Apostolic Christian Church

The Apostolic Christian Church (ACC) is a worldwide Christian denomination.

The Apostolic Christian Church is not affiliated with the Pentecostal Apostolic Church or New Apostolic Church denominations.

History

The origins of the Apostolic Christian Church are found in the conversion experience of Samuel Heinrich Froehlich[1] (1803–57) of Switzerland. Froehlich was baptized in 1832 and soon founded the Evangelical Baptist Church. The first American church was formed in Lewis County, New York in 1847 by Benedict Weyeneth (1819–87), who had been sent by Froehlich at the request of Joseph Virkler, a Lewis County minister in an Alsatian Amish-Mennonite church. In 1848 a church was formed in Sardis, OHio. The church experienced primary growth in the midwest, where many congregations gained membership from local Amish and Mennonite churches. Though sometimes referred to as the New Amish, these believers generally called themselves Evangelical Baptist. In 1917, the church adopted a uniform name: Apostolic Christian Church.

A sketch of Froehlich; the only known surviving likeness of him.

Branches

There are currently at least five main divisions of this church in America. In the early 1900s a disagreement arose over the practice of some European customs (namely, the wearing of a mustache) and the church split into two bodies (from 1901 to 1911). In 1932 a second schism originated from a letter sent by elders in Europe asking for greater adherence to traditional teachings and practices. Those adhering to the request of the letter separated themselves from the Apostolic Christian Church of America and became known as the Christian Apostolic Church (later the German Apostolic Christian Church). The Apostolic Christian Church of America did not retain German language preaching. It is a common misconception that German language preaching was a primary issue in the division.

The European German language bodies (Neutäufer) have also faced divisions. Although once united throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, there are now four sides: The following two(one could say also three) sides belong to the beard(moustache)-accepting side:

The remainder of Europe is made up of independent congregations in communion:

Conversion

The conversion experienced by each member varies in timing and detail, but all include repentance for one's sins, making restitution, confessing sins to God while in the presence of an elder of the church, and finding peace with God. The word "convert" is used throughout the denomination to describe anyone who begins repentance but has not been baptized into the church; it does not imply conversion from another denomination or religion, but from the carnal to the spiritual state. Once converts "receive peace from God," this is announced to the church and a baptism date is set. Converts give a testimony before the members of the church prior to the public baptism service, telling the story of their personal conversion experience. This testimony, commonly referred to as a "proving", typically takes place the night before the baptism and is a closed member meeting. Because baptism is identified with a "death to sin" in Romans 6 and other New Testament writings, congregational recognition of the convert's repentance and death to sin is desired prior to baptism. The baptism service is open for anyone to attend and is performed before the entire congregation. Before the baptism takes place the convert makes a covenant with Christ in the presence of the entire congregation. Once the covenant is made, the convert is fully immersed in water (unless they are physically unable to do so). After the baptism service, there is a laying on of hands by one or more elders and an accompanying consecration prayer. This laying on of hands and prayer of consecration places the seal of the Holy Spirit on the life of the newly baptized.

Worship, biblical practices and tradition

Worship

Biblical practices and tradition

Leadership

The all-male leadership of an Apostolic Christian church consists of the "elders" of local congregations. The term "elder" has a somewhat different meaning than in other denominations. Most congregations have one elder, however some have none and in rare instances a congregation may have more than one. The office of elder is seen as equivalent to that of a bishop as described in the epistles of 1 Timothy and Titus. The elder of each congregation has the oversight of the local congregation but is subject to the authority of the other elders throughout the denomination. Once put in place, Ministers, Deacons and Elders can only be removed of their position by death, voluntary retirement or in extreme cases by the national elder body.

Elders

Deacons and ministers

References

  1. Mead, Frank S; Hill, Samuel S; Atwood, Craig D, Handbook of Denominations.
  2. HarvestCall
  3. AC Counseling and Family Services.
  4. Klopfenstein, Perry, Marching to Zion: A History of the Apostolic Christian Church of America.
  5. Piepkorn, Arthur Carl, Profiles in Belief: the Religious Bodies in the United States and Canada, II.
  6. Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, Glenmary Research Center, 2000.
  7. http://www.acelderletter.blogspot.com

Footnote

  1. "Froehlich" is for all intents and purposes an anglicization of Fröhlich, although use of "oe" (or a similar digraph with a smaller "e" atop the "o") to denote the same sound actually predates the use of the umlaut in written German.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.