Gifhorn/Zurich. The New Apostolic Church in Central Germany and Northern Germany will grow into a new District Apostle district in 2016. This was the news that the incumbent Central German District Apostle Wilfried Klingler shared with the congregation of Gifhorn, from where last Sunday’s Thanksgiving service was transmitted throughout the entire District Apostle district by satellite.

District Apostle Klingler turned 65 in June of this year, and will retire in the year 2016. To address the issue of his succession, he read out a letter from the international Church leader, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider at the divine service. The letter explained that the District Churches of Central Germany and Northern Germany will fuse into a new district, which is to be led by Northern Germany’s District Apostle Rüdiger Krause. This decision had been made “in consideration of the demographics in Germany and the further global development of the Church as a whole,” said the Chief Apostle’s letter. The final implementation of this change is scheduled to occur in July 2016. In an effort to ensure a smooth transition, Wilfried Klingler will continue to assist with this fusion until his retirement. 

District Apostle Klingler then went on to inform the members of some other changes in his working area: Apostle Gerald Bimberg will retire in November 2015, and his area of responsibility will be divided among Apostles Jens Korbien and Rolf Wosnitzka.

Growing together into a single District Apostle district

Within Germany, the working area of District Apostle Krause currently incorporates the federal states of Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and parts of Lower Saxony. As of 2016, the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and other parts of Lower Saxony will be added to this list. The missionary regions in the British Isles and Northern Europe—ranging from Greenland to Estonia—will be joined by Poland. Meanwhile, District Apostle Wolfgang Nadolny, whose working area presently includes Russia and some of its neighbours, as well as Berlin and Brandenburg, will in future also assume the care of the Church in Belarus.

Wilfried Klingler was ordained District Apostle for the District Church of Lower Saxony in 1993. In 1997, the Chief Apostle also transferred the leadership of the District Church of Saxony-Anhalt to his care. In the year 2002, the District Church of Saxony/Thuringia was also assigned to his leadership. The District Apostle works in several Project Groups and Work Groups and has, among other things, served for many years as the chairman of the Coordination Group, the Chief Apostle’s highest-ranking consultative body.

You can also read the report on the website of the New Apostolic Church in Central Germany.