Apostolic Ministry

1) Are apostles for today?

When Jesus ascended on high, He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors/teachers. Many evangelical teachers have supposed that some of the ministries listed in Ephesians 4 were temporary and existed only in the early church, while others were permanent. They usually continue their argument by saying that the Scriptures are now complete. Since we have an authoritative canon of Scripture, including the writings of the apostles, we no longer need further apostles. They are preoccupied with the establishment of the canon of scripture rather than the pragmatics of the apostolic work of church planting and world evangelisation.

Commentators from the reformation onwards have seen it as their responsibility to defend the scriptures from the Roman Catholic teaching of apostolic succession and ex-cathedra statements that claimed apostolic authority. They were not preoccupied with the ongoing missionary work of an apostle. The result was that local churches were seen as static and built on scripture, while isolated individuals could leave those churches and become "missionaries". In contrast, our burning passion is to see apostolic churches focussed on world mission together.

2) Do you believe in other itinerant ministries?

Paul tells us that when Jesus ascended He 'gave gifts to men' (Eph. 4:8). The leadership gifts are people: apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors/teachers (Eph. 4:11) and their function is to 'prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up' (Eph. 4:12). These gifts, described in Ephesians 4, are given by God to stand alongside and assist local church leaders in fulfilling their commission to present every believer mature in Christ.

Within the Newfrontiers family we recognise these gifts as vital for fulfilling our mission. We are working with teams of gifted men serving existing churches as well as emerging church plants. Whilst these teams are predominantly working with churches in their locality, they are not only geographical but also built upon relationships. As a result some of these teams are also serving nations other than their own.