The Canmore Accord

[Karlena]

Although I was raised in Pentecostal churches and attended ACOP churches for most of my Christian life, for the past 16 years, I have found myself serving in ministry contexts that were non-Pentecostal. The biggest frustration that I have in these contexts is the tendency to undervalue and even downplay the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. In these contexts, principally pastoring and teaching ministries are affirmed—and evangelism is seen as a function designated for pastors/missionaries/teachers. Apostolic ministry and prophetic ministry is viewed with great suspicion and it is these two gifts, primarily, that are lacking in the church today. The Canmore Accord addresses this lack by recognizing and affirming the role and function of all five ministry gifts as equally important and vital for the life and ministry of the Church.

Yes, I have heard various teaching about the fivefold ministry in scripture, including the cessationist viewpoint (and this is the one held in the ministry contexts I have served in the last sixteen years). I understand why the cessationists have their reservations—there has been a lot of misunderstandings and therefore abuse of what these ministry gifts entail. Nonetheless, it is the ACOP viewpoint of the fivefold ministry (with their clearly explained definition of what each of these ministries actually encompass) that I affirm and is one of the key reasons why I am seeking membership with ACOP—I believe the operation and function of the fivefold ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit (Pentecostal) is absolutely vital in the Church today. All five of these ministries are needed more than ever!

One thing that kind of struck me during the presentation was the phrase “operation and function of the five ministry gifts.” The word “function” means how these five ministries contribute to the life and ministry of the Church. In terms of the word “function,” I think it would be interesting to learn about the dynamics of how these gifts function and work together and complement each other and, conversely, in which situations there may be “disfunction.”

[Caleb]

In the Canadian ACOP church, I personally believe evangelists are lacking. we need more evangelists to spread the Gospel within our own communities. We need more evangelists to gather the people of this nation and go before the Kings arrival, proclaiming he is risen. evangelist also need to get together and know they are not alone. not only is God with them but so are many other brothers in Christ. If they can support one another and coordinate their efforts evangelists will have the ability to hone their craft. I believe the new Canmore accord addresses this quite nicely.

In my life I’ve had many people tell me the fivefold ministry in scripture is merely language Paul uses and not actually gifting for ministry. Albeit these people in my life did not believe apostles and prophets were for todays context. I believe even in the churches that do not believe in apostleship or prophecy, still operate in these things whether they like it or not because these things are needed for the church to flourish. Holy spirit doesn’t care if your opinion is that apostleship ended at 100ad, He is still going to enable people in ministry to bring glory to Jesus.

[Nate]

I have received teaching talking about how apostles and prophets have ceased today. While they may serve a different function now than the apostles and prophets of the biblical age, I do still think they have an important role for today. This is especially true as the church looks to revitalize itself for a new age where we will need apostles to be creative, entrepreneurial, and self starting. We will need the prophet to seek the Lord and help to guide us with a prophetic voice as we navigate this new landscape that is the 21st century.

[Sarah]

I think that the role of the prophet and evangelist are still lacking in today’s church. Although I see teaching and pastoring happening often in churches as well as vision series popping up dedicated to apostolic vision, the presence of prophecy and evangelism still feel like once a year type focuses with a guest speaker. However, I am proud to say, as someone who has been taught at Eston College and worked in ACOP ministries since 2012, the five fold gifting has been taught and highlighted to me over and over again. I think that is largely due to the Canmore Accord and the faithfulness of the ACOP to recognize the five-fold ministry.