Together with three other men, he stepped in front of the altar in 1986 to accept a special task: the three were the first District Apostle Helpers in New Apostolic history. Today, John W. Fendt Sr. would have been one hundred years old.
The date was 8 June 1986. In Kitchener in Canada, Chief Apostle Hans Urwyler addressed the four Apostles: “Some time ago, District Apostle Kraus approached me to talk to me about the future of his district.”
Four District Apostle Helpers for an extensive working area
District Apostle Michael Kraus was responsible for the district of Canada and also took over the United States after the retirement of District Apostle John Peter Fendt on 10 July 1966. As his working area continued to grow—not only were new members constantly being added, but there were constantly also new countries to look after—it was agreed to establish a new function.
“District Apostle Kraus will receive four District Apostle Helpers today, who will work closely with him in the future,” the Chief Apostle said during the festive service in Kitchener. “They are responsible for the spiritual well-being of the souls entrusted to them. However, District Apostle Kraus will continue to be responsible for the entire Apostle district.”
Wilbert Vovak, Erwin Wagner, Leonard Ernest Kolb, and John William Fendt, the son of the by then deceased American District Apostle, were assigned. They were aware that they were not being entrusted with an easy task. Their District Apostle’s working area included Canada and the USA as well as many countries in Central America, Africa, Asia, as well as Great Britain. The Chief Apostle encouraged them, “Let us not do anything of our own accord. It must always be the Lord who directs and guides everything in His work. Be of good cheer, the eternal God will stand by you, as He has done to this day.”
Learning to believe
Exactly one hundred years ago, on 25 November 1924, John W. Fendt Sr. was born in New York, USA. His father was the then District Evangelist John P. Fendt. “We were taught the value of prayer early on by our deeply religious and God-fearing mother.” Even when her two youngest children were still toddlers, she would take them on visits with her. John was always quite bored, but his mother explained to him that she wanted to use her gifts for the Church and thus influence the future.
John later became involved in the congregation, was a member of the orchestra, and sang in the choir. He found work in the statistics department of a life insurance company. Then came the Second World War and in the course of it John W. Fendt was called up on active service and sent to Canada. His father had given him the advice to go to Kitchener. The camp where he was, was not far from there. “Go to the home of Priest Michael Kraus. There you will meet a man of God who will become a spiritual friend for you.” On the very first Sunday, John W. Fendt drove to Kitchener, a good hundred kilometres away.
A life for the Church
After the war, John W. Fendt worked for a telephone company in the department that equipped works. On 25 December 1946 he was ordained as a Deacon. Further ministerial levels followed. When he became a District Elder on 9 September 1951, he left his job on the advice of Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff to work for the Church full-time and help his father with the administration of the extensive US district.
One year later, on 23 March 1952, John W. Fendt married Lillian Stier. They had two children: Elizabeth and John W. Jr.
Total commitment
As an assistant to his friend Michael Kraus, John W. Fendt was also responsible for Spanish-speaking countries. He learned the language and was soon able to serve immigrants in the USA in their mother tongue. In this way, he also laid the foundations for the New Apostolic Church in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.
During his time in office, he was also particularly committed to the young members. He organised Youth Days in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia and reported about these special youth gatherings for the German magazine Unsere Familie or wrote letters to young people in which he called for tolerance and love of neighbour: “Where divine love and grace are at work, there is no more hatred, and prejudice and intolerance disappear.”
John William Fendt retired on 4 August 1996. He was 72 at the time. Chief Apostle Richard Fehr paid tribute to his colleague after almost 50 years of ministry, 29 of them as an Apostle and District Apostle Helper and said, “He has helped to build up God’s work in countless countries around the world. He was often pushed to the limits of his physical strength. We sincerely wish him a somewhat quieter time and wish him much inner happiness and the fulness of blessing in his retirement.”
