Old Apostolic Church

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The Old Apostolic Church is a Christian religious community.

The Church was founded by Karl Georg Klibbe. Klibbe, a Lutheran minister, was born in Pomerania, but later emigrated first to Scotland and then to the Australian state of Queensland. In Queensland, he joined the local branch of the New Apostolic Church. In 1889, he was sent as the Church's Apostle to South Africa, working to establish the New Apostolic communities there. Gradually, however, relations between Klibbe and the church leadership in Germany began to deteriorate — the exact reasons for this remain disputed. Klibbe was officially removed from office in 1913, but he refused to recognise this. For some time, there were two conflicting organisations in South Africa using the name "New Apostolic Church" — Klibbe's followers, and the followers of the newly appointed Apostle. Finally, in 1926, a court case regarding the rights to the name prompted Klibbe's followers to adopt the name "Old Apostolic Church", which they still retain.

The Old Apostolic Church is estimated to have around 1.6 million members worldwide, most of whom are in South Africa. The Church remains independent from the New Apostolic Church, and did not join the United Apostolic Church.