Musicians reap resounding silence

Concert and divine service in Argentina

In a divine service in Buenos Aires in Argentina this past Sunday, 2 April 2017, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider placed Apostle Norberto Pablo Bianchi (66) into retirement after forty years of service in the Church. The Apostle, the son of the late District Apostle Pablo Bianchi, worked in southern Argentina, southern Chile, and in the province of Buenos Aires. As a successor, the Chief Apostle ordained the hitherto Bishop Claudio González (57) an Apostle.

On Saturday evening, the Chief Apostle together with the members attended a festive concert in our church. More than 200 musicians, among them a sixty-member orchestra, delighted the audience of 1,400. “We honour the Creator and praise Him with the gifts and talents He has given us”. This was the motto of the concert. At the end of the performance the musicians reaped resounding silence instead of thunderous applause. Chief Apostle Schneider had asked the audience to express their gratitude this way. As he thanked the performers, he looked at every single one. “It was moving,” people said who were there.

The Chief Apostle en route to Panama

Chief Apostle Schneider is on his way to Panama in Central America. Four million people live in this country that is located on the narrow bridge of land that connects North and South America. It is the third visit of a Chief Apostle to Panama. Chief Apostle Richard Fehr visited the New Apostolic Christians there in April 1998 and Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber in April 2009.

On Friday afternoon the Chief Apostle will meet with the Bishops and Apostles of the country. This will be followed by a tour of the Panama Canal. Technical progress brought the railway to Panama well over a hundred years ago, which provided important infrastructure for the building of the Panama Canal, which was opened in 1914. It connects the Atlantic with the Pacific. The canal as well as the brisk trade it brings to Panama make the country what it is: a meeting-point of the cultures.

The Chief Apostle is accompanied by District Apostle Leonard R. Kolb and District Apostle John William Fendt. On Saturday he will celebrate a divine service for the ministers and their wives. On Sunday he will conduct a divine service at the Vasco Núñez de Balboa Convention Center. All the members from Panama as well as guests from other countries in Central America and the Caribbean are invited.

Prayers for victims of St Petersburg metro attack

A terrorist attack in the St Petersburg (Russia) metro claimed 14 lives on 3 April 2017. Many more were seriously injured. District Apostle Wolfgang Nadolny (Berlin-Brandenburg/Germany) who is responsible for Russia and Alexander Jucharin, the manager of the administrative offices in Russia, expressed their sincere sympathy and extended their condolences to the families of the dead and the injured. “Words are inadequate to express the sadness. We pray for every soul and implore God for support, help, and comfort,” it says in the Russian article.

NAC Southern Germany awarded guest status

On Thursday, 30 March 2017, the New Apostolic Church Southern Germany was awarded associate status in the Council of Christian Churches Baden Württemberg/Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Deutschland, ACK). It took 16 years of dialogue and getting to know one another to come this far. Apostle Volker Kühnle, who was responsible for the dialogue with the regional chapter of the ACK, expressed his joy at the unanimous vote to award associate status to the New Apostolic Church. Both sides expressed their gratitude for the mutual trust that has developed over the last years and now look forward to working together.