Three new District Apostles in the same year? Nothing like that has happened in quite a while. More on this and other things that occurred on the international leadership level during the year 2025.
Élie Tatien Mukinda (born in 1976) is the name of the new leader of the Regional Church of the Democratic Republic of Congo West. In July he succeeded the retiring District Apostle Michael Deppner, who had led the region for fifteen years and served in ministry for a total of nearly fifty years.
In October, Arnaud Martig (1971) assumed the leadership for the working area of Canada, which also comprises eleven other countries in Africa and Asia. His predecessor Mark Woll, who had likewise led the Regional Church for fifteen years and served in ministry for some fifty years retired the same day.
A series of leadership changes
And in the month of December, Rüdiger Krause retired after 43 years of ministerial service, fifteen of which he served as Church leader. David Heynes (1965) from Great Britain succeeds him at the head of the working area known as “Northern and Eastern Germany”, which incorporates around 20 countries.
These appointments bring the number of leadership changes to its current peak. Two District Apostles were appointed each year for the past two years, namely John Schnabel (USA) and Peter Lambert (Southern Africa) in 2023, and Thomas Deubel (Switzerland) and Stefan Pöschel (Western Germany) in 2024.
Structures remain unchanged for now
The preceding years were defined more by consolidations of regional structures than by personnel changes: in 2016, the District Apostle Areas of Northern Germany and Central Germany were amalgamated to form the new Regional Church of Northern and Eastern Germany. Additionally, the Cape region was merged with the region of South-East Africa to form the Regional Church of Southern Africa.
In 2018 the Regional Church of North Rhine-Westphalia was amalgamated with Hesse / Rhineland Palatinate / Saarland to form a new Regional Church known as Western Germany. Beyond that, the Regional Church of Australia was expanded and renamed into Western Pacific, to reflect the expansion. In 2019 the two Regional Churches in South America merged into a single Regional Church, and in 2022 the Regional Church of Berlin-Brandenburg was absorbed into Northern and Eastern Germany.
These amalgamations are not without reason: “In today’s world, it is no longer conceivable for a global church to be led by a single individual,” Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider explained in a 2018 interview. “If the District Apostles are to be fully involved in leading the Church, their number cannot be too large.”
New District Apostle Helpers herald further changes
The next changes in the top management of the Church are already on the horizon: in March 2025, Apostle Herman Ernst (1966) was assigned as a District Apostle Helper, followed by Apostle Martin Rheinberger (1967) in July this year. In 2026, they are slated to succeed their District Apostles, namely Enrique Minio in South America and Michael Ehrich in Southern Germany, respectively. They have been assigned as District Apostle Helpers and are already familiarising themselves with their new function. This system has in the meantime become an established practice.
This applies especially to the biggest of these changes, namely the one scheduled for the coming year: Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider plans to retire after 13 years in office. He made this announcement on Pentecost 2025 before going on to appoint Apostle Helge Mutschler as Chief Apostle Helper. The latter will be ordained as the new Chief Apostle on Pentecost 2026.
Michael Deppner
Élie Tatien Mukinda
Mark Woll
Arnaud Martig
Rüdiger Krause
David Heynes
Herman Ernst
Martin Rheinberger
Helge Mutschler
Photos: Frank Schuldt, ENA RDC Ouest, NAC Canada, Jens Lange, Mauricio Bolletta, Andreas Selter, Simon Kisselbach