New Apostolic Church in Southern Africa traces origins to 1889 with missionary efforts leading to establishment of first congregation in East London

The Regional Church of Southern Africa reflects on its journey from a small mission to a multinational Church, marked by faith, growth, and solidarity. The story begins in 1889 when Apostle Heinrich Friedrich Niemeyer sent Evangelist Carl Georg Klibbe, a young emigrant of German descent from Australia, to South Africa. His mission was to establish New Apostolic congregations at the Cape of Good Hope, but early efforts were unsuccessful. It was only after moving to East London, approximately 900 kilometers away in the Eastern Cape, that Klibbe began to see some success. Three years later, the first congregation was established there, initially without its own church building.

Klibbe was ordained as an Apostle in July 1893. In the years that followed, he ordained Deacons, Priests, and Evangelists and sent them to Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), Durban, Johannesburg, and Kimberley to spread the gospel and establish congregations. In 1903, he sent Deacon Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Schlaphoff to Cape Town. Schlaphoff, who came from northern Germany, not only found a new home in South Africa but also discovered the New Apostolic faith. The family became New Apostolic in 1902. From Cape Town, Schlaphoff was to assist with the building up of the Church in the western part of the country. Initially, he conducted services in his own home at 41 Argyle Street, and later in rented premises. The sermons were delivered in German and in Dutch. The first believers were sealed in Cape Town in April 1904. Schlaphoff was ordained as an Apostle in 1913 and commissioned to take over the leadership of the congregations in South Africa.

The Church’s first own chapel was built on Palmyra Road in Claremont and was dedicated on Pentecost 1906. Four years later, the Church was officially registered as “The New Apostolic Church (Africa)”. However, between 1913 and 1926, there were two denominations in South Africa that carried the name “New Apostolic Church”. Apostle Klibbe and his followers had gone their own way, yet retained the name. The case went to court. After the hearing, the two parties reached an agreement, and Klibbe carried on his activities under the name “The Old Apostolic Church of Africa”.

The New Apostolic Church (Africa) had nearly forty congregations and about seven thousand members when Apostle Schlaphoff set out on a journey to visit all the congregations. While in Johannesburg to do pastoral work, he collapsed and died. His son, Heinrich Franz Schlaphoff, was ordained Apostle and appointed to take over the affairs of the Church in South Africa. In 1933, H. F. Schlaphoff was appointed as Assistant Chief Apostle.

Source: Read the original report