On Sunday 15 June, Emmanuel Church welcomed over 100 people from all traditions and church denominations to our humble building to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the first draft of the Nicene Creed at the Council of Nicaea. This creed is still said in its later form by churches today, and it is so significant because it represents the first time that bishops from all the different churches in the early days of the faith came together in one place to agree on something they all believed in and had in common.
The first person who must be mentioned when doing this write-up is Rev John Marsh. We as a staff team witnessed John’s long and hard work over the course of almost a year. Nothing was left undone. John’s vision was clear from the beginning, and he showed the value of having skilled, passionate, retired priests in your congregation, with the time and enthusiasm to organise something so complicated! The vision was to bring churches and congregations from all different church traditions and denominations together in the same place – something which happens very infrequently. I wish it happened more, as it was a spirit-breathed, beautiful thing to see such a broad spectrum of believers, from Catholics to Pentecostals, all in one church building.
Different people were given different roles – with involvement on a local, national and international level. The sermon was given by the World Council of Churches President from Europe, Rev Dr Susan Durber. For a large part of her excellent sermon, she donned a headscarf and became a female servant to a bishop present at the Council of Nicaea (see photo above). The gospel was read by Canon Gary Buckby, Dean of the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, of which Redditch is a part, the epistle was read by local Pentecostal minister, Rev Dr Elaine Palmer-Taylor, and the Old Testament passage was read by local Church of England priest, Fr Glenn Reading.
Much of the service was led by the General Secretary of Churches Together in England, Bishop Mike Royal, who wore a long purple robe and looked like a Church of England bishop. He is in fact a High church Pentecostal, ordained Bishop by the Apostolic Pastoral Congress. Many of us will not even have heard of High Church Pentecostals, but I remember when I was younger discovering that there were such things as charismatic Anglo-Catholics! The diversity of the Church can sometimes astound us, but we have more in common than that which sets us apart. God loves diversity and does not wish us to all be the same. This occasion showed that we can have unity in our diversity, and just for doing that, it was a valuable and worthwhile event.
All photos credit: Hayley Bellizia
A longer version of this article first appeared in the Emmanuel Church Times.
Explore more about the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea at the CTE Nicaea hub.