It is late November. Christmas still seems so far away, let alone the new year. But Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider wants to record his New Year’s message today. All good things come in threes.

Switzerland will shortly be taking vital steps for the future: Apostle Jürg Zbinden has been chosen as Helper to assist District Apostle Markus Fehlbaum, who is planning to retire in June 2018.

Music speaks to the soul—in joy as well as in sorrow. Our review this week looks at a choral competition, a choir practice, a memorial service, and a wedding anniversary.

Los Angeles, a fascinating city. It brings to mind images of beaches and the sun. The city is a big tourist destination. But the purpose of Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider’s trip there is not pleasure. He has a tight schedule.

They do not need churches for their services, nor do they need big events for an active church life. District Elder Alex Michel Reyes de Martinez talks about how New Apostolic Christians live their faith in the Caribbean.

There are various kinds of guests: invited guests, surprise guests, and rare guests. Five congregations around the world recently welcomed special guests.

A youth convention without borders and music for the up-and-coming generation: these are two of the topics currently being discussed by the European District Apostles. They are meeting in Zurich (Switzerland) for their final conference of the year.

Standing up for the values of the gospel together with other Christians: that is not only a daily mission, but also the approach required to work together in official bodies—right up to the national level.

On his visit to Cape Town on 18 December 2016, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider will create a new District Apostle Area: Southern Africa. This will be comprised of the current districts South East Africa and Cape. The new District Apostle will be John Leslie Kriel.

Joy and sorrow are never far apart. Remembering the departed bridges the gap between this life and the afterlife. News from around the New Apostolic world about premières and farewells.

Not struggling with things ourselves, but learning from one another and seeking solutions together is the way to stay in shape—also in terms of faith. Meetings, seminars, and conferences are helping brothers and sisters from East to West in building a good life for themselves.

On 5 February 1855 two missionaries arrived in Papua, the western part of the island of New Guinea, to preach the gospel to the inhabitants. Even today missionaries are active on this second largest island in the world.

Malawi is the cradle of the New Apostolic Church in Central Africa. George Henwood, the later Apostle, was born here in 1901. He was one of the great pioneers of missionary work and instrumental in building up the church in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider will celebrate the upcoming service for the departed in Blantyre.

The president of the New Apostolic Church flies to Australia regularly. Still, District Apostle Andrew Andersen referred to the Chief Apostle’s recent visit as historic. The reason, all national leaders of the New Apostolic Church had been invited to a conference in Perth.

Making a guest service out of the service for the departed? Across Europe this will be a first and take place on 6 November 2016. But a congregation in Africa is going even further—and will number more participants in the end than all of Europe put together.

There has been a lot of talk about reconciliation over the past weeks. One man in particular was instrumental in quietly paving the way for this. Fifty years ago today, he was ordained into the ministry that preaches reconciliation: Hermann Engelauf.

Apostles around the world are involved in building our conception of ministry. What has been gathered in meetings and working groups to date is currently being discussed by the District Apostles in Perth. Here is an overview.

Two thousand kilometres to the nearest city and yet in the middle of a metropolitan area. This is where the District Apostles are convening for their second international meeting this year: originally called “place with plenty of sun”, it is now better known as Perth.