In the August edition of Episcopal Life, Fr. Butcher, I will try to avoid the easy joke, says the Nicene Creed compromises the flow of the eucharistic liturgy. He suggests deleting it from the celebration. Creedal Christian has all the details and some well-reasoned commentary.
Yesterday at services, we heard a very good sermon from Fr. Ned Mulligan, the new chaplain at the St. George's School and a Priest Associate at St. Columba’s. The sermon started with a careful analysis of the “who do you say that I am” text. It then flowed into the need, we have, to know God through the scriptures. Fr. Mulligan also pointed to the Nicene Creed as a place to know God. Through the Creed, we find God, as revealed in the Bible. The Creed tells us who God is. From there, we seek understanding, belief and shift to proclamation.
I have in no way done justice to a very fine sermon.
But, I really like the notion that the Nicene Creed illustrates, for the eucharistic community, the identity of God. I mean this in no limited, container like sense, but in a way that points to the revealed nature of God. After we hear a sermon focused on a piece of scripture, it is important to hear the Creed and reflect on the bigger picture of God, as Trinity. If we parse the lines of the Creed, we find them rich with meaning. I think we are better served by examining the Nicene Creed for meaning, than calling it clunky and tossing it away. It is time for some teaching on the Creed.
Fr. Butcher, I wish you the best. Don’t carve up the liturgy.
Yesterday at services, we heard a very good sermon from Fr. Ned Mulligan, the new chaplain at the St. George's School and a Priest Associate at St. Columba’s. The sermon started with a careful analysis of the “who do you say that I am” text. It then flowed into the need, we have, to know God through the scriptures. Fr. Mulligan also pointed to the Nicene Creed as a place to know God. Through the Creed, we find God, as revealed in the Bible. The Creed tells us who God is. From there, we seek understanding, belief and shift to proclamation.
I have in no way done justice to a very fine sermon.
But, I really like the notion that the Nicene Creed illustrates, for the eucharistic community, the identity of God. I mean this in no limited, container like sense, but in a way that points to the revealed nature of God. After we hear a sermon focused on a piece of scripture, it is important to hear the Creed and reflect on the bigger picture of God, as Trinity. If we parse the lines of the Creed, we find them rich with meaning. I think we are better served by examining the Nicene Creed for meaning, than calling it clunky and tossing it away. It is time for some teaching on the Creed.
Fr. Butcher, I wish you the best. Don’t carve up the liturgy.
4 comments:
Hi Chris,
This really is outrageous, isn't it?
Unfortunately, Fr. Butcher has a point historically. The Nicene Creed was not added to the Eucharist until sometime after its promulgation in its final form in 382 or thereabouts. So for a good four or five centuries at least the Church was celebrating the Eucharist without the Creed.
Moreover, in parishes such as mine with a daily Mass, the Creed is omitted on days other than Sundays and major Holy Days. (But the Apostles Creed is said daily at the Office on these days.)
Yet the Creed is essential for reasons that go well beyond its value as a teaching tool. The purpose of reciting the Creed liturgically at the Sunday celebration -- the principal weekly gathering of the faithful -- is essentially ecclesiological. We affirm (in response to the proclamation of the Word) that we profess the faith of the Catholic Church in all times and places, and we unite ourselves with all Christians everywhere who have ever professed or will ever profess this same faith. Moreover, this unity in the profession of one faith is the necessary precondition of our sacramental fellowship in the Eucharist. (Advocates of "Open Communion" will disagree but that's another argument.)
Jettisoning the liturgical use of the Creed on Sundays would thus be tantamount to a repudiation of our fellowship with Christ's one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. Think of the further strains that would put on our relations with other churches of the Anglican Communion as well as our ecumenical partners!
Blessings,
jda+
John,
Thx for the comment. You make an excellent point about the faith of the Church and our ecumenical relationships.
Peace,
C+
Thanks for plugging my blog piece, Chris.
I also greatly appreciate Fr. John's comments. They complement my first critique of Fr. Butcher's call to jettison the Creed from the liturgy quite well.
You might have also noted from the comments on my blog and over at The Anglican Centrist that Butcher's ecclesial status is all over the map. Apparently, he's an Episcopal priest, a Unitarian Universalist, and serving a United Church of Christ parish.
Great to hear from you, Bryan.
Many thx.
C+
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