How does the believer receive the Holy Spirit? The Bible remains ambiguous and leaves quite a few gaps with respect to this question. Answers begin to develop of the early church. And this foundation stands to this day.

In 1960 a high school student from Germany wrote to the US Shipping Line in Tokyo. Eleven years later, the first New Apostolic congregation was established in Japan. This year, the New Apostolic Church celebrates its 50-year anniversary in Japan.

In the dark, you can’t see anything, are disoriented, and bump into objects. How wonderful when there is light to help you find the way. Our faith is such a light.

Whether it is considered a rite, a sacrament, or merely a side effect of baptism, the churches have very different ways of understanding how a Christian receives the Holy Spirit. And this diversity of perspectives has a tradition that goes back nearly 2,000 years.

Disasters hit the poor the hardest! Unfortunately, this is all too often true. The past months have shown that disasters increase poverty there where people have always been poor. Some thoughts on World Humanitarian Day.

The great shepherd’s heart has stopped beating. District Apostle (ret.) Markus Fehlbaum of Switzerland passed away yesterday after a long and serious illness with many ups and downs. As a tribute, here is his portrait once more.

Figuring out the correct dates of his life is a challenge. But then the pioneers of those days had more important things to do than writing down numbers for posterity. What matters is the spiritual legacy: Apostle George Henwood Mkandawire would have celebrated his 120th birthday in a few days.

Some look back with gratitude and joy and have happy memories, others look ahead hopefully as they face special challenges. Here is a look at some of the activities in our congregations around the world.

It was 70 years ago, on 5 August 1951, that the then Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff retired him. Today, Ernst Güttinger would have been 144 years of age. Who was this man who left behind such a mixed legacy?

This week we take a look at an anniversary in Australia and a campaign for a better future. There certainly are reasons to celebrate, but there are also always moments to pause and reflect and pray for others.

When it comes to its understanding of Holy Communion, the New Apostolic Church is still fairly close to its Catholic Apostolic roots. But it has been quite a journey to get there. Following is an outline of the route.

Benjamin Ohene-Saffo has not been Lead Apostle for very long. He has only been responsible for parts of Ghana and for Benin and Togo since the middle of December 2019. The members in these regions are therefore very curious to get to know him better.

Again the Chief Apostle was hardly able to travel in the first half of the year and could therefore ordain and retire only a few Apostles. Instead, he asked the District Apostles to perform these ministerial acts on his behalf. At the end of June 2021, 337 Apostles were active around the world.

Is there a need for women in pastoral care? There sure is! This is the conclusion reached by an official work group in the New Apostolic Church Western Germany—and the group has concrete figures to demonstrate the need for a response to this demand in the congregations.

The New Apostolic Church recognises the equality of the sexes. An essay in the new issue of community summarises findings by the District Apostle Meeting from the biblical account of creation. Here is the summary of a summary.

“Sown into the heart”—this was the motto of the Christian churches at the Federal Garden Show in Erfurt, Germany. All around the world, Christians are sowing positive things into the hearts of their fellow human beings. For example, our Apostles sow love, and our young people are sowing the notion of taking responsibility for the creation.

“Bah, was that ever a boring evening!” The Priest had announced his visit and blabbed on and on about nothing more than personal preferences. The verdict on that visit was devastating. Real pastoral interest looks quite different.

There was certainly plenty of buzz on the social media sponsored by the New Apostolic Church. The subject of women in ministry generated hundreds of comments. And the reactions could hardly have been more different.