Catch the Wind of the Spirit: How the 5 Ministry Gifts Can Transform Your Church Paperback – March 1, 2016

Statistical estimates show that Pentecostals (including Charismatics) are one of the fastest growing Christian groups. Their growth through evangelism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America swamps that of North American and Western European Christian groups that appear to be in decline. While such statistics can explain what has happened, theology is required to explain why.IntroductionIn her book, Catch the Wind of the Spirit, Carolyn Tennant points in an interesting direction, writing:“Catch the Wind of the Spirit grew out of the context of need and emanated from a deep study of Ephesians 4. After pondering the five ministry gifts for years, I’ve come to the conclusion that our emphasis has been all wrong. The vast majority of teaching on this has focused on church leadership. I’m firmly convinced, however, that God is focused upon the ministry currents that each person is supposed to oversee. He means for the whole church to get involved.” (5)Currents Demonstrate God’s PowerTennant focuses on “currents” as a concept in the electrical sense, where God himself provides the power that flows through believers to accomplish his will for our lives and the lives of those we come into contact with. The “currents” of evangelist, teacher, pastor, prophet, and apostle (6-7) are in view here and are certainly not titles of church leaders in the manner that she uses them. Clearly, Tennant’s focus on the work of the Holy Spirit, as suggested by her title, marks her as a Pentecostal.Tennant cites an old Yiddish proverb: “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” (16) She then begins her exposition with a curious analogy for being led by the spirit offered by the early Celtic church. Celtic monks would sail in coracles, small boats shaped like a walnut, taking using neither a rudder not paddles, but allowing the wind to blow them where it may: “believing that God would take them where they were supposed to go to share the gospel.” (9) The idea of current is also analogous to flow of water as it, much like the wind, carries a coracle along.Ephesians 4The key verses in Tennant’s exegesis are:“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service…” (Eph 4:11-12 NAU)Tennant highlights the verb, gave, making the point that these currents inform the ministry of the entire church; they are not titles given to leaders set apart from the body of the church to undertaken these currents independent of the church (26-27).Structure of the BookTennant structures the chapters of her book around five pairs of discussions. In each discussion, she first introduces a chapter on a current; then she follows that current with a discussion of the leadership role that focuses on that current. In the first pair, she writes about the “Powerful Wooing Current”, then discusses the role of an Evangelist. The second pair starts with the “Radical Forming Current” and is followed by a discussion of the Teacher. These five pairs therefore outline ten chapters with summary material before and after for a total of fourteen chapters.Example of The Radical Forming CurrentBecause my own ministry focuses on teaching, Tennant fascinated me with her outline of sixteen different roles where teaching was the primary focus. They are: counselor, mentor, life coach, facilitator, luncheon discussion, training leaders, leading a new converts class, blogging, leading workshops, leading Sunday school, leading retreats, youth ministry, facilitating small groups, Bible quizzes, leading a men’s or women’s group, developing curriculum, and teaching seminary students (78-79). Tennant admits that her listing is incomplete, yet she shows that teaching goes beyond Sunday school. A lot of teaching takes place, for example, in a thoughtful sermon.AssessmentCarolyn Tennant is an adjunct professor at the Assembly of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri and professor emerita from North Central University in Minneapolis. Her doctorate is in Educational Administration and Supervision, University of Colorado at Boulder. Carolyn Tennant’s Catch the Wind of the Spirit highlights the work of the Holy Spirit through the Christian church from a Pentecostal perspective based on an exegesis of Ephesians 4. Because the Pentecostal church has grown rapidly over the past century, we might be led to believe that it has done a better job of balancing the five gifts of the spirit than other Christian groups.

I read Dr. Tennant’s book with great anticipation because of an ache in my own spirit to see the church be the church as Christ intended. How do we know that the church has not been operating effectively? We just have to look at our culture. So when I read the title, Catch the Wind of the Spirit: How the 5 Ministry Gifts can Transform Your Church, I knew I needed to read this book.Dr. Tennant gives us plenty of motivation in Chapter One for learning about the five Ministry Gifts as currents in which we flow with the Spirit to be the Church and impact our World. Her story of the Celtic Coracle provides the model for the modern church to “hoist their sails and catch the winds and the current believing that God will take them where they are supposed to go to share the gospel.”She aptly points to some of the weaknesses of the church without denigrating but pointing to what was intended. We are to go where the people are as the Celtic Coracle set out and let the current lead them to the fish instead of staying on shore and hoping to attract fish. Too many churches are spending more money and time on attracting guests than on going to where the people are, getting involved in their lives and influencing them to join them on their journey with Jesus. Which by the way is much more cost effective.I really appreciate her analogy of the current for each of the ministry gifts. Seeing the ministry gifts through the current lens makes room for more people to be involved. It was especially helpful that she not only described each current (gift) but then described the preparation, how the gift affects the church, the difference between the overseer of this current and the different people and ministries involved and how it should be operating.The questions at the end of each chapter were thought provoking and could be used for discussion in a small group study. I would love to see an online discussion about this book with Dr. Tennant but she does include a question and answer section at the end which did answer some of my questions. I’ve already given three books away because I believe that if we catch the vision for surrendering to the current and catching the wind it will revolutionize our lives and churches thereby impacting our culture.I highly recommend this book not only for leaders but anyone who• doesn’t understand how the five ministry gifts work and longs to operate in them.• Feels like they or their church is in a rut or not as effective as it could be.• Is bored with where the church is and is longing for something more.“It appears to me that too many Christians, and also too many churches, have simply gotten stuck. They’re in a rut instead of on a journey.” I don’t know about you but I’ve experienced the ruts and I want a journey; they’re much more exciting and rewarding.She says, ““I believe the Lord is asking us today, both as individuals and as the church corporately, to set sail again – to trust Him. He is wondering if we are wiling to pull in our rudders and even throw away our oars and let the wind blow through our sails”Catch the Wind of the Spirit will not only educate but inspire, challenge and spark hope. The world desperately needs the church to be the church as God intends and we need these gifts in operation to make that happen. Get your copy today, read, pray, take notes, ask questions, and step out in faith – set your sails to catch the wind of the Spirit and ride the currents in which God is flowing.

Dr. Tennant has done an amazing job of defining and describing a full understanding of what it means to be a part of the gifting of apostle profit evangelist shepherd and teacher. Many have pushed their theology of these offices of the church to the extreme, but this author has remained in the center of the current that our triune God is directing the church. I highly recommend this book for all ministry school students and those looking to find their place within our post-modern faith culture.

This book is a definite must read. If you want a deeper understanding of the office to which you fit in the body of Christ then I would read it. It will also shed some light on the other offices so you know how they work as weIl. It was hard to put down after starting. Carolyn Tennant really has great revealed to her by God and His scripture. I think this book should be part of any pastors library and even part of curriculum at any bible school.

Dr. Tennant brings the focus of the church back to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. She explains the currents of the five-fold ministry in a way that encourages and challenges the body of Christ to be faithful with the gifts that are given so that the bride will be prepared on the day that Jesus returns. There are so many encouraging stories and messages in this book for leaders and followers alike. It is a clear picture of how ministry is to work. I high recommend it.