Apostolic Succession

We don’t invent our authority —
we receive it. Through valid, historic ordination,
our mission stands in continuity with the apostles.

Historic, valid, and unbroken

Our Apostolic Lineage

Apostolic succession is the Church’s historic continuity of ordained ministry, carried forward through bishops by the laying on of hands in prayer and sacrament.

It is not a badge of superiority, nor a claim to exclusive grace. It is a sign that the ministry we exercise has been received within the wider Church, not invented for ourselves.

The Apostolic Old Catholic Mission stands within the independent sacramental tradition: a family of Christian communities that preserve apostolic faith, valid orders, and sacramental worship while serving with pastoral freedom outside the large institutional churches.

Our succession is historic and sacramental, passing through recognised Old Catholic and independent sacramental lines, including lines associated with the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht and other apostolic streams received through bishops of the wider movement.

Our Bishop-Rector, Bishop Ashley R. Deutschmann, was ordained priest on 18 May 2025 by H.E. Archbishop Svetoslav Vassileff of the Bulgarian Old Catholic Church.
On 24 May 2026, in Sofia, he was consecrated to the episcopate by Presiding Bishop Seamus of the Catholic Episcopal Church, and H.E. Archbishop Svetoslav Vassilev of the Bulgarian Old Catholic Church, through the laying on of hands by both consecrating bishops and the prayer of consecration, within a Western rite that also included the anointing with oil.

This consecration was a shared sacramental act, not the assertion of a private or isolated claim. Bishop Seamus brought the visible friendship and cooperation of the wider independent sacramental movement. Archbishop Svetoslav brought continuity with the Mission’s already documented apostolic inheritance. Together, their ministry expressed what the Mission seeks to embody: apostolic faith, sacramental integrity, and humble service within the wider Body of Christ.

The consecration was also received with letters of affirmation, support, and fellowship from bishops and clergy within the wider independent sacramental movement, including the Inclusive Catholic Church, the Episcopal Anglican Community in Serbia, the Reformed Old Catholic Church (Archdiocese of Oceania), and the Independent Catholic Ministry.
These letters do not replace the sacramental act of consecration itself, nor are they presented as separate lines of succession. Rather, they witness to the wider ecclesial friendship, prayer, and recognition surrounding Bishop Ashley’s episcopal ministry.

Through this episcopal ministry, the Mission carries forward apostolic succession as a responsibility: to teach the faith, celebrate the sacraments, guard the dignity of every person, and serve the people of God with integrity.

We do not treat apostolic succession as clerical status, paperwork, or ecclesiastical decoration. Valid lineage matters, but it is never enough on its own. Succession must be apostolic in spirit: rooted in Christ, accountable in practice, and expressed through reverent worship, sound teaching, pastoral care, and love.

The Mission therefore receives its succession with gratitude and exercises it without pretence. We do not claim ownership of grace. We seek only to be faithful stewards of the ministry entrusted to the Church, carrying it forward humbly, prayerfully, and for the service of all whom Christ calls.

View Apostolic Succession documents

A thread woven through centuries

What the Church Has Historically Taught

Apostolic succession is not meant to be about control, rank, or clerical status. Sadly, over the centuries, it has sometimes been used in that way — as a tool of exclusion, superiority, or institutional control. That was never its proper purpose.

At its heart, apostolic succession is about continuity. It is the belief that the ministry entrusted by Christ to the apostles did not end with them, but continued in the life of the Church through prayer, teaching, sacrament, and the laying on of hands.

From the earliest centuries, Christian communities understood that sacred ministry was not self-invented. It was received, guarded, and handed on. The Church appointed bishops, priests, and deacons not as owners of grace, but as servants of Christ and stewards of the apostolic faith.

Early witnesses such as St Clement of Rome, St Ignatius of Antioch, St Irenaeus of Lyons, and St Cyprian of Carthage all point, in different ways, to the same pattern: the Church is one body in many places, gathered around the apostolic faith, the sacraments, and recognised ministry.

Later councils, including Nicaea, assumed and protected this episcopal order rather than inventing it.

This is what we stand within today.

Not a private claim.
Not a badge of importance.
Not a museum piece.
A living trust.

Apostolic succession means that our ministry, sacraments, and pastoral care are not detached from the wider Church. They stand within a stream of faith and service that reaches back to the apostles themselves.

