Multiple studies from Ephesians 4:11–16 have been carried out that focused mostly on aspects of the believers’ priesthood. This article highlights the significance of adhering to the biblical instructions of God as a means to attain church growth. The church was instituted by God and as such he directs the process of church growth. Nevertheless, the ongoing membership decline in the World Protestant Churches globally and the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA) locally is an indicator that the church is failing to meet the will and purpose of God with the church. In the World Protestant Churches and the RCSA, the decline trends are basically the same, and the loopholes are pointing at church leadership. This article seeks to describe the leadership failure to uphold the blueprint of church health according to Ephesians 4:11–16. These are the keys to real church revitalisation and growth. The exegesis of the problem verse (Eph 4:11) was carried out to indicate the various leadership gifts that are necessary for church growth to occur. The Bible and related literature are the sources of data. This article identifies how an omission of the gift-oriented tasks in a congregation leads to church decline.
Within the context of the continued church decline within Western Christianity (Christendom), this article reflects on the historical, mostly ‘Practical theological’ focus on church growth by exegeting the source texts from a ‘missiological perspective’. This study is also very conscious of modernity’s onslaught on the evangelical church through the therapeutic and managerial revolutions, which functions with an attitude of anti-clericalism when focusing on church growth.
The missional God is focused on the numerical and spiritual growth of his chosen people (Gn 12:2–3; Mt 28:19–20). These two aspects of church growth are attained in our own time when the Christian church reaches out to all the people of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, enfolding those who accept the call into the church and then discipling them successfully (Van Aarde
Regrettably, the Protestant Churches globally, and the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA) locally, have been in decline for several years. Decline in the RCSA was identified since 1994 (RCSA
Central to the present study is the description of Christian leadership gifts that are necessary for enhancing a missional church that is mature and healthy and therefore an expression of Christ in the world, as highlighted in Ephesians 4:11–16. These leaders are called by God and are gifted to help the church ‘to move from where they have been into a new place to which they are being called’ (Weems
This investigation therefore wants to establish the leadership loopholes within the World Protestant Churches and the RCSA leadership that are one of the primary barriers to church growth, resulting in ongoing church decline (Morrison
The study exegetes the mentioned text, to highlight the role of the missional leadership in helping the membership develop their spiritual gifts (Eph 4:7) and properly allocate them to serve in their gifted ministries. The exegesis unveiled the following aspects that are dependent on the leadership and are vital and crucial for the maturity of the church, in spiritual unity with Jesus Christ:
leadership and gifts – verse 11
leadership purpose – verse 12
the goals of leadership functions – verse 13
the results of leadership functions – verses 14–16.
These are the pillars for church growth that are established by Jesus Christ for his church. All four are necessary and are accomplished in the order provided above. These are means for church growth, the method to achieve church growth and the goal of church growth and the result of church growth.
Over the years many things have been written about leadership, both in the world and the church. Whilst the church is still trying to finish the ‘unfinished business’ of the Reformation, ‘returning the ministry to the people of God’ (Ogden
The desired direction that the church’s ministry should take is shaped by God’s vision for the church; hence, the visionary aspect is shared in the leadership. Therefore, the present study’s model of leadership utilises aspects of the visionary leadership in which the leadership helps to ground the vision of the Triune God in the context of various denominations and congregations. A visionary leader in the present study refers to one who is effective in helping the church to grasp the vision of the church as ordained by God. In this regard, Niemandt (
The Church of God is a family of all the people who were redeemed through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross as a fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation to the world. The word ‘family’ points to the unity of the church even though it comprises people of different languages, cultures, races and other differences (Oborji 2006:202; Stackhouse
This urgent need for church growth, especially within Western Christianity, was understood in years past and McGavran (
The organic ecclesiology is the one appraised by the present study in which all believers are encouraged to actively participate in the body of Christ to enhance church health.
