Zurich. On Tuesday, 9 April 2019 Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider intends to personally address the New Apostolic congregations around the world with respect to the concept of ministry in a video presentation. The planned changes to the previous concept of ministry will take effect as of Pentecost 2019.

The International District Apostle Meeting—an important executive body within the Church—has already been discussing this topic for several years now. Now that the Catechism of the New Apostolic Church, which was published in 2012, has described our understanding of church and the sacraments exhaustively, it is time to provide a detailed description of our understanding of ministry as well.

An important step

The Chief Apostle and the District Apostles are well aware that the planned modifications constitute a significant change in tradition. However, the Chief Apostle is “also absolutely convinced that this reform will have beneficial effects for the Church,” as he has pointed out.

As already reported on several occasions, the Church leadership is interested in adapting the hierarchy of the ministerial structure to the needs of the present. A clearer distinction between ministry and leadership function is planned for the future. Already last year, these new revisions were applied to the level of the apostolate: as of June 2018, District Apostles have no longer been ordained, but rather appointed. They are not issued any additional ministerial authority, but are rather given a leadership mandate. In future this will also be extended to the level of the priestly ministry.

Communication schedule

In order to ensure that this is communicated effectively, especially to the ranks of the ministers, the international Church leader has planned a video address to the members of the Church. The communication schedule looks as follows:

1. To start with, the Chief Apostle himself will warm the congregations around the world to the changes in the concept of ministry by way of a video presentation. This will be transmitted between 9 and 12 April 2019 to all District Apostle districts. This can be done transnationally or separately, depending on the local circumstances. In many District Churches there will be a satellite transmission on 9 April 2019 at 8:00 PM for all interested members.
2. Part two of the communication cascade is comprised of a launch presentation for the active ministers of the New Apostolic Church, which is still to occur before Pentecost. After Pentecost 2019, training is planned for retired ministers and all interested members.
3. A basic theological underpinning of the concept of ministry has also been developed to expand on the information in the Catechism of the New Apostolic Church. It will be made available in the form of a policy paper. A corresponding Special Edition of the “Divine Service Guide” will likewise occupy itself with this topic.

Video address also available online

The video presentation on 9 April 2019 will be transmitted by satellite to selected receiving congregation at 8:00 PM. Following this, the video will also be available for streaming on the websites of the international Church—namely at nak.org and nac.today.