Hamburg. The church in Hamburg-Altona was the meeting point for New Apostolic Christians from the church district of Hamburg-West. Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber conducted the Sunday divine service and ordained Jörg Steinbrenner (54) as the latest Apostle for the District Church of Northern Germany.

The new Apostle will in future care for the districts in the city of Hamburg, along with the districts of Elmshorn, Lübeck, and Lüneburg. Beyond that he will also travel to the New Apostolic congregations in the countries of Denmark, Iceland, and Greenland.

The divine service started off with a message of sadness. The Church leader reminded the assembled congregation of the tragic passing of South African District Apostle Johan R. Kitching (we reported). “Such a loss affects us very deeply,” said the Chief Apostle, “The question of ‘why?’ is not one we can answer. We will continue to place our trust in the Lord.” The words of Jesus when he washed the feet of the disciples provided some special comfort in this context: “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”

Each one serves the other

The divine service itself was based on an excerpt from the Bible text recorded in 2 Corinthians 6: 4, 10: “But in all these things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: … as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” In his sermon, Chief Apostle Leber emphasised the great significance of serving: “This is my vision: a whole church in which each one serves the other.”

You can also read our detailed report on the website of the New Apostolic Church Northern Germany.