The norm in New Testament days was for pastors to be bi-vocational. This is because every New Testament church letter was written to a small, illegal congregation that met secretly in a private home. The ecclesiology presented in the epistles was thus designed for effective bi-vo shepherding in smaller settings.

Using apostolic church practices, these small church pastors taught God’s people to obey all that Jesus commanded. The result was that the Church spread like yeast throughout the Roman Empire. Your small church can have a impact today if you shepherd in the context of tried-and-true early church practices.

Churches that have adopted the New Testament approach are more organic than organized, more like a family than a business, smaller rather than larger, more relational than programed, more informal more than formal, focus more on one another than any one leader, and prefer authenticity over the expertise.

First-century ecclesiology was also designed to get all the saints involved, making every