This is a collection of professions of faith that are used in liturgies in our diocese. We of course also profess the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed.
A Creed of Love
By Kurt Struckmeyer
I believe in the hidden God of love:
the spirit of love and compassion
found at the breadth and depth
of every human life.
I believe in the vision of Jesus:
the reigning of God on earth,
found where people and societies
are governed by the rule of love.
I believe in the way of Jesus:
a love for God and neighbor,
a love for stranger and enemy,
a love for outcast and alien.
I believe in the abundant life of Jesus:
a life of acceptance, inclusion, and forgiveness,
a life of equality, generosity, and sharing,
a life of compassion, service, and nonviolence.
I believe that Jesus modeled the godly life:
healing the sick and serving the poor,
seeking dignity and equality for all people,
and calling for shared wealth and economic justice.
For this he was condemned and crucified
by those who serve the forces of domination
in every time and place.
I believe that though he died,
the spirit of Jesus lives on
among those who strive for peace and justice
and who work to create a better world.
In the name of Jesus,
and in the name of love,
I commit myself to care for others,
to break down the barriers that separate us,
and to seek justice and peace in the world.
Amen.
Creed by Lisa Frenz
We believe in God the Creator, who created and is creating everything: the universe, the world, the plants and animals, and us; each of us, unique, individual and beloved of God.
We believe in God the Christ, who saved and is saving everything: the universe, the world, the plants and animals, and us: each of us; unique, individual and beloved of the Christ.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who guided and is guiding everything: the universe, the world, the plants and animals, and us; each of us, unique, individual and beloved of the Spirit.
We believe that this one God in three persons, is present among us, working directly in our lives and the lives of all who are born into this world, striving to bring us back into harmony with all creation and with God: forgiving, healing, touching everyone, never rejecting any who willingly receive this freely offered gift of love and grace and eternal life. Amen.
I BELIEVE
in the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob
the Living, the Promise
I believe
in the God of Jesus of Nazareth,
the deceased, the tortured, the crucified,
then, now, all over the world,
again, and again.
I believe
in a God who raises the oppressed
and brings the exiles home.
I believe
in Jesus who gave himself for all humankind
to gather all the scattered children
of God together in one house.
He is the hope of the world.
I believe
in the God of Jesus, the risen one,
the happy one, the perfect one.
I believe that we will become like Him.
I believe
in all the embracing Love,
in the Spirit of peace and unity
who makes us speak the same language
who will fulfill what was promised to us.
He (She) is the Spirit of the promises.
From – The Church of Our Lady
Bruge, Belgium
Immigrant Creed – Thus I believe.
I believe in Almighty God, who guided the people in exile and in exodus, the God of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon, the God of foreigners and immigrants.
I believe in Jesus Christ, a displaced Galilean, who was born away from his people and his home, who fled his country with his parents when his life was in danger, and returning to his own country suffered the oppression of the tyrant Pontius Pilate, the servant of a foreign power, who then was persecuted, beaten, and finally tortured, accused and condemned to death unjustly. But on the third day, this scorned Jesus rose from the dead, not as a foreigner but to offer us citizenship in heaven.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God’s kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.
I believe that the church is the secure home for the foreigner and for all believers who constitute it, who speak the same language (of faith) and have the same purpose.
I believe that the Communion of the Saints begins when we accept the diversity of the saints.
I believe in the forgiveness, which makes us all equal, and in the reconciliation, which identifies us more than does race, language or nationality.
I believe that in the Resurrection God will unite us as one people in which all are distinct and all are alike at the same time.
Beyond this world, I believe in Life Eternal in which no one will be an immigrant but all will be citizens of God’s kingdom, which will never end.
Amen.
by Jose Luis Casal, General Missioner,
Tres Rios Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church USA
A Celtic Creed
We believe in God above us,
Maker and sustainer of all life,
of sun and moon, of water and earth,
of male and female.
We believe in God beside us,
Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh,
Born of a woman’s womb, servant of the poor.
He was tortured and nailed to a tree.
Knowing full passion and deep sorrow, he died forsaken.
He descended into the earth to the place of death
On the third day he rose from the tomb.
He ascended into heaven to be everywhere present,
and His kingdom will be one day known.
We believe in God within us,
The Holy Spirit of Pentecostal fire,
Life-giving breath of the Church,
She is the Spirit of healing and forgiveness,
Source of resurrection and of life everlasting. Amen.
Iona Abbey Worship Book
I believe in one God who made us all
and whose divinity
infuses all of life with the sacred.
I believe that Jesus Christ, the unique son of God,
is the face of God on earth
in whom we see best the divine justice,
divine mercy, and divine compassion
to which we are all called.
I believe in the Christ
who is One in being with the Creator
and who shows us the presence of God.
By the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the woman Mary, pure in soul and single-hearted –
He grew as we grow through all the stages of life.
He showed us the Way,
lived it for us, suffered from it, and died because of it
so that we might live with new heart,
new mind and new strength.
“On the third day” in the tomb, He rose again.
He changed all of life for all of us thereafter.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the breath of God on earth,
who keeps the Christ vision present to souls
yet in darkness.
I believe in one holy and universal church.
I look for life eternal in ways I cannot dream,
and I trust that creation goes on creating in this world
and in us forever.
AMEN
Joan Chittister, excerpts from Creed, In Search of Belief
Thomas Merton:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you
and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road
although I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death,
I will not fear, for you are ever with me
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.