On 30th July Selly Oak Quakers hosted an ecumenical pilgrimage to mark ‘Nicaea 1700’. Pilgrims of different Christian traditions stepped inside to exchange a word of greeting with local Friends – allowing Quakers to be included in the scope of this ecumenical pilgrimage; and for pilgrims who had never set foot in a Meeting House to learn a little about Quakers.
2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which took place over ten weeks in the summer of 325AD. One of the outcomes of the gathering of 300 bishops from around the known world at the time was the original ‘Nicene Creed,’ later versions of which are still used by Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians.
Quakers don’t have a fixed creed because we have found that the search for truth can lead us to new expressions of our faith as well as confirming existing ones. However, in this same spirit we try to “enter imaginatively into the life and witness of other communities of faith” (Advices & Queries 6), and Selly Oak Friends were glad to offer welcome to the pilgrims along their way.
The pilgrimage covered 25 miles over three days, beginning at Lichfield Cathedral on 28th July and ending at the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Prince Lazar, Bournville, on 30th July. The intentional walk included visits to 24 churches and four Cathedrals of different traditions, plus prayers along the way. Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Church leaders were involved.