A master optician looking into the heart
He was not really typical of his home region: neither humourless, nor stubborn, nor even arrogant. In fact, Hermann Engelauf was a happy, friendly, and approachable person. He would have turned 100 on 19 December.
It was in Bielefeld that Hermann Engelauf was born in 1924, and it was in Bielefeld that he died in 2011. While this might suggest a locally oriented resumé, such an assumption would be missing the mark by far: Engelauf’s sphere of influence was rather more global, both in the figurative and literal sense. The master optician had a good eye for the needs of other people from all walks of life and on all continents.
As an Apostle, he was a dedicated missionary. As a District Apostle, he saw to it that new congregations were established regularly and that personnel decisions were effective and sustainable. After Chief Apostle Urwyler called him to serve as District Apostle for the District Apostle area of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 1980, “a veritable jolt went through the districts,” as one of his later successors in ministry described it.
Stories and experiences
For example, there is this story that is always told when the name Engelauf comes up: he and some colleagues were driving through the streets of Lisbon in search of a plot of land on which to build the first New Apostolic Church in Portugal, when they saw a man in front of an empty house. The District Apostle stopped the car, went up to the man, noticed that the book in his hands was a Bible, and won him over to both purposes: the construction of the church building and the founding of the Igreja Nova Apostólica. A short time later, Manuel Luiz was ordained as the first Portuguese Apostle in Bielefeld.
Another such story was when the District Apostle made a surprise visit to a small suburban congregation, inquired in the sacristy about the congregation’s wellbeing and, in particular, about a certain Deacon. He then opened the Bible at random, read a passage, and went on to ordain the Deacon as a Priest in the divine service—without so much as an announcement, preliminary discussion, or explanation—simply trusting in God. On the afternoon of the same Sunday, the newly ordained Priest was already conducting his first divine service.
And there are many more similar stories. Hermann Engelauf simply had a special eye for people. He not only looked at their outward person, but straight into their heart.
Youth seminars and wafer bakery
He also ushered in a relaxed and joyful style of preaching in the divine services. He liked to bestow praise, and gained influence through his inspiring rhetoric and friendly body language. And his smile always won people’s hearts. He was always very open to youth issues and initiated regional youth seminars and leisure activities throughout his working area. He was happy to allocate resources to this and thereby laid the foundations for the widely praised youth care program in his district.
The communion wafer bakery in Bielefeld, which he supported and modernised, supplied all New Apostolic congregations around the world with wafers during peak periods. His Regional Church also covered these costs.
Rapprochement and reconciliation
Hermann Engelauf and Werner Kuhlen were friends from old days. Fortunately, he and the son of District Apostle Peter Kuhlen, who was excommunicated from the Church in the 1950s, never completely lost contact. So it was that a thread of conversation between the Apostolic and New Apostolic traditions remained intact, albeit a fragile one.
Ultimately, this resulted in a personal meeting between Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber and Werner Kuhlen. That Sunday afternoon on 30 March 2008 was an important milestone marking a new beginning for relationships between the two churches. Unfortunately, Hermann Engelauf did not live to see the official signing of the Statement of reconciliation that occurred on 29 November 2014, but how delighted he would have been if he had!
Funeral and commemoration
In October 2011, the retired District Apostle closed his eyes for the last time. The aforementioned Deacon, whom he had surprised with an ordination into the Priest ministry, had in the meantime become a Bishop, and was the last to celebrate Holy Communion with him. The then Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber conducted the funeral in Hermann Engelauf’s home congregation of Bielefeld South. In addition to the large congregation in mourning, nearly 40 District Apostles and Apostles had travelled with him, including the retired Chief Apostle Richard Fehr. The Bible text for the sermon was taken from Isaiah 32: 8: “But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand” (NIV). A fitting passage!
Hermann Engelauf worked in a leading position for 25 years, including fourteen years as an Apostle and eleven years as a District Apostle. Teacher, bridgebuilder, peacemaker, dignitary—many such honorary titles apply to him. But he was one thing above everything else: a philanthropist—a friend of humanity.
Photo: Oliver Rütten