Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Faculty Publications Church History 2000 Shapes of Ministry in the New Testament P. Gerard Damsteegt Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/church-history-pubs Recommended Citation Damsteegt, P. Gerard, "Shapes of Ministry in the New Testament" (2000). Faculty Publications. Paper 67. http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/church-history-pubs/67 This Contribution to Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Church History at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Chapter 7 Shapes of Ministry in the New Testament P. Gerard Damsteegt The author of chapter three in Women in Ministry, a professor of New Testa- ment and Christian Origins, provides an overview of the forms of ministry that existed in the New Testament and early church.1 The purpose of the chapter is to warn against “structural fundamentalism” on church organization which, he ex- plained, is “the idea that one pattern of church organization and ministry was laid down once and for all time.”2 The author tries to prove his point by asserting that the Bible does not pro- vide us with a specific organizational pattern for the church. Instead, he argues that there were two types of ministry. One type he calls a charismatic ministry, to which persons were called by Christ or His Spirit. The other type he designates as an appointive ministry, to which persons were appointed by the church.