Only a few weeks after the most recent retirement, the circle of District Apostle Helpers will receive a new addition: to support one of the largest District Apostle Areas.
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Photo: NAK Nord- und Ostdeutschland
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Photo: NAK Nord- und Ostdeutschland
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Photo: Peter Harder
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Photo: Mirco Ulfers
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Photo: NAK Nord- und Ostdeutschland
Pastoral care for the District Church Northern and Eastern Germany will soon extend from Greenland and Great Britain to Northern Europe and Central Asia. The current entity will merge with the District Church Berlin-Brandenburg—as we reported—and the countries it serves in the early part of 2022.
To help him accomplish this, District Apostle Rüdiger Krause will receive support: Apostle Helge Mutschler will be assigned a District Apostle Helper. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider informed the District Apostles about this at the beginning of last week. And the District Church Northern and Eastern Germany as well as the New Apostolic Church International officially communicated this at the end of last week.
Assignment on 28 February 2021
Helge Mutschler was born in 1974, received his first ministry as a Sub-Deacon at the age of 20, and was ordained as an Apostle in 2015. He current field of activity is Central Germany and Poland. Before he entered the services of the Church he worked as a lawyer; he is a doctor of law. He lives with his wife and two children in Hannover (Germany).
On 28 February he will travel to the area he grew up in, in the south of Germany. There Chief Apostle Schneider will conduct a divine service in which Apostle Mutschler will be assigned District Apostle Helper. The divine service will take place close to the French border, because the Chief Apostle is currently unable to travel to the central part of Germany because of travel restrictions.
Two central tasks
District Apostle Helper Mutschler will help lessen the load on District Apostle Krause for some time, the Chief Apostle informed the District Apostles in a circular. Among other things, Apostle Mutschler is to work together with District Apostle Nadolny in preparing the merger of the District Apostle Areas of Berlin-Brandenburg and Northern and Eastern Germany.
District Apostle Krause, who has been experiencing stress-related health problems for some time, has been thinking about reducing his load, the website of the District Church says and cites him as follows: “I am very grateful that the Chief Apostle has made this decision and look forward to working with the new District Apostle Helper.”
Eight District Apostle Helpers worldwide
District Apostle Helper John Sobottka just retired in late December on reaching retirement age. With the assignment of Apostle Helge Mutschler as a District Apostle Helper, the number of active District Apostles will again be eight. These are: David Devaraj (India), Frank Dzur (Canada), John W. Fendt (USA), Arnold Mhango (Malawi), João Uanuque Misselo (Angola), Patrick Mkhwanazi (South Africa), and Robert Nsamba (Zambia).
District Apostle Helpers are members of the governing board of the New Apostolic Church International. They participate in meetings in an advisory capacity without having their own voting mandate.
Solutions for special circumstances
The function as such is comparatively new in the 150-year history of the New Apostolic Church. The first District Apostle Helpers were assigned in June 1986: four at once to support the Canadian District Apostle Michael Kraus, whose working area at the time spanned practically half the globe.
Chief Apostle Hans Urwyler even wrote about this innovation in the Church magazine The New Apostolic Review. He saw the introduction of this function as a first step in structuring the huge District Apostle Area then. “Already our predecessors found unusual solutions for special circumstances.”