In "The Complete Wineskin," a short but insightful book by  Harold Eberle, a persuasive argument for the restructuring of local church government was offered.

 Harold writes, "Whenever the Holy Spirit fills people with the new wine, the structure or organization in which they function must change....[Indeed] there can be no mighty awakening in our day without a great shaking of our church organizations, leaders and structures."  He goes on to say, "We cannot expect to know the same power of the Holy Spirit that the NT believers experienced unless we have wineskins similar to theirs."

The problem our Vestry struggled with, was that Harold seemed completely in line with the New Testament, and for all we might argue, our "way" of doing church had been radically different than that we read about in the pages of Scripture - not the least in the way we sought to govern the local church. In any case, who wants to be a 'has been' anyway?

The fundamental question we needed to grapple with as Vestry and Corporation together was actually very simple: if God provided a blueprint for the Church [which, incidentally we are wise to remember He said He Himself would build], are we wise in disregarding it, substituting our own structure in its place? Can the full blessing of the Lord flow over and into that which is not of His designing?

We believe the five ministry gifts given to the Church in EPH 4 are for general oversight of the Body of Christ and are not, therefore, to be confused with the lists of spiritual gifts found elsewhere in the NT [cf. 1COR 12 and ROM 12]. The ministry gifts in EPH are characterized by anointing for government and for raising the saints [that is, the people of God] to the full stature and maturity of our Lord Jesus Himself [simply read the Book!].

The anointing upon those who move in these ministry gifts, equips them ideally for the whole panorama of ministry needs within the church. IS 10:27 says, "it shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil" [Oil in the OT is often used as a 'type' of symbol of the Holy Spirit]. Each of the ministry gifts, so it would seem, carries an anointing through which the Holy Spirit flows specifically for the purpose of breaking bondages.

Looking then at the five-fold ministry: