"What is the five (5) fold ministry...What does it mean to you?"

[Pastor Michael Bailey, Jr.]

The concept of the five-fold ministry comes from Ephesians 4:11, "It was he who gave some to be (1) apostles, some to be (2) prophets, some to be (3) evangelists, and some to be (4) pastors and (5) teachers." Primarily as a result of this verse, some believe God has restored, or is restoring, the offices of apostle and prophet in the church today. Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is, "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." So, since the body of Christ definitely is not built up to unity in the faith and has not attained to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, the thinking goes, the offices of apostle and prophet must still be in effect.

However, Ephesians 2:20 informs us that the church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone." If the apostles and prophets were the foundation of the church, are we still building the foundation? Hebrews 6:1-3 encourages us to move on from the foundation. Although Jesus Christ is most definitely active in the church today, His role as the cornerstone of the church was completed with His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. If the work of the cornerstone is, in that sense, complete, so must the work of the apostles and prophets, who were the foundation, be complete.

What was the role of the apostles and prophets? It was to proclaim God's revelation, to teach the new truth the church would need to grow and thrive. The apostles and prophets completed this mission. How? By giving us the Word of God. The Word of God is the completed revelation of God. The Bible contains everything the church needs to know to grow, thrive, and fulfill God's mission (2 Timothy 3:15-16). The cornerstone work of the apostles and prophets is complete. The ongoing work of the apostles and prophets is manifested in the Holy Spirit speaking through and teaching us God's Word. In that sense, the five-fold ministry is still active.

[Joseph Carey Jr.]

The very scripture in Epeshains 4, plainly tells us that those gifts (offices) are still needed today, because we are the New Testament church. No way around that. Acts shows us the gifts and offices in use and efftect, and the rest of the scripture in New Testament shows us as well. The very way the church was set up in that time should be done in this time, because just as they were in the last days so are we. They are the church of the last days as well as we are.

[The Preacher Teacher]

Well I am the Teacher and I love that Ministry and when I tell you that God gave it to me as a child and I have been doing it all my life and I am amazed at what God has done to empower me as a Teacher. I feel of all the folds that it gets the least attention (respect) because like the world the church percieves the old addage "THOSE WHO CAN PREACH" and THOSE THAT CAN'T PREACH well they TEACH..."...Don't laugh...You dynamic Preachers sat in Sunday and Vacation Bible School and learned the word from a Teacher of the Word and then you fail to look back and remember that God blessed you with that Teacher who taught you that Word that you preach so handly now.

 

I think the Other Four Folds need to all be teachers but then some rest on anointing and drammatics to make their point and sometimes use catchy subjects and whimsical theatrics to be effective but you can be all form and no substance sometimes too. I personally think the TEACHER should get mad props because the ability to ingest and digest the word return the word back so that adults, children in and out of the church can understand.

 

Don't get it twisted...THE TEACHER is all of the folds but I TEACH FIRST THEN I AM able to operate in the other folds. You never see EDUCATION CONFERENCES do you...it's time to work on that !!!   

[Joseph Carey Jr.]

Yes! Teaching is a passion for me and I love it! When I started in ministry, I was teaching, and now I still teach. Preaching is in me and it flows, but teaching is what will flow the most. Everyone puts so much emphasis on preaching, preaching, preaching, but they forget that if the people don't even first have an understanding, then you aren't doing anything! Everyone apart of the fold should teach. Even the Bishop's have to be 'apt to teach'; Ministers in the Bible never stressed preaching as much as being taught. A preacher is no good if he doesn't know how to teach or be taught and respect the gifting of teaching. They push the teacher to the back burner; many don't want the teaching in the "regular" service, only  in sunday school or maybe bible study. This is a bad tradition that was picked up long ago and I'm glad to see many have gotten out of it and I am glad that I am part of a ministry that allows the gift to flow and not try to force me to be like everyone else. No more of this putting one over the other, but appreciating EACH gift in its place and allowing it to grow. No preacher is just called to be a preacher alone, if that's all he does, then he's getting nothing done. Without teaching, preaching isn't very effective.