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| The Role of
Apostolic Ministry |
 As
Mainstream Network Minister, Rob
White has a national apostolic ministry,
and serves with his wife Marion. (Read more about them
here.)
Apostolic ministry must be about God's mission.
That's what it is through the pages of the New
Testament, and that's what it is today. Apostolic
ministry inspires, challenges, encourages and focuses on
the Kingdom. I believe that God's command to the
first man & woman, "Be fruitful and multiply", is a
creation principle for all Kingdom work. The
accent is not on the individual /s carrying out the
ministry, but on the ministry itself, hence by far my
preference is to use the term 'apostolic ministry'
rather than the noun 'apostle'.
In the context of Mainstream I see
Marion's & my role, as part of the apostolic team, being
to build relationships with churches, through which we
can help with vision, ask challenging questions, bring
encouragement and the prophetic to ministers, spouses
and leadership teams - to the end that the church will
be strengthened for meaningful mission and discipleship.
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The wider apostolic team includes
those who are giving apostolic leadership to Mainstream
at a national level; those who concentrated on
developing apostolic teams more locally, or giving
apostolic leadership in their area; and those who are
developing particular emphases in apostolic ministry.
All are seeking to do this in the context of Mainstream
vision and values, and in relationship with the rest of
the team.
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 Stephen
Ibbotson
has written an article on
apostolic ministry (click here). "My
roots are in the South London/Surrey area, but I went to
Sheffield to study Biblical Studies. I found this hugely
stimulating environment spiritually and intellectually,
with a Professor, James Atkinson who modelled
evangelical conviction, passionate spirituality and
intellectual rigour.
I was also introduce to the model of church
planting. When a church (Harris Street) in Peterborough,
was offered. I felt an
immediate connection with people, place and the
possibility of exploring church planting. The relatively
small inner city church was instrumental in planting
four churches in the region, all of which continue.
I carried this experience to North Leeds, with a call to
Moortown
Baptist Church which had just started a church plant
and were looking for someone who understood this
dynamic. Three further church plants followed, plus a
little involvement in another that came under the
oversight of another church. It was an environment in
which I learned to grow theologically and spiritually.
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 Derek
Hills is a senior minister of
Tonbridge Baptist
Church. Tonbridge is involved in church planting and Derek lays
great emphasis on equipping and resourcing other
churches, of any denomination and none, running a weekly
Word & Spirit cluster. How does Derek understand apostolic ministry?
"It's clear to me that being an apostle was of key
importance to Paul's self understanding in the New
Testament. It's only in recent years that I've decided
to think of myself in such terms, and only now with
considerable encouragement from others. Broadly
speaking, it describes a trans-local ministry, planting,
encouraging, resourcing other leaders and churches:
thinking Kingdom as well as local church. I consider it
to be of crucial importance, given our local church
'independence', that this ministry be offered in a
spirit of humility and generosity without even a hint of
an authoritarian approach. My experience is that a small
number of leadership teams, having seen their ministries
have benefited from the cluster and personal mentoring
relationships with me, are beginning to seek help with
ministry strategy" |
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 Graham
Jefferson has
been in full time ministry for over thirty years. His
first church was an inner city mission in Deptford,
South East London, where he learned that whilst there
may be difficult places, there are no impossible ones. 25 years ago he joined the
team at New
Life Church in Worthing, eventually becoming Senior
Pastor. At this stage in his ministry, Graham
sees the vital importance of encouraging, training and
mentoring other leaders. Much of his time is spent with
individuals or small groups, helping them to achieve
their God-given potential.
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 Peter
Nodding " I sensed that God had called
me to apostolic ministry during my time at West
Bridgford, Nottingham, back in the 1980's. At the time I
didn't know what it meant and asked God to help me to be
faithful working it out. I have never been someone who
is concerned about titles and position, but have
endeavoured to build relationships with leaders and
develop ministries which have a mission focus. In the
three churches where I have served (Nottingham,
Guildford and Purley), I have been involved in Church
planting, working with leaders across
denominations where a team of us gave a spiritual lead,
leading church weekends for a
variety of churches, investing in/developing leaders, Thinking through what it means
to lead an apostolic church"."My passion is that every local
church should be strong in mission and I want to help
them to fulfil this calling. Therefore, I give time to
church leaders and their teams and to a lesser extent,
to be available to serve their congregations. I would
also like to see a strong regional network of churches
serving the Mainstream vision"
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