Apostolic Church - Help Me Understand

[front hugs > duggs]

A young woman from the Apostolic church was recently featured on my Instagram "explore" page, and from what I found on Reddit, I wasn't alone. While I read the first few links I found when googling Apostolic church and Instagram looked through a few of these Apostolic women, I'm still really confused on exactly what their brand of Christianity is. They seem to dress modestly, even the men not wearing shorts. However, their church services are quite flamboyant. Where certain modesty standards in other sects/religions prohibit women being seen dancing, women lead singing and dancing on stage in front of the church. I saw public schools attended and secular careers mentioned (real estate, accountant, nurse). 

Also, wow, the dress. Is this the same brand as that woman with the four daughters who finally had a son, but when private? I can't recall her name, but we also discussed her sister. They had pre-teen girls that were still dressed like toddlers and crazy curled hair. 

This stuff is all new to me, and I'd love to learn more if anybody knows!

[47of74]

1 hour ago, front hugs > duggs said:

A young woman from the Apostolic church was recently featured on my Instagram "explore" page, and from what I found on Reddit, I wasn't alone. While I read the first few links I found when googling Apostolic church and Instagram looked through a few of these Apostolic women, I'm still really confused on exactly what their brand of Christianity is. They seem to dress modestly, even the men not wearing shorts. However, their church services are quite flamboyant. Where certain modesty standards in other sects/religions prohibit women being seen dancing, women lead singing and dancing on stage in front of the church. I saw public schools attended and secular careers mentioned (real estate, accountant, nurse). 

Also, wow, the dress. Is this the same brand as that woman with the four daughters who finally had a son, but when private? I can't recall her name, but we also discussed her sister. They had pre-teen girls that were still dressed like toddlers and crazy curled hair. 

This stuff is all new to me, and I'd love to learn more if anybody knows!

I did a bit of quick research on the church and it looks to be part of the Pentecostal branch of Christianity that got its start in the 19th century.  They baptize in Jesus's name instead of the father, son, and holy spirit and also believe God is a single being and not three distinct persons.  They believe father, son, and holy spirit are just different names for the same God. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Apostolic Pentecostals are a fundie brand of their own. You will find lots of the young wives on Instagram showing off their perfect hair, clothing, and children. 

Here are some rules for women:

1) don’t cut your hair

2) don’t wear makeup

3) don’t wear jewelry other than your wedding rings and watch

4) always wear some sort of sleeves, skirt past your knees, and no low cut shirts.

5) of course no pants

Because women are not allowed to wear makeup or jewelry, they go over the top with their hairstyles, clothing, shoes, and bags. The hair is almost always curled even though it’s very long. They have intricate updos as well. Their clothes are considered pretty fancy. Especially church clothing. They dress up for church like they are going to a 5 star restaurant. Many of the young ladies wear very high heels and designer handbags. I think if those things as their jewelry since they aren’t allowed real jewelry.

[front hugs > duggs]

I didn’t even realize the lack of make up or jewelry. Damn. 

This one couple kissed before marriage, but seemed like it was a courtship type model (Wikipedia says the church gets involved in the dating process). Do you know if that’s common or not ?

[JermajestyDuggar]

11 hours ago, front hugs > duggs said:

I didn’t even realize the lack of make up or jewelry. Damn. 

This one couple kissed before marriage, but seemed like it was a courtship type model (Wikipedia says the church gets involved in the dating process). Do you know if that’s common or not ?

I don’t think they have rules against kissing before marriage. But I’m sure their dating looks a lot like courtships. 

[livinginthelight]

Apostolic churches are related to Pentecostals. They are charismatic, meaning that they look for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in the service. Members of the church, during the service, might speak in tongues or prophesy. There also might be times of healing, or altar calls when people are "slain in the spirit" -i.e., literally knocked onto the ground by the force of the Spirit.

I'd always kind of scoffed at the "slain in the spirit" talk, figuring the preacher kind of just pushed people backwards and they went along with it and fell to the ground. Until a good friend of mine had his own experience of being "slain". He's a completely sane person who, while being a Christian, didn't believe in all this "showy" stuff. But he went with his wife to a charismatic service will visiting his parents and went forward for prayer. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back, temporarily unable to move! He still can't explain what happened but SOMETHING did happen.

Edited August 30, 2020 by livinginthelight