Were There People in the New Testament Who Did Not Have a Formal Church Ordination, Yet Preached the Gospel?
Yes. The New Testament shows many who preached by the call and anointing of the Holy Ghost without a formal church ordination.
Scriptural Explanation
- The man casting out devils in Jesus’ Name who didn’t follow the apostles (Mark 9:38–40; Luke 9:49–50). Jesus said, “Forbid him not.”
- The seventy were sent by the Lord Himself, not by a council (Luke 10:1, 9).
- The delivered man of Gadara was told, “Go home…and tell,” and he published Christ in Decapolis (Mark 5:19–20).
- Persecuted believers “went everywhere preaching the word,” not just ordained officers (Acts 8:1, 4).
- Philip, originally chosen as a deacon, preached Christ in Samaria with signs following (Acts 6:5; 8:5–8, 12).
- Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, preached with wisdom and power (Acts 6:8–10; ch. 7).
- Apollos preached Christ powerfully before any recorded formal ordination; Aquila and Priscilla instructed him more perfectly (Acts 18:24–28).
- Saul/Paul preached Christ “straightway” after his conversion, before consulting men (Acts 9:20; Galatians 1:15–17, 23).
- Men of Cyprus and Cyrene preached the Lord Jesus at Antioch, and “a great number believed” (Acts 11:19–21).
- The promise is broad: “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17–18). The Great Commission is to all believers (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19–20).
Simple Clarifying Logic
Now notice, the Bible shows a clear pattern: God calls and fills; the Church recognizes and sends. Laying on of hands in Acts 13:2–3 confirmed those whom the Holy Ghost had already separated. Authority to preach the gospel comes from the Word and the Spirit, not from human papers. If God vindicates the message with Scripture and the fruit, that is Heaven’s endorsement.
Final Word
So yes—there were many who preached without formal ordination. The New Testament puts the emphasis on the Holy Ghost calling and the Scriptures being proclaimed.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The End-time Evangelism
62-0603 §23
Now we want to turn in the gospels, to Mark 16, the 16th chapter of St. Mark. And my title today, of this, is "The End-Time Evangelism." And let's begin reading on Mark 16, about the 14th verse. And after he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of their hearts, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized sha...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 9:E-29
The second thought that must be impressed on our hearts is that the seven church ages started out with the antichrist spirit as well as the Holy Spirit Who is to be blessed forever. I John 4:1, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." Did you notice it? The antichrist spirit is identified with false prophets. The ages came in with false prophets and they will go out with false prophets. Now of course there is going to...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-43
I think we ought to stop here and deal with the thought that God's people have always been and always will be persecuted. You know that Genesis is the book of beginnings, and what you find started there will carry right on through the Revelation and never change. There we see that Cain persecuted and killed Abel because the latter pleased God. Then we see a perfect picture in Abraham's son of the flesh, Ishmael, who teased and fought the son of promise, Isaac. And there was Esau, who hated Jacob and would have kill...
The impersonation of Christianity
57-0120M §45
And when the Holy Spirit---not the new degree, not the new church, not the new thought, not the new emotion, not the new oil, not the new dance, not the new lips, not the new tongue, not the new this, not the new that---but when God places His Spirit in the middle of your new Spirit, then you don't have to act meek, you don't have to act like a Christian. It controls everything that's within you. It puts you decent, makes the church act orderly, makes the gifts work perfect. And if you have to be taken from a place...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 10:E-35
This age started just after the turn of the twentieth century. As it was to be the age in which the true church would return to being the bride she was at Pentecost, we know that there must of necessity be a return of dynamic power. The believers sensed this in their spirits and began crying to God for a new outpouring such as was in the first century. What seemed to be the answer came as many began to speak in tongues and manifest gifts of the Spirit. It was then believed that this was indeed the long awaited REST...