In Ephesians 4, Paul says that until we, among the followers of Jesus, "all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God...," Jesus will give some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists and others to be shepherds and teachers. (see GNB)
In 1977, Howard A. Snyder wrote the groundbreaking book, The Community of the King, in which he identified the importance of Paul's teaching in Ephesians 4. If you haven't read it and think APEST is new and faddish and if you think the latest stuff being written is the best stuff, think again.
In 2001, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch published, The Shaping of Things to Come, a book with a section on what they, at the time, called APEPT, that became important among a small band of missional progressives in the CGGC.
Frost and Hirsch's book, and Hirsch's follow up, The Forgotten Ways, fueled a vigorous APEST discussion in the CGGC.
Most of that conversation, dating as far in the past as Wayne Boyer's tenure as General Conference Executive Director, took place on Brian Miller's Emerging CGGC blog and during the last IMPACT gatherings.
For about 15 years, APEST has been a hot topic of discussion in the CGGC...
...among, what one dozen?, maybe two dozen? people?
Sadly, both Brian's blog and IMPACT have been defunct now for years. And, so had momentum for living APEST, at least, until recently.
And, while there's still a murmur of conversation about APEST in the CGGC these days, it's probably among a smaller group of people than were engaged a decade ago and, certainly, with less enthusiasm and conviction than was present when Wayne Boyer was empowering it.
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It's into a CGGC in which very few people even know what APEST is, in which even fewer believe in it and in which even fewer are committed to it...
...that members of the General Conference staff have begun calling churches to put APEST into practice.
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I think it's fair for me to say that no one in the CGGC has produced more fruit of believing in APEST than have I.
No one, in the CGGC today, lives APEST with more intentionality and passion than I do though, certainly, some are my equals.
No one wants our body to live APEST more than I do.
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Yet, I ask you think of the, literally, hundreds of ordained and licensed CGGC clergy who know little or nothing about APEST...
...and, more to the point, were educated to be members of the clergy and to live out the clergy/laity divide.
Now,...
...have compassion on the members of the many aging CGGC congregations who have been taught, for generations, that their role in the church is to loyally and faithfully accept their pastor(s)' spiritual products and services.
Now, understand that, after Paul says that Christ gave APESTs, Paul said that Jesus gifts the body with APESTs for a distinct purpose, i.e., "...to prepare the saints for works of ministry."
How absolutely subversive to the clergy/laity system our pastors and people have been taught!
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The truth is that APEST, in the context of the direction CGGC leaders have been leading since the 1930s, is radical.
For pastors, to pursue APEST will be to abandon much, most? of what they were taught about ministry in their preparation for ministerial credentials in seminary or in other venues.
For the laity, to jump on the APEST bandwagon would be to turn their back on what they've been taught, often by pastors whom they have loved and trusted deeply for all of their lives.
To get from where we are to APEST will be painful at the least. It will take some hard work.
And, as Dan Masshardt said on the CONTAGIOUS blog, it will take a commitment from leadership that is strong enough that CGGC leaders will be willing to lose attendance and even more congregations.
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I believe with all my heart that APEST is truth.
I believe that, even though John Winebrenner didn't have APEST jargon, our movement was built on APEST practice. (It certainly wasn't built on the pastor-as-parish-priest model we've been using and teaching for the generations of our decline and decay.)
Yet, if our body is going to, eventually, live APEST, someone is going to need to make a case for it,...
...and against the old way.
May the people seeking to lead repentance from the clergy/laity way to living APEST in the Spirit be strong and very courageous.
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