The Catechism in Questions & Answers

400. How did the renewed occupation of the Apostle ministry come about?

Believers of various confessions in England, Scotland, and Germany prayed and hoped that the Holy Spirit would once again become active in the same great power as at the time of the early Apostles. This was associated with the expectation that God would once again send Apostles.
Finally, in the year 1832, a believing man in London by the name of John Bate Cardale was called to the Apostle ministry by the Holy Spirit, and designated as an Apostle by Henry Drummond. At Christmas 1832 John Bate Cardale performed his first ministerial act, an ordination, as an Apostle.

Confession: see explanation of Question 36.