The guide is intended to “promote the unity of the Church and impart security in church activities”, the international Church president, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider, writes in his foreword. “It represents a global framework that largely guarantees the required flexibility and the necessary room to manoeuvre” and “takes into account the cultural differences that exist around the world”.

The new guide is a fundamental revision of the version last published in 1993. Since then the Serving and Leading model (1998), the expanded liturgy (2010), the Catechism of the New Apostolic Church (2012), and the concept of ministry (2019 and 2023) have been introduced.

The scope of its provisions also considers developments in society. The New Apostolic Church is committed to obligations such as impartiality, the duty to refuse benefits, and confidentiality, and not least to protection from sexual violence. For example, the Church “strongly disapproves of any actions that infringe upon a person’s sexual self-determination” and prescribes “regulations for the prevention and handling of sexual assault in pastoral care”.

The Guide for Ministers sets standards for the prerequisites, rights, and duties of the spiritual ministry; for the sequence of divine services, devotionals, and sacramental acts; for music, administration, and organisation; for interdenominational and interreligious cooperation and for public relations work.

“While such church regulations are certainly necessary, the love for God and His people stands above everything,” Chief Apostle Schneider emphasises.