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The Old Apostolic Church belongs to a wider apostolic movement shaped by revivalism, disputed apostolic callings, and later church divisions. This article corrects key errors in a commonly shared schism chart and separates corroborated links from claims that still need primary verification.
A chart is not a verdict
Historical lineage is not theological proof. A connection to an earlier body does not establish doctrine, and a schism does not by itself disprove a later body. The purpose of this chart is to clarify historical relationships, not to make an argument from institutional succession.
The original visual concept came from the critical secondary source History – The schism tree. It was not used as the only authority. The revised chart corrects its placement of the New Apostolic name and its incorrect treatment of Apostelamt Juda.
From Albury to the New Apostolic movement
The Catholic Apostolic Church emerged from the Albury movement in the early nineteenth century. The New Apostolic Church identifies the 1863 Hamburg schism, arising from disagreement about new apostles, as the start of the General Christian Apostolic Mission and the movement from which it developed. Citation: New Apostolic Church history
The original chart showed a 1873 name change. A history published by the Apostolische Gemeinschaft instead describes New Apostolic congregations developing in 1878 from the General Christian Apostolic Mission. The modern name and institutional identity emerged over time, so the revised graphic uses the more accurate label New Apostolic movement. Citation: Apostolische Gemeinschaft history
Klibbe and South Africa
New Apostolic sources state that Carl Georg Klibbe was sent from Australia to South Africa in 1889 to establish congregations. He began in Cape Town and later found a foothold near East London. Citation: New Apostolic Church International
Sources describe Klibbe’s group as independent by 1915, with the Old Apostolic Church of Africa name settled in the aftermath of a 1920s dispute. The precise 1915 and 1926-27 legal history needs direct court-record verification, which is why the article does not reduce it to a single unqualified founding claim.
Apostelamt Juda and later branches
Apostelamt Juda is a separate New Apostolic offshoot. Its own history says Julius Fischer founded it in Zehdenick on 2 May 1902 after exclusion from the New Apostolic Church; it is not a descendant of the 1878 branch in the original chart. Citation: Apostelamt Juda history
The Twelve Apostles Church of Africa states that Jim Scotch Ndlovu founded it in 1968. Citation: Twelve Apostles Church of Africa history Several secondary accounts place Robert Lombard’s breakaway in 1972 and connect it to the later Reformed Old Apostolic Church name. That branch remains labelled provisional until its legal details are verified directly.
How to read this history
The New Testament calls believers to test teaching by the gospel received, not merely by claimed succession (Galatians 1:6-9; 1 John 4:1). It also warns against factionalism (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). A genealogy can frame historical questions, but it cannot replace Scripture, official confessions, primary records, and careful doctrinal analysis.
References
You dont knows hostories of the chucrj .. i do.. ask me.
“You dont know” is not a refutation. Please provide facts, I would be happy to investigate.