The Acts and Letters of the apostles show us that from the very outset they used fellow-workers in carrying out the mission Christ had entrusted to them. At Jerusalem, the apostles considered the advice of the presbyters and settled jointly with them the controversy that had been raised by the Judaizers (Acts 15:6–23). Previously they had already appointed seven men to see to the needs of the poor (Acts 6:1–6); and it was quite normal f…