Apostolic Church of South Africa – Apostle Unity

The Apostolic Church (Apostle Unity) is the South African branch of the United Apostolic Church. It has roots in the Catholic Apostolic Church of the early 19th century. It was founded in 1955 as a schism of the New Apostolic Church. It is part of a branch of Christianity called Irvingism and is separate from Protestantism.

It is a member church of the United Apostolic Church, which was founded in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1956 after several apostles of the New Apostolic Church were excommunicated for refusing to accept the teachings of the Chief Apostle that Jesus Christ 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 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 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 of Australia. At that time, the office of Chief Apostle had not been established and each Apostle functioned independently from one another. Due to the personality cult of Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus, Niemeyer separated himself from the German branch of the Church and founded The Apostolic Church of Queensland in 1912. In 1913, Klibbe was excommunicated from the New Apostolic Church. He then founded the New Apostolic Church (Africa). Klibbe later renamed the church the Old Apostolic Church of Africa. Also in 1913, he ordained his son-in-law H. Velde as priest 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 September 27, 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 an 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 Old Apostolic Church 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 United Apostolic Church.

On May 14, 1972, two new apostles were ordained: Johannes Philippus Erasmus (1943) and Josua Jeremia Joubert (1932). In 1978, Philippus Jacobus Erasmus retired. He died on October 26, 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.

Administration

According to rumors, testifying has almost entirely come to a standstill in this church. The main contributing factor is the church having a tremendous problem shedding the stigma that it is the ‘Erasmus’ church, implying that the church is run by the Erasmus family clan. Recent ordinations of close relatives within the Erasmus family have only strengthened this view. This is in line with comments published previously on this website but deleted since, criticizing the lack of independent decision making within this organization with particular reference to its finances and succession planning.

Some within the church believe there will be an influx of new members (mainly from the New Apostolic Church) in the near future and that all must be prepared to receive them. There is a renewed surge to make the truth about the great split that took place in the 1950s known to all. The delay in this influx not happening sooner can possibly be ascribed to the fact that it must first shed this stigma relating to its control and financial (mis-) management and prove that decisions are made with a clear view towards furthering the work of God and not to please man. Only by appointing competent people with the desired spiritual credentials and not natural relations will help it to move forward towards a sustainable independent future. It is still evident that the son of the current Apostle is the first in line to take over the reigns as Apostle.

In October 2011, a new constitution was signed into power at the church headquarters in Crosby. This constitution ensures the future of the church and that no one person has the right to claim ownership thereof. A new Board of Executors as well as an Executive Financial Board was appointed. Critics contend that the constitution is flawed because one person (the current working Apostle) decides who will be members of these 'executive boards'. According to some sources, this has resulted in only direct family members and close allies of the Apostle being represented on these boards. Critics claim that this has effectively left no transparency when it comes to the management of the funds of the church.

The church is divided into 8 districts with 34 parishes which are mainly situated in the provinces of Western Cape and Gauteng. The church's headquarters is located in Johannesburg in Gauteng province.

• Church Buildings
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  Church Elsiesrivier, Cape Town

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  Church Kraaifontein, Cape Town

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  Church Grassy Park, Cape Town

External links

• Apostolic Church of South Africa – Apostle Unity - http://www.apostle-unity.co.za
• United Apostolic Church - http://www.united-apostolic.org
• Teksboek vir Apostoliese Christene
• Wissen, Volker: Zur Freiheit berufen - Ein Portrait der Vereinigung Apostolischer Gemeinden und ihrer Gliedkirchen, Remscheid 2008, ISBN 978-3-86870-030-5