The body of Christ, in its local, "sample" form – the local church – needs to be built up. We need to grow. The question then is "Who does the building? How does that building occur?"

We see the answer in Ephesians 4. There Paul writes that "we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (v. 15). But two statements tell us who does that building. First, verse 16: ". . . the whole body . . . when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." And earlier, in verses 11 and 12, Paul says that Jesus gave gifts to the church - ". . . apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry." 

So all the saints do the work of the ministry; the shepherds and teachers equip the saints to do that work to "make the body grow." The men's and women's ministry teams have responsibility then, delegated from our elder board, to equip all our men and women to engage in this most vital work. 

Paul describes the way we grow: by "speaking the truth in love" (v. 15). We seek to equip all our men and women to speak the truth in love, one to another, so that we all grow up into Christ. He is more glorified, and we are blessed beyond measure. 

So we encourage you to explore further how this works out in the life of our church: