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Principles for Understanding the Apostolic Ministry Today

Principles for Understanding the Apostolic Ministry Today

Last updated on: October 7, 2026 at 9:53 pm by Lee Ann B. Marino

Principles for Understanding the Apostolic Ministry Today 2026-10-07T21:53:03-04:00 Lee Ann B. Marino

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Whenever people discover that my formal ministry title is “apostle,” as in I walk in an apostolic ministry, I often find myself inundated with questions.

Why call yourself that? Why not just do the work?
An apostle? Weren’t those just for the first century?
Women can do that?
What do apostles do, anyway?

Even though some churches do acknowledge apostolic ministry in the modern day, there’s often a lapse between a visible modern-day ministry and that of ancient times. Most vaguely know about 12 guys who hung around Jesus, but what did they actually do? In making the leap to now, what should apostles do today? In honor of Clergy Appreciation Day, this column is all about modern-day apostles – and why they matter.

Philemon, Apphia in spiritual battle

Philemon and Apphia. Public Domain, Source: Wikipedia

What is an apostle?

In the strictest definition, the word “apostle” is from a Greek word that refers to a position within ancient governmental empires. As the Apostle Paul speaks of being an apostle “not of man,” these governmental employees would be the apostles made “of man” (Galatians 1:1). More than just being couriers, apostles carried important messages between districts and empires from official leaders. It literally means “one who is sent off” and is translated as an emissary or ambassador.

This image provides us context for the role of apostolic ministry in a spiritual sense. Apostles were and are individuals who are sent by Christ with a message to the world. In understanding the work of apostles in the first century, they weren’t just evangelists who went to different places and preached about Christ. They were part of a Kingdom system, a governmental authority to establish and lead churches. They did this work, most notably, by training other leaders within the Christian church.

Different records of apostolic ministry

It’s important to say that while there are a number of examples of apostles in the New Testament, these aren’t the only individuals who filled the role of apostle throughout history. We should also note that we have different records of New Testament apostles, all of which have different haigography, legends, and histories. The same amount of information isn’t available for each. That tells us that all apostles are a little different, with different ministries. At the end of the day, they are all sent with a special message and purpose.

Contextual use of the term

The term “apostle” is used in a few different ways throughout Christianity. It can mean:

The original messengers personally sent by Jesus Christ Himself.
Someone endowed with a message from God, commissioned and sent to deliver that message in any age or time.
A worker of the Gospel, endowed and commissioned to establish or do something in a new region, community, country, or area, especially as the founder of a group or organization.
A foundational individual on a mission/missionary that relates to church establishment and leadership preparation.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s a misnomer to say there were only 13 individuals to ever be identified as “apostles.” Depending on how they are counted, there were at minimum, 72 and at higher count, close to 100. There are over 20 named individuals identified as apostles in the New Testament alone, men as well as women. We will discuss this a little later.

Criteria to be an apostle

Modern church groups have established all sorts of ceremonies and rites as part of the validity of the apostolic ministry. If we look at Scripture, the first apostles didn’t have elaborate ordination ceremonies. They received the laying on of hands from other apostles and church elders and commissioned for their work (Acts 13:13). The formal term for this is affirmation. Those who recognize the validity of the apostolic call on someone’s life do so by properly affirming them to do God’s work in the world today.

Specifically, those who are apostles have a few things in common in terms of calling:

Either witnessed the earthly ministry of Jesus (Acts 1:13-26) (identified as the apostles of the Lamb, kind of impossible to be one in this way today), OR
Had an experience with Jesus now as He is resurrected – whether by vision, dream, or other experience – verifying He is alive, with us today, and that they are called to do a specific work in the world. (Acts 26:14-18, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 3:1-7, Ephesians 3:2-5)
Have some ability to walk in the miraculous, specifically displaying some set of spiritual gifts (Scripture doesn’t specify which ones) (1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-29)
Have a ministry that, in some way, builds up or edifies the church, specifically through church establishment, church leadership, and leading other leaders in church development (1 Timothy 2:7)

Called by God to apostolic ministry

When it comes to the apostolic ministry, many of the questions asked reflect both lack of education in the office itself and clear bias against the idea of apostles today. When someone says they are called of God to be something like a pastor or an evangelist, most don’t think twice about it. For someone to say they are an apostle, however, leads to all sorts of barriers. To understand better, let’s look at some of these issues.

Just as anyone else with a ministry calling, those who are truly called to serve as apostles today by God do so with God’s calling. It might not come in a package that makes sense to everyone, but it is validly affirmed by other apostles, prophets, and elders in ministry. Like many things in the Bible, there’s no verse that states the work of apostolic ministry ended in the first century. There’s nothing to suggest they were only for the first century or would only be relevant for a few centuries later.

The claim is not the same

Likewise, while some do claim to bear the same authority as apostles in the first century, no one who is in apostolic ministry today believes they are on the same level or same way as those of the first century. But this is also true of prophets, pastors, evangelists, and teachers, too. No one today is a prophet like Jeremiah or Anna. Pastoring often looks quite different than it did in the early days. Teachers have many more resources. We have 2,000 years worth of commentary and theology. An apostle can be called by God today and it not be in the exact same fashion as it was in the first century.

