seasons.today

A man who said yes and stayed true

A faithful servant of the Church, that sounds like the perfect caption for the life of Johann Rissik Kitching, who was responsible for the fate of the New Apostolic Church in Southern Africa for many years. Who was this man? Let us take a look back in honour of his 100th birthday.

November 30, 2020

Africa Apostolate

+13

• Chief Apostle
• Congregation
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Grieving
• Investiture
• Ministry
• Pastoral care
• Profile
• Retirement
• Thanksgiving Day
• Youth

Listen to it

Starting the new church year together

On Sunday Christians around the world will celebrate the first Sunday of Advent. A time of special lights, being together, and extraordinary emotions.

November 27, 2020

Advent

+6

• Chief Apostle
• Christmas
• Congregation
• Divine service
• Europe
• Music

Listen to it

At home worldwide: Sharing joy and sorrow

Life is varied. Misery and elation alternate, and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is making it difficult not to feel overwhelmed. But there are always hopeful little stories that encourage and point to a better future. Here is a small glimpse.

November 25, 2020

Australia / Pacific

+11

• Christmas
• Congregation
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Easter
• History 
• Investiture
• Ministry
• Music
• Pastoral care

Listen to it

Jesus dries our tears

The sermon was about weeping, but the situation was anything but sad! On the contrary, those who weep are to be consoled. This was the message of the Chief Apostle during a divine service in Strasbourg (France) on 15 November 2020.

November 24, 2020

America

+6

• Chief Apostle
• Congregation
• Divine service
• Easter
• Grieving
• Pastoral care

Listen to it

Jesus Christ is our friend

Life is full of change: there is a constant flux between doubts and cares and strong faith and joy. But there is one thing we can always count on, says Chief Apostle Schneider.

November 18, 2020

Chief Apostle

+3

• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Easter

Listen to it

Where’s the fire?

The return of Christ: this is the goal of faith for all New Apostolic Christians. Yet the fire of Christian anticipation of His imminent return was ignited long before the modern age. Following is a summary of 2,000 years of history.

November 9, 2020

Apostolate Concept of salvation for the departed

+5

• Doctrine 
• Europe
• History 
• Ministry
• Society

Listen to it

Divine service for the departed: Jesus is Lord

Christians feel a need to intercede for the dead. This coming Sunday, New Apostolic Christians will celebrate the divine service for the departed. The services will be broadcast around the world.

October 30, 2020

Chief Apostle

+4

• Concept of salvation for the departed
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Sacraments

Listen to it

The church year is quietly drawing to a close

This year, the month of November has five Sundays. The church year ends on the last Sunday of the month, meaning that the Advent season begins at the end of November. How quickly a year passes! Reason enough to occupy ourselves with future things. What is meant here is a fundamental theological concept.

October 29, 2020

Advent

+4

• Chief Apostle
• Congregation
• Divine service
• Doctrine 

Listen to it

Giving thanks? Now is precisely the time!

Giving thanks to God? In difficult times this may not come to us so easily. Yet it is part of the battle against the crisis, says the Chief Apostle. He also explains how to manage this and what we get out of it ourselves: a divine service in two groups of five thoughts.

October 28, 2020

Chief Apostle

+9

• Congregation
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Grieving
• Holy Communion
• Pastoral care
• Sacraments
• Society
• Thanksgiving Day

Listen to it

Gratitude not only on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day commemorates the creatorship of God. This is what the New Apostolic Catechism says. Once a year, a Sunday is set aside for this in the church calendar. But gratitude is something that Christians can show God on all the other days of the year as well, the Chief Apostle says.

October 13, 2020

Chief Apostle

+4

• Congregation
• Divine service
• Society
• Thanksgiving Day

Listen to it

Between Thanksgiving and the service for the departed

In the northern hemisphere, the month of October is often described as a “golden” month: it still brings quite a bit of sunshine, boasts some beautiful sunsets, and paints the leaves of the trees in fabulous hues. This only serves to reinforce the realisation that God’s creation is wonderful!

September 28, 2020

Concept of salvation for the departed

+3

• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Thanksgiving Day

Listen to it

A divine service with singing is grace

COVID-19 has even had an influence on the liturgical sequence of the divine services: where choirs used to sing, voices must often be silent now. What remains is the search for creative solutions…

September 11, 2020

Africa

+6

• Chief Apostle
• Congregation
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Easter
• Youth

Listen to it

First female Church president appointed

Esther Kompare is the new president of the New Apostolic Church Slovenia. This is the first time that a woman has taken on this responsibility in this country.

September 4, 2020

Asia

+8

• Congregation
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Easter
• Europe
• Pastoral care
• Sacraments

Listen to it

The sacraments (17): commonalities and differences in black and white

Naturally the churches acknowledge each other’s baptisms, even though this step has taken centuries to achieve. After all, the question of sacraments is intimately linked to the respective understanding each one has of what constitutes church. And yet they have all managed to approve sound papers on the subject.

September 1, 2020

Denominations

+6

• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Easter
• Holy Communion
• Ministry
• Sacraments

Listen to it

… the church comes to the believer

Lockdown, bans on assembly, no divine services—in many places, believers cannot gather together in the church. For them the offer of divine service by video continues.

