The Common Origins of The New Apostolic Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

These ideas are very preliminary--to be expanded in the future.....

Joseph Smith wasn't kidding when he called his day a time of great religious upheaval.  And it wasn't just concentrated in the Finger Lakes area of New York where Joseph Smith lived.  Here are some ties between the religious histories of the Newapostolic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that demonstrate that anticipation of a restoration was worldwide.  The following Newapostolic history is a paraphrase of my own translations from several German periodicals about the origins of the faith, so please pardon (and correct me on) any omissions or inaccuracies.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a Catholic preacher just finishing his divinity school was offered a choice between the leadership of two parishes:  one was a thriving parish in a growing area, the other, an inactive congregation facing startvation in the rural village of Karlhuld.  Though he would get no recognition from his peers for it, Lutz decided to move to Karlshuld and do what he could among the people in the alpine village.  

He encouraged the people there to turn to the Lord in their needs.  Motivated by his faith and example, they did so, and were blessed in many ways.  The congregation became very active in their Bible-reading and church attendance.  Several years after the new priest had arrived, some interesting signs were being manifest in the congregation.  Several members of the congregation reported seeing visions, hearing a voice, etc.  The preacher himself had such a vision, and which was recorded as near as I can remember as:

The true and everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, which has been taken from the earth, is about to be restored in anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  Apostles and prophets will be called in the manner of the original Christian Church to lead a restored Church that will usher in the Second Coming.

The Catholic Church began an investigation of these claims in 1830 and placed Lutz on probation.  State authorities attempted to force Lutz to transfer to another city.  His congregation stood behind him, however, and threatened to leave the Catholic Church if he were forced to transfer.  After a short absence, Lutz decided to leave the Catholic Church himself and remain in Karlshuld with the congregation.  Permission for founding an independent congregation was denied.   Wishing an affiliation with a larger religious body, Lutz told the congregation in 1831 that in the meantime (until they could find the Church prophesied of in the visions) they should join the Evangelical (Protestant) Church. 

Several years had passed with no sign of the restored church or its apostles.  Then a member of the congregation shocked them by declaring that Jesus Himself had called him as an apostle.  This was followed by several other such declarations, and soon after, 12 apostles had been found.  The group then separated from the Protestant Church and called themselves the "Apostelamt Jesu Christi," the "Apostolic Office of Jesus Christ." (Is there a better translation?)   Several decades later, another group from England was found (is this the same group as the one represented by Parley P. Pratt's opponent in Canada?) who had a similar history.  These two groups together became the "New Apostolic Church".  My documentation on this last part is very sparse (possible inaccuracies.)

Now here's where the research comes in:  Someone told me that the leader of the first apostolic church was contacted by Joseph Smith and that there was some communication regarding a combination of the two religions.  This could be completely false--I have not been able to document it and will be looking into this in the future.  But this will dismiss any of the statements you may have heard that the LDS Church is the only church that believes in a restoration.  That simply is not true.  I plan to incorporate these ideas into an actual paper someday as soon as I can research and document more sources, so please send me anything you know about this subject.