Zurich. Karlheinz Schumacher is to become the new district apostle for the District Church of Northern Germany. A letter from Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber announcing the change will be read out this Sunday in the congregations of Northern Germany. The ordination is to take place on 10 July 2005 in a divine service in Pasewalk.
Thus the matter of finding a new district apostle has been settled for both North Rhine-Westphalia and Northern Germany. In his letter the chief apostle writes that he had pondered the question of his succession deeply within his heart. His decision has been met with unconditional support from the apostles of Northern Germany.
Apostle Karlheinz Schumacher lives in Bremen. He is 61 years old and is an attorney and notary public by profession. He and his wife Birgit have two children, and have been married since 1970. The district apostle designate has been active as an honorary minister of the New Apostolic Church for the same length of time, and has worked as an apostle since 1992.
His future working area in Germany will include the German federal states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Schleswig-Holstein, an area home to some 45,000 members in 300 congregations of the New Apostolic Church. Beyond that, the District Church of Northern Germany is also responsible for the pastoral care and organisational activities of the New Apostolic Church in the countries of Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden.
The present Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber had previously led this northernmost District Church for some 13 years. He had been ordained district apostle on 22 November 1992 to succeed the then District Apostle Gijsbert Pos.
The divine service in Pasewalk on 10 July 2005 will be transmitted to the entire district apostle district via satellite.
For more details on the Church in Northern Germany, please visit:
www.nak-norddeutschland.de/.
21 June 2005