A Sojourner's Quest

7 4 / A S O J O U R N E R ’ S Q U E S T

The Nicene Creed Fidelity to Historic Orthodoxy

The Nicene Creed is our curricula’s critical foundation. It serves as our understanding of historic orthodoxy, and provides us with the content to create various syllabi for catechetical teaching in Christian belief and doctrine. We are convinced that a vital, spiritual understanding of the Nicene Creed can ground new believers in the faith, serve as a basis for doctrinal and theological education for the Church, and can be effectively integrated as a key component in our services of worship (liturgy). Furthermore, we believe the Nicene Creed provides us with the essential outline for doctrinal formation of the church’s leaders and undershepherds. In the Early Church, credential for leadership training involved comprehending and defending the elements in the Nicene Creed. As a matter of fact, this document served as a basic “bottom line” for orthodoxy in preparing candidates for ordination in the church. Not only can we appropriate the Creed in the same way for urban leaders, we can concentrate our theological training on the essentials of the faith itself. Mastering this concise summary of the Story of God will empower leaders to better shepherd their churches and ministries. Memorize the Nicene Creed, along with its biblical support, to help you be able to defend its teachings biblically and theologically. Another way to familiarize yourself with the Nicene Creed is through song. Dr. Don Davis has written the Nicene Creed in hymnic form, adapting it metrically in both common meter and 8.7.8.7. meter. We’ve included a list of tune possibilities for use with these lyrics. (As you know, the hymn meter system is designed to connect any number of well-known hymn melodies to various sets of hymn lyrics.) With the Nicene Creed in hymn form, you can select well-known hymn melodies and sing the faith of the Creed with your whole heart!