Forum Magazine - Winter 2026 - Issue 37
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“Creeds and confessions evolved through various contexts and within and for communities of faith.”
—President Jul Medenblik
This issue of the FORUM examines the enduring role of creeds and confessions in shaping Christian faith, theology, and life together. As Calvin Theological Seminary celebrates its 150th anniversary alongside the 1,700th year of the Nicene Creed, these essays reflect on how ancient confessions continue to form Christian identity, guide theological reasoning, and unite the global church. Contributors explore creeds not as static doctrines, but as living testimonies forged in context and sustained within communities of faith. Rooted in the Reformed tradition and attentive to contemporary challenges, this issue highlights the formative power of shared confession for the head, heart, and practice of Christian discipleship. Together, the articles witness to Calvin Seminary’s commitment to rigorous, communal theological education in service of Christ’s mission in the world.
A Letter from the President: Creeds and Confession – Context and Community
The Christian Reformed Church in North America is a confessional church and Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS) is a confessional seminary.
For 150 years, God has led CTS to have a global impact in the formation and training of leaders with Reformed theology and a Reformed world and life view. We pray that God will continue to lead the seminary’s work going forward.
During my ministry as a pastor and as a President, I have seen people work through what it means to be confessional, which is wonderful. People who do not come from a confessional background are usually very grateful to join a tradition and the grounding that it provides for life and faith.
What I have also witnessed is that our dialogue on what it means to be confessional or not is sometimes truncated to a particular topic or without an appreciation that even our creeds and confessions came through a time of discussion and discernment.
In other words, creeds and confessions evolved through various contexts and within and for communities of faith. They are not static.
I am so glad that this FORUM helps us learn more about those contexts and also asks how creeds and confessions can serve and support our current communities of faith.
For example, the 1,700th birthday celebration of the Nicene Creed has sparked a fruitful discussion in the global church on what always unites Christians – an understanding of the person and ministry of Jesus Christ.
There are other wonderful insights that I invite you to discover in this issue. I am so glad for the thought leadership of CTS that is displayed. A newly minted, Synod-approved, systematic theologian who will move to CTS this coming summer is Dr. Jared Michelson. In his first ever FORUM article, he helps us with this insight –
"Yet no tradition is simply received. Traditions, if they are to flourish, need means of enabling both grateful reception and continual and deliberate recovery and re-invention. They need, in other words, ways of deferring and submitting to the past, as well as ways of dealing with the inevitable disagreements, complexity, and even distortions within traditions."
May we appreciate and engage our credal and confessional tradition!
In His Service – Jul Medenblik
