No new churches this year: the New Apostolic Church in the Democratic Republic Congo South-East has decided to suspend its building programme. Instead, the money will be used to invest in Sunday School.
“Building spiritual edifices” is the motto under which the teaching strategy will be reformed and put a new footing in District Apostle Tshitshi Tshisekedi’s working area. The assembly of Apostles and Bishops had decided on this step already last July.
They were implementing Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider’s agenda for Africa, which he had set during the 2015 Pentecost festivities in Zambia. At the time he had said, “Instruct the ministers and organise Sunday School for the children in all congregations”. The New Apostolic Church in the south-eastern part of the DR Congo has almost two million members, making it by far the largest Regional Church.
Regional coordinator and deputy appointed
Together, the leading ministers in the DR Congo South-East made the decision to halt church construction in 2025 in order to invest in teacher training programmes and the printing of children’s teaching materials. The Regional Church will be using the new teaching materials for children published by the New Apostolic Church International.
Teacher training follows the train-the-trainer model. Training will ensue across several levels. Level 1 teacher training began in December 2024. This includes the District Apostle, Lead Apostles, and regional leaders—a total of fifteen people who have been trained and certified.
At the beginning of the year, a coordination group was tasked with organising the teaching of children across the entire Regional Church: Gilbert Mwana Bute from Lubumbashi was appointed as regional coordinator and Aimée Ngalula from Kananga was appointed his deputy.
Certificates presented after the divine service
The month of March was dedicated to the training of level 2 teachers, which includes the Apostles and Bishops, as well as those responsible in the Apostle districts. This means that the Apostles and Bishops are the main teachers in their respective districts. They are supported by two specialists, usually a woman and a man.
Teacher training has taken place in 40 of the 42 Apostle districts in the Regional Church, bringing together a total of 130 participants. The teachers received their certificates following divine services especially for teachers, which were conducted in each Apostle district throughout the Regional Church on 23 March 2025. Two regions, Kongolo and Kalemie, could not yet be visited because of travel restrictions. A total of seven teachers there are waiting to be trained shortly.
An apostolic mission
This means that the District Apostle now has two senior tutors, each Lead Apostle has two tutors in his region, and each Apostle also has two in his district. The objective is to train additional teachers and reach all congregations.
As the District Apostle explained during the meetings last July in the presence of all the Apostles, “spiritual training is an apostolic mission”. Every Apostle and Bishop is above all a teacher. They are therefore not only to supervise the teaching in their districts, but also actually teach the children directly from time to time.
At the centre of the triangle
From 1 January 2026, the teaching of children is to be standardised throughout the entire Regional Church, in the same way that the Regional Church has been able to standardise preaching based on the Divine Service Guide Yearbook. Only trained, certified teachers with an identification code will then be authorised to teach the children.
The Regional Church particularly emphasises the contribution of those members who have agreed to accommodate some of the teachers in their families to ease the financial burden on the Church and enable the programme to reach all congregations. This is in line with the District Apostle’s educational concept of a “triangle”: “Church – Parents – Teachers”. And the children are at the heart of it all.
Photos: ENA RDC Sud-Est
Fotos: ENA RDC Sud-Est
