During a Eucharistic service, a creed is usually said as a corporate (group) proclamation of faith. This is often the Nicene Creed or Apostle’s Creed, but sometimes alternate forms are used. Below are some affirmations of faith I have encountered, that resonated with me.

A Woman’s Creed

We believe in God, the source of love,
who created humanity in God’s own image
and likeness,
who blessed them and asked them to
procreate, nurture and preserve God’s creation
for prosperity.
We believe in Jesus Christ, God incarnate,
who was born of a woman and was a carpenter,
who identified himself with women, men
and children,
transforming them to have life abundantly.
We believe in the Holy Spirit active before creation,
who through the ages has inspired Christians
without number,
who continues to inspire us to usher in the reign
of God,
where no one is cast out, lonely or bereft.

 

From Daily Prayer for All Seasons

26: Malinia Devananda, “A Woman’s Creed,” as found in Lifting Women’s Voices:
Prayers to Change the World, Margaret Rose, Jenny Te Paa, Jeanne Person and
Abigail Nelson, eds. (New York: Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society/
Morehouse Publishing, 2009), pp. 371-372 (alt.).

Children’s Creed

We believe in God, who loves us and wants us to
love each other.
This is our God.
We believe in Jesus, who cared for children and
held them in his arms.
He wanted a world where everyone could live
together in peace.
This is Jesus Christ.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who keeps working
with us until everything is good and true.
This is the Holy Spirit.
We can be the church, which reminds people of
God because we love each other.
This we believe. Amen.

 

From Daily Prayer for All Seasons

145: Prepared by children for the 1991 World Council of Churches’ Assembly in
Canberra, as found in From Shore to Shore, p. 67. Prayer reproduced with
permission from Us (United Society). www.weareUs.org.uk

Tírechán’s Creed

Our God is the God of all humans,
The God of heaven and Earth,
The God of the sea and rivers,
The God of the sun and moon,
The God of all the heavenly bodies,
The God of the lofty mountains,
The God of the lowly valleys.
God is above the heavens;
And beneath the heavens.
Heaven and Earth and sea,
And everything that is in them,
Such he has as his abode.
God inspires all things,
gives life to all things,
stands above all things,
And stands beneath all things.
God enlightens the light of the sun,
strengthens the light of the night and the stars,
makes wells in the arid land and dry islands in the sea,
And places the stars in the service of the greater lights.
God has a Son who is co-eternal with himself;
And similar in all respects to himself;
And neither is the Son younger than the Father,
Nor is the Father older than the Son;
And the Holy Spirit breathes in them.
And the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
are inseparable.
Amen.

 

Celtic Rite Eucharist, New Skellig Celtic Christian Community, 
St. Columba's Church & Retreat House
From The Patrician Texts from the Book of Armagh, 670AD