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Applying the Christian Worldview to the church, leadership and contemporary culture.

NEW: Understanding Fivefold Ministry Gift Churches

July 2007
To download this seminar, click here.

According to Ephesians 4:11 God calls people with unique ministry gifts to lead His church. The following thoughts regard understanding the strengths of your local church by understanding your particular ministry gift function in the body of Christ. Because of the nature of this seminar, I am limiting the definitions of “ministry gifts” to the ecclesiastic realm of the kingdom of God.

The following points are general statements that may or may not be true with each ministry gift/ministry gift church, depending on the unique gift mix of each individual and their maturity in the grace of God.

I. Fivefold Ministry Gifts According to Ephesians 4:11
1. Apostle: This is a person who walks in and out of all the ministry gift functions according to need. Generally these are God’s generals in the body of Christ who function as leaders over other ministry gift leaders in both the local and regional church. Some of the characteristics of an apostle are:
A. Plants churches.
B. Oversees a very strong apostolic church that reproduces and sends out other ministry gifts. (See the Jerusalem and Antioch church in the book of Acts.)
C. Oversees a network of other pastors and churches with influence in their region.
D. Oversees a very strong local church with holistic ministries that influence their region.
E. Functions in all the other ministry gifts as the need arises.
F. Has faith for miracles in the areas of finances and kingdom expansion.
G. Has great wisdom from God based on knowing His ways intimately (1 Corinthians 9:1).
H. Regularly moves in the gifts of the Spirit found in 1 Corinthians 12 with a redemptive gift of leadership found in Romans 12.
I. Has thick skin and walks in unconditional love with much patience in affliction (2 Corinthians 11).
J. Often are either great administrators or great managers who are able to oversee large organizations with numerous employees and big budgets.
K. Are great visionary leaders on the cutting edge of what God wants to do to reach their sphere of influence.
L. Because “apostle” doesn’t describe a specific mode of ministry delivery like the other ministry gifts, an apostle usually functions strongly in one or two of the other four ministry gifts depending on which ministry gift they functioned in prior to becoming an apostle. (In my particular case I started off in the ministry as an evangelist/prophet. Those two gifts are the strongest anointing that flow out of me to this day, especially the prophetic.)

2. Prophet:
A. With the apostle, serves as a foundation gift for all other ministry gifts and for the body of Christ (Ephesians 2).
B. Is usually endowed with the gift of exhortation. Thus, is usually a great preacher who is also a revelator.
C. What an apostle speaks from principle a prophet prophesies from the heart of God.
D. Is usually a great visionary leader with much insight and foresight.
E. Can see what God is doing in the future regarding the church and culture.
F. Has great insight regarding the true condition of the body of Christ in their region.
G. Regularly moves in the revelatory gifts of prophecy, discerning of spirits, and interpretation of tongues.
H. A true, seasoned New Testament prophet can be a senior pastor, oversee an apostolic network, or serve as an elder in a local church. Thus, it is very hard to tell the difference between a New Testament apostle and prophet.
I. Has a strong sense of right and wrong and often tends to see the world in black and white instead of gray.
J. Often is an introvert who spends a lot of time alone with God, has a deep prayer life, often lives a solitary life without a broad and active social life; would rather be with God than men.

3. Evangelist:
A. New Testament evangelists regularly move in signs wonders to confirm the Gospel to unbelievers.
B. Is usually a compelling communicator who is able to break down the Gospel into simple stories that produce great faith for salvation, deliverance, healing, and commitment to fulfill the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20.
C. Has a great burden for the lost and for outreach.
D. Has a gathering anointing with great power to influence masses of people.

4. Pastor:
A. Has a nurturing anointing to care for the sheep.
B. Is more concerned with in-reach than outreach.
C. Is more concerned with relational activities than evangelistic activities.
D. Is more concerned with quality than quantity.
E. Loves being with people.
F. Motivated by love more than numbers.
G. Has a burden to counsel, console, and comfort.

5. Teacher:
A. Has a didactic, systematic mind and approach to everything.
B. Often is a details person who is good with administration.
C. Often is an introvert.
D. Has a deep yearning to study the word of God.
E. Usually teaches series of messages on Sundays instead of disconnected motivational messages.
F. Sunday messages are usually very practical and informational.
G. Can teach with great authority and anointing without having to yell.
H. Has a great desire to disciple members in the church, often with some sort of formal approach to teaching such as setting up a Bible school or classes.
I. Is motivated to have a church rooted and grounded in the word and doctrine.

II. The Principle of Impartation and Reproduction
1. The Scriptures teach that we reproduce after our own kind.
A. Genesis 1.
B. 2 Kings 2:9-15.

2. The Scriptures teach that the one send is never greater than the one who sent him.
A. John 13:16.

3. The fivefold minister imparts gifts according to their ministry gift.
A. Matthew 10:41: The prophet’s reward is the prophetic deposit in the prophet that comes to those that receive his ministry.

4. The local church will take upon itself the anointing and characteristics of the senior leader.
A. Numbers 11:25.
B. If the senior leader is an apostle, the church will be an apostolic church. If the senior leader is a pastor, the church will become a pastoral church, etc.