The “other” apostles

It surprised me to learn there are entire documentations of apostles outside of the original 12. Some are mentioned in the Bible. Others are mentioned in apocryphal works, church history, or haigography. It’s not possible to list them all here. Some of the easiest to discover include**:**

Unnamed apostles

Luke mentions either 70 or 72 apostles (Luke 10:1-8). We don’t have their names. Some are connected to other New Testament figures (both male and female). Even then, we don’t have everyone. When we talk about the possibility of other apostles, however, it’s as if we forget this group. They might not have been as close to Jesus as the 12, but Jesus still sent out this group of apostles with the same authority and power during his ministry.

2 Corinthians 8:22-25 also mentions a group of apostles, but doesn’t specify their names.

Revelation 1:20 also makes mention of seven “messengers” or “angels” of the seven churches of Revelation. The Greek word for these terms is the word for apostle. This indicates, as would be most sensible, that the letters to the churches were to be specifically shared with the apostles of those churches.

Matthias

Matthias was selected to replace Judas (Acts 1:26). While the criteria to replace Judas was that of the apostles of the Lamb, the fact that apostles can be replaced, changed, or yes, added to proves that the work was neither once and done, nor static.

The woman at the well

Contrary to popular belief, the first apostle to the Gentiles was not Paul. It was the woman at the well, known as Photini. She was the first to proclaim the Gospel to the Samaritan communities. Tradition calls her an “equal-to-the apostles,” recognizing her apostolic role as the first to evangelize and build the church among non-Jewish peoples.

Mary Magdalene

Known as the “Apostle to the apostles,” Mary Magdalene was the first to see Christ resurrected, the first to tell of the resurrection, and then went on to lead part of the church in the first century.

Barnabas

Barnabas, identified as an apostle (Acts 14:14), was a companion of the Apostle Paul. He assisted him on several missionary journeys. He also ventured out on his own. Some suggest he might have authored Hebrews.

Paul

Arguably the most famous apostle perhaps in Christian history, the Apostle Paul’s ministry covers much of the book of Acts. His administrative records include the Pauline Epistles of the New Testament. As an apostle to the Gentiles, he went on three different missionary journeys and worked to establish churches – and establish order in disordered groups as well (1 Corinthians 3-4).

Silvanus

Also known as Silas, Silvanus was an early church apostle. He played a prominent role in the church council at Jerusalem, speaking and encouraging those present (Acts 15:22). He ministered with Paul and Timothy in Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:19) and also assisted Paul on later missionary journeys (Acts 17-18).

Epaphroditus

A New Testament apostle who went to assist the Apostle Paul in Philippi (Philippians 2:25, 4:18).

Andronicus and Junia

A controversial duo, Andronicus and Junia (Romans 16:7) were two apostles of note among the greater group of apostles in their day. This tells us a couple things. The first is that the idea of being an apostle wasn’t rare or foreign in their day. It also recognizes their work in the area of the modern-day Danube River in Europe. For more about these apostles, visit this link.

Apphia

Apphia was an early apostle mentioned in Philemon 1:1-2. Story has it that a church meeting was held at her house during a pagan festival. Pagans discovered the festival, raided her household, and her and others killed in martyrdom. You can read more about Apphia here.

Thecla

The Apostle Thecla was a bold, young contemporary of Paul. Converted by his preaching, Thecla refused a forced marriage and baptized herself!

Other apostles

Some other apostles of history to check out include:

Nina of Georgia
Abercius of Hieropolis
Nana of Iberia
Mirian III of Iberia
Cyril and Methodius
Patrick of Ireland
Angelar
Innocent of Alaska

Apostolic ministry today

So, we’ve established there are apostles outside of New Testament times. What about now? How do we identify apostolic ministry today?

The first thing we must do is get past our hangups and assumptions. Not all pastoral or evangelical ministries look alike. Why should all apostolic ministries have the same look? If we think about things a little differently, we can see the work all around us.

Also, the ministry gifts of the New Testament are given to edify the church and bring it to maturity (Ephesians 4:11-18). They aren’t a hierarchy. No one should be competing for position or power. Each work is different, celebrating a different purpose.

Recognizing these things, look at the founders of churches, denominations, and spiritual organizations. Pay special attention to missionaries and individuals who work in communities different from their origins. Far from being braggarts or control freaks, they are diligent workers in the harvest. Many have the gifts and abilities that reflect those of apostles:

They establish organizations from the ground up
Their primary spiritual gifts are administration, faith, teaching, prophecy, and service
They teach, train, and establish other leaders
They often work in some form of uncharted territory

What did you learn from this column? To learn more about apostolic ministry, check out my book Awakening Christian Ministry: The Call to Serve Others as we Serve Jesus Christ.

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About Lee Ann B. Marino

Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino, Ph.D., D.Min., D.D. (”The Spitfire”) is “everyone’s favorite theologian” leading Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z as apostle of SAFE Ministries. Her work encompasses study and instruction on leadership training and development, typology, Pneumatology, conceptual theology, Ephesians 4:11 ministry, and apostolic theology. She is author of over thirty-five books, host of the top twenty percentile podcast Kingdom Now, and serves as founder and overseer of Sanctuary International Fellowship Tabernacle - SIFT and Chancellor of Apostolic Covenant Theological Seminary. Dr. Marino has over twenty-five years of experience in ministry, leadership, counseling, mentoring, education, and business. You can read more about the author here.

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