Five-fold ministry
The five-fold ministry is a catch-phrase used in certain Charismatic circles to indicate a belief that something was missing in the leadership-the ministry-of the Church until recently. This concern was based on the following scripture that appears to many to refer to five distinct leadership roles: " It was he [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Eph 4:11-13, NIV).
Both the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant groups have always had the three roles of evangelist, pastor, and teacher as part of their systems. But it was typical for them to consider that the roles of apostle and prophet ceased in the first century. The usual reasoning was that these roles were necessary for the establishment of the Church, but once it was established, they were no longer needed. There have been a number of movements in the past 100+ years that have insisted that this assumption is incorrect. To function fully as the Body of Christ, the Church at large needs active, contemporary prophets and apostles, restoring the "five-fold" nature of leadership in the Church. In recent decades, this notion has become very prominent in some Charismatic circles. There are a number of individuals who identify themselves as an apostle or a prophet and/or are recognized by others in their own circle as fulfilling that role-even though "outsiders" may find the claims spurious and, in some cases, laughable. |
