Essential to the health of the church, pastors in the fivefold ministry outlined in Ephesians 4 have a specific contribution to the church by equipping the people of God to nurture themselves, each other, and the body of Christ overall. Pastors often excel in creating a sense of family and community. Unusually gifted in helping guide people through pain and brokenness, they seek to see wholeness and healing in all people in all ways – the complete ‘shalom‘ peace of God. In fact, author J.R. Woodward, in his book ‘Creating A Missional Culture’ refers to pastors in the fivefold ministry as ‘soul healers.’
Typically, pastors have the following traits:
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- Good understanding of reality
- Natural coaching skills to help people think through decisions
- Concerns and care for people’s emotional wellbeing
- Empathic and sensitve
- High value for authentic relational connection
- Welcoming and inclusive
- Enjoy people
- Excellent listening skills
- Soft-hearted and gracious
- Merciful and compassionate
A church that lacks pastors or a pastoral culture will see:
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- Hurting people remaining in pain and brokenness
- People left out or overlooked
- Individuals left behind or forgotten about
- People feeling unsure where to go to for support
- Individuals feeling isolated and alone
The heart of pastors in the fivefold ministry is that every person feels connected and part of the family of God, belonging and included wholly no matter who they are or where they have come from. Pastors desire that the church is a place where people can overcome pain, brokenness, dysfunction, and trauma and become wholly who they were created to be.
Pastors will therefore ask the following questions of a church culture they are part of:
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- How do we ensure every person feels part of God’s family?
- What steps do need to take so we can we include everyone?
- How do we help people move from hurting to wholeness?
- What is currently occurring that will upset or frustrate people?
- Are there any changes we need to make that will benefit everyone?
- Have we considered how this impacts people?
I have developed a FiveFold Flow Assessment for you to discover which of the fivefold expressions you are strongest in. You can find out more HERE.
This post is part of a series looking at the fivefold ministry. You can see the other articles in this series here:
