All Christians can profess their faith together as a unified body. Any problem with this?
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Above was published by an organization called ICET, the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET), a first inter-church ecumenical group that undertook the writing of texts for use by English-speaking Christians in common, published Prayers We Have in Common (Fortress Press, 1970, 1971, 1975). Its version of the Apostles’ Creed was adopted by several churches.
If you were a practicing Roman Catholic in the 1970’s & 1980’s, you probably have the The Apostle’s Creed memorized which we often had memorized; some read from their missalette books. (For the non-Roman Catholic, missalettes were these small paperback books published each month and placed in each pew).
The missalettes helped in following the structured service: sit, kneel, stand, what is spoken and by whom as well as what music should be played and sung. These depended on the date. By the way, “Mass” is Roman Catholic nomenclature for group worship services.
The Apostle’s Creed
Today
Today, the Roman Catholic mass is unrecognizable compared to just a few years ago. It was changed without need or reason. What is said and done in these churches is questionable. There are no missalettes.
I will not be a part of what it has become. But we can leave that kind of subject matter for a different time and place.
