New Apostolic Church established

Background. The New Apostolic Church is a Christian church of the Irvingian tradition. Its origins lie in 1863, when some members of a newly formed group of apostles settled in Germany to freely continue its practices to teach and baptize. The church emerged from a schism in Hamburg, separating from the Catholic Apostolic Church, which had itself started in the 1830s as a renewal movement in, among others, the Anglican Church and Church of Scotland.

The Schism. The split left the Catholic Apostolic Church on one side and the Hamburg congregation on the other. On 6 February 1863, Apostle Woodhouse informed the Hamburg congregation, in writing, of its expulsion from the Catholic Apostolic Church. In 1863 the Hamburg congregation, along with Prophet Geyer, split off to form the Allgemeine Apostolische Mission (General Apostolic Congregation).

Establishment. Today, 4 January 1863 is considered the date on which the New Apostolic Church was established. This date corresponds to the afternoon service in which Schwartz, along with most of the Hamburg congregation, accepted the calling of Rudolf Rosochaki to the apostolate. Because Rosochaki subsequently returned to the Catholic Apostolic congregation, the newly independent Hamburg congregation was left without apostolic authority.