Article written by Ralph Howe and used by permission:

As 21st Century apostolic churches emerge (and they will do so quickly), there will be at least four specific paradigm changes taking place within the local church. A paradigm is a model or pattern in which we function and through which we view the Church.

The first apostolic paradigm shift is perhaps the most profound and powerful. It will be a breaking free from the one-man-only paradigm. This paradigm requires all of the church’s marketing efforts and resources to be used in drawing people to a building to be taught by one ascension (doma) gift. In this paradigm there is no sending (apostolic) dimension. The second apostolic paradigm shift will powerfully affect the goal of evangelism and take it from just getting a decision for Christ into raising a disciple of Christ.

There will be a major shift in the Church from an inward focus only to an outward focus of ministry. Not only will the Church be a place where people can gather to worship and be refreshed but it will also be a place where apostolic strategies and goals are set, as believers are equipped, activated and released into ministry.

Fourth, various apostolic teams will be built, activated and sent out into the surrounding city and into the nations of the world.

A true apostolic paradigm is one that:

* Gathers
* Teaches
* Equips
* Assigns
* Targets areas to reach
* Builds
* Deploys teams
* Disciples


These may not sound like major shifts in the spiritual life of the Church - but for most these will be earth-shattering and hard to implement. If, for you, they appear to simply be a part of the natural flow of life already on-going in your local church then you are attending a church that understands and is flowing with what the Lord is already doing.

Today thousands of churches have no apostolic structure in place to move people beyond a teaching or pasturing-only structure for church into one that sends believers into the harvest fields.

However, this is changing now in the 21st Century’s apostolic reformation. The emerging apostolic leaders are embracing the mighty truths taught in the New Testament as we return to a biblical model for the Church.