Through prophecies in England in 1832 John Bate Cardale was called as the first apostle of the second sending. Until 1835 eleven more men from various Christian denominations, social positions and religious training were called to the newly founded apostle ministry. After a long period of combined preparation, these apostles started to travel around the world, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The main point of their gospel was the imminent return of Jesus Christ and spreading the sacrament of the Holy Sealing (to be compared with confirmation).

After the death of three apostles in 1855 the apostolate declared that there was no reason to call new apostles. Two callings of substitutes were explained by the apostolate in 1860 as coadjutors to the remaining apostles. After this event another apostle was called in Germany in 1862 by the prophet Heinrich Geyer. The English apostles didn't agree with this calling, and therefore the Hamburg congregation with its 'angel' F.W. Schwartz split off to form the Allgemeine Christliche Apostolische Mission in 1863 and the Dutch branch of the Restored Apostolic Mission Church (at first known as Apostolische Zending, since 1893 officially registered as Hersteld Apostolische Zendingkerk (HAZK)).

While the English apostles were dying, the new generation of German apostles started to spread "the word" around the world. After a second schism in 1897 in the Netherlands, the number of twelve apostles was bygone and more men were ordained as apostles. In 1907 the name of the church in Germany was changed into New Apostolic Church. In the Netherlands the name Hersteld Apostolische Zendinggemeente in de Eenheid der Apostelen (HAZEA) that was adopted after the schism of 1897, was maintained until the 1960s.

The New Apostolic Church formed a central ruling ministry in form of the "Chief Apostle". Parallel to the progress of the new apostolic denomination there occurred splittings throughout the world on several occasions.

The reasons for these splittings were different but mainly related with the central ministry of the Chief Apostle.

The first big split occurred in Saxony in 1921. The New Apostolic Chief Apostle Hermann Niehaus was led more and more by emotions, dreams and visions after 1914. The Saxon Apostle Brückner became the solicitor for all those who criticized the spiritual views of the Chief Apostle and the worshipping of his person. The different opinions led to the exclusion of Apostle Brückner and some thousand believers in 1921. The excluded founded the "Reformiert-Apostolischer Gemeindebund."

The main reason for the great splittings of the New Apostolic Church in Switzerland 1954 and West-Germany 1955 was the new teaching in 1951 of the then reigning Chief Apostle Johann Gottfried Bischoff. This teaching presumed that he would not die before Jesus Christ returned to take the predestined into his kingdom (First Resurrection). In 1954 this teaching, called "The Botschaft," became an official dogma. Those ministries especially the apostles who did not preach this lost their office and were excluded from the New Apostolic Church. Chief Apostle Bischoff died in 1960, without his dogma being fulfilled. There was no restoration of the excommunicated ministries to this day. On May 1st, 2005 a document of first steps of reconciliation was signed by the Swiss New Apostolic Church and the United Apostolic Church in Switzerland (=Vereinigung Apostolischer Christen).

The various communities and congregations like the Apostolic Church of Queensland or the Apostolic Church of South Africa - Apostle Unity which evolved out of these conflicts in different countries (Australia, Europe, South Africa) gathered 1956 in the "United Apostolic Church".