Five-Fold Ministry Schools

When Christ ascended on high after first descending into the very heart of the kingdom of darkness and determining what strategy, structure and system it would take to destroy the darkness and build His church, He gave five gifts responsible for being the functional governmental collaborative of the church, its fiduciary, spiritual officers charged with bringing the church to full maturation. Through these five gifts the church would evolve into the express image of Christ, reflecting the light of God, advancing the kingdom of God throughout all the earth and accomplishing the purposes and intents of God. These gifts are more commonly known as the five-fold ministry, which includes the offices of the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher. Five-fold ministry is so essential that Embassy International Fellowship’s seal is built upon the revelation of its importance.

As EIF is growing and expanding, it is currently planning for a five-fold ministry school for each office that will provide classroom, home-study, practical and experiential (hands-on) training, leading to the manifestation of fully-functional five-fold officers. EIF is committed to eliminate the lax standard existing into today’s church that releases illegitimate or underdeveloped five-fold officers into the earth. Also, no longer can the church at large ignore the offices of the Apostle and Prophet, only placing emphasis on the Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher. These schools will be designed to nurture and mature individuals through the initial inertia and embryonic stages of their gift, which are often characterized by limited understanding and often hit and miss results, on to advanced understanding and mastery, evidenced by full maturation, mandated authority and function.

Each five-fold ministry school will help establish and enforce its own standards and code of ethics based upon biblical principles and the expectation of EIF for its five-fold functionaries. EIF, as an apostolic agency, is committed to help raise the standard of five-fold excellence. As such, in addition to training, each individual will be regularly assessed in his/her manhood (maturation), methods, manners, ministry, mandate, modes and message and will receive personal, hands-on instruction, training and correction as necessary to promote and cultivate proper growth. Therefore, accountability and submission to headship is an essential requirement for every individual operating within five-fold ministry and given commission and credence by EIF. Only when a person is accountable and fully submitted will he/she allow another to reach into his/her life to correct deficiencies and to impart those things essential to growth.

EIF’s standard progression into five-fold ministry offices as a functionary, given credence and full rights and privileges in the name of EIF, will follow the general progression presented below.

• The grace for a particular office must be noticed and acknowledged as operating in an individual’s life.
  
  
• Training and progressive tracks of revelation related to the particular office will be provided. A significant portion of this training will involve home-study on the individual’s personal time and effort to show/prove his/her dedication and willingness to “show thyself a workman that needed not be ashamed, right dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15). It is important to note that the individual will have the ability to greatly determine the amount of time necessary for him/her to become fully-functional by the level of attention he/she gives to mastering the revelatory concepts, principles and understanding necessary for mature operation. This phase will also involve one-on-one time with the trainer, either in person or more likely over the phone, making sure that the individual is mastering his/her understanding of the information being studied.
  
  
• Personal assessment will take place to ensure that the individual is continuing to grow in his/her personal relationship with Christ as well as in the office to which he/she is called. The character and fruit are just as important as the giftings and graces. The individual will be routinely assessed and measured in relation to manhood (maturation), methods, manners, ministry, mandate, modes and message.
  
  
• The individual will be commissioned to “prove” the grace on his/her life and will be sent forth to begin producing lasting works, visible to the body of Christ, that add manifested validity to the call. Every five-fold functionary should have work(s) that can be presented and offered as seal or proof of their call.
  
  
• Consecration will take place as the individual will ascend into the functional five-fold ministry office, and will be afforded all the rights and privileges thereof by EIF.

EIF is currently developing a unique crest for each office of the five-fold ministry. Upon successful completion of all EIF requirements, an individual will be consecrated and thereby awarded exclusive rights and privileges in the name of EIF to operate within that office and officially carry the crest associated with it. The crest as the seal of the individual’s office not only gives credence and identification in the natural realm but also in the spirit, particularly to the realm of darkness, signifying one’s legislative authority, function and qualification orchestrated by God in heaven and confirmed by the government of the church on the earth. This agreement of principals in the heavens and principals within the earth regarding an individual’s preparedness, qualification and maturation to execute the function of a five-fold office is absolutely essential to Christ’s mandate of the church growing into the Head in all things, ensuring that the church is able to operate in the full power of Christ to accomplish the kingdom mandate of God.

Finally, even after consecration, each functionary will remain as a member of that office’s particular school and as part of that office’s brotherhood. As mentioned previously, each individual will be expected to abide by the standards and code of ethics established for that office.

Please stay tuned for further developments on the EIF Five-Fold Ministry Schools!