Things are moving. The District Apostle Meeting in Mainz (Germany) had numerous projects on its agenda with the aim of strengthening the ministers, teachers, musicians, and church life altogether.
A central concern: leadership in the Church is not to be enforced through ministerial authority. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider has clearly and repeatedly emphasised this. “We have to convince people,” he demands.
The Serving and Leading model shows how this can be achieved. The aim of this globally binding policy is to help the individual contribute to the unity of the Church through Christian love, as well as mutual understanding and respect, District Apostle Thomas Deubel from Switzerland explained.
New policy for a shared coexistence
However, the 18-page brochure dates back to 2001, and a lot has changed since then: the Catechism was published, our concept of ministry was redefined, and the ordination of women was introduced. It is no wonder then that the Serving and Leading model was submitted for discussion and consideration at the session of the District Apostle Meeting in Ghana last year.
Since then, the Regional Churches have submitted numerous proposals for amendments. These were compiled into a new draft, which has now been discussed. The revised version is to be introduced soon.
Rethinking our concept of congregation
Church life was also on the agenda. “Congregation of the Future” is the name of a project group comprised of the European District Apostles, who have now presented their work to their overseas colleagues.
The project group looks at questions such as: What exactly do we mean by congregation? How do social developments affect congregational life? And what helps in founding, developing, and maintaining a congregation? District Apostle Stefan Pöschel (Western Germany) presented further insights.
Some of these findings have already been published under the title “The nature and duty of the Christian congregation in the spiritual sense” in a special edition of the Divine Service Guide (01/2025). Further publications are to follow.
Teaching material, songs, Divine Service Guide
Simon Heiniger, head of project management, gave an overview of the ongoing work in the project groups of the New Apostolic Church International.
This includes:
- an analysis of the production process of the Divine Service Guide
- new teaching material for Religious Instruction—soon to be launched in English, French, and Dutch
- the revision of the confirmation teaching materials, including translation
- an update of the Corporate Design Manual and the Social Media Guidelines
- digital sheet music from the hymnal, choir book, and youth songbook in use in Europe
- and new modules for the online learning tool for ministers
The revision of the Catechism is a particularly important topic. A lot has happened since its publication in 2012/2013: a new ministerial structure, the ordination of women, and some forty additional doctrinal articles have been published.
Several teams of two have already worked their way through the content and identified any need for adaptation. Over 450 comments have been collected so far. They are now being further scrutinised. In the next phase, the chapters will be adapted and initial drafts prepared. When exactly the revised version will be released will have to be seen.
Photos: Frank Schuldt
