflet warning against emigration under false beliefs.

Break with Niehaus

From 1906 the relationship between Niemeyer and Chief Apostle Hermann Christoph Niehaus deteriorated more and more. Niemeyer did not agree with the developments in the European New Apostolic congregations. He rejected the office of chief apostle and advocated strong autonomy for each individual apostle in his area of ​​work. However, his ideas did not meet with approval from most of the other apostles. As a result, Niemeyer distanced himself more and more from Niehaus. He later rejected both Niehaus and the apostles associated with Niehaus - the Apostle Ring - as "false apostles".

Break with the New Apostolic Church

It is often claimed that Heinrich Friedrich Niemeyer was suspended from the Apostle ministry and excluded from the Church because of the criticism of the Chief Apostle's office and the criticism of Chief Apostle Niehaus' "Doctrine of the New Light" . According to more recent findings, this does not correspond to the facts. Rather, it must be assumed that Niemeyer was excluded from the circle of apostles in 1911, but that this did not at the same time mean that he had been excommunicated or that he was removed from his office as an apostle.

In the first half of 1912, the European apostles under the direction of Niehaus apparently confirmed the emigrated priest Jakob Dietz in Australia as a priest in order to be pastor there for those cast out by Niemeyer. Niemeyer reacted to this in the summer of 1912. On August 11, 1912, in an Australian service, the instruction is said to have come by prophecy that one, especially Niemeyer, should no longer pray for Niehaus because God had rejected him. Niemeyer publishes this in an appeal and writes further explanations in a letter on August 14th.

At the end of August 1912, all community leaders were informed in a confidential message that Niemeyer had separated from the unity of the apostles. The reasons given are the attempted displacement of the Chief Apostle and the organization of the wave of emigration to Australia that took place behind the Chief Apostle's back. Letters from Australia are also mentioned, in which the miserable circumstances of the emigrants are described.

After the break

Niemeyer now called his church the Apostolic Unity Church, or the Genuine Apostolic Church. After Easter 1913, Niemeyer himself traveled to Germany with his wife and the evangelists Johann August Richter and Kirchner, where he called some apostles. Several congregations called themselves "Genuine Apostolic Congregations" formed around him.

During the First World War, Niemeyer was interned as a German. As a result, his health deteriorated and shortly after his release he died in 1920. His son Wilhelm Niemeyer was ordained as an apostle in 1912 and took over the leadership of the church.

literature

  • Andreas Ostheimer, "New Apostles and Real Apostles. On the Controversy between Niehaus and Niemeyer." in: Proceedings "Meetings in Netzschkau 2009": Construction, expansion, separations. The development of the apostolic communities in the first third of the 20th century. Documentation of the meeting of interested people on the history of the apostolic communities on September 12 and 13, 2009 in Lengenfeld and Netzschkau.

Web links

  • Apwiki - www.apwiki.de

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Coen Reimer, Apostolic in Queensland, n.d. [Netherlands] 2006, 12.
  2. cf. Ostheimer, "New Apostles and Real Apostles"
  3. Separated, but not excluded (fee-based article at Glaubenskultur, see: [ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ]) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.glaubenskultur.de
  4. This version is reproduced at least as it is by Niehaus in the office meeting on November 3, 1912 in Braunschweig.
  5. Ostheimer, p. 35
  6. Ostheimer, p. 35