Ephesians 4:11–12 is not merely a biblical text for Melvin University—it is part of the university’s spiritual heritage. Your connection between Dr. Melvin’s discovery of “equip the saints” and the purpose of Melvin University makes the passage especially meaningful.
Pastors and Ministry Roles: the two functions of pastors and the two lines of ministry:
1. The pastor has two functions: pastoring and equipping
Ephesians 4:11 says:
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.”
Your observation about “pastors and teachers” is important. The hyphenated expression can help your congregation see that pastoral leadership is not only about caring for people.
- Pastoring — caring, tending, shepherding, protecting.
- Teaching/equipping — training, preparing, empowering, and releasing God’s people for ministry.
A pastor who only pastors may become exhausted because he tries to do all the ministry himself. But a pastor who equips the saints creates a congregation in which the whole body participates in ministry.
That leads naturally to verse 12.
2. The purpose of leadership is to equip the saints
The NIV says “to prepare God’s people for works of service.” The idea behind the Greek word katartismos is commonly expressed as equipping, preparing, or making someone ready for service.
So the important question is not:
“How much ministry can the pastor do?”
but:
“How many people can the pastor equip to do ministry?”
That is exactly where Dr. Melvin’s journey becomes a powerful illustration. After many years of pastoral ministry, he realized that he had preached, taught, and cared for congregations, but had not sufficiently equipped the people for their ministry. That discovery led him to study the biblical idea of equipping and eventually to the Lay Pastors Ministry.
3. Every Christian has a ministry
Your statement about God’s calling can become one of the sermon’s strongest points:
God’s calling has two dimensions:
- God calls us to salvation.
- God calls us to service.
We are not saved merely to sit in church and receive ministry. We are saved to become ministers within the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:12 says that the saints are equipped “for works of ministry” so that “the body of Christ may be built up.”
The pastor’s ministry, therefore, is not intended to replace the ministry of the people. The pastor’s ministry is to equip the people for their ministry.
4. Two major lines of ministry
Your connection to Dr. Melvin’s understanding of Scripture is also very helpful:
Matthew 28:19–20 — Go and make disciples.
→ Evangelism
John 21:15–17 — “Take care of my sheep.”
→ Caring
These give us two broad expressions of Christian ministry:
EVANGELISM — reaching people who need Christ.
CARING — caring for people who belong to Christ.
And every believer should understand that God can use him or her in one or both of these lines.
This also gives you a very natural bridge to PACE and Lay Pastors Ministry: the church is not simply a place where people come to receive pastoral care. It is a community where God’s people are equipped to care for one another.
A possible central sentence
The church becomes strong not when the pastor does everything, but when the pastor equips God’s people to do the work of ministry.
And perhaps an even shorter version for the congregation:
The pastor’s job is not to do all the ministry; the pastor’s job is to equip the saints for ministry.
That would make Ephesians 4:11–12 a particularly appropriate foundational text for Melvin University Church and Melvin University itself, because it connects the university’s educational mission with Dr. Melvin’s original ministry discovery: equipping God’s people for the work of ministry.