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| Are baptisms that are performed by women pastors valid? Personally, for me, I do not see a woman pastor as validly ordained. Correct me if I'm wrong. But if they perform a Trinitarian baptism, is it valid? Also, if an ELCA woman pastor consecrates the elements, is that communion valid and is the Body and Blood of Christ truly present?
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| The validity (that is, the reality) of the sacraments do not depend on the character or faith of the person who performs them but on whether or not Christ's institution is followed. If a person is baptized with water with the Trinitarian invocation commanded by Christ, it is a real baptism. Scripture does not say that the reality of the Lord's Supper depends on the validity of the ordination of the one who consecrates but on the institution of Christ.
The legitimacy and propriety of the sacraments is a different matter. A woman who takes or receives the pastoral office contrary to God's Word is acting illegitimately, that is illegally. We should not approve of the ministerial acts of women or men who have received the ministry improperly or who hold to false doctrine by knowingly receiving ministerial service from them. Their ministerial acts are however valid (real) if they are performed according to Christ's institution.
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