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.
Discernment of Spirit
60-0308 §14
A New Testament prophet is a preacher. We all know that. Just any minister that's a preacher is a prophet, a New Testament prophet, if he's prophesying, preaching, not to try to edify himself to make a big name, or to edify his organization. Which, he should be in an organization. Here I am without one, but yet preaching you should be. That's right. Every man ought to have a church home. You ought to have a place. Not just to float about from pillar to post, but have somewhere that you go to church and you call it...
Led by the Holy Spirit
52-0727 §35
Now, I was born by a gift. Those gifts don't come by laying on of hands. Those gifts come by the sovereignty of God. Gifts and calling are without repentance. They was foreordained of God to be. Gifts are born. Jesus Christ in the garden of Eden, He was the woman's Seed that would bruise the serpent's head. Moses was borned a proper child. John the Baptist was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, according to Isaiah, seven hundred and twelve years before he was born. Before Jeremiah when he come to the earth,...
What went ye out to see?
59-1001 §25
John preached the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He never preached something that he didn't have. He preached what he had received. And men of God that's sent into the fields today has no right to preach the Gospel without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's the first qualification of a minister, is to be filled with the Holy Ghost. "So what did you go to see? A man dressed in soft clothes?" He said, "Those that are dressed in soft clothes are of kings' palaces." John was too far from Hollywood to be a dressed up s...
Questions and Answers, part 2
54-0103E §56
First thing I would say, according to the rules of the church in the Old Testament ... or, the New Testament, rather, at the first place, that people entered into the church of God in a Spirit of worship. And they walked in, hymns were sung. And maybe the preacher would speak, for he was a prophet of the church. (A New Testament prophet is a preacher; we know that: "The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy," said Revelation.) Now, the preacher begin to preach. While he preached, the blessings, right,...
God's provided way of healing
54-0719A §17
Now, we would like to place, say, well, like preaching. Well, let John Doe or anybody preach... If John Doe wasn't absolutely called of God to be a preacher, he'll never make a successful preacher. His mother might've told him he should be a preacher, and his dad might have sent him off to a seminary, he might have the degrees and so forth; but he will never be able to lead people to God till the Holy Spirit has moved into that man's life and give him something that... He may not be able to speak his words right; h...