Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch — Malabar Rite
Herman Adrian Spruit was born in a suburb of Berlin, Germany, on January 26, 1911. He was of Dutch ancestry, his family being of Dutch Old Catholic extraction although his father, a tailor, had converted to Methodism while in Germany. At age seventeen, Spruit immigrated to the United States; settling in Los Angeles, California. It was the height or the depression and work was scarce, so he had to take whatever work was offered him. During this time, he took English classes and attended night school. Lewis Keizer relates this period, and the subsequent one, as follows:During this period, he felt a strong, personal call to the ministry, and approached his Methodist bishop He was flatly turned down and told that a foreigner simply couldn't minister to a congregation unless his English was good. Taking this as a challenge, Spruit redoubled his efforts. In two years, he was preaching English sermons at San Clemente and at Calvary Church in Oakland. He was accepted as a postulant for the Methodist ministry and began his formal training.
His first seminary work was through the ultra-conservaive Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Working as an apprentice housepainter, he labored many days a week to support his studies Then he went on to Los Angeles Pacific College, then to Chapman College and the University of Southern California. Finally he was ordained and served in two pastorates for a period of fifteen years. [1]
Herman Spruit served the Methodists well. He was Vice-President of the American Ministerial Association and represented his church at the founding of the World Conference of Churches held in Amsterdam in 1948. However, in 1951, Spruit resigned his credentials as a Methodist minister. In his letter of resignation, he cited his dissatisfaction at not being able to meet the spiritual needs of his congregation. Anthony Pascaretta, in an article for the Sophia Divinity School publication, Paraclete, wrote that Spruit "nonetheless received high praise and commendation from his Methodist bishop Rev. James Baker, who strongly encouraged him to reconsider his decision." [2]
After his resignation from the ministry, Spruit began to search for the deeper spirituality cited in his resignation. In the course of his searches, he came across the writings of Charles W. Leadbeater. Feeling a connection with the mode of religious worship described by Leadbeater and other authors in the same tradition, Spruit decided to become affiliated with the Liberal Catholic Church.
Pascaretta describes this process of awakening to the Catholic mode of worship, which is radically different from that found in the Methodist church, as follows:]
And so as Herman began to experience an inner need to connect with the spiritual roots of his childhood, he was inspired to explore the heritage of his father. He knew that the Liberal Catholic Church was an outgrowth of the Old Catholic Church with which he was familiar.
At one point, Herman procured an old Catholic missal and ritual book. Upon reading it, he endeavored to return to the spiritual values of his youth; Encouraged by his youthful recollections Herman deeply longed for a church which espoused both valid Catholic sacramentalism and Christian Mysticism. [3]
Having resolved to become a priest in the Old Catholic tradition, Spruit explored the possibility of becoming a priest in the Liberal Catholic Church Spruit decided against ordination in the Liberal Catholic Church for organizational reasons. At about this time, he became acquainted with Charles Hampton, an independent Liberal Catholic bishop. Hampton, recognizing Spruit's potential, ordained him to the diaconate in 1955 and the priesthood in 1956. On June 22, 1957, Bishop Hampton, assisted by Bishop Lowell Paul Wadle and Bishop H. Francis Marshall, consecrated Herman Adrian Spruit to the Episcopate. [4]
On June 27, 1965, Archbishop Robert Raleigh and Archbishop Spruit imposed hands on each other to unite their succession, and in the event of the death or incapacitation of Archbishop Raleigh, to set aside Archbishop Spruit an Archbishop of North America in the Antiochean line. Archbishop Spruit succeeded to this position when Archbishop Raleigh passed on in 1970.
On October 7, 1980, Herman Spruit consecrated Meri Louise Spruit [5] as Archbishop Commissary of the Patriarchate of the Church of Antioch. Meri L. Spruit served in this capacity until 1986. On January 25, 1956, in Long Beach California, Meri L. Spruit was proclaimed Ecumenical Matriarch of the West. The following day she was enthroned as Matriarch of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch and was granted an open-ended Ecclesiastical Worldwide Jurisdiction designated as International and Global. She stepped from the rank of Archbishop to the level of Matriarch where she shared the jurisdiction and responsibilities of leadership as co-head with Herman Adrian Spruit She was his Successor. This was the first time since Year One that a Patriarch shared the reins of official powers responsibilities, duties, and privileges.
Matriarch Spruit served in this capacity until the resignation or Herman Spruit on April 21, 1991. Spruit, who resigned due to ill health, passed on the leadership of the church to Meri Louise Spruit who functions in this capacity at this time.
The safeguarding and preservation of the Apostolic Succession and its continuity is a never-ending onward march.
1. Lewis Keizer, The Wandering Bishops, p.38
2. Rev. Fr. Anthony Pascaretta, "An Inquiring Priest Looks at His Church." Paraclete, Vol. III, April 1992, p.5.
3. Ibid, p.5.
4. The following paragraphs were added as part of the revised edition published by the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch.
5. Meri Louise Spruit, also known as Mary Louise Reynolds.
Revised 3/1/2003