Apostolic Ministry: Pauline and Petrine Forms

By Tim Catchim
In our book, The Permanent Revolution, we recognize the difference between Pauline and
Petrine forms of apostolic ministry. This distinction is noted in Galatians where Paul says that the
leaders in the Jerusalem church recognized that Paul was called to the Gentiles, while Peter was
called to the Jews. While this initial distinction has to do with the different people groups they
are called to reach, we suggest that the distinctions dont necessarily stop there. We suggest
that the difference in their calling can actually be traced back to a difference in their apostolic
gifting, that is, the way each one of them is naturally created by God for ministry.
One of the ways to talk about how this distinction between Pauline and Petrine gifting plays out
is to use some of the language and concepts found in the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
As a tool, MBTI helps to point out certain personality traits, and the natural orientations that
come along with them. In other words, it can serve as a starting point when trying to discover
ways in which one persons orientation towards ministry differs from another.
I have personally used MBTI as a way to help people discover their APEST gifting for some time
now, and for the most part, it has proven useful. That being said, it is not full proof. There will
always be people who dont fit in the MBTI box. So with that in mind, lets take a look at how
the these two similar, yet different, forms of apostolic ministry tend to express themselves.

The Center and the Edge

Since apostolic ministry is first and foremost a pioneering form of ministry, a good way to map
the difference between Pauline and Petrine forms is to use a framework of known as the Center
and the Edge. It would look something like this:

2012 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to
be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed permission.

Every community has a Center, a place where higher levels of organization, stability, and order
exist. The Center is typically where the source of social power is most concentrated. Its the place
where resources and relationships are negotiated according to the already established rules,
roles, responsibilities and rhythms of those who lead it. Without a Center, an organization will
not have any kid of long term sustainability
If there is a Center, then there must be an Edge place where higher levels of chaos and
flexibility exist. The Edge tends lacks organization, and as such it tends to have higher levels of
diversity. In fact, the further you move away from the center, the closer you come to increasing
levels of complexity. At the Center, things are established. At the Edge, things are not less
established, if at all. With less rules in place, and more options to entertain, the edge is a sweet
spot for creativity and innovation.

Petrine: From the Center to the Edge

Petrine apostles, being called to the already existing people of God, tend to be more
comfortable with starting at the Center and moving to Edge. In other words, Petrine apostles
have the skills and sensibilities to step into an already existing organizations and mobilizing it to
become more missional.
Based on my observations of working with apostolic leaders over the past 5 years, when it comes
to MBTI, Petrine apostles tend to be ENTJs. As Judgers (J) they like to bring order out of chaos.
They thrive on structure and are great at developing linear processes for mobilization, something
organizations need and utilize for effective training systems, as well as navigating the dynamics
of change management. So if Petrine apostles are typically J's, then the trajectory of their
ministry would look something like this...

2012 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to
be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed permission.

Petrine apostles help churches become more missional by mobilizing them to move from the
Center to the Edge. This takes a unique skill, and a certain patience to work within the already
existing system something not all apostolic leaders have a passion for.
The strength of the Petrine apostle is their ability to set up movemental systems and structures
for missional mobilization. As Js, Petrine apostles tend to look up and ahead, but not side to
side. In other words, they stay focused on the established vision. This is a real asset when it
comes to an organization staying on the missional track, but it becomes a liability when the
organization begins to encounter new challenges that require an adaptive response. The
questions you ask at the Center are not always the same questions that people ask at the Edge.
One of the challenges Petrine Apostles face is the temptation to franchise their systems into
other cultural contexts without doing the necessary cultural exegesis characteristic of the
prophetic and evangelistic functions.
At some point, moving from the Center to the Edge will lead a Petrine apostle to encounter what
I like to call the "chaos event horizon." It would look something like this.

Their Judging function leads them to experience the Edge as, what appears to them, to be
needless and pointless disorganization. Instead of surfing the edge of chaos" they feel like they
are drowning in a sea of chaos. This is when the Petrine apostle reaches the limits of their
capacity to pioneer. At some point, they will either pull back to the Center, or find another
Center that needs mobilizing, consulting and coaching their already existing leaders into
missional mobilizations.

