The transition from the International Youth Convention to Pentecost was practically seamless. But before Sunday’s Pentecost celebration there are numerous working meetings. This year’s setting is a congregation that developed from a famous mother church.
In a confidential letter to a councillor named Hoppenstedt, a policeman by the name of Wiedekamp reported strange activities: a group of people had gathered for worship in a forest near the Prussian village of Schladen—in the middle of the night.
It was in that night in July 1864 that Apostle Carl Wilhelm Louis Preuss sealed more than a dozen men, women, and children. This is how the church in Schladen came into being, the first German congregation outside of Hamburg of the future New Apostolic Church. From here the doctrine spread throughout the area.
A firm foothold since 1900
The teaching found fertile ground in neighbouring Goslar: as early as 1872 so-called religious lectures took place there concerning important issues of the Christian church of that time. Every Wednesday and Sunday evening at eight o’clock every “orderly and peaceful listener was welcome to attend”, the records state.
However, the apostolic congregation in Goslar only began to really gain a foothold with the actual founding of the congregation in 1900. In 1954 the congregation moved into its first own church building. In 1989 then the congregation’s current church was dedicated. This is where the 2019 Pentecost service will take place this coming Sunday, 9 June.
Apostles at work
But before this, the Apostles and District Apostles have their work cut out for them. The Working Group Divine Service Guide met with authors from across the world for one of its regular meetings. Up for discussion were the implementation of certain impulses which the Apostles had brought back with them from the International Youth Convention the weekend before.
One of the central points on the agenda of the District Apostle Meeting, namely the continuing work on our concept of ministry, was also mentioned at the Youth Convention. The focus of the District Apostles’ discussions in Goslar is the question of the ordination of women. Definitive answers are, however, not to be expected yet.
A break for the arts
On Wednesday evening the District Apostles and their Helpers were deployed to 18 congregations in the area for the midweek service.
“I am with you always!” is the motto of the Pentecost concert on Saturday, 8 June 2019. The central choir and orchestra from Saxony/Thuringia will be performing parts from Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah, as well as songs from the German choir book and a youth choir book.
Worldwide transmission of the divine service
The highlight and also the last event of the 2019 Pentecost festivities is the divine service with the Chief Apostle. Members across the world can participate in the divine service because Bischoff Publishers will be broadcasting the event to all continents—in 20 languages.
A total of eight satellites and six ground stations are needed to transmit the video and audio signals to the more than 100 countries. Many participants will be watching the transmission of the service live in their congregations, while some will be watching a recording owing to the time difference. In some cases, it will even be transmitted via public television. Many congregations in South-East Asia and some countries in Africa will be connected over the Internet.
The New Apostolic Church has known divine service transmissions since 1946, initially only audio. Since 1990, thanks to satellite technology, the global Church has been moving closer together to form a large congregation at Pentecost.
Photo: Stefan Schiefer / GMG