VII. The Gifts in the Local Churches

Ephesians 4:11 enumerates four types of gifted persons, which it terms “gifts”: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (both considered as one category). Among these types of gifts, only two, the prophets and teachers, are mentioned in the New Testament as being in a local church. Witness Lee describes these gifts in the local churches as follows:

In the local churches there are only prophets and teachers (Acts 13:1); there are no apostles and no evangelists (cf. Acts 14:4, 14; 21:8). All the believers should be gospel preachers, but some members in the Body do have a particular gift to preach the gospel. These are called the evangelists. The apostles and the evangelists are universal and are for all the churches. But the prophets and the teachers are local. Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 14, a chapter concerning the local meetings of the church, the prophets and teachers are mentioned (vv. 26, 29) but the apostles and evangelists are not. The apostles and evangelists are universal. They travel from city to city preaching the gospel to establish the churches. (58)