Today I was ordained as an Evangelist in the ACUK. I’ve served as a pastor with the denomination since September 2020 when I began the work of pioneering a new church plant. We began pioneering in January 2020 and transitioned the church in 2026.
Today two others were also being ordained (David Mitchell as a Teacher and Kenneth Matheson also as an Evangelist) and it was great to be joined by the Irish Apostolic Leaders. There was some amazing ministry from Phelim Doherty, Tom Workman and Paul Carley. As always there was also some significant prophetic ministry.
As I prepared my spirit for the ordination service today, I have been reflecting on what this means for me in this season. What does it mean at this stage in my life to be set apart as an evangelist?
To be honest, that question would have been easier for me to answer 25 years ago.
25 years ago, I’d say the evangelist calling burned in me with a greater intensity.
I’d weep for the lost
I’d pray for the lost
I’d hand write tracts for the lost (This was before I knew how to work a computer!)
I’d sit in shop front doors with homeless people to find the lost
I’d knock on doors to give invitations to the lost
I’d speak with the lost at bus stops, train stations and city centres.
I can’t honestly say that’s true today.
Some days (many days?) I don’t even think about the lost.
That said, although 25 years ago, the evangelistic anointing burned in me with a greater intensity, I’d say today it flows in me with a greater maturity. The fire is still there, but there is a steadiness.
In the early years of my conversion, a local church leader (the late Maurice Howson) said “John you have a rare and special gift of evangelism, don’t lose it.”
At the time I thought that was impossible.
Yet there have been seasons where the gift has lain dormant.
Some of this has been a season of pruning, where the Lord had to separate the gifting from my identity. As a young Christian I got to the stage where the lines between gifting and identity became too blurry.
Gifts are great, but when they become our identity they actually become idolatry.
I like the fact that in the ACUK we have the word Ascension before we have the word Ministry when we talk about the 5 fold giftings. That should keep the focus right. It’s more about the ascended Christ and the wellbeing of the church than it is about the individuals who are the gifts to the church: — the gifts are just the asses that carry Jesus.
D.P Williams, the founder of the Apostolic Church, said:
“The Evangelist … has liberty to break up new ground, to open new doors, pioneering in front of the apostles and prophets, who follow him to establish churches and set them in order.”
(D.P. Williams, The Work of the Evangelist, p.14)
In many ways this is what has happened in Stirling. Laura and I planted an ACUK church in Stirling, and an Apostle has come in behind us to establish further that which has established.
I’m also conscious that in this season, whilst my full time ministry in the prison as a chaplain has all the demands of a pastor, there is also a sense in which there is a fresh manifestation of the gift of evangelism in my life.
I also believe today is a fulfilment of a prophetic dream I had several years ago where I saw apostolic leaders laying hands on me and setting me apart as an evangelist. It wasn’t something I was looking for, but the dream was so vivid that I felt it to be prophetic.
I’m also conscious that I don’t fit into a stereotypical evangelist box. There is a nuance and a diversity of gifts that God has given me. I have an evangelistic calling, but it’s not the only lane I move in.
Whilst I don’t believe the evangelist is the only tool in the box God has given me, it is a significant tool. It’s not the only arrow in the quiver. Yet in the timing of God, he is releasing the arrow of the evangelist for this season and it was an honour for that to be recognised today.
A highlight for me was having pastor Peter Vincent and his wife Elizabeth at the ordination. He prayed for all three of us and shared a word from a book I released a few years ago (Vision from the Valleys).
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” Numbers 13:30 (NASB)
“I desire Calebs and Joshuas again! “Men of another Spirit.” For there are too many who are dying in the wilderness. There are too many who are lagging behind, who have fear in their hearts. I desire you to be like Caleb and Joshua. Men of a different spirit, men of faith, men who have the courage to go in and possess the land. I will give you this courage, this faith. For I have spoken on the great things I have done. What did I do through Samson? One man slew a thousand. What did I do through David? I overcame the giant. The great things I have done in the past, I am able to do again. I am still the same as I was in the early days of the church. You have read in the Acts of the apostles what I have done through my apostles and prophets. Do you believe I can do the same today?” (T. Napier Turnbull)
That word came with a real power. May God find us to have a different spirit. May we live for the pleasure of God alone, and May we run and finish the race well.
Rev John James 