On occasion we’ll recite the Nicene Creed in a corporate worship gathering. As a confessional Baptist church, can we say we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church with a clear conscience? Few have questions about oneness, holiness, and apostolicity. Understandably, however, some are curious about the word “catholic.”
To confess to believe in the catholicity of the church has nothing to do with Roman Catholicism. It refers to the universal church in every place, across time and space. It is to confess that we belong to the same body to which Abraham, David, Paul, Athanasius, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, and Billy Graham belong.
Why should we say it without hesitation?
1. It connects us to the church throughout time. (Hebrews 12: 1)
2. It connects us to the church around the globe (1 Peter 5:9-10)
3. It connects us to the church across traditions & denominations (Ephesians 4:4-6)
As Baptists, we have important distinctives that we cherish and articulate with conviction. We articulate those distinctives not as a sect, cult, or independent movement but as a branch of one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
Nathaniel R. Martin 