The present study identified that several writers and commentators concur in the interpretation of verses 12–16, but that they differ in the interpretation of verse 11. Writers and commentators from various theological backgrounds suggest that the list in verse 11 includes the five offices that the present church should have (Byes
aκαὶ αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν τοὺς μὲν ἀποστόλους, τοὺς δὲ προφήτας, τοὺς δὲ εὐαγγελιστάς,
And he gave some indeed [to be] apostles some now prophets some now evangelist
τοὺς δὲ ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους,
some now shepherds and teachers.
καὶ αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν [And he gave] Gave is a verb, aorist, indicative, third person, singular. Thus, Jesus Christ is the source of the gifts that are given. The aorist verb of ‘ἔδωκεν’ [gave] indicates a onetime event in the past. This aorist, indicative of verb in the verse, helps to shed light in identifying whether, the list of apostles, prophets, evangelist, shepherds and teachers are all continuing or others were discontinued. It is therefore clear that, if the listed were once-off offices, then these offices ceased with those to whom the offices were conferred (Calvin
It is in the interest of the present study to briefly define each of the mentioned ‘offices’ and ‘gifts’ described in the mentioned verses and to show how the RCSA leadership has the responsibilities that are attached to them.
Apostle: The Greek word ‘ἀποστέλλω’ means ‘to send’. The Twelve were commissioned by Christ to their apostle office. Also, the others who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection, or ‘supernatural revelation as in the case of Paul’, bore the same office (Uprichard
Prophets: These were God’s messengers who were taking his message to the people. The Old Testament canon has a selection of prophets, ranging from Isaiah through to Malachi, in addition to many others, who spoke for God and would foretell the future in some cases (Moberly
Evangelist: This is one who is tasked to proclaim the Word of God. The New Testament has the noun ‘evangelist’ in only two places, other than Ephesians 4:11. This was in reference to Philip (Ac 21:8) and Timothy who was to do the work of the evangelist (2 Tm 4:5). The verbal form ‘to evangelise’ occurs frequently, which literally means to proclaim the good news. The evangelists should be students of the Word to be able to rightly teach the members till they become spiritually mature.
Pastors and teachers: This is written with one definite article unlike the other offices, where each has a definite article seemingly indicating that ‘the teacher is a pastor or is a pastor that teaches’ (Uprichard
It must be concluded that the most natural reading of the text points to these people as once recognised in having spiritual leadership and authority in the church, not as intrinsic orientations that each believer develops. Leadership and spiritual authority were especially important to the early church at a time when there was no canon and false teachers and prophets and apostles were rampant.
Therefore, leadership offices of the Protestant churches globally and the RCSA are minsters of the Word, elders and professors (Vorster
The apostle Paul’s description of spiritual gifts (Eph 4:11) is indicating that God purposely gives the gifts to all those with the mandate to fulfil the missional purpose of the church (Nel & Schoeman
There are five categories of spiritual gifts that Christ gave to the church as a means to facilitate church growth. This emphasises the need for unity and diversity in the church of Jesus Christ, in which different leadership inputs in a congregation produce members that are fully developed for service in the congregation (DeVries
God gave the leadership various gifts:
to equip the saints for the work of ministry (12a)
to build up of the body of Christ (12b).
The leadership gifts are necessary for effective teaching of the believers to become actively involved in the church (Getz et al.
Jesus Christ, who is the head and model of the church leadership, identified the Twelve and spent about three years, equipping them for effectiveness in ministry (The four Gospels). Jesus commissioned them for service when they were ready to use their gifts in achieving the ministry purpose (Mt 28:19–20). It stands to reason that the empowering of leadership precedes the sending (Ikechukwu
In this regard, turn-around and church growth cannot be realised in the RCSA and the other Protestant Churches before all the members are equipped to fulfil their calling in the various RCSA congregations. The leadership can only transform the members if they have the necessary capacity in the use of their gifts (Startup & Harris
All members should attain the unity of the faith in Jesus Christ (13a – paraphrased).
Having sufficient knowledge of the Son of God (13b – paraphrased).
To become mature Christians (13c – paraphrased).
Attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature (13d).
