As we step into the autumn of 2025 it seems like a good moment to consider what it is to be a Missional Church. In doing this it is helpful to look at how God shapes us to form His Church.
Over the coming weeks I hope we can explore this more together
Rev. Paul – 4th Oct 2025
The Five-Fold gifts of Ephesians 4 APEST
This work focusses on the gifts St Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4.11-12.
Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist , Shepherd (or Pastor) and Teacher or APEST for short.
Back in 2003 Alan Hirsch working with Michael Frost, on the book The Shaping of Things to Come started exploring the significant of these 5 ministries in the life of the church. This then links into what it is to be The Body of Christ and participate in the Mission of Christ int he world. This is explored more in The Forgotten Ways and 5Q: Reactivating the Original Intelligence and Capacity of the Body of Christ.
Here I will outline some of this work and encourage us to seek to discover where our giftings lie and how we as the Body of Christ make seek to ensure that we are operating in all these areas of gifting.
So first things first, what are the 5 Gifts described in the Ephesians 4?
APOSTLE – Those who are sent.
They ensure that the faith is transmitted from one context to another and one generation to the next. They think about the future, bridging barriers, establishing the church in new contexts, developing leaders, networking outside of the local.
PROPHET – Those who hear from God.
They are attuned to God and his truth for today. They challenge the dominant assumptions we have from culture. They insist that the community obey what God has commanded. They question the status quo.
EVANGELIST – Those who draw people to God.
They are infectious communicators of the gospel message & recruit others to the cause. They call for a personal response to God’s redemption in Christ and also draw believers to engage with the wider mission, growing the church.
Pastor or SHEPHERD – Those who care for God’s People.
Caregivers of the community, they focus on the protection and spiritual maturity of God’s flock, cultivating a loving and spiritually mature network of relationships, making and developing disciples.
TEACHER – Those who help us to grow in and develop our faith.
Communicators of God’s truth and wisdom, they help others remain biblically grounded to better discern God’s will, guiding others wisdom, helping the community remain faithful to Christ’s word, and constructing a transferable doctrine.
Exploring Our Gifting
There are many on-line questionnaires available to explore this. We used a paper version of one at Café Church at the beginning of October. These can be a slightly clunky way of exploring what is a very personal thing and is something we need to approach prayerfully rather than mechanically.
So, before diving into questionnaires or other process driven ways of discovering things about your discipleship I suggest we start by reading Ephesians 4.1-16 and then praying into this.
Then read through the descriptions of the gifts above and prayer more, what makes your heart sing, what stirs up the Spirit of God within you?
Then if you want to try looking at this more. Head over to: https://fivefoldministry.com/ (you do not need to enter an email address and there are two versions of the test, one shorter than the other. Alternatively, try https://designdiscovery.com/fivefold-spiritual-gifts-test/ this has most business focussed questions and emails you the result.
There are paid tests on line but I would not use those.
What Next
I would love us to explore this more, as church together. Please to get in touch if you would like to discuss this more one-to-one. It may be that we can join folk up, for example getting the Prophets together to look into that this means for them.
I pray this can be the start of a voyage of discovery for us as a Family of Faith focussed on Jesus.