The disciples' role in the early church was to serve as leadership. They were the ones who had been the eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus. They could testify firsthand that we know these things to be true; we know that this is the man who was the Messiah, who died on the cross, who rose from the tomb.
And so they acted as the shepherds - as those early leaders of the New Testament church.
Photo Credit: ©SWN Design