17. Spiritual Gifts and Ministries

God bestows upon all members of His church in every age spiritual

gifts that each member is to employ in loving ministry for the common

good of the church and of humanity. Given by the agency of the Holy

Spirit, who apportions to each member as He wills, the gifts provide all

abilities and ministries needed by the church to fulfill its divinely ordained

functions. According to the Scriptures, these gifts include such ministries

as faith, healing, prophecy, proclamation, teaching, administration,

reconciliation, compassion, and self-sacrificing service and charity for the

help and encouragement of people. Some members are called of God and

endowed by the Spirit for functions recognized by the church in pastoral,

evangelistic, and teaching ministries particularly needed to equip the

members for service, to build up the church to spiritual maturity, and to

foster unity of the faith and knowledge of God. When members employ

these spiritual gifts as faithful stewards of God’s varied grace, the church

is protected from the destructive influence of false doctrine, grows with a

growth that is from God, and is built up in faith and love. (Acts 6:1-7;

Rom 12:4-8; 1 Cor 12:7-11, 27, 28; Eph 4:8, 11-16; 1 Tim 3:1-13; 1 Peter

4:10, 11.)