From 1855 onwards the first apostles died and it was decided that no further apostles should be called and ordained. This decision was controversial and the German prophet Geyer called a new apostle in 1863. This was not recognized by the leaders of the Catholic-Apostolic Church and led to the excommunication of Geyer and the congregation of Hamburg, Germany. Now, new churches developed in the Netherlands which were called the Hersteld Apostolische Zendingkerk and Allgemeine christlich-apostolische Mission in Germany, from whom the New Apostolic Church evolved since 1907. The latter formed a central ruling ministry in form of the Chief Apostle. Parallel to the progress of the new apostolic denomination there occurred splittings throughout