Discovering the “We” in the Episcopal Church

At our class last week, “Discover the Episcopal Church,”  we were talking about the creeds and about different ways one can sort out the different Christian denominations.  To become a member some ask for assent or affirmation to a particular credal statement.  Some want assurance that the new member shares individually or corporately a religious experience.  Others, like the Episcopal Church are more pragmatic and define their members by their coming together to pray and share in the sacramental life of the community.  We promise to do certain things in the Baptismal Covenant.  Yet, we still share words we call creeds.  I asked the class, what was the first word of the Nicene Creed?  We opened our prayer books and there was a bit of surprise that the first word is “we.”  What difference does that first word make? 

We talked about how Emperor Constantine had decided that Christianity was the way to go as a means to unite the Roman Empire. And how he gathered a council of the leaders of the Church to tidy things up and get the Christian house in order.  We talked about how the way the Jewish people and the early Christians viewed the world was very different from the way the Romans did so what was a difficult issue for one was a given for the other.  What they were trying to do in 325 CE was the same thing we grapple with today: how to articulate their common experience of God and God’s involvement in the world.  It was quite a challenge to find words for the reality of Jesus Christ.  It took several decades and much anguish to work the final edits on the language.  Who are “we” when we stand to recite the Nicene Creed?  What lines would you want to include if you were gathered in a room with pen and ink and the same task? 

Join the discussion with your comments that our confirmation class, Discovering the Episcopal Church, began!

The Rev. Mary Slenski, Assistant to the Rector