2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325 CE). This Council, and that of Constantinople (381 CE), defined the Trinitarian theology of the Christian Church for centuries to come. But it also marked the alliance of Church and Empire in a socio-cultural reality called Christendom.

The old paradigm of a state-supported Christendom, however, has disappeared, and most scholars and church leaders argue that this new reality frees the Church to witness to the gospel and serve the world in more faithful ways. How does reclaiming and reshaping Nicene synodality, theology, liturgy, and ethics help renew and reform the Church for a changing and diverse world? 

In our Faculties Convocation virtual panel presentations this past October, four scholars addressed these points from different disciplines and perspectives.

 Panelists for the event included:

• Dr. Robin Darling Young, Ordinary Professor of Church History, Catholic University of America School of Theology and Religious Studies, discussing “Early Christian Synods as a Forum for Heated Dialogue.”
• Fr. Christiaan Kappes, Academic Dean, Professor of Liturgical and Dogmatic Theology, Byzantine Catholic Seminary of St. Cyril and Methodius, discussing “Nicene Dogma about Jesus’s Nature, Liturgical Change, and Liturgy Today
• Dr. Kyle Lambelet, Associate Professor of Ethics, Virginia Theological Seminary, addressing “The Resurrection of the Dead as a Challenge to Contemporary Politics”
• Dr. Natalia Marandiuc, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, United Lutheran Seminary, “Love, Justice, and Human Thriving: Soteriological Significations after Nicaea”

For more information about this and other Faculties’ Convocations of the Consortium, visit this page.