Not All Heroes of the Faith Are Leaders: The Example of Aquila and Priscilla
Ask someone to name a hero from the book of Acts, and you'll hear Paul, Peter, Stephen, Barnabas. You won't often hear Aquila and Priscilla — and that's exactly the point.
Scripture never calls them leaders, apostles, elders or preachers. Yet Paul could not have done Corinth without them. When he arrived in that city, worn down and alone after Athens, Aquila and Priscilla — recently expelled from Rome by Claudius, tentmakers by trade — took Paul in (Acts 18:1–3). From there, they appear in nearly every scene throughout the chapter, follow Paul to Ephesus (though nothing required it), and quietly correct the gifted young preacher Apollos when his understanding of the gospel fell short (Acts 18:18–19, 26). Paul is the headline of Acts 18. Aquila and Priscilla are the thread running under it.
They show up again later in Scripture: a church meeting in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19), Paul calling them "fellow workers" who "risked their necks" for him (Romans 16:3–5), and one last mention as Paul writes his final letter from prison (2 Timothy 4:19). Rome to Corinth to Ephesus and back to Rome — a church planted in their living room, twice. Never labelled leaders, but always in partnership.
Their example holds three marks worth naming.
They were faithful
Exile from Rome was a disruption they didn't choose, yet they showed up in Corinth already working, with no self-pity and no delay. Later, in the Gallio incident (Acts 18:12–17), real danger was close by — Paul later writes that they "risked their necks" for him (Romans 16:4). Faithfulness isn't the absence of risk; it's staying anchored when leaving would have been easier.
They were available
Their home and their trade were simply handed over to Paul's mission. They surrendered travel plans for a trip to Ephesus they didn't have to make. Twice, their home became a church. Nothing about their gifts was spectacular — tentmaking, hospitality, a spare room. Available means offering whatever you have, wherever you live, for the sake of the gospel.
They were teachable
They spent eighteen months sitting under Paul's teaching, unglamorous and without a title. Then Apollos arrives — eloquent, gifted, but incomplete in his understanding. Acts 18:26 says they "took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately" — not from a stage, but at a kitchen table. They stayed open to learning long enough to become teachers themselves.
A parallel from church history
Luther is the name everyone remembers from the Reformation. Lucas Cranach is not. Yet Cranach, a Wittenberg painter and businessman, helped fund and print Luther's first German New Testament in 1522, and his workshop illustrated Luther's Bibles and pamphlets. No sermon of Cranach's survives. But without people like Cranach, Luther's words would have reached far fewer people. Every church planter and pastor has a Cranach — someone whose faithfulness made our ministry possible.
Why we chose the name Aquila
This is why the name "Aquila Initiative" was chosen deliberately. We are not hunting only for the next Paul or Apollos. Church planting across Europe will largely be driven by ordinary people — Spirit-filled, Word-equipped individuals willing to sacrifice comfort and complacency for the sake of the kingdom. Open your home, share your trade, get on the boat, sit under teaching long enough to teach others. Take the risk — this discipleship calling applies to everyone reading this.
So here's the real question: not whether you'll ever preach or plant a church, but where has God placed you — not on a stage, but as a partner, right where you already live and work?
Aquila and Priscilla changed Corinth, Ephesus and Rome, and most of us would never have heard their names if Paul hadn't needed a place to stay. Not all of us are called to lead. All of us, however, are called to be faithful, available and teachable. By God's grace and in the power of his Spirit, that's enough to change the world.
Sit under teaching long enough to teach others
The Aquila Theological Institute helps local churches equip ordinary members for ministry without sending them away. Your church chooses an apprentice from within the congregation, and they grow in demonstrated ministry competency where they already live and serve, supported by a ministry mentor, an academic mentor and a network mentor.
If there's an Aquila or Priscilla in your church, we'd love to talk.
Scripture references (ESV): Acts 18:1–6, 9–11, 12–19, 24–26 · Romans 16:3–5 · 1 Corinthians 16:19 · 2 Timothy 4:19
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