Five-fold ministry

[Samrod]

I've heard this term before. What exactly is it? How do I know if a particular church has five-fold ministry?

 

[Mr Dave]

The five-fold ministry refers to Ephesians 4 which says;

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Churches which hold to the 5-fold ministry emphasise the need to have apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers within ministry and believe that these are current and important offices to have within the church.

Most churches probably have it in some form even if if they don't use the term or make any statement about holding to it, just as it makes sense for these roles to be filled within a church organisation. Any denomination may take this view, although the term is probably more common amongst charismatic churches.

 

[berean77]

Fivefold ministry refers to Ephesians 4:11-16 where the five primary gifts of the New Testament Church are enumerated:
1) Apostles
2) Prophets
3) Evangelists
4) Pastors
5) Teachers
Not only does this passage tell you what the offices of the fivefold ministry are, but it tells you the three-fold purpose of God setting these gifts in the Church.
1) Perfecting of the saints
2) The work of the ministry
3) Edifying of the Body of Christ
Without a fivefold ministry, you do not have the fullness of Jesus Christ represented in that assembly. Why? Because Jesus represents the fullness of ministry. Jesus is the Apostle of our profession (Hebrews 3:1), Jesus is the Prophet that should come (John 4), Jesus is the great Evangelist who came to seek and save the lost and to preach good tidings of good things (Luke 19:10, Isaiah 61:1-3), Jesus is our Pastor/good shepherd who watches over us (John 10:11), and Jesus is our Teacher come from God as Nicodemus testified (John 3:1-5). Jesus received the Spirit without measure (John 3:34) and when he walked this earth, he chose twelve men to teach, train, and ordain to continue the work of the Kingdom of God after His ascencion. Since then, God has been apprehending men for fivefold ministry work by teaching them, training them, and ordaining them to be His representatives here on earth to help God's people reach perfection. The fivefold ministry operates directly under Christ, who is the head of the Church. The fivefold ministry is not the head of the Church. Once again, Christ is the head of the Church. The fivefold ministry simply recieves instructions from Christ and blesses God's people with the gifts they have been given for that purpose.
You are only as strong as the ministry you are under. This seems like a strong statement, but it is a very real statement. As saints we trust that God has led us to a Church where the ministry is strong in the Lord, faithful, God-ordained, able to teach, preaches and teaches sound doctrine, etc. But, we can only learn as much as has been revealed to them, right? We can learn in many ways... directly from God, from God's people speaking under the inspirition and backing of the Spirit of God, the spoken/written word of God, etc. There are so many ways to learn, but time and time again you see that God sends His messengers to deliver his commandments and judgments to the people. So, the fivefold ministry plays a big role in our spiritual progress. And if a Church does not believe in the fivefold ministry then that Church is missing the mark. Fivefold ministry is necessary for saints to reach perfectoin (this is, once again, directly from Ephesians 4:11-16). To the naysayers, my question is this: What stops God from raising up Apostles in these days? What stops God from raising up Prophets in these days? What stops God from raising up Evangelists in these days? What stops God from rasing up Pastors in these days? What stops God from raising up Teachers in these days? Jesus himself called and chose twelve Apostles, what stops him from doing the same thing in these days? I believe it is vital for every Church to understand God's order is fivefold and all five offices work together in unity to preach the gospel and save souls for the Kingdom of God. If you have time to do further study, it is amazing how all five gifts specialize in certain things, but all are for one and all for all.
Fivefold ministry is a wonderful thing. God intends it to be this way. Look how beautiful it was in the early Church and how they turned the world upside down for Christ. So, I say let's stop saying this gift is for today and this gift is not for today. Let's buckle down, let's pray for God to raise up able ministers of the New Testament and let's all work together for the glory of God.
Samrod, I hope this summarizes what the fivefold ministry is and why it is important for New Testament Churches today. There are, of course, so many things to talk about this subject, but this I hope was a good summary.

 

[BigNorsk]

I've heard this term before. What exactly is it? How do I know if a particular church has five-fold ministry?

It's pretty easy, a prophet will tell you exactly what God wants you to do. Usually that means giving the prophet all your money. If you ever disagree with the prophet that means you are directly contradicting God and thus not a Christian at all.

So basically just look for lots of self serving extra-biblical revelation.

 

[Hillsage]

It's pretty easy, a prophet will tell you exactly what God wants you to do. Usually that means giving the prophet all your money. If you ever disagree with the prophet that means you are directly contradicting God and thus not a Christian at all.

So basically just look for lots of self serving extra-biblical revelation.

It looks to me like his question was not only sincere but also based upon scripture. Your answer, on the other hand, looks pretty 'self serving' and most definitely is 'extra biblical' to me.

No response necessary. I'm not wanting to argue the point.

 

[CryptoLutheran]

The Apostle isn't laying down a pattern of church polity, but describing five ministerial gifts which have been given to the Church.

This doesn't mean there haven't been prophets, apostles, evangelists (etc) throughout the course of the Church's history (there have been).

The prime issue is with those who believe that somehow they are restoring something lost by advocating a "five fold ministry"; such has never been lost. The apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral and doctoral qualities and gifts of the Church have never been lost.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Big Drew]

It's pretty easy, a prophet will tell you exactly what God wants you to do. Usually that means giving the prophet all your money. If you ever disagree with the prophet that means you are directly contradicting God and thus not a Christian at all.

So basically just look for lots of self serving extra-biblical revelation.

When people know not of which they speak they often look like fools...such is the case here...

 

[washedagain]

It's pretty easy, a prophet will tell you exactly what God wants you to do. Usually that means giving the prophet all your money. If you ever disagree with the prophet that means you are directly contradicting God and thus not a Christian at all.

So basically just look for lots of self serving extra-biblical revelation.

What an odd comment....

I am trying to figure out why you posted such a snarky comment to this thread.

Is that you don't believe in the gift of prophecy so you resort to ridiculing?

I really don't get it.

 

[Minister_C]

I believe in the five fold ministry, however the apostles role has been hard for me to accept in the modern ministries simply because Christ only ordained 13 including Paul. Most of the men whom I have known of who call themselves apostles, were actually pastors, no more no less. In many cases they just want to be more important than they really are, which is servants of the people. Titles are ruining the church.

The evangelist is my favorite so long as you are doing "the work of an evangelist" as the bible states. Leading people to the kingdom is where the real reward is on earth and in heaven.

The prophets come a dime a dozen, especially the false ones. I remember a instance of a woman approaching a man at church and saying, the Lord told me you were going to be my husband," and he was already married. More like a parking lot prophet if you ask me.

The teacher is probably the most important person in the fold, problem is very few churches have one. Its kind of hard to recognize a Sunday school teachers importance sometimes with all the shenanigans going on with the title holders. I believe they can reinforce whatever the pastors theological standpoint is. Just look around at all the so called Christians who cant even tell you what they are saved by.......... Grace is the hint. Now you know why the teacher is so important.

Pastors must be called. When they are, you will see a church in revival like Philadelphia. When they are not, you will see a church who's lamp stand has been removed. A preachers job is to warn the people, and prick them, like the Apostle Paul mentioned. It is not hard to tell the difference between goats and sheep. Called pastors lead sheep. Non called ones heard goats.

Just my two cents

God bless