Five-fold Ministry

[PastorMark]

According to the five-fold ministry model, local church leadership should be comprised of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, as listed in Ephesians 4:11. But if the office of pastor corresponds to the office of elder in the NT (as the evidence indicates), and if pastors/elders are the leaders of local churches, then it would seem that apostles, prophets, evangelists (and perhaps teachers, if a separate office from pastor) are not necessarily intended to be leaders of local churches. This would then mean that local church leadership does not need to include individuals representing each of the five ministry gifts.

To be sure, the presence and ministry of apostles and prophets (assuming they are still legitimately operating today) as well as evangelists and teachers (if the latter is different from pastors) in local churches edifies and equips the body of Christ in crucial ways. Nevertheless, ministering with one’s gifts is not equivalent to being a local church leader, i.e. exercising spiritual oversight as an elder/pastor. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers should surely belong to, minister to, be sent by, and be accountable to local church leadership. But that does not necessarily entail also serving on the leadership team itself. In fact, it would seem that apostles, prophets, and evangelists could make best use of their gifts and callings serving outside and among churches, or starting new churches, rather than being confined to serving within an established local church.

Perhaps it could be argued that pastor/elder is the overarching office, within which there are specializations (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers). In other words, for example, you might be an elder who is an evangelist. While that certainly could be the case, in terms of Ephesians 4:11, that would seem to be a mixing of categories, since pastors (elders) are listed along with evangelists and the other offices. I do believe, however, that a pastor can have a gift of evangelism while having the office of pastor.

In sum, my conviction is that local churches would be moved toward greater flourishing and kingdom impact by fully embracing all five of the ministry gifts, while not requiring that each local church have individuals with each of those roles serving on the leadership team. This would free them up to serve without getting bogged down in the intricacies of shepherding a local church.
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Mark Carlsson