Rom.12:3-8 and church

Fernando asks an intriguing question, as he ponders Paul’s take on the church in Romans: “what would a church look like if these seven gifts were the organising principle behind the church’s structure. Imagine, if you will, a church with a minister for prophetic speech, a minister for service, a minister for teaching, a minister for encouragement, a minister for philanthropy, a minister for administration and a minister for social care (and by implication, no minister for worship, or youth).”

The journey from Romans to the full-fledged (and somewhat over the top?) mystical ecclesiology of the RC church is a long one... and I often wonder what our predominately male histories have left out along the way.