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 as of 2008. Irvingism has elaborate liturgies and teaches three sacraments: Baptism, Holy Communion, and Holy Sealing.