Apostolic Church (1916 denomination)

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This article is about the Christian Church formed in 1916. For other uses, see Apostolic Church (disambiguation).

Apostolic Church
Pentecostal
FounderDaniel Powell Williams
Origin1916
Pen-y-groes and Ammanford, Wales
Separated fromApostolic Faith Church

The Apostolic Church is an international

1st century Christianity in its faith, practices, and government.[1]

History

Beginning

The Apostolic Temple, Pen-y-groes
The former Apostolic Church International Bible School, Pen-y-groes

The earliest historians of the Apostolic Church date its beginnings to 1911, when three groups of people in three locations in the village of

baptism in the Holy Spirit.[2]

The Apostolic Church had adopted a

first among equals (primus inter pares) among the other ministers, requiring a collegial government.[4]

Split

For a period, the Welsh churches were associated with William Oliver Hutchinson and the Apostolic Faith Church in Bournemouth, England.[5] However, on 8 January 1916, Daniel Powell Williams and most of the Welsh assemblies separated from Hutchinson and the Apostolic Faith Church over doctrinal matters, and established the Apostolic Church in Wales (ACW).[6][7][8][9] After 1916, the two groups had no further contact and developed along different doctrinal paths.[clarification needed][3] Hutchinson had begun to claim all authority as "Chief Apostle", a claim that Williams and the Welsh churches could not accept, seeing his claims to infallibility as contrary to both the Protestant principle of sola scriptura and collegial church government.[3]

Post-split continuation

In 1917, a second group was formed, centred on Birmingham, affiliated to the Apostolic Church in Wales. The following year the Burning Bush Pentecostal Congregation in Glasgow came into cooperation with the Apostolic Church.[6] In the same year, a group using the name "Apostolic Church" in Hereford also came into cooperation with the ACW.[6]

In 2016, the denomination celebrated its 100th anniversary.[10] It had 15 million members in approximately 100 countries.[11]

Theology

pastors, elders and teachers.[12]

The theological beliefs of the Apostolic Church are summarized in its confession of faith, known as the Tenets, which read as follows:[13]

  1. The unity of the Godhead and the Trinity of the Persons therein.
  2. The utter depravity of human nature, the necessity for repentance and regeneration and the eternal doom of the finally impenitent.
  3. The
    Millennial Reign
    upon earth.
  4. Sanctification
    of the believer through the finished work of Christ.
  5. The baptism of the Holy Ghost for believers, with signs following.
  6. The nine gifts of the
    Holy Ghost for the edification, exhortation and comfort of the Church, which is the body of Christ
    .
  7. The
    baptism by immersion, and the Lord's Supper
    .
  8. The Divine inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures.
  9. Church government by apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, elders and deacons.
  10. The possibility of falling from grace.
  11. The obligatory nature of
    tithes
    and offerings.

The Constitution of the Apostolic Church in the United Kingdom states that "These Tenets shall forever be the doctrinal standard of the Apostolic Church and shall not be subject to change in any way whatsoever."[14]

Colleges

The Apostolic Church established its first

theological college, the Apostolic Church International Bible School, in the village of Pen-y-groes in 1933.[15] Colleges and seminaries have also been established in eleven other countries.[16]

Hymnal

In the past, the standard hymnal of the Apostolic Church was the Redemption Hymnal, which was produced by a joint committee from the Apostolic Church, the Elim Pentecostal Church, and the Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland.

See also

  • List of the largest Protestant bodies

References

  1. ^ Turnbull, Thomas Napier (1959). What God Hath Wrought: A Short History of the Apostolic Church. Bradford: The Puritan Press. p. 11.
  2. ISBN 978-90-04-41222-4
    .
  3. ^ a b c Apostolic Church Presbytery Reports. Penygroes: The Apostolic Church. 1919.
  4. ^ Introducing the Apostolic Church: A Manual of Belief, Practice and History. Pen-y-groes: The Apostolic Church. 1988. p. 179.
  5. ^ Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 101
  6. ^
    ISBN 0310224810
    .
  7. ^ William Kay, Anne Dyer, European Pentecostalism, BRILL, Leiden, 2011, p. 44
  8. ISBN 9789004412231
    . Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  9. ^ "What Are Apostolic Churches? The Origins and Beliefs of Apostolics". Christianity.com. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  10. Premier Christian News
    . Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  11. ^ Black, Jonathan (2020). The Theosis of the Body of Christ: From the Early British Apostolics to a Pentecostal Trinitarian Ecclesiology. Leiden: Brill. p. 6.
  12. ^ Black, Jonathan (2016). Apostolic Theology: A Trinitarian, Evangelical, Pentecostal Introduction to Christian Doctrine. Luton: The Apostolic Church UK.
  13. ^ Constitution of the Apostolic Church, p.8
  14. ^ Constitution of the Apostolic Church, p.8
  15. ^ Weeks, Gordon (2003). Chapter Thirty Two: Part of a History of the Apostolic Church 1900–2000. p. 140.
  16. ^ Weeks, Gordon (2003). Chapter Thirty Two: Part of a History of the Apostolic Church 1900–2000. p. 228.

External links

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