Apostolic Church (denomination)

The Apostolic Temple, Penygroes

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

The origins of the Apostolic Church lie in groups of Christians who had been awakened in the Welsh Revival, but did not find a welcome in the existing chapels. Daniel Powell Williams, a lay preacher among the Welsh-speaking Independents (Congregationalists) joined with one of these groups in his home village of Penygroes, Carmarthenshire, upon being convinced of the need for believer's baptism by immersion. Eventually Williams became recognised as the leader of the group, and was called to the pastorate through prophecy. This led to a division between those who accepted the ordination of a pastor and those who did not.

The earliest historians of the Apostolic Church date its beginnings as a distinct church to 1911, when three different groups of people in three different locations in the village of Penygroes received the Pentecostal baptism in the Holy Spirit.[2] This led to the beginnings of both the Penygroes assembly of the Apostolic Church and the commencement of the worldwide movement.

For a period, the Welsh churches were associated with William Oliver Hutchinson and the Apostolic Faith Church denomination, in Bournemouth, England.[3] 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, establishing the Apostolic Church in Wales (ACW).[4][5] After 1916, the two groups had no more contact and developed along very different doctrinal paths. Hutchinson had begun to claim all authority as 'Chief Apostle', a claim which 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. The Apostolic Church was very careful to adopt a system of presbyteries to govern the church collegially.[6] While ministers were ordained as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/elders, and teachers, all were involved in prayer and deliberation together in presbyteries at the local, sectional, and national level. (The names of these governing bodies eventually became distinct, with the presbytery of the local church retaining the name presbytery, while the regional body became known as the classis, and later the Area Pastors' Meeting, and the national governing body adopted the name of General Council.) Church government was not reserved to the apostles alone, as they were regarded as first among equals (primus inter pares) among the other ministers, requiring a collegial government.[7]

In 1917 a second group centred on Birmingham affiliated to the ACW. The following year the Burning Bush Pentecostal Congregation in Glasgow,[4] came into co-operation with the ACW but remained independent. In the same year, a group using the name "Apostolic Church" in Hereford also came into co-operation with the ACW.[4]

In 1920, Ben Fisher, who was the leader of an independent Pentecostal congregation in Belfast, Northern Ireland, invited Williams to minister in his church. The group then affiliated to the ACW becoming their first mission field.

Herbert Victor Chanter was the leader of the Apostolic Church of God (ACG); a large group of Pentecostal congregations headquartered in Bradford. During 1921, Chanter attended the Christmas convention of the ACW in Pen-y-groes, Carmarthenshire. A prophetic word given in Bradford directed the leaders to invite the Welsh leaders to join them for a meeting. They met 1922, with another wider meeting arranged for Easter. At the Easter convention, leaders from most of the ACW congregations and those affiliated with them met in Bradford.

The 1922 Easter meeting in Bradford brought the Apostolic Church in Wales, the Scottish churches, the Apostolic Church in Hereford, and the Bradford-based Apostolic Church of God together as a single church. A prophetic word directed them to form an administrative union: Pen-y-groes was to be the administrative centre; Glasgow, the financial centre; and Bradford the missionary centre.

In 2016, the denomination had 15 million members in approximately 100 countries.[8]

The Apostolic Church views the Scriptures as the supreme authority and understands them to be the inerrant Word of God. The soteriology of the Apostolic Church is neither uniformly Reformed nor Arminian. Emphasis is placed upon the penal substitutionary atonement and the Reformation understanding of justification by grace alone. The Church has taught both unconditional election and the possibility of grace, suggesting a position closer to that of Lutheran theology. Ecclesiology has taken a prominent place in the theology of the movement. The Church is defined as the Body of Christ and the headship of Christ is given prominence. Christ is seen to express his headship through the ascension ministries (a reference to Ephesians 4:7-11) of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.[9]

The theological beliefs of the Apostolic Church are summarized in its confession of faith, known as the Tenets, which read as follows:[10]

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 virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, triumphant resurrection, ascension, abiding intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ; His second coming and Millennial Reign upon earth.
4. Justification and 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 sacraments of 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."[11]

For the first 100 years of the Apostolic Church's history, an international convention took place each August. Until 2002 the convention was held every year in the village of Pen-y-groes, Carmarthenshire. It then moved to Swansea, where it was held from 2003-2011. During its time in Swansea the Apostolic Church International Convention was renamed AblazeUK. In 2012 the AblazeUK moved to Cheltenham, and the final convention took place ther in 2016 to mark the 'Centenary' of the movement.

The Apostolic Church established its first theological college, the Apostolic Church International Bible School, in the village of Pen-y-groes iin 1933.[12] Colleges and seminaries have also been established in eleven other countries.[13]

In the past the standard hymnal of the Apostolic Church has been 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. Molwch Dduw was the hymnal used in Welsh language Apostolic assemblies and contained many hymns by D.P. Williams and other early Apostolic figures. Another hymnal, Hymns at the Holy Table, was produced by Ian MacPherson for use in the Apostolic Church and other British Pentecostal assemblies at the Breaking of Bread. Chorus books, such as Gospel Quintet Choruses, Gates of Praise, and Glorious Vision Melodies, were also frequently published during the course of the 20th Century.

• List of the largest Protestant bodies

• Apostolic Church in the United Kingdom (official website)