This was an early nineteenth-century movement that emphasized the work of the Holy Spirit in healing, speaking in tongues and so on, with a very great emphasis on prophecy concerning the last days before the return of Christ. It is generally associated with Edward Irving and the church that he founded in London after his break with the London Presbytery. In 1832 twelve apostles were recognized by the community (not including Irving). It was thought that these would join the original twelve in occupying the twenty-four thrones of Revelation 4.
In time the group developed an ultra-formal ritual which included the Real Presence, holy water, and a sacrament of sealing, meaning that members became part of the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7. The impact of the Catholic Apostolic Church upon British Christianity was slight in comparison with the Oxford Movement which in some ways it came to resemble.
The community is now almost nonexistent, but the impressive University Church of Christ the King on Gordon Square, built in 1853, is associated with it.