We believe….

If you read my article last week, you will remember I have asked the children 5 years of age through the Fifth Grade, in our Christian education classes, to memorize the words of the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23 this Lent. These comforting words will last them a lifetime.

For young people in middle and high school, I have asked them to memorize the Nicene Creed. Each time we gather for the Holy Eucharist, we stand and profess our faith with the words of the Nicene Creed.

The Nicene Creed teaches us about faith, love, and the Holy Trinity. It emphasizes the importance of believing in the right doctrines, such as the unity of God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Creed also highlights God's love, which is central to Christian faith. It serves as a guide for worship, catechesis, and discipleship, helping all of us to understand their faith and live out their beliefs in daily life.

Each Sunday, Christians around the world recite the Nicene Creed. I am reminded that the Church never ceases to stand in awe of who Jesus is. The Creed is the summary of our faith.

It is an ecclesial and ancient articulation of faith that binds us together across time and geography into one body – the global Body of Christ. It arose from a Spirit-led communal determination of our ancestors to express faithfully what God revealed in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Church needed then, and always has throughout history, to spell out and define what it is that Christians believe – not to exclude, but to speak truthfully about what it means to belong to Christ.

The Nicene Creed, originally written by councils in 325 AD, is an ancient Christian doctrine, yet even today it remains a declaration of faith, a pledge of allegiance to the triune God, passed down through each generation.