Association of Apostolic Christians

Basic data
Logo:
Official name:	Association of Apostolic Christians
leading clergyman:	Apostle Bruno Zehnder
President:	Alfred Schaeffer
Membership:	Association of Apostolic Communities
Municipalities :	.12.2018: 3
Parishioners:	.12.2018: 379
Establishment date:	November 19, 1954
Seat:	Zofingen
Address:	Mühlethalstrasse 4 4800 Zofingen
Official Website:	www.apostolisch.ch

The Association of Apostolic Christians (VAC) is a Swiss free church and was created in 1954 after separating from the New Apostolic Church (NAK). It has been united with other apostolic free churches in the Association of Apostolic Congregations (VAG) since 1956 .

Emergence

In 1951, after the introduction of new statutes with an age limit that he had already reached, the New Apostolic District Apostle for Switzerland, Ernst Güttinger, was retired against his will by the head of the New Apostolic Church, Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff . He had criticized the Chief Apostle's authoritarian position several times in advance when he proposed in 1948 that the seat of the New Apostolic Church in Frankfurt a. M. (Germany) to move to a neutral country and to limit the Chief Apostle's term of office. In addition, there had been a "power struggle" between Güttinger and the Frankfurt headquarters in the Saarland communities, which were looked after from Switzerland from 1945 until they were reintegrated into the Federal Republic of Germany.

Ernst Güttinger's son, Otto Güttinger, was initially planned as his successor in the district leadership, but in 1951 Bishop Ernst Eschmann was appointed as the new district apostle. He died about a year later and Bishop Ernst Fahrtisen was appointed head of the Swiss congregations in 1953, who himself was Chief Apostle from 1975 to 1978 and moved the headquarters of the NAC to Switzerland.

In 1954 Otto Güttinger was urged by fellow apostles Fahrtisen, Baur and Hänni to give up his post as apostle due to an objection to the chief apostle's "message" . When he refused, he was deposed and expelled. He then founded the Apostolic Congregation with about 1,000 members with his father . In October 1957, however, it was defeated in the name dispute with the New Apostolic Church and had to change its name to the Association of Apostolic Christians . All other lawsuits against persons of the VAC were dismissed.

The two apostles Güttinger made contact with the apostles of the Reformed Apostolic Congregation Association (RAG), and so it came about in Frankfurt a. M. for a first meeting on November 27th and 28th, 1954. Apostle Smit from the Reformed Apostolic Congregations in Holland and Bishop Herbert Schmidt from the Apostolic Congregation of the Saarland were also present. On January 18 and 19, 1956, the Swiss apostles Ernst and Otto Güttinger, the apostles of the Apostolic Community (AG) Dehmel, Dunkmann and Kuhlen, the apostle corner of the Reformed-Apostolic Congregation, Apostle Kamphuis and Smit, the community of Apostolic Christians , came to Düsseldorf (GvaC) and seven bishops of these parishes together. The Apostles Erasmus and Malan of the South African Apostolic Church - Apostle Unity , the Australian Apostle Zischke of the Apostolic Church of Queensland and the Apostles Müller and Ostermann of the RAG agreed to the Düsseldorf agreements and founded the Association of Apostolic Congregations (VAG) on July 24, 1956 .

After Otto Güttinger's death on July 5, 1960, Erwin Kindler († December 28, 2007) succeeded him as an apostle on September 10, 1961. Walter Baltisberger was an Apostle from June 21, 1992 to November 3, 2013. On November 3, 2013, he retired with Bishop Willi Roth. The new apostle ordained priest Bruno Zehnder took over the leadership of the community.

Doctrine, Offices and Liturgy

see here the paragraph under Apostolic Community (Free Church) #Theology and Teaching

Current situation

The community currently maintains 5 communities with around 400 members in Kölliken, Lugano, Olten, Zofingen and Zurich. The theological direction is incumbent on the Apostle Bruno Zehnder, the legal direction is exercised by a church council with a presiding president. An annual membership fee of 200 francs is levied for adults (including those entitled to AHV) and 125 francs for young people from confirmation up to the age of 20 and for those entitled to disability insurance. Only the apostle is employed full-time at the moment.

The French congregations of the VAG were also looked after from Switzerland until December 15, 1991, when the French elder André Grein was ordained apostle for France in Amnéville and took over the leadership of the since then independent community within the Federation.

In April 2005 the NAK and the VAC came to an agreement on the evaluation of the events in the 1950s and a joint declaration was read out in all New Apostolic and Apostolic congregations in Switzerland.

Until 2005, the Association of Apostolic Christians 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 .

A monthly magazine Der Herold has been published since 1954, initially by the Swiss "Association of Apostolic Christians". The editors have been with the administration of the Apostolic Community in Düsseldorf for years . In the 1970s and 1980s there was still a magazine called “Blickpunkt”, which was merged with the “Herold” in the early 1990s. Since January 1st, 2011, the Herold has been discontinued in favor of the bimonthly magazine "Blickpunkt".

Church building

The community maintains three of its own churches in Zofingen, Kölliken and Olten. The inauguration of the first church in Zofingen took place on July 8, 1956, and the church in Kölliken followed on June 2, 1963. In Zurich, VAC had had its own premises since December 22, 1985, which were given up in August 2013. Since then, the service has been held in the premises of the Blue Cross Zurich. In Olten, on the outskirts of Trimbach, the community administration is located next to the community building.