Pauline: From the Edge to the Center

If Petrine apostles move from the Center to the Edge, their Pauline counterparts start from the
Edge and move towards the Center. In other words, as opposed to mobilizing the existing church
2012 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to
be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed permission.

to become missional, Pauline apostle start new missional churches. When it comes to MBTI, my
experience is that Pauline apostles tend to be ENTPs. Its their Perceiving function that gives
them a certain kind of tolerance for higher levels of ambiguity, disorganization, and chaos,
something that comes in quite handy when working at the Edge. Visually, it would look like this:

As opposed to Js, who can often develop a tunnel like vision towards their goal, Ps not only look
forward, they also look side to side. This allows them to take in new information and see new
patterns that are going on around them. Pauline apostles take that contextual information and
combine it with what they already know, generating new ideas and concepts that can be applied
to that context. This capacity to make new connections is what fuels creativity. As Frans
Johansson writes in his book The Medici Effect, its at the intersection between apparently
disparate ideas that innovation most often takes place.
As a result, Pauline apostles, because of their Perceiving function, tend to be more innovative
than Petrine apostles. This capacity for innovative thinking enables Pauline apostles to navigate
the more diverse challenges found at the Edge.
At some point in the development of their missional venture, if they are to reach a level of long
term sustainability, they will need to create greater levels of organization, structure and
predictability in the community. The more organic style of leadership and organization that is
often necessary at the front end of a venture has to, at some point, give way to a more
organized approach. This is actually a common weakness that Pauline apostles have, especially if
they are immature.
All of this is necessary, to a degree, but when it happens, the Pauline apostle, operating out of
their P function, will start feeling somewhat claustrophobic. As the Edge begins to look and feel
more like a Center, Pauline apostles begin to develop a wanderlust, leading them to turn away
2012 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to
be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed permission.

from the Center and focus on the Edge. Like their Petrine counterparts, Pauline apostles also
have an event horizon.

Instead of working to develop the internal structures and systems of the group, they have an
allergic reaction to the need, or presence, of structure and predictability. Unfortunately, this can
lead them to ignore the thing they have given birth to, compromising the long term
sustainability of the venture. What teds to happen is that P will get distracted by other
pioneering opportunities, leading them to potentially abandon their assignment too quickly
otherwise known as a dead beat Dad.

Maturing Moments
The event horizon exists somewhere in no-mans land between the Edge and the Center. It is
different for every apostle depending on the intensity of their MBTI categories of "J" and "P," as
well as their level of maturity. The important thing to remember is that both forms of apostolic
ministry need to venture towards the event horizon where their leadership capacities are
stretched and they are forced to develop that side of their gifting and personality.
Petrine apostles need to surf the edge of chaos and become more sensitive to the necessities of
incarnational ministry that needs to take place at the Edge. Peter does this very thing in Acts
when he is confronted by God in Acts 10 about how to engage the Gentiles. This even stretched
Peter, but it was a necessary phase of development for both him and the movement he was
helping to lead.
Pauline apostles need to develop their new ventures towards the edge of order where the new
group of people can find a healthy balance between being organized and organic, structured and
spontaneous. This is a real challenge for P's, but the sustainability of the new community
2012 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to
be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed permission.

depends on it. We see this taking place in Pauls life when, at the city of Corinth, he receives a
revelation for God to stay in that city. Up until that point, Paul had been hopping around the
Roman world, going from city to city, synagogue to synagogue, and house to house. The
sustainability of the churches he planted were primarily derived from the already existing social
structures of the synagogue and Greco-Roman household. Now, for the first time as an apostolic
leader, Paul actually stayed somewhere longer than a month eighteen months to be exact.
So really, what needs to happen in both forms of apostolic ministry, is a journey towards the
maturity. In short, they both need to surf the edge of their own limitations, and learn to inhabit
those environments where they feel the most tension.

2012 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to
be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed permission.