August 28, 2020

Chief Apostle

+6

• Concept of salvation for the departed
• Congregation
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Holy Communion
• Sacraments

Listen to it

One faith, one church

Who or what is the New Apostolic Church? In any case, it is more than just one individual church. In fact, legally speaking, it is an association of independent churches. What makes it a global entity?

August 21, 2020

Advent

+14

• Africa
• Apostolate
• Asia
• Chief Apostle
• Congregation
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Ministry
• Organisation
• Pastoral care
• Pentecost
• Sacraments
• Youth

Listen to it

Poster series 2021: I do my part in the congregation

Despite the corona pandemic, there will still be a new series of showcase posters for use in our congregations next year. Contrary to previous years, however, there was no photoshoot this time around.

August 18, 2020

Chief Apostle Congregation

+2

• Easter
• Europe

Listen to it

Who is your God?

“One time doesn’t even count,” people often say in an attempt to diminish the weight of individual decisions and put them into a broader perspective. And indeed, what counts in the long run is not the individual misstep, but rather the fundamental inner values of the person.

August 11, 2020

Acts of blessing

+4

• Concept of salvation for the departed
• Confirmation
• Doctrine 
• History 

Listen to it

Using my gifts to bring glory to God

Olga Shcherban (50) is a chorus master at the Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theatre in Russia. Our sister in faith also puts her gift and her musical skills to use in her congregation and the Church.

August 1, 2020

Chief Apostle

+8

• Christmas
• Congregation
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Event
• Music
• Thanksgiving Day
• Youth

Listen to it

Spotlight 14/2020: Doing something good for ourselves and others

Doing something good for yourself and giving your neighbour without expecting anything … This is what District Apostle Tshitshi Tshisekedi (Democratic Republic Congo South-East) reflects on in his article on our annual motto.

July 28, 2020

Annual motto

+5

• Chief Apostle
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• New Year

Listen to it

The same help, here as well as there

Whether here on earth or in the beyond, the sufferings are the same. And the solutions are the same too. Here are seven examples of how Jesus Christ alleviates our spiritual needs.

July 15, 2020

Apostolate

+4

• Chief Apostle
• Concept of salvation for the departed
• Divine service
• Doctrine 

Listen to it

Changes in the circle of the Apostles (1/2020)

Chief Apostle Schneider ordained three Apostles in the first half of the year. Two Apostles went into retirement and one died while still active.

July 8, 2020

Africa America

+13

• Apostolate
• Asia
• Australia / Pacific
• Chief Apostle
• Congregation
• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Easter
• Investiture
• Ministry
• Pastoral care
• Retirement

Listen to it

From the “new light” to the “message”

It is not all that uncommon for a pendulum to swing to the other side. This too is part of the story of Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff, who died on 6 July sixty years ago—to the dismay of many brothers and sisters.

July 6, 2020

Chief Apostle

+9

• District Apostle
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Easter
• History 
• Holy Sealing
• Investiture
• Ministry
• Sacraments

Listen to it

Ranging from the familiar to the controversial

The divine service themes in the month of July are filled with contrast: they range from God’s loving grace to His strict law, from the hallowed Sabbath to the prohibition against killing.

June 25, 2020

Chief Apostle

+5

• Concept of salvation for the departed
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• History 
• Society

Listen to it

The sacraments (12): The durability and resistance of baptism

Acceptance, cleansing, total renewal: Scripture knows many interpretations of baptism. What the sacrament meant to people in concrete terms has changed in the course of history. Often it was a matter of politics and society.

June 23, 2020

Acts of blessing

+7

• Confirmation
• Congregation
• Doctrine 
• History 
• Holy Communion
• Sacraments
• Society

Listen to it

Welcome to the virtual church

Part of our congregational and church life has moved online because of COVID-19. Here is a look at some of the means used and what online offers are available this coming Sunday in terms of divine services.

June 19, 2020

Acts of blessing

+9

• Chief Apostle
• Confirmation
• Congregation
• Divine service
• Doctrine 
• Good Friday
• Palm Sunday
• Pastoral care
• Pentecost

Listen to it

don't miss

The donkey, that’s me

Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He chose His mount to enter Jerusalem. What’s more, He sent signals right up to our own time. Here is a reflection on the theme of Palm Sunday.

March 23, 2024

Palm Sunday Good Friday

+3

• Congregation
• America
• History 

Listen to it

Ascension means: now it’s your turn

Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church. But like a plant that germinates underground before the first shoots emerge, the origins of the church lie deeper and earlier.

May 28, 2025

Ascension Day Pentecost

+2

• Divine service
• Society

Listen to it

Lead-up to Pentecost

God reveals Himself as Trinity. The self-revelation of God is concluded in the Pentecost event, the grand finale. The divine services in the month of May revolve around the promise, sending, and efficacy of the Holy Spirit.

May 3, 2024

Pentecost Doctrine 

+2

• Divine service
• History 

Listen to it

Not your typical Christmas article

Star, stable, shepherds, angels—and a crying baby in the living room. This year, Christmas will not just be explained, but experienced. A Christmas article of a different kind.

December 24, 2025

Christmas Advent

Listen to it