The Apostles

The French revolution had a disturbing effect on British society. Some saw it as a prelude to the Apocalypse. There was considerable interest in spiritual events: healings, speaking in tongues, and utterances of prophesies. These were seen as signs that the world was approaching the time of judgement, which heralded the return of Christ and the coming of a period of peace (the Millennium). The Rev Edward Irving was a leading advocate of these views. From Old Testament references and early Christian prophesy, he proposed a theory of 'pre-millenarism'. Irving died in 1834, before the founding of the Catholic Apostolic Church, so the term 'Irvingite' is not accurate. Expecting the Apocalypse, twelve new apostles were appointed by ministers of seven churches at a ceremony in London in 1835. These churches had come into being when a number of charismatic congregations, including Irving's, had been expelled from their parent foundations.
The twelve can be categorised as follows:

  • by religion
  • eight were members of the Church of England
  • three were members of the Church of Scotland
  • one was an Independent
  • by occupation
  • three were members of the bar
  • three belonged to the gentry, two being members of Parliament
  • one was an artist
  • one was a merchant
  • one was Keeper of the Tower
J. B. Cardale (1802-1877) At a prayer meeting held in Albury Park in 1832, Cardale was praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit when he was called to be an apostle by Henry Drummond. He gave up his career as a solicitor as he believed he had been called as the first of the modern apostles.
In December 1832, he ordained Henry Drummond as Angel of Albury so he could celebrate Holy Communion and April 1833, Edward Irving as Angel of Newman Street. He worked on a Liturgy which was adopted in 1842.
His sister Emily was a prophetess of the Catholic Apostolic Church.
Designated apostle to England 		J B Cardale London attorney, Anglican
Henry Drummond
(1786-1860) Drummond was elected MP for Plympton Earls in 1810 and served there for three years. From 1847 until his death, he sat for West Surrey.
He bought Albury Park mansion in 1819 and was known to be a generous landlord and his workers were given allotments. He held annual conferences there between 1826 and 1830 which led to the formation of the Catholic Apostolic Church.
Drummond was ordained Angel of Albury in December 1832 by Cardale and then as apostle in September 1833.
Designated apostle to Scotland and Switzerland		 Henry Drummond London banker and Member of Parliament
Spencer Perceval (1795 - 1859)(son of prime minister Spencer Perceval who was murdered) he served in Parliament, was also of aristocratic family. He was descended from the fourth earl of Northampton
Designated apostle to Italy		 Spencer Perceval Member of Parliament
Henry Dalton
(1805 - 1869)
Designated apostle to France		 Henry Dalton Anglican clergyman
Thomas Carlyle
(1803-55)
Designated apostle to Northern Germany		 Thomas Carlyle Anglican clergyman
Francis V. Woodhouse (1805-1901) was called to be an apostle in 1934. He was a barrister and the youngest of the apostles. He was the last of the apostles and in 1900, he consecrated the chrism for the last time. Only apostles could do this, the chrism was used for ordination and sealing (a rite taking place when the candidate reached twenty years and being thought more significant than confirmation).
His death brought about the end of the apostolate and the beginning of the period of Silence
Designated apostle to South Germany and Austria 		Francis V. Woodhouse London attorney
Nicholas Armstrong was a clergyman of the Church of England and Rector of St Dunstan's, London. He was accused of heresy and the Bishop of London withdrew his licence to preach. He joined the dissenters and preached in the Salem Chapel, Bishopsgate in 1832. His inspirational preaching resulted in acts of healing and prophesy in his congregation. He began to preach in the streets to anyone who would listen and eventually attracted a large congregation of people of all denominations. This evolved into the Southwark church and was the third Catholic Apostolic Church in London. He was called to be an apostle on 18th January 1834.
Designated apostle to Ireland, Greece and the Orient		 Nicholas Armstrong
William Dow (1800 - 1855)
Designated apostle to Russia		 William Dow Scottish Presbyterian clegyman
Henry King-Church
(1787 - 1865)
Designated apostle to Netherlands and Denmark		 Henry King-Church Civil servant at the Tower of London
Duncan Mackenzie (1785 - 1855
 Laymen of Presbytarian church
Francis (Frank) Sitwell (1787 - 1864)
Designated apostle to Spain and Portugal		 Frank Sitwell Nobleman and captain
John Tudor(d. 1861) He was declared an apostle in 1835 when Angel of Brighton.
Designated apostle to Poland		 John Tudor Teacher, writer and artist

As a result of a declaration by Drummond in 1836, the apostles divided the lands of Christendom between between them and each apostle was deemed to be a spiritual descendant and head of the twelve biblical tribes of Israel. Each one went to the part of the world allotted to him to learn of the state of religious life including customs, ceremonies and liturgies. They were away for three and a half years and returned to develop their own liturgies and theology. They used existing prayers from the Greek, Roman and Anglican churches.

At first, the congregations under the apostles carried on with their former traditions of worship. However, new services were devised to replace existing forms of worship. Their liturgy was based on that of the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. A large number of clergy were required for each church, organised in four divisions, an 'angel' ( a role similar to that of a bishop), six elders, seven prophets and at least seven deacons.
The decision not to replace apostles who died led to a schism with the church in Germany and the eventual formation of a separate organisation known as The New Apostolic Church. The deaths of the apostles over the years ensured the eventual demise of the main church as only the apostles had the authority to ordain the episcopate (known as angels), priesthood and deacons. When the last apostle died in 1901, there were no more ordinations and services stopped. The last angel died in 1960 and the last priest in 1971. All Catholic Apostolic sacramental ministrations therefore ceased from that time.
The images on this page are from www.apostolic.de