Mentor's Manual

46 For the Nex t Generat i on: The Urban Mi n i s t r y I ns t i tute ’ s Mentor Manua l

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified. Who spoke by the prophets.

We believe in one holy, catholic*, and apostolic church.

*The term catholic here refers to the

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. Amen. The Nicene Creed and Nicene Theology: 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. Do not hesitate to integrate the recitation and discussion of the Nicene Creed into the flow of every class session. As you will see in every Capstone module, time is set aside for the students to recite the Nicene Creed together before entering into the subject matter at hand. Resist the temptation to ignore this section in your class training. Form the habit of leading your classes in reciting the Nicene Creed together, referring to it throughout your discussions of theological issues, and reinforcing its centrality as you address and resolve doctrinal controversies. As a commentary of the

Church’s universality, through all ages and times, of all languages and peoples. It refers to no particular tradition or denominational expression (e.g., as in Roman Catholic).

The Nicene Creed and Its Role in Leadership Development