Zurich/Dortmund. A number of District Apostles were still busy in various Project Group meetings up until Tuesday of this week. They had come to Germany over the previous week in order to participate in the first District Apostle Meeting of the year. The first topics up for discussion on Wednesday dealt with the Church’s activities in Asia, while the topics on the agenda for Thursday and Friday were of an international scope. The New Apostolic Church’s understanding of church and of Holy Communion featured prominently in the extensive deliberations of the meeting. In preparation for the new Catechism, both concepts were specifically defined both in terms of content and language.

The question at the heart of the church concept is: “What does the New Apostolic Church mean when they talk about ‘church’?” During the meeting, the District Apostles and Helpers discussed and agreed upon specific text proposals explaining this concept. The same process applied to the Church’s understanding of Holy Communion. The leadership of the New Apostolic Church is especially interested in explaining this topic in clearer language.

Careful communication

It is not possible to give a detailed account of these topics yet because not all the work on the Catechism has been completed at this point. For this reason, the Church leaders also listened to a presentation on various strategies for introducing the Catechism. A series of articles about the new Catechism is already slated for publication in the Church magazine “Our Family” in the near future. Parallel to this, there will also be training opportunities for ministers and other functionaries of the Church. At the end of the deliberations, the international Church leader, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, stressed how enormously important it will be to impart the contents of the Catechism to the congregations carefully, even if this might present a longer process in terms of time.

Other points on the agenda at the District Apostle Meeting included activities marking the anniversary year of the New Apostolic Church in 2013, developments in membership numbers, blessings on 40-year wedding anniversaries, and the order of divine services at the end of the year. Concrete resolutions on these items will first be communicated to the ministers of the Church over the next few weeks. Following this, reports will be published in the Church magazine “Our Family” as well as on the international website of the Church.

For detailed coverage on the District Apostle Meeting in Dortmund please also visit the website of the hosting District Church of North Rhine-Westphalia.