When I lived in Portland, I attended a church called Mission of the Atonement, which was a church made up of both Lutherans and Roman Catholics. The pastor and priest took turns in the pulpit, with one doing the children's homily each week while the other did the sermon. We split only during communion, when our differences in practice got the hairiest. As you may have already surmised if you've read this far, it was a church with a very eclectic views and resources. The following was printed in the bulletin one week for recitation; I have always thought it was beautiful.


CREED FROM NICARAGUAN MASS

Firmly I believe, Lord,
that Your prodigious mind
created the whole earth.
To your artist's hand, beauty owed its birth:
the stars and moon,
the cottages, the lakes,
little boats bobbing down river to the sea,
vast coffee plantations,white cotton fields
and the forests felled by the criminal axe.

In You I believe,
Maker of thought and music,
Maker of the wind,
Maker of peace and love.

Christ the worker, I believe in You,
Light of light, God's true
only begotten Son,
that to save the world, you
in Mary's humble womb grew
and became human.
I believe that you were beaten,
treated with scorn,
martyred on the cross
under Pilate's command.

I believe in You, friend, human Christ, Christ the worker,
death you've overcome.
Your tearful suffering brought
the new human being born for freedom.
You still rise again
Each time we raise an arm
to defend the people
from profiteering dominion,
because You are alive on the farm,
in the factory, and in school.
I believe your fight goes on,
I believe in Your resurrection. Amen.