Reflections on the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea
Introduction
As a Christian World Communion (CWC), the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council (DECC) views the journey toward and beyond the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (Nicaea 2025) as a vital opportunity to advance visible unity through dialogue and a radical commitment to generosity.
For a non-creedal church, this anniversary is not about reaffirming uniformity. It is about deepening communion grounded in grace, love, justice, and peace in the world.
1. From the Unity Movement to a Non-Creedal Witness
The Disciples movement emerged in the 19th century amid deep divisions within American Christianity. Leaders such as Thomas Campbell envisioned a church that was, in his words, “essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one.”
From the beginning, the Disciples of Christ rejected the use of creeds and doctrinal formulas as tests of fellowship that kept believers from the Lord’s Table. Alexander Campbell argued that while creeds might contain truth, they had become barriers to full participation in the eucharistic fellowship of Christ.
The movement embraced Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:16—“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” To this day, Disciples remain a non-creedal tradition, not because we deny the value of creeds, but because we resist their use as tools of exclusion. Our unity is grounded in Christ, not in uniformity of formulation.
2. A Confessing Church of Generosity
Across generations, Disciples have understood unity as relational rather than institutional. Moving beyond our early restorationist roots, we engage ecumenical dialogues recognizing the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed as the most widely received confession of faith—a shared baseline for mutual conversation across traditions.
In this sense, the Disciples can be seen as a confessing church of generosity—one that listens, learns, and bears witness alongside others without requiring confessional conformity. This is our way of ecumenism.
In response to the World Council of Churches’ question, “Where now for visible unity?”, the DECC proposes an approach rooted in compassion and generosity. To embody Christ’s message is to listen deeply to the 2.5 billion Christians who confess their faith in diverse contexts—especially in non-liturgical churches that emphasize contextual, experiential, and healing expressions of spirituality.
This posture of generosity acknowledges that differing theological languages and forms of worship are not threats to the Nicene faith but companions to it. Through humility and empathy, we open spaces where recognition, worship, and shared service become living signs of visible unity.
3. Embracing Imperfection: Learning the Grammar of the Gospel
Drawing inspiration from the Theological Presentation by Rev. Chad Rimmer at the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, we find resonance in his call to move beyond the fear of getting it wrong. That fear—whether theological, ethical, or ecological—often paralyzes the Church and holds us captive to the status quo.
Rev. Rimmer’s reminder that grace frees us to act even in imperfection echoes the Disciples’ conviction that the unity of the Church is already given by God through the Holy Spirit—especially revealed at the Lord’s Table. At the Table, we do not create unity; we receive it as a divine gift. Yet, how we manifest that God-given unity in our shared life and witness is an ongoing process of becoming.
To live within the grammar of the gospel means leading with grace rather than law—acting, serving, and discerning together in trust that the Spirit continues to guide, correct, and reconcile us. We are not striving for perfection but responding faithfully to the unity already bestowed. Becoming—as churches and as disciples—is how we live into the unity that is both gift and calling.
4. Becoming a Community of Generous Becoming
This theological posture aligns with the Disciples’ framework of generosity in ecumenical engagement. When we accept that neither we nor our partners in dialogue are finished products, we can receive the faith of others—whether expressed through ancient creeds or contemporary songs—with humility and gratitude.
By leading with the grammar of the gospel, we acknowledge that unity is not achieved by precision but offered through grace. This humility transforms anxiety into participation, inviting all Christians to bring their gifts to the work of transformative justice and reconciliation.
5. The Path Forward: Toward Full Sacramental Unity
At the heart of the Disciples’ ecumenical journey is a sacramental vision of unity centered on the Lord’s Table. Here, unity is not a goal to attain but a gift already given—where no test of fellowship is required.
The DECC encourages other Christian World Communions to join in this generous framework. Rather than striving for doctrinal uniformity, we can affirm mutual recognition as the true mark of faithfulness.
As the global Church approaches and moves beyond Nicaea 2025, the Creed may serve not as a dividing wall but as a shared confession of hope—a living reminder that the unity of the Church is grounded not in formulas, but in the reconciling grace of Christ.
To worship together and serve together is to bear witness to the unity already at work among us. The 1700th anniversary of Nicaea thus becomes not a commemoration of the past but a sign of God’s ongoing work of renewal, calling the churches of Christ into a more generous, hopeful, and reconciling future.