As a “lay person “ myself, I probably have a different perspective on the practice of itinerant ministry. By simply reading how the early church as recorded in the NT, selected their leadership, it becomes pretty clear at least in my mind, that the only itinerancy was among the apostolic workers, the prophets, and evangelists. The elders and deacons, the recognized leadership of local congregations, seemed all to have been raised up within those local assemblies. The listed qualifications for such functions as stated in 1 Timothy and Titus, would require that these folks would have already been a part of these communities, and had an established reputation as far as having a Christ-like character, to even be considered. The modern approach of bringing in from the outside, and then moving around congregational leadership, is in my opinion, an invention of man.
As a “lay person “ myself, I probably have a different perspective on the practice of itinerant ministry. By simply reading how the early church as recorded in the NT, selected their leadership, it becomes pretty clear at least in my mind, that the only itinerancy was among the apostolic workers, the prophets, and evangelists. The elders and deacons, the recognized leadership of local congregations, seemed all to have been raised up within those local assemblies. The listed qualifications for such functions as stated in 1 Timothy and Titus, would require that these folks would have already been a part of these communities, and had an established reputation as far as having a Christ-like character, to even be considered. The modern approach of bringing in from the outside, and then moving around congregational leadership, is in my opinion, an invention of man.