There have been so many that have told me that they have been wanting to find a local Church that believes in the 5-fold ministry. However, there is a BIG trend when Church leaders are asked, “Does your Church believe in the 5-fold ministry?” Their reply often will be, “Yes, we believe in the 5-fold ministry”. But after attending a while you notice there’s no connection or affiliation with any Apostle and Prophet; especially not on staff. What you will notice is the Pastor (of course) and a set of board members that have never served in any of the 5-fold gifts. In other words, they “believe in” the 5-fold ministry that they exist but never put forth the effort to align themselves biblically as a Church. (NOTE: I didn’t mention Evangelists or Teachers because they are widely accepted in most Churches).

Bottom line is this…If you are looking for a 5-fold ministry Church and the leadership says they believe in the 5-fold ministry, dig a little deeper. If a Church REALLY believes in the 5-fold ministry then they will be affiliated with an Apostle and Prophet, either on staff locally or affiliated via a network of some kind that oversees the ministry. There is a big difference between believing they exist (which requires no effort) vs really believing and then going after it.

Although all Church leadership are called to “Feed His Sheep”, not all are Pastors with the divine gift of Pastoring. Since the development of the institutionalized Church in the 3rd century, Pastors were the centerpiece supreme leaders of the Church. All other available ministry gifts (Evangelists & Teachers) worked under the local Pastor. Most all of the Apostles and Prophets were murdered, which are considered biblically as the foundational gifts.
Fast forward almost 2000 yrs, pastors in most Churches are still the centerpiece supreme leaders; however, what’s interesting is that not all of them are truly called with the extraordinary & very necessary ministry gift of pastoring/shepherding. Some are in positions as Pastors, but in reality their God given gift is Evangelist, or Prophet, or Teacher, and in some cases Apostles. So the question arises is this, how do you know? Glad you asked!
(NOTE: The answers below are contingent upon the absence of the 5-fold ministry in the Church, because if they were present then these issues would become obsolete.)

IF YOUR PASTOR is an Evangelist then the congregation will likely be more geared towards winning the lost than anything else. The congregation will be mostly immature spiritually, never operating in the gifts of the Spirit (especially in Church settings), no real discipleship keeping them struggling with old sin and very weak in biblical understanding. The congregation would not feel nurtured.

IF YOUR PASTOR is a Teacher then the congregation will likely be very strong in biblical teaching and understanding and geared mostly in Bible & Revelatory study. The congregation would not feel nurtured and will be immature spiritually, never operating in the gifts of the Spirit (especially in Church settings), and still struggling with old sins.

IF YOUR PASTOR is a Prophet then the congregation and Church services will involve prophecy often, to include the Pastor regularly prophesying from behind the pulpit. The congregation will have lots of spiritual insight, revelations, dreams and visions. The Pastor would typically be sharp and not a lot of sympathy & compassion for congregants struggling with old sins. They would not feel nurtured & lack in biblical understanding.

IF YOUR PASTOR is an Apostle then the congregation would flow well in most of the gifts of the spirit, involved regularly on new Church plants and a programs to cover a variety of subjects. The congregation would be weak to moderate in biblical understanding, feel like their Pastor is like a Father to them but not nurtured well or discipled well.

Prophets are derivatives of apostolic revelation. In 1 Corinthians 12:28, God was laying out the apostolic architecture of His corporate Church. He said apostles come first, secondly prophets. The word “secondly” is the Greek word “deuteros” which means “secondly” or following after what has preceded it. Hence, a prophet is a derivative of apostolic revelation. God reveals decoded mysteries to apostles who teach it to prophets who then become proclaimers of the revealed Word. A case study of this can be deduced from Moses and Aaron, the High Priest. Moses who received revelation from God is a type/shadow of an apostle. Aaron who was his voice to the people is a prophet.

Apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, teaching, and pastoral churches all have strengths and weaknesses. The leader of a church will determine what fold that organization tends toward, though of course, a church or individual may have a secondary gifting, as well. Apostolic churches break new ground; prophetic churches have a contagious fire and intimacy with the Lord; evangelistic churches draw crowds and seekers; teaching churches have sound doctrine; and pastoral churches care for their congregations exceptionally well. Scripture says we need all five folds of the ministry. If we all know our strengths and weaknesses, we can work together and be stronger in the Lord because of one another’s help.