For the Apostolic Old Catholic Mission, this succession must be more than historical paperwork. It must be apostolic in spirit: faithful in teaching, reverent in worship, accountable in practice, and generous in love.

We receive it with gratitude, and we seek to exercise it with open hands.

Recognised. Misunderstood. Still faithful

Key Documents and Clarifications

We understand that terms like apostolic succession, validity, recognition, and jurisdiction can raise honest questions — especially in a Christian world where many communities do not understand these words in the same way.

So we want to be clear.

We do not claim to be the only valid church.
We do not deny the presence of God’s grace in other Christian traditions.
We do not treat apostolic succession as a weapon against other believers.

But we do believe — with grace and humility — that apostolic succession matters.

Not as a mark of superiority.
Not as clerical status.
Not as ecclesiastical decoration.

Apostolic succession is a sacred thread of continuity with the apostles and the early Church. It is not about control, status, or institutional possession. It is about stewardship — receiving what has been handed down, guarding it faithfully, and passing it on in service.

The Declaration of Utrecht (1889) remains an important historical witness within the Old Catholic tradition. It called the Church back to the faith of the ancient, undivided Church, resisted later claims imposed without the common consent of the Church, and upheld a vision of Catholic faith rooted in Scripture, tradition, episcopal order, and local responsibility.

The Roman Catholic declaration Dominus Iesus (2000) also makes an important distinction. It teaches that churches not in full communion with Rome, but which preserve apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, may possess true sacraments and be understood as true particular Churches. We do not present this as direct Roman recognition of the Apostolic Old Catholic Mission. Rather, it reflects a wider Catholic principle: validity, communion, jurisdiction, and recognition are related, but they are not the same thing.

We are independent in governance, but not isolated in spirit. The Apostolic Old Catholic Mission is not a separate denomination or self-contained church body; it is a mission within the wider independent sacramental tradition. We work closely and collegially with bishops, clergy, and communities from a number of different jurisdictions, seeking friendship, mutual support, and visible Christian cooperation wherever conscience and faith allow.

Our independence is therefore best understood as interdependence: freedom to serve faithfully, while remaining open to counsel, collaboration, accountability, and shared witness within the wider Body of Christ.

Our apostolic succession is real, historical, and sacramental — received through Bishop Ashley R. Deutschmann’s priestly ordination by H.E. Archbishop Svetoslav Vasilev, Archbishop of Serdica, and through his episcopal consecration by Presiding Bishop Seamus of the Catholic Episcopal Church and H.E. Archbishop Svetoslav Vasilev, of the Bulgarian Old Catholic Church.

We exercise this succession not to control, but to serve.

That is the heart of it: we receive in order to give. We carry what others have passed on — not to protect it behind locked doors, but to offer it freely in the service of Christ and His people.

Still have questions?

What Does This All Mean?

A few honest answers to common questions about apostolic succession and what it means for us today.

Still have questions?

Not at all. We don’t believe apostolic succession makes us “better” — but we do believe it matters. It’s not about pride or power. It’s about staying connected to the faith, worship, and sacramental ministry of the apostles, handed on faithfully through the centuries.
Many churches serve Christ with love and grace, even if they don’t follow this structure — but for us, it remains an essential part of how we understand valid sacramental life.

Yes — gently. In catholic theology (which we share), sacraments like the Eucharist and ordination require valid apostolic succession to be considered fully sacramental in nature. That doesn’t mean God can’t work elsewhere — only that we believe sacramental grace depends on continuity in both form and authority.
We hold this with conviction, but not with condemnation.

No. Apostolic succession is upheld by the Roman Catholic, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Old Catholic, and many Anglican churches. These traditions have preserved the unbroken line of ordination from the apostles through bishops and priests.
What unites us isn’t institutional control, but shared sacramental continuity.

No. We are catholic (universal church), but not Roman Catholic. We share the ancient faith, the apostolic ministry, and the sacramental life — but we are not under the Pope’s authority. We belong to the Old Catholic tradition, which values both fidelity and freedom.

Because the Church isn’t just a symbol — it’s something lived. Apostolic succession isn’t about looking back with nostalgia. It’s about ensuring what we offer today — in worship, in Eucharist, in pastoral care — is grounded, real, and in continuity with the Church Christ began.