These are the goals the leadership of the RCSA should aim to achieve to accomplish their calling. Thus, the gift God gives to the leadership aims at developing a missional church that can be an expression of God in the church and beyond (Nel & Schoeman
The spiritual gifts that are vested in the leadership (v 11) have the purpose of equipping the church for active participation in the body of Christ (v 12). This process leads to the spiritual maturity of the entire church (v 13). Thus, the church becomes salt and light that can live to glorify God in the church and in the community. This is qualitative growth of the entire membership, which enhances quantitative growth (Chaney & Lewis
The ultimate result of the church growth process in Ephesians 4:11–16 is to have the entire body of Christ that:
No longer be children, tossed back and forth
by every wind of doctrine (14a) by the trickery of men, who craftly carry out their deceitful schemes (14b).
But practising the truth in love, [Christians] grow up into Christ who is the head (15).
From him the whole body [church] grows, fitted and held together (16a & b).
As each one does its part, the body growths in love (16c & d).
The result that is emphasised in verses 14–16 is that the believers become mature Christians who can resist the false doctrine that is currently plaguing the world. This is possible with the members who have been effectively taught the truth. The truth enables the members to distinguish the truth from error (De Moor
A church that achieves the goals in verse 13 can reflect the outcomes in verses 14–16. Nevertheless, a church’s failure to reach God’s purpose with it is in qualitative decline, which manifests in quantitative decline. When the church members are prayerless, lack genuine love, underpassing evangelism and many others, the church is already in decline (RCSA
Since the identification of membership decline in the 1994 Synod, the RCSA has put several interventions in place (RCSA
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Working backwards does not lead to the desired results, hence, the need to follow the order provided by the apostle Paul in Ephesians, 4:11–16 (the means, the purpose, the goals and the results). Thus, the starting point in endeavouring, church revitalisation and growth is to assess the extent to which the leadership uses its spiritual gifts. Furthermore, the RCSA should establish whether the leadership has the gifts (v 11). This is to double check in case there are some leaders who lack in some of the gifts. However, if the leadership in congregations are really called by God, they do have the gifts necessary for the purpose of God.
The purpose of the gifts is to enable the leadership to:
Identify membership gifts and nurture them for effective service in the church (Ogden
Empower the members to serve in areas of their gifts in the church – thus contributing towards the growth of the body of Christ (Weems
The description of gifts in Ephesians 4:11 and the exegesis done on the same verse indicate that the RCSA ministers of the Word are responsible for articulating the purpose of God with the church. They are solely responsible for enhancing the quality of membership that could fulfil the purpose of Jesus Christ with his church. For turn-around and church growth to happen in the RCSA and the other Protestant Churches, the ministers should be the focus of all growth efforts. Thus, the deputies for church growth and other related deputies and committees should identify the needs of ministers of the Word, which are necessary for the fulfilment of the purpose of God for his church, through them. The ministers should be empowered through relevant means. This is foundational for the church to realise turn-around and church growth. The church growth efforts, including the financial, human and time resources, should be channelled towards meeting the needs of the ministers of the Word until they become conversant in using their spiritual gifts. When this is accomplished, the goals and results will obviously come as products of the purpose. It stands to reason that achieving the goals and desired results depends on the effective use of the spiritual gifts.
Church growth is the will of God because he provided everything necessary for church health to occur. In the whole process of church growth, the leadership is central in enhancing membership participation for church growth to be realised. Nonetheless, church decline points at the leadership that is failing to uphold its calling to affect church growth. The World Protestant Churches and the RCSA should focus their efforts in empowering the leadership to enable the effective use of their spiritual gifts.
For turn-around and church growth to occur, the RCSA locally and the Protestant Churches globally should focus on enhancing the ministers’ spiritual gifts that they are effectively used. In this regard, the Theological School Potchefstroom (TSP), deputies for church growth, deputies for ministers’ training and TSP curators should come up with the theological training that boosts the gifts of ministers.
