Walter Schmidt (clergyman)

Walter Schmidt (* December 21, 1891 in Neuemühle ; † February 28, 1981 in Dortmund ), succeeded Johann Gottfried Bischoff as Chief Apostle (main leader) of the New Apostolic Church on July 7, 1960 and worked in this office until his retirement on February 15, 1975.

Walter Schmidt was born in southern Westphalia, in the middle of the Ebbegebirge , on December 21, 1891 in Neuemühle (Altena / Westphalia district), municipality of Herscheid . The first meeting with members of the New Apostolic Church took place in 1897. On November 15, 1898, his family was sealed . After leaving school, Walter Schmidt started a commercial apprenticeship in 1906 and visited the New Apostolic congregation in Lüdenscheid . On May 17, 1919, he married Luise Piepenstock, a girl from the community. From 1930 the small family - daughter Waltraut was born in January 1921 - had their residence in Rummenohl. Walter Schmidt bought himself there as a partner in the company Karl Krampe Wwe., Which manufactured hoes, spades and shovels.

Ordinations

• in November 1923 underdeacon
• 1925 assistant priest
• on March 10, 1929 priest
• District Evangelist on January 21, 1940
• on June 25, 1944 district elder for the Dortmund district
• Bishop on May 26, 1945
• on September 29, 1946 apostle in the apostle district of Westphalia
• District Apostle for Westphalia on September 19, 1948

After District Apostle Peter Kuhlen was expelled from the neighboring Rhineland, he also took on care there from January 24, 1955 to April 14, 1968.

After the death of Chief Apostle JG Bischoff, District Apostle Walter Schmidt was unanimously elected as the new Chief Apostle in the Apostles' Meeting on July 7, 1960 in Frankfurt / Main. This is remarkable insofar as the “message” of his predecessor “he will not die again until Jesus comes again” penetrated the teaching and proclamation of the church in such a way that a successor for JG Bischoff was explicitly excluded several times. The successor Peter Kuhlen , who was unanimously elected in 1948 and ordained as Chief Apostle Helper , resigned from his office in 1950 for this reason. However, the Church was forced to act due to the apparent failure to deliver the “message”. It was declared that "God has changed His plan and given the church one more trial period." So Walter Schmidt took over his office and thus the main leadership of all New Apostolic congregations on July 10, 1960. He succeeded in calming the turmoil that occurred in 1955 after the exclusion of Kuhlen (see Apostolic Community ) and the death of Bischoff and largely stabilized the church .

With the resolution of the Apostle College on January 1, 1961, the seat of the New Apostolic Church was moved from Frankfurt / Main to Dortmund.

At the beginning of June 1961 the Chief Apostle visited England and in May 1963 he visited the USA and Canada. On April 8, 1965, he visited South Africa.

In February 1975 Walter Schmidt decided to retire due to his poor health. He appointed the Apostle Ernst Fahrtisen from Zurich as the successor and main leader of the New Apostolic Church. He died on February 28, 1981 in his hometown of Dortmund.

Web links

• Literature by and about Walter Schmidt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Portrait of Chief Apostle Walter Schmidt ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• 120th birthday of Chief Apostle Schmidt

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Gottfried Bischoff	Chief Apostle of the New Apostolic Church 1960–1975	Ernst Fahrtisen