Seems to me that it’s belief in the ritual being done correctly more than anything else. The priest can be the worst cretin in the world but he’s got the magic in him, so do the incantations in the right circumstance in the right attire on the right occasions and they’re good as gold no matter what. That’s why I’ve become to some extent suspicious of most strongly liturgical varieties of Christianity. Run down a list, they’re inevitably the ones gone off the rails the worst.
Run down a list, they’re inevitably the ones gone off the rails the worst.
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I’d like to claim an exception for the LCMS.
But as for the ‘ritual being done correctly,’ in the case of the Missouri Synod, it’s not because the pastor is pure as the driven snow and has power because of some special grace, but because the Word of God has the power, even when given through (currently) imperfect vessels.