Thesis V The preaching office has the authority to preach the Gospel and administer the holy Sacraments, as well as the authority of spiritual judgment.
Thesis VI The preaching office is conferred by God through the congregation as the possessor of all ecclesiastical authority, or the Keys, and through the call that is prescribed by God. The ordination of those who are called with the laying on of hands is not a divine institution but an apostolic, churchly order and only a solemn public confirmation of the call.