This year during Lent we will be studying the course ‘Celebrating Nicaea’, devised by the Diocese in Europe to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. As the author, the Revd Dr Donald McFadyen, who is Chaplain of St Luke’s Fontainebleau and an Associate Tutor on the Eastern Region Ministry Course, notes in his introduction:

This year marks 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea took place. From it came a creed that later evolved into the Nicene Creed we say each Sunday, a vital statement of orthodox Christian belief. Nicaea is now Iznik in modern-day Turkey, and is in our diocese. Within the Anglican Communion, we therefore have a unique reason to mark this anniversary, which we’re calling Celebrating Nicaea. One of the aspects of this celebration is a special Lent course. Designed for members of our chaplaincies who regularly say the Creed together in a Sunday service, the course will enable us to spend five sessions during Lent looking closely at the words of the Creed, and seeking to understand their meaning and significance more deeply.

A fellow chaplain in our Deanery has commented that the question the Council of Nicaea was essentially asking was: ‘Who was Jesus and why does he matter?’ It’s a question as relevant today as it was 1700 years ago.

The course will be held on Zoom at 18.00 (CET) on Thursdays over five weeks of Lent, beginning on 13th March and ending on 10th April. All are welcome to join, whether or not you live in our chaplaincy area. We will be joined by other chaplaincies from our Deanery of South East France, and each  session will be led by a member of the Deanery clergy.

The course material may be read and downloaded free from the Diocese in Europe website at this link –

https://www.europe.anglican.org/celebrating-nicaea-lent-course-0

To make it easy to follow, each week we will send out an email with the material for the following week’s session, giving people time to look at it in advance. Some of the material includes a short video to watch, or some text to read beforehand, to encourage discussion
during the sessions.

If you would like to attend the course, please send your name and email address to anglican.marseille@gmail.com, so we can add your name to the mailing list and make sure you receive the material. It won’t matter if you can’t attend all the sessions. If you have any
questions about the course, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me or with your local chaplain.

The Revd Jamie Johnston
Chaplain, All Saints’ Marseille with Aix-en-Provence and the Luberon
February 2025