Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

The Apostolic Church of Great Britain

tecostal movements in Great Britain. The Apostolic Faith Church, Bournemouth, the Apostolic church, Penygroes, and the United Apostolic Faith Church, London, all owe their introduction to the ministry apos tolic to this valiant pioneer preacher who believed that God would restore the New Testament ministries and offices of apostle and prophet." 4 As the Pentecostal revival gained momentum, prophetic utterance became more and more common, and certain ministers were publicly acknowledged as prophets. Some major decisions in church operation were made, and certain ministers sent as missionaries or placed in pas torates, through prophetic guidance. The eventual split between the Apostolic Faith Church (AFC) and the Apostolic Church (AC) is a story too long to be told here, but we can say that certain issues became controversial enough to bring division: the reception and use of tithes and offerings; the leadership problem (in this case, the choice of apostolic leadership); Welsh national sentiment (cen tered on the use of the Welsh language); the particular way in which the Welsh were using prophecy to guide the affairs of the church; and the omi nous foreboding of the first World War. 5 Our concern in this chapter is the use of prophecy and prophets in the AC. Because these sincere, Spirit-filled Christians utilized prophecy in a remarkable way, they provide an interesting case study. 6 Here is a brief statement of eight helpful renewal principles that can be gleaned from this zealous, dedicated movement: 1. The function and fulfillment of prophecy is a great blessing to a church. The people of the AC, as well as of their parent organization, the AFC, considered prophecy a great blessing, and took great care not to miss any direction the Lord might bring. They felt God was speaking to them. James E.Worsfold writes that "prophecy in the Apostolic Faith Church was recorded and transcribed by very many highly-skilled shorthand-writ ers, both men and women, members of the congregation....Clearly with out their work . . . there would have been no opportunity to see the extraordinary way in which so many prophecies were fulfilled." 7 The practice of scribes recording prophecy carried over into the AC and con tinued all the way into the 1970s. 8 D. P.Williams, one of the founders of the AC, published an interest ing treatise on the subject of prophecy in 1931 in which he clearly states their high esteem for prophetic ministry in the church: "If we are called 277. Eight Insights from the Apostolic Church