Common Worship

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E Creeds and
Authorized Affirmations of Faith

Stories from the four churches

At St Ann's, after the sermon, the preacher announces a reflective song, and encourages people to use it to make their response to the preaching. She then introduces the Creed as the second part of the response to the sermon. She uses the interrogative form of the Creed from page 143 in Common Worship, pointing out that the sermon was asking direct questions about their faith.

The sermon in St Bartholomew's mentions using the Creed as a symbol of our unity in faith with the worldwide Church through the ages. After a period of silence the president stands and begins the Nicene Creed simply by saying 'We believe in God'. There is no explicit reference back to the sermon, but the intended link is clear.

St Christopher's have recently had some teaching on the Creed.They have used one or two of the seasonal Affirmations of Faith from Common Worship to fit with the teaching subject. One of the points that has been highlighted is the 'doxological' use of the Creed in Eastern churches, to gather together the praise of the congregation. So today the Creed is postponed until after the intercessions, when the choir lead an outburst of praise in a glorious setting of the Nicene Creed.

Meanwhile, in St Dodo's they all sing Merbecke's setting of the Nicene Creed.Unfortunately the choir copies have not been revised, so they sing the original Prayer Book text. The congregation wonder whether they should join in, but are not sure how the melody fits the words. It is marginally better than last Sunday, when the choir had a go at singing the Creed from Schubert's Mass in G.They came a cropper and had to start again - not surprising since some faced east, some sang it as a 'piece' to the congregation, and the remainder looked to one another to try to keep time. On neither occasion could the Creed be said to have fulfilled its function of uniting the church in the faith.

Which creed?

St Christopher's have had a debate about whether to use the Nicene Creed or the Apostles' Creed.

* The Nicene Creed is traditional in celebrations of Holy Communion and, in contemporary versions, emphasizes the corporate: 'We believe …';

* The Apostles' Creed has an individual emphasis, is shorter, and in easier language.

Both St Ann's and St Bartholomew's use the Corporate Renewal of Baptismal Vows (pages 167-169), with the interrogative form of the Apostles' Creed, at Easter and sometimes at New Year. In previous years, the popularity of the corporate renewal of baptismal vows prompted the clergy at St Bartholomew's to use it at almost every opportunity. This led to some objections that it was becoming meaningless, and the more regular pattern of using it only once or twice a year, with appropriate warning and chance for preparation, has left the congregation feeling much happier and valuing it even more.

Suggestions about when Affirmations might be used
* Affirmation 4 for the Incarnation and Lent.
* Affirmation 5 for the Resurrection and memorial services.
* Affirmation 6 for Advent, Trinity and Heaven.
* Affirmation 2 for the Incarnation and Trinity.

The role of creeds

It is important for our unity in the catholic faith that any creeds used are not private or local compositions, but ones that are recognized by the wider Church.However, in Morning and Evening Prayer and in both Order One and Order Two Holy Communion the Creed may be omitted on weekdays, so omitting it clearly does not make the service invalid in some way! Public recitation of the Creed has not always been an essential part of the Church's worship. A Service of the Word allows for the occasional substitution of one of the Affirmations of Faith (pages 163-166) for the Creed. Some of these are already set to music, and one of them is the speciallycommissioned hymn paraphrase of the Apostles' Creed, 'We believe in God the Father' by Timothy Dudley-Smith. There is no provision for the use of any other credal hymn as a substitute, and where one is used on a Sunday it might well follow one of the shorter Affirmations of Faith.

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