“I agree with every word, but only Roman Catholics read creeds.”
A member of our congregation said this to me after I’d just finished discussing why our church reads creeds and confessions during congregational worship. To him, the issue was at once simple and decisive: our church shouldn’t read creeds because Baptists don’t read creeds.
His sentiment isn’t novel. The purpose of creeds and confessions in the life of the modern church—in this case, Baptist churches—is the subject of much debate. Unfortunately, many churches fail to see the positive impact of creeds and confessions and, in so doing, disregard them altogether. However, creeds and confessions bring unity to the church in both its orthodoxy and its orthopraxy, thus protecting the church from heterodoxy.
But how does a pastor cast a confessional vision of church for a church that has never been confessional?
THE BIBLE DRIVES THE CHANGE
Confessions did not create the church, the Word of God created the church. Thus, evangelicals prioritize preaching. Calvin would go so far as to say, “The church is built up solely by outward preaching. . . . By his word, God alone sanctifies [churches] to himself for lawful use.”[1] The church is created and revitalized through
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