Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

All ministers are intrinsically equal. The parity of ministers rests upon the fact that all are equally entrusted with the same Word and the same sacraments, whose administration is equally accompanied by the Holy Spirit. This, however, does not interfere with the subordination of one to the other for the sake of expediency in the more comprehensive spheres of Church organization. One can readily become in this way primus inter pares, the first among equals. -- Jacobs, *Elements of Religion* p. 220