Final Council Day -Meletius
My dear followers, Church of the Martyrs,
I am writing to inform you of all the discussions and decisions made at the Council of Nicea. I felt it was important to notify you as soon as I could since it has already been such a long passage of time since we’ve spoken.
After an extremely long, tedious process, we (the council) finally signed on a creed. I raised my point multiple times on how a creed is not even necessary and what is important is what one professes to believe. I knew this proposal was not going to be popular among to council. As I expected, it was completely shot down by emperor Constantine. Therefore, I was forced into making a decision between the Arians and the Alexandrians while still attempting to unify the church. Although me and Alexander don’t necessarily get along, I knew I had to advocate more for his beliefs since it is also what we believe in. If a creed was necessary, I could at least align it with our faith. I still tried to strive for compromise on each section of the creed because if we are looking for unification, we also all should somewhat agree. In the end, there were mostly mutual agreements except for the section regarding the nature of the son. Therefore, his substance is not clearly stated.
What I obviously was more looking forward to in the council were the cannon discussions. I stood strongly on my beliefs while still trying to compromise. Sometimes I was successful, sometimes I was not. Obviously the most important regarding my followers is the fact that the council recognized the validity of our ordinations and will accept all of us back into the church! However, it was agreed that you must be re-baptized in order to prove your devotion to the church. You follow the same requirements as the lapsed clergy in order to promote unification. It is only fair to hold everyone to the same standards.
Another Successful cannon was the rejection of women to be ordained or hold leadership positions. I recognize that women were active Christians, however it is extremely important to expand our church and convert faithful members. We must follow their Greek and Roman social order or else they will not convert.
An unfortunate loss was allowing Metropolitan Bishops to have superiority over local bishops. They hold higher positions and power. I was very against giving Metropolitan bishops more power. Joining the church should be about worshipping, and offering higher status will only lead to negative competition and struggle. That isn’t what this should be about. After a long fought debate, my side was unfortunately overruled. Metropolitan Bishops now lead over all of us. They will make decisions for us without us even really having a say. They will only vote on their own interests and wants. We should at least be able to have our voice be heard. We must rise against this and make sure we have say.
I look forward to returning home after such a long time away. I am ready to be back with my people and continue to worship our faith.
Best,
Meletius