Apostolic Church UK
Formed in 1916 as a result of the 1904 Welsh revival, the Apostolic Church is a trinitarian, Pentecostal movement with a strong commitment to church planting and mission. The church is established in around 100 nations, most of which are autonomous.The church in the United Kingdom is a network of local churches in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Each church functions with local leadership and has the responsibility to develop maturity in the body of believers as well as to communicate Christ to the community it serves.
History
It is estimated that more than one hundred thousand people were converted during the Welsh Revival (1904-5). Some of those held meetings in a house in rural south Wales and continued until February 1910 when they opened a building called ‘The Evangelical Church’. During the Revival some had experienced manifestations of the Holy Spirit and these continued to be part of their personal and church life.
D.P. Williams (1882-1947), a miner, began to attend some of the services. He had been converted in the revival in 1904 when Mr. Evan Roberts, the famed revivalist, laid his hands on him. Williams became a well-known preacher in chapels in and around Penygroes and was baptised in the Holy Spirit in 1909.
This experience brought him to a time of decision. He decided to join the Evangelical Church in 1910 and was baptised in water and shortly after connected with like-minded leaders in England.
Purpose & Leadership
The Apostolic Church is network of churches which exist to communicate Christ to the nation and, to provide the legal framework to be able to do so, is constituted as a charitable trust.
The leadership of the church is at both national and local level.
There is a national leadership body which exercises responsibility for appointments, policy, legal compliance, church planting and mission.
Each local church has an appointed leader and local leadership team who, together, are responsible to develop an outreach strategy for their local community as well as to create a climate in which each believer will mature to the full expression of the potential that lies within.
Local leaders relate to the national leadership both directly and through a relational structure intended to provide care, inspiration and encouragement.