Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers

How Christians Have Historically Understood Ephesians 4:11

Ephesians 4:11 is one of the New Testament’s most important passages about ministry in the church:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.” (Ephesians 4:11)

Christ gives leaders to the church so that believers may be equipped and the body of Christ built up. In recent years this verse has often been discussed through the modern “APEST” framework (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, Teachers). But long before contemporary leadership models, the church wrestled with a basic question: does Paul describe five permanent offices in the church, or a mix of foundational and ongoing ministries?¹

Historically, most Protestant interpreters have answered that question by distinguishing between ministries that were foundational to the early church and ministries that continue ordinarily throughout the church’s life.

In the classic Protestant reading:

• Apostles and prophets belong especially to the church’s foundational era.
• Evangelists often functioned as missionary or transitional ministers connected to the apostolic mission.
• Pastors (shepherds) and teachers remain ongoing ministries that build up and instruct the church.

This approach appears across the Protestant tradition in figures such as Augustine, Calvin, Wesley, and Spurgeon.

Augustine

Augustine lived long before the Protestant Reformation, but later Protestant interpreters frequently referenced his reading of Ephesians 4. One point Augustine emphasized—and which later Reformers noted—is the close connection between pastors and teachers. These roles may describe either the same ministry viewed from two angles or two closely related functions within the life of the church.²

Because Augustine wrote centuries before later debates about church offices, he did not develop the precise distinction between temporary and perpetual ministries that would later appear in Protestant theology. Still, his work helped shape how later interpreters thought about shepherding and teaching as closely connected aspects of church leadership.²

John Calvin

The clearest articulation of the classic Protestant interpretation appears in the work of John Calvin. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin distinguishes between ministries that were raised up at the beginning of the church and those that continue ordinarily throughout its life.

Calvin writes that apostles, prophets, and evangelists were given by Christ during the early expansion of the church, while pastors and teachers remain ordinary ministries necessary for the church’s ongoing health and instruction.³

In his commentary on Ephesians, Calvin states plainly that “of the five offices which are here enumerated, not more than the last two are intended to be perpetual.”⁴

In other words, Calvin saw apostles and prophets as foundational to the church’s beginning, while pastors and teachers continue throughout the church age.

John Wesley

John Wesley followed a similar pattern. In his explanatory notes on Ephesians 4:11, Wesley refers to apostles, prophets, and evangelists as “extraordinary officers,” while pastors and teachers represent ordinary and continuing ministries within the church.⁵

For Wesley, these roles ultimately serve the same purpose Paul describes in Ephesians: equipping believers and strengthening the body of Christ.

Charles Spurgeon

Nineteenth-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon also reflected the classic Protestant instinct. Spurgeon affirmed that Christ gives different kinds of servants to his church—evangelists, pastors, and teachers—to proclaim the gospel and shepherd believers.

At the same time, Spurgeon consistently rejected the idea that modern church leaders possess the same authority as the apostles who established the church and wrote the New Testament.⁶

The Historic Protestant Pattern

Taken together, these voices reveal a pattern that has characterized much of Protestant interpretation:

• Apostles – foundational witnesses to Christ and the church’s beginning.
• Prophets – early proclaimers of divine revelation.
• Evangelists – missionary preachers who spread the gospel.
• Pastors (shepherds) – leaders who care for and oversee the church.
• Teachers – ministers who instruct believers in the truth of Scripture.

In this reading, Ephesians 4 describes how Christ equips his church with different kinds of ministers so that believers grow into maturity and unity in Christ.

A Brief Note on the Modern APEST Movement

In recent decades, writers such as Alan Hirsch have revisited Ephesians 4:11 and proposed a different way of thinking about these categories. Hirsch and others describe the five roles—apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, shepherding, and teaching—as ongoing leadership functions that help the church remain healthy and missionally effective.⁷

Importantly, Hirsch does not typically argue for modern apostles in the sense of leaders possessing the unique authority of the Twelve or writing Scripture. Instead, he uses the word apostolic in its broader New Testament sense of “sent ones”—leaders who think missionally, pioneer new works, develop leaders, and help extend the gospel into new contexts.⁷

Even so, this approach differs from the historic Protestant consensus. While the classical tradition usually treated apostles and prophets as foundational to the church’s earliest period, the APEST framework treats all five roles as ongoing leadership dynamics within the church.

Both perspectives agree that Christ continues to equip his church for mission and growth. The primary difference lies in how the categories of “apostle” and “prophet” are understood and applied today.

Conclusion

Ephesians 4 reminds believers that Christ has generously given leaders to his church so that the saints may be equipped and the body of Christ built up. Throughout church history, Christians have sought to understand how these ministries function in the life of the church.

While interpretations vary, the central truth remains the same: Christ continues to guide, equip, and strengthen his people through the ministries he provides for the good of the church and the advance of the gospel.

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Footnotes

1. Discussion of Ephesians 4:11 and church ministry roles in Protestant theology: John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 3. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.vi.iv.html
2. Calvin notes that both Chrysostom and Augustine understood “pastors and teachers” as closely connected ministries. See Calvin, Commentary on Ephesians 4:11. https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/comment2/eph.htm
3. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 4.3.4–5. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.vi.iv.html
4. John Calvin, Commentary on Ephesians. https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/comment2/eph.htm
5. John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, note on Ephesians 4:11. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/wes/ephesians/4.htm
6. Charles Spurgeon commentary on Ephesians 4:11 summarized in Scripture Spot commentary collection. https://www.scripturespot.com/commentators/charles-spurgeon/commentaries/ephesians/4/11
7. Alan Hirsch, discussion of APEST leadership functions. https://www.alanhirsch.org/

Bibliography

• Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
• Calvin, John. Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians. Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
• Hirsch, Alan. The Forgotten Ways. Brazos Press.
• Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church.
• Spurgeon, Charles H. Commentary on Ephesians 4.
• Wesley, John. Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament.