“We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”
Our young church recites these words from the Nicene Creed when we gather in Vienna, Austria. For many evangelicals, such ancient traditions may seem either obvious or archaic, but our church recites creeds, confessions, and catechisms (henceforth just confessions) nearly every Lord’s Day.
So in 2021, in a largely unchurched and post-Christian European country, why make confessions a regular rhythm in church life?
Most of us have heard a few different takes on what the “regulative principle” means. As a church, we are convinced that the elements of corporate worship are regulated by Scripture. At the same time, we also see a tremendous freedom regarding the forms that those elements take. Generally, our worship services follow the same pattern week after week: we exalt the triune God, recognize our need of a Savior, celebrate God’s provision in Christ, and, finally, consider his instructions for our new life in Him. We use confessions, themselves brief summaries of Scripture, as components of any one of these sections.
When we confess that the church is “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic,” we are also saying that about our church. Our church is holy—set apart from the world. It is catholic—part of the larger,
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