III. The Characteristics, Strengths, and Needs of Each Fivefold Ministry Church
1. Apostolic church characteristics:
A. The church will usually have strong administration with many good systems flowing.
B. The church will usually operate with strong principles and protocol for leadership.
C. The church will reproduce numerous strong leaders who will be sent out and function either as apostles or one of the other fivefold ministry gifts. (An apostolic leader produces any of the fivefold ministry gifts.)
D. The church will have strong regional influence either because of its size or because of its ministry or organizations it develops.

2. Apostolic church needs and weaknesses:
A. Apostolic churches often need to have visiting prophets and evangelists regularly come in to inspire the church and balance the emphasis on the principled approach as opposed to the motivational approach.
B. Apostolic churches need to raise up a strong pastoral care ministry to balance the tendency of apostles to overlook the relational aspects of their church because they are concentrating on the work of the Great Commission and organizational development.
C. Apostolic churches often need prophets to come and remind the apostolic church of the need to regard the needs of the whole kingdom and not just their own kingdom assignment.
D. Apostolic churches need evangelists to come as bridge builders to other churches and ministries needed to fulfill the Great Commission.

3. Prophetic church characteristics:
A. Usually has strong worship and preaching services.
B. Usually has great vision.
C. Usually has great revelation coming forth regularly.
D. Usually produces many people who can prophesy with the revelatory gifts in activation.
E. Usually has much prayer and intercession with fasting.
F. Often has a mid-sized church (300-500 people the most) because the services are long and the messages emphasize the lordship of Christ and discipleship. They are larger than pastoral and teaching churches because of the excitement of vision and abundance of revelation, but they usually don’t become megachurches because of the length of the Sunday services and inconsistency of perpetuating the same vision with simplicity.

4. Prophetic church needs:
A. They regularly need the ministry of the apostle to balance inspiration with a principled approach to ministry and organization.
B. They need the apostle to come and help the prophet be consistent in regards to perpetuating and casting the same vision to the church, because often prophets get bored and will go from one vision or revelation to the next.
C. They need the ministry of the evangelist to help the church services become more seeker-sensitive in regards to the length of the services and the simple Gospel message needed to win the lost.
D. Often they need the ministry of the teacher to help the prophetic senior leader understand the need to teach systematically on Sundays so the church can grow. (Often the prophet’s preaching is based on a “rhema” word of the Lord that can lead to sermons on different subjects every week. Thus, the people have a hard time grasping and growing in any one truth of Scripture.)
E. They need the ministry of the pastor to bring a relational balance so that the church can function socially as a community of believers instead of just being a community of people living on revelation and the illumination of the word and prayer.

5. Evangelistic church characteristics:
A. They usually gear their whole ministry approach, including Sunday morning services, for the lost.
B. They have a gathering anointing. Thus, often they have the largest churches.
C. They are strong on preaching, exhortation, soul winning, and vision to fulfill the Great Commission.

6. Evangelistic church needs:
A. They regularly need the ministry of the teacher because often their word ministry is a mile long and an inch deep.
B. They regularly need the input of a pastor so the church has a healthy balance between outreach and in-reach.
C. They regularly need the ministry of the prophet to bring the lordship of Christ and commitment to the congregation.
D. They need the input of the apostle so that the gathering anointing can be harnessed for church planting, cells, and organizational strength.

7. Pastoral church characteristics:
A. Has an emphasis on in-reach more than outreach.
B. Very strong on family related and social related events that drive the church, such as church picnics, parties, and other social gatherings meant to deepen relationships and impart a strong covenant community bond.
C. Has a strong visitation and compassion team replete with hospital visits and other onsite visitation ministries.
D. Has a strong counseling ministry with an emphasis on inner healing and emotional health.
E. Usually has a strong teaching emphasis to root and ground the saints in the essentials of the faith
F. Usually has an informal, community orientated approach to ministry that sometimes can lack strong vision and administration.

8. Pastoral church needs:
A. Need the regular ministry of the evangelist to impart to the church a burden for outreach as opposed to just in-reach.
B. Need the ministry and input of the apostle so the pastor doesn’t just attempt to nurture all the saints without a strategy for training capable saints according to 2 Timothy 2:2.
C. Need the ministry of the prophet to inspire and put fire into the congregation to surrender their lives to the lordship of Christ.
D. Need the ministry of the teacher to impart a love for the word and a formal approach to studying the Scriptures.
E. Need the ministry of the apostle/prophet to incorporate a true kingdom vision.
F. Need the ministry of the apostle/teacher to incorporate a culture of excellence in regards to protocol and administration.

9. Teaching church characteristics:
A. Has a strong emphasis on knowing the truth and doctrine.
B. Is a very detail oriented church with great administration.
C. Is very strong on in-reach.
D. Is very strong on quality in ministry.
E. Has a spirit of excellence in the Sunday services and the way they do ministry.

10. Teaching church needs:
A. They regularly need the ministry of the evangelist to give the church a burden for the lost and outreach. Teaching churches are usually “a mile deep and an inch wide” with an overemphasis on quality. The evangelist can make both their ministry and teaching approach more amenable to reaching the lost and ministering to babes in Christ.
B. They regularly need the ministry of the prophet to enlarge the vision of the house.
C. They regularly need the ministry of the prophet/evangelist to put fire in the house.
D. They need the ministry of the apostle to motivate the house to send out ministers to their destiny, instead of just building a strong, stable congregation with no exterior goals.