Michael Kraus (March 26, 1908 – November 16, 2003) was a Canadian
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
and
minister in the
New Apostolic Church.
Immigrant
Mihail Krauss was the eldest son of a tavern-owning farmer in Meeburg, a village of 950 German-speaking
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
in the
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
region of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. According t
Canadian immigration records in 1926, at age 18, he boarded the Canadian Pacific ship Minnedosa, and emigrated to
Kitchener, Ontario
)
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, image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg
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, Canada. He often described his arrival saying, "I had only ten cents in my pocket, didn’t speak a word of English, didn’t know a soul; not even the dogs barked at me." In the 1930s, he worked in a furniture factory by day. After hours he built apartments, beginning a lifelong interest in real estate and construction. At some point his name was changed to Michael Kraus—it is not clear when this change occurred.
Entrepreneur
In 1941, Michael Kraus began importing fabrics to Canada. In 1946 he formed a partnership to manufacture fabric. Initially adopting fabric looms to manufacture carpet, he founded
Kraus Carpet Mills in 1959. A daring expansion into fibre extrusion, he founded Strudex Fibres in 1971. By his death in 2003, Kraus companies employed over 900 people at facilities across Canada, in the United States and in Australia.
Minister
Michael Kraus joined the
New Apostolic Church in 1932 and was ordained into the ministry one year later. Like other ministers in the
New Apostolic Church, he served in a voluntary capacity, initially as an assistant local minister and later in various regional commissions. In 1955 he was ordained as an apostle and, in Zurich on June 21, 1958, he was ordained as a district apostle and national leader of the
New Apostolic Church Canada. He traveled extensively, and sent fellow missionaries to spread the Gospel of
Jesus
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 religiou ...
Christ and establish the
New Apostolic Church in over 70 countries, where church membership grew to over 4 million by his retirement in 1994. He organized the construction of thousands of church buildings in
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
. His impact on the worldwide growth of the
New Apostolic Church was so great, that at his funeral,
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, vers ...
Richard Fehr
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
compared it to the missionary work of
Paul the Apostle of biblical times.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, Michael
People from Kitchener, Ontario
Canadian clergy
Members of the New Apostolic Church
1908 births
2003 deaths