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May Only Ordained Ministers Distribute the Body and Blood of Christ
in the Sacrament of Holy Communion?
Philip J. Secker
At a recent pastors’ theological retreat, several of the pastors felt that Augsburg
Confession 28, 5 allows only “bishops” (that is, ordained ministers) to distribute the
Body and Blood of our Lord during a Communion service, or to the sick and shut-in at other times. Here is the passage:
“According to the gospel the power of the keys or of the bishops is a power and command of God to preach the gospel, to forgive or retain sin, and to administer and distribute the sacraments.”
1
(emphasis added)
In fact, as we will see, Article 28, 5 says nothing at all about the distribution of the Body and Blood of our Lord.
The German Text of the Augsburg Confession 28, 5
The German text of A.C. 28, 5 refers not to “the distribution of the Body and
Blood” of our Lord, but to “the distribution of the sacraments”—in the plural. (The
German die Sakrament is plural.) According to the Lutheran Confessions, the sacraments include Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution,
2
and Holy Ordination, “if it is interpreted in relation to the ministry of the Word.” 3
Consequently the reference “to . . . distribute the sacraments” in Augsburg
Confession 28, 5 cannot be construed as a reference to the distribution of the Body Blood of our Lord.
The phrase “to administer and distribute” in the same passage translates a German phrase that contains two verbs (“ zu reichen und handeln ”). The first verb can mean to
“give,” “present” or “pass,” but when used with reference to Holy Communion it means
“to administer.” 4
The second verb means to “take action,” “trade,” “deal,” “manage” or
1 The Augsburg Confession, tr. Eric Gritsch, in The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church , Robert and Timothy J. Wengert eds. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000, p. 92.
2 The Lutheran Confessions refer to Absolution as “the third sacrament,” and state that it “may properly be called a sacrament” and that is one of the “genuine sacraments” (Apology of the Augsburg Confession 12,
3; 41; 13, 4; Large Catechism 4, 74).
3 Apology of the Augsburg Confession 13, 10-13.
4 Heath’s New German Dictionary , 1936

2
“treat.” Taken together with the reference to “the sacraments,” these two verbs refer to what we mean when we refer to “the administration” of the sacraments.
5
The Latin Translation of Augsburg Confession 28, 5
The slightly less official Latin translation of Augsburg Confession 28, 5 also uses the word “sacrament” in the plural, but does not use the word “distribution” at all:
“[Our people] believe that, according to the gospel, the power of the keys or the power of the bishops is the power of God’s mandate to preach the gospel, to forgive and retain sins, and to administer the sacraments.” ( administrandi sacramenta )
6
Consequently, the Latin translation also gives no support to the idea that only ordained ministers can distribute the Body and Blood of our Lord. Instead it supports the interpretation of the German phrase as a synonym for “the administration of the sacraments.”
In summary, the German phrase that lies behind the words “to administer and distribute the sacraments” in Augsburg Confession 28, 5 does not refer to the distribution of the Body and Blood of our Lord, but is a synonym for what is commonly meant by
“the administration of the sacraments.” This is confirmed by the Latin translation, which has simply “the administration of the sacraments.” 7 The distribution of the Body and
Blood of our Lord, therefore, is not a distinctive function of the Holy Ministry.
Ash Wednesday A.D. 2005
Philip J. Secker is Director of the Arthur Carl Piepkorn Center for Evangelical
Catholicity, 76 Willowbrook Road, Storrs, CT 06268-2205. www.Piepkorn.info
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5 Ibid . and Langenscheidts Handwörterbüch , 1974. I am indebted to Rolf Buchmann and Ingo Dutzmann, both of whom are fluent in German, for assistance with the meaning of these two words, but am solely responsible for everything in this article.
6 Kolb-Wengert, p. 93.
7 This explains why “The Service of Women in Congregational and Synodical Offices,” A Report of the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, September
1994, published with “Guidelines for Congregations," Prepared by the President’s Task Force, January
2005 does not include the distribution of the Body and Blood of Christ among “the functions that are distinctive to the public exercise of the ministry of Word and Sacraments.” Pp. 9, 16