Nicene Creed shows Christians’ unity, say faith leaders

By MARY STADNYK
Associate Editor

At the lectern is the Rev. Diana L. Wilcox, rector of Christ Episcopal Church of Bloomfield and Glen Ridge. The Nicene Creed, a profession of faith among major Christian denominations, is an example of unity among churches, said participants in an ecumenical prayer service marking the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

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“The Creed shows us that there is more that unites us than divides us as Christians,” said Father Francis Rella, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church, Toms River. “The Creed is our hope for unity; and living it, the path to salvation where Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit leads us to Our Father and eternal life.”

Father Rella, whose church is part of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, attended the May 3 service at St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold. Religious leaders from around New Jersey, and some from Pennsylvania, attended.

United as the Body of Christ

The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Bloomfield and Glen Ridge, is a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark’s Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission. She said that, during the service, she kept in mind the “many divisions around our country and the world.”

“The church has also been historically divided, in particular between the Eastern and Western churches, about a number of doctrinal beliefs,” she said. “To unite together, across the different churches within the East and the West, and to say ‘We believe in one God’ … focuses our attention on what unites us, and truly that is far greater than what divides us. We are many, but we are united as one body in Christ Jesus.”

“When we stand in our individual parishes and say these words, we are joining across all of Christendom, united as the body of Christ,” she added.

The Rev. Daniel Martian, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Livingston and co-moderator of the Presbytery of Northeast New Jersey, said he was motivated to attend to ensure Presbyterian representation. He described the prayer service as “wonderful, because it really intersects with what I was studying in seminary, and now it’s coming into full circle and celebrating a Creed that brings the Church together, our commonness.”

Rev. Martian added that it’s also important to focus on “what the Nicene Creed is asking us to do. Throughout the centuries, the Church has always maintained the oneness with Christ, the oneness with each other.

“Today was a prime example of that,” he said.

Hope for a continued vision

Father Richard Jendras, pastor of St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Allentown, Pa., said the Nicene Creed is “very near and dear to my heart.”

“We have Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and we have Pope Francis, both of whom had this vision, which is Christ’s vision of a unified Church,” he said.

“They spoke about our common date for Easter, and they planned on going to Nicaea together this year,” he said. The celebrations would be in the modern Turkish city of İznik, where the Council of Nicaea was held in 325 A.D. “Now it’s my prayer that the new pope will continue that vision along with Patriarch Bartholomew.”

“We need to kiss and make up,” he added. “The world needs us to do that. We can’t be an effective witness to a world that so needs that witness. Our effectiveness is greatly diminished if we don’t have that unity that Christ wants for us.”