With the publication of a new brochure “Seventeen Centuries, Council of Nicaea: Deliberating Together, Believing Together, Celebrating Together,” the National Council of Churches in the Netherlands has put into the hands of churchgoers a readable explanation of why they should care about an Ecumenical Council that happened 1,700 years ago. Rev. Coen Wessel, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Netherlands, outlined the many ways in which churches will draw a sense of unity during 2025. “We will start the year of remembrance with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which also marks the anniversary of the Ecumenical Council,” he said. “From the World Council of Churches, we received beautiful material for this Week of Prayer, but for our Dutch situation we really needed some editing so that the material would become slightly more accessible to most churchgoers.” Last summer, a team comprised mainly of young women edited the material. “We also created a special prayer booklet for children,” he said. “In the Netherlands, we have been working together with the Dutch branch of the World Evangelical Alliance and with the umbrella of migrant churches for the Week of Prayer for several years.” Wessel has since seen a lot of local ecumenical cooperation and a growing interest in the Week of Prayer. “We made a special pulpit message for local churches that is read out in church services at the beginning of the Week of Prayer (19 January),” he explained. “We also re-translated the text of the Nicene Creed and a composer created a new tune.” The National Council of Churches in the Netherlands is also planning an Ecumenical Lecture on 16 May 2025 in Utrecht by Rev. Dr Susan Durber, WCC president from Europe, as well as a national ecumenical church service on 14 June 2025 in Gouda. Wessel is foreseeing special meetings related to the anniversary of the Ecumenical Council. “I also hope that Oriental Orthodox churches, with whom we share the Nicene Creed, will become more prominent among the larger churches of the Netherlands,” he said. “I hope that local churches will organise meals where they invite all the churches in their hometowns, including churches that do not yet work within an ecumenical context.” Wessel has even consulted with television producers about a television programme on Nicaea. “They looked a bit dubious at first, until I told them about Saint Nicholas,” he said. “According to a legend, Saint Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea and got so wound up about Arius that he slapped him in his face.” He added that Saint Nicholas was punished, of course—and the legend gave television producers in the Netherlands an entry point to tell a story about Nicaea before a large audience. “Saint Nicholas is the best-known saint in the Netherlands and he fulfils the role that Santa Claus has in the Anglo-Saxon world,” explained Wessel. Theological baggage? Drop it The author of the new brochure, Prof. Dr Peter Nissen, held the average interested churchgoer in mind: with a high school education, but without theological baggage. “This is a challenge for me, as I have taught church history and ecumenics in an academic context all my life,” said Nissen, who is a Catholic theologian and church historian who has been a professor of church history, spirituality studies, and ecumenical studies at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. He also chairs the theological committee of the Council of Churches in the Netherlands. “Since my retirement—and even before that—I also lecture a lot for parishes and church congregations, so I do know the audience,” he said. Nissen's intention was to write an approachable introduction to what happened 17 centuries ago, paying particular attention to the everyday aspects: what was the position of Christianity in society at the time, how did such a council work, and what did ordinary believers notice? “I hope churchgoers will especially realise that that church meeting, so many centuries ago, was about things that are still important to us as a church community today: talking to each other when divisions threaten, putting into words together what unites us as people of faith, and celebrating together that our faith is an Easter faith,” he said. “For these were the three key issues of the Council of Nicaea: the form of deliberation in an Ecumenical Council, the formulation of a unifying creed, and finding a shared date for the celebration of Easter.” Nissen did not want to tire people with theological quibbles about the nature of Christ, as he believes that is more for academic theologians anyway. “For ordinary believers in our time of division and polarisation, it is especially important to realise that it was there in Nicaea that representatives of faith communities from all corners of the world came together for the first time,” he said. “There it became visible that the Christian church is a global church.” Nissen believes it’s important a realisation be deepened locally: “We belong to a greater whole, a church of all ages and from all directions,” he said. The brochure includes discussion questions designed for circles of people—from a Catholic parish, Protestant congregation, ecumenical discussion group, house of learning, even a church choir. “The best form to talk about them is according to the method practised in the Roman Catholic Church worldwide in the last three years as part of the synodal process: first listen carefully to each other before entering into discussion, suspend one's own opinions for a while, allow space for silence, and be open to what you can learn from the others in the conversation,” suggested Nissen. “Then perhaps we can understand what the Spirit wants to say to us through the voice of others and as believers we can grow towards greater unity and deeper connection.”
Nicaea 2025 "WCC shares insights on Nicaea with Partners in Global Mission" (WCC news release, 3 December 2024) "Dr Andrej Jeftić reflects on expectations for Ecumenical Year 2025" (WCC interview, 14 November 2024) | 
