The Apostolic Church of South Africa – Apostle Unity is the South African branch of the

United Apostolic Church The member churches of the United Apostolic Church are independent communities in the tradition of the catholic apostolic revival movement. Further reading * Apostolic Church of Queensland, ''Book of faith'' * Wissen, Volker: Zur Freiheit berufe ...

. It has roots in the

Catholic Apostolic Church The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.New Apostolic Church The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a Christian denomination, Christian church that split from the Catholic Apostolic Church during an 1863 schism in Hamburg, Germany. The church has existed since 1863 in Germany and since 1897 in the Ne ...

. It is part of a branch of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

called

Irvingism The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.United Apostolic Church The member churches of the United Apostolic Church are independent communities in the tradition of the catholic apostolic revival movement. Further reading * Apostolic Church of Queensland, ''Book of faith'' * Wissen, Volker: Zur Freiheit berufe ...

, which was founded in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1956 after several apostles of the

New Apostolic Church The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a Christian denomination, Christian church that split from the Catholic Apostolic Church during an 1863 schism in Hamburg, Germany. The church has existed since 1863 in Germany and since 1897 in the Ne ...

were excommunicated for refusing to accept the teachings of the

Chief Apostle The Chief Apostle is the highest minister in the New Apostolic Church, and has existed since 1896. History The term "Chief Apostle" was first used officially to describe Jesus Christ in the New Covenant Scriptures, Book of Hebrews, Chapter 3, ver ...

that

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

would return in his lifetime. Its logo is a four R-symbol, which is also used by the Australian sister church, The

Apostolic Church of Queensland The Apostolic Church of Queensland is an Australian Christian denomination. It was founded in Queensland, Australia, by H. F. Niemeyer and took its current name in 1911. The church's logo is a 4R-symbol. The four "R"s stand for: RIGHT - ROYAL ...

. The four "R"s stand for: Right, Royal, Righteous and Rich. Right according to the Bible, Royal as the Bride to have membership with Christ, Righteous in partaking of the body and blood of Christ and Rich in the promises Christ gave to his apostles.

History

History of the Klibbe group

In 1889,

Evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

Carl George Klibbe arrived in South Africa to begin his mission work for the Apostolic Church. He was ordained as an Apostle in 1893 by Apostle

H.F. Niemeyer Heinrich Friedrich Niemeyer (1853–1920) was a German clergyman. He founded the Apostolic Church of Queensland in Australia in 1883. Early life Niemeyer was born on 11 December 1853 in Schladen in the Harz Mountains in Lower Saxony. Services ...

of Australia. At that time, the office of

had not been established and each Apostle functioned independently from one another. Due to the

personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

of Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus, Niemeyer separated himself from the German branch of the Church and founded The

in 1912. In 1913, Klibbe was excommunicated from the New Apostolic Church. He then founded the

(Africa). Klibbe later renamed the church the

Old Apostolic Church The Old Apostolic Church (OAC) is a church with roots in the Catholic Apostolic Church. History The Old Apostolic Church's roots are found in the Catholic Apostolic Church that was established in 1832 as an outflow of the Albury Movement. Establ ...

of Africa. Also in 1913, he ordained his son-in-law H. Velde as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in Swakopmund, Namibia. Velde was sent to Johannesburg. Later he was ordained as elder and as an evangelist. Apostle H.F. Niemeyer died in 1920, and was succeeded by his son, Wilhelm Niemeyer. A break occurred between the young Niemeyer and Klibbe when, in 1925, Apostle Wilhelm Niemeyer appointed Hendrik Velde as Apostle for Africa, and Velde and his followers founded a separate Church from Klibbe, named The Apostolic Church of South Africa. On 27 September 1956 Velde died after a traffic accident in Wynberg, Cape Town.

History of the excommunicated group of the New Apostolic Church

When Apostle Klibbe was excommunicated in 1913, a counter-Apostle Wilhelm Schlaphoff was appointed by Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus. Schlaphoff formed a new branch of the New Apostolic Church in South Africa after the original South African branch declared independence in 1915. Since that time, two churches in South Africa have been named the New Apostolic Church. The independent branch became the

in 1926 after an agreement was reached between Klibbe and Kreunen, a member of the New Apostolic Church. Due to the "Botschaft" of the Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff, the New Apostolic Church suffered serious conflicts in the 1950s. In 1954, the apostles Philippus Jacobus Erasmus (1904–1960) and D.C.S. Malan (1918–1968) were excommunicated. Heinrich Franz Schlaphoff (1894–1965) resigned from his office as Apostle. They administered a prosperous district of about 60,000 members. They founded the Apostolic Church and many members of the New Apostolic Church followed them.

Union

The sudden death of Apostle Velde caused them to cancel a previously arranged meeting with the excommunicated group. The Australian Apostle Zielke asked Elder Petersen of the Apostolic Church of South Africa to meet with the excommunicated Apostles Erasmus and Malan. In Cape Town, they reached an agreement on 23 November 1956 to merge the two churches. About 800 members and three church buildings were brought into the new Apostolic Church (Apostle Unity) from the Klibbe group. In July 1956, the excommunicated group joined the newly founded International Federation of the

. On 14 May 1972, two new apostles were ordained: Johannes Philippus Erasmus (1943) and Josua Jeremia Joubert (1932). In 1978, Philippus Jacobus Erasmus retired. He died on 26 October 1986. In 1989, a mission was opened in the homeland of Venda. In February 1993, the congregations celebrated their centenary. At the end of July 1997, Apostle Joubert retired. Two new apostles - the son and son in law - were ordained: P.J. Erasmus (2017) and James Slabbert (2019). The Apostle Johannes Philippus Erasmus past away on 10 June 2021 after a Corona infection.

Administration

The church is divided into 10 districts with 34 parishes which are mainly situated in the provinces of

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

, North West, Polokwane, Eastern Cape Northen Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. The church's headquarters is located in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

province. Image:ZA-CA-Elsiesrivier.jpg, Church Elsiesrivier, Cape Town Image:ZA-CA-Kraaifontein.jpg, Church Kraaifontein, Cape Town Image:ZA-CA-Grassy_Park.jpg, Church Grassy Park, Cape Town Image:ACZA-Pretoria.JPG, Church Mayville, Pretoria Image:ACZA-Johannesburg.JPG, Church Crosby, Johannesburg

References

External links

* Apostolic Church of South Africa – Apostle Unity
http://www.apostleunity.co.za
* United Apostolic Church
http://www.united-apostolic.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apostolic Church Of South Africa - Apostle Unity Catholic Apostolic Church denominations Churches in South Africa 1955 establishments in South Africa