Glad tidings six times over

A large Pentecost congregation

At Pentecost, the New Apostolic Church usually forms a large congregation thanks to the video transmission that is traditionally broadcast. In addition to this, special highlights were set this year in two congregations in South America and West Africa.

The Apostles and Bishops from Nigeria gathered for the divine service in Lagos, the country’s capital, to watch the live transmission of the Pentecost service from Vienna (Austria). Growing competition among telecommunication and Internet providers in Nigeria made it possible to receive the live signal from Vienna and broadcast it to two or three congregations in each of the nine Apostle districts.

At the same time, a Pentecost concert in the main church in Buenos Aires contributed toward mutual appreciation between nations. The central choir and the orchestra of the New Apostolic Church Argentina gave a concert with a visiting choir from Uruguay. At the end, everyone joined to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah.

Packed churches

This was the case in our church in Sierra Leone. Recently, a new church was dedicated in the north of the country in a town called Bumbuna. The building, a type three church, has a seating capacity of two hundred. For the dedication, however, the church was packed. In fact, it was overflowing. Some five hundred people had come.

But the members in Tombodu in eastern Sierra Leone did even better. Their new church is a type two church and has a seating capacity of 150. The dedication was attended by six hundred people, many of whom listened to the service outside.

A thankful look back

The members in South and North America did just that recently. The New Apostolic Church in Brazil is currently celebrating its ninetieth anniversary . For this reason, the congregation Santo André in the south threw open its doors to the public on a Sunday. Anyone who came in to browse around was rewarded with the beautiful singing of the congregational choir, a male choir, and a visiting choir from nearby São Paulo. Also contributing was an instrumental ensemble. A small exhibit of photos, Bibles, and communion cups was on display, taking visitors back to the beginnings of the Church in Brazil.

A permanent exhibit of the Church’s history has been on display in Chicago, Illinois (USA) since 2013. An initiative to document and preserve the Church’s history in the USA was started by a group of over forty volunteer historians in 2010. The exhibits found a permanent home in our Chicago North Side congregation in 2013, where a museum was officially opened. Two retired ministers are the volunteer curators who help manage the museum. Just recently they were able to show Chief Apostle Schneider through the museum, who stopped by while on a visit to Chicago for a divine service.