thumb|[[Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury, which belongs to the trustees of the Catholic Apostolic Church]]

The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church or Irvingite Church, is a denomination in the Restorationist branch of Christianity. It originated in London around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States. The traditional groups of the Catholic Apostolic Church with the revisionist movement, the character of which include elements of historic liturgies and charismatic gifts are sometimes referred to as Irvingism or the Irvingian movement after Edward Irving (1792–1834), a clergyman of the Church of Scotland sometimes credited as organising the movement.

The church was organised in 1835 with the fourfold ministry of "apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors". The denominations in the tradition of the Catholic Apostolic Church teach "the restoration to the universal church of prophetic gifts by the direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost."

As a result of schism within the Catholic Apostolic Church, other Irvingian Christian denominations emerged, including the Old Apostolic Church, New Apostolic Church, Reformed Old Apostolic Church and United Apostolic Church; of these, the New Apostolic Church is the largest Irvingian Christian denomination today, with 16 million members.

Irvingism has elaborate liturgies; it teaches three sacraments: Baptism, Holy Communion and Holy Sealing.

History

Edward Irving

Edward Irving, also a minister in the Church of Scotland, preached in his church at Regent Square in London on the speedy return of Jesus Christ and the real substance of his human nature.

Irving's relationship to this community was, according to its members, somewhat similar to that of John the Baptist to the early Christian Church. He was the forerunner and prophet of the coming dispensation, not the founder of a new sect; and indeed the only connection which Irving seems to have had with the Catholic Apostolic Church was in fostering spiritual persons who had been driven out of other congregations for the exercise of their spiritual gifts.

Around him, as well as around other congregations of different origins, coalesced persons who had been driven out of other churches, wanting to "exercise their spiritual gifts". Shortly after Irving's trial and deposition (1831), he restarted meetings in a hired hall in London, and much of his original congregation followed him. Having been expelled from the Church of Scotland, Irving took to preaching in the open air in Islington, until a new church was built for him and his followers in Duncan Street, Islington, funded by Duncan Mackenzie of Barnsbury, a former elder of Irving's London church.

Shortly after Irving's trial and deposition (1831), certain persons were, at some meetings held for prayer, designated as "called to be apostles of the Lord" by certain others claiming prophetic gifts.

Some of the music in the Catholic Apostolic Church is composed by Edmund Hart Turpin, former secretary of the Royal College of Organists.

Sacraments

Irvingism teaches three sacraments: Baptism, Holy Communion and Holy Sealing.]]In the 21st century, of the principal CAC buildings in London, the Catholic Apostolic Central Church, in Gordon Square, survives and has been let for other religious purposes.

Notable members

Aside from Irving, notable members include Thomas Carlyle; Edward Wilton Eddis, who contributed to the Catholic Apostolic hymnal; and Edmund Hart Turpin, who contributed much to CAC music.

New Apostolic Church

thumb|right|200 px|Scheme of several Apostolic churches inside and outside the Netherlands from 1830 until 2005. Click on the image to enlarge.

In the 19th century, the Dutch branch of the Restored Apostolic Mission Church (at first known as , since 1893 officially registered as Hersteld Apostolische Zendingkerk (HAZK)) was created. This later became the New Apostolic Church.

Notable buildings

thumb|Former Catholic Apostolic Church, [[Albury Park, Surrey|276x276px]]

  • The Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury in Gordon Square, London: a massive early English neo-Gothic building constructed 1850–1854, designed by Raphael Brandon.
  • Maida Avenue, Paddington, London: built 1891–1894, designed by John Loughborough Pearson.
  • Mansfield Place Church (now the Mansfield Traquair Centre), Edinburgh: a Scottish neo-Romanesque building completed in 1885, designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson.

Shortage of holy order

All ministers in the church were ordained by an apostle, or under delegated authority of an apostle. Thus, following the death of the last of the apostles, Francis Valentine Woodhouse, in 1901, the consensus of trustees, who administer the remaining assets, has been that no further ordinations are possible.

Archives

A collection of papers related to the Catholic Apostolic Church, compiled by the Cousland family of Glasgow, is held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.

See also

  • Apostolic Church of Queensland, an Australian religious denomination established by H. F. Niemeyer in 1883

References

Further reading

  • , (Vol. II).

Doctrine

  • Francis Sitwell The Purpose of God in Creation and Redemption (6th ed., 1888)