Such theological education should have the curriculum that prepares the ministers to use their spiritual gifts effectively. Thus, the curriculum, mode of teaching and lecturers should all be relevant to achieve the desired outcomes (Elliston
Furthermore, the identified team responsible for theological training should engage the curriculum specialists, who should work with them in translating the spiritual gifts into clear and measurable objectives. The measurable objectives allow the TSP lecturers to measure the extent to which the graduating ministers of the Word achieved them. This might shift the assessment from basically an academic means to include the practical part. The practical aspect assesses the ministers’ use of the spiritual gifts, which is their principal function in the congregations.
Thus, the ministers’ training calls for more practical involvement of student ministers during the period of study than what it is at present (TSP Curators
To recap, the spiritual gifts are the means to achieve the purpose of the church. This leads to the accomplishment of the goals of the church, resulting in real church growth – quality and quantity of membership. The foundation in the whole process is to enhance the effective use of leadership’s spiritual gifts. Thus, the leadership training should be meant to instil the necessary character and skills that urge them to influence change in the membership (Wourms
The fact that all ministers from the mentioned churches are trained but turn-around and church growth are not happening is an indicator of loopholes in the training process. In view of this, Ogne and Roehl (
This is a call for the Protestant Churches and the RCSA to refrain from dwelling in the lecture hall as the important means of equipping trainee ministers. The current training mode in seminaries has been blamed for producing ministers who are well educated but who cannot translate their theoretical knowledge into practice (Morrison
Coaching is appraised as an appropriate approach in empowering of leadership because of the following reasons by Ogne and Roehl (
Coaching is relational: It is consistent with the postmodern value for relationship and community. This relationship provides safety and trust in emerging leaders, who are seeking to relate to modern church denominations.
Coaching is incarnation: This is a hands-on, person-to-person, face-to-face learning and it functions in the realm of shared experience beyond knowledge.
Coaching is practical: It deals with the real and immediate issues in life and ministry of the leader.
Coaching is holistic: It touches on the calling, gifts and character of a leader and the life of the faith community and its place in their way of living, thinking and doing things.
Coaching is contextual: Thus, every coaching conversation starts and ends in the life and ministry context of the leader rather than starting from a specific model, or even the coach’s external point of reference.
Coaching is missional: It enhances the coach to help the leader to understand and engage in the way of living, thinking and doing, through relevant activity that allows a leader to effectively use the gifts of the spirit to benefit the church and the community.
Coaching is flexible: It is an especially useful approach to ministry during this time of changing paradigms. It is able to keep pace with the rapid change.
Coaching is cross-cultural: It is centred in the context of the leader and not the coach. Thus, it empowers the leader to contextualise ministry principles to his or her culture.
The coaching approach enables the leaders to perfectly develop and use their gifts in effective ways that benefits the local congregations. It allows the coach to identify the needs of various leaders and to provide possible means to meet them. Effective coaching requires an effective coach; thus, professors in seminaries and whoever is involved in the coaching of the leaders should be relevant to the approach.
These researchers want to acknowledge the important discussion and ongoing research, mainly coming from a practical theological perspective, that focuses on ‘flattening’ or ‘broadening’ church leadership. It is an important part of the ‘fight’ against institutionalism and incorporates a definite strategy of ‘decentralising’ leadership within the institutional church. It is also part of the unfinished business of the Reformation to reclaim the ‘office of the believer’ (Ogden
Turn-around and church growth has not been realised in the World Protestant Churches and the RCSA in a period exceeding two decades. This is despite the efforts of the RCSA to implement possible means in an endeavour to enhance church growth. This article established that the RCSA failed to identify the root of the problem that leads to church decline. The church growth process provided by the apostle Paul is the answer to the ongoing membership decline in the RCSA and the World Protestant Churches. This article recommends that the TSP redesigns the curriculum in such a way that it enables ministers to be effective in the use of their spiritual gifts. The approach recommended in this study is one of coaching the leadership rather than lecturing to them. This study reaffirms that biblical leadership is a God-given gift that is not only responsible for but also indispensable to the process of intensive and extensive church growth.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
Both authors contributed equally to this research article.
This article followed all ethical standards for research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.