Pro Ecclesia 2026 Conference

About the Conference

The Nicene Creed was forged on a fourth-century anvil in the heat of controversy. Ever since that time, it has served as both an instrument for Christian catechesis and a resource for ecumenical dialogue. Its Trinitarian confession has become the most universal symbol of our common Christian faith in all the world—despite its revision in the late sixth century by Western church leaders, a revision that contributed to the church’s Great Schism in 1054.

To mark the 1700th anniversary of the first great ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea (325), we will gather to discuss the transmission of classical Christianity in the twenty-first century. Most Christians today know little of Nicaea and its Trinitarian doctrine. Those who do know a little about the Nicene Creed are divided over which of its versions should be used. So we’ll gather to explore both the status and potential of our Nicene heritage for handing on the faith in communion with the saints across denominational lines.

We will ask about the degree to which the Nicene Creed can be used to help Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants live into the oneness we profess in the Creed. We will also investigate what Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant instructors can learn from one another as they seek to use our Nicene legacy to grow us to maturity in Christ.

Just what is the status of our Nicene heritage around the world today? What promise does it hold for helping Christians grow in unity? Should a literal affirmation of the Nicene Creed (edition of 381) and the real presence of Christ in the eucharistic meal suffice for the sharing of communion across confessions? How are we to witness to and inculcate an orthodox, Nicene faith in a media-driven age?

Come and join us as we work on these questions and others in a spirit of evangelical catholicity.

Keynote Speakers

**Marcus Plested**

**Marquette University** | Marcus Plested (D.Phil., University of Oxford, 1999) is Professor of Greek Patristic and Byzantine Theology at Marquette University. Schooled in London, he studied modern history followed by theology at Merton College, Oxford, comp;eting his doctorate under the supervision of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. He taught for many years at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies and the Faculty of Divinity in Cambridge (UK). He has been a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, and has taught, lectured, and published widely in patristic, Byzantine, and modern Orthodox theology. He is the author or editor of four books to date: The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition (Oxford: OUP 2004); Orthodox Readings of Aquinas (Oxford: OUP 2012); The Oxford Handbook to the Reception of Aquinas (Oxford: OUP 2021) (with Matthew Levering); and Wisdom in Christian Tradition: The Patristic Roots of Modern Russian Sophiology (Oxford: OUP 2022).

**Matthew Levering**

**Mundelein Seminary** | B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.T.S., Duke University; Ph.D., Boston College. Author or co-author of over thirty-five books including such works as Scripture and Metaphysics, Participatory Biblical Exegesis, Biblical Natural Law, Proofs of God, Aquinas’s Eschatological Ethics and the Virtue of Temperance, Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, The Abuse of Conscience, and Reconfiguring Thomistic Christology. Currently at work on a multi-volume (quasi-)dogmatics, whose first five volumes have appeared (most recently Engaging the Doctrine of Israel). Editor or co-editor of over twenty books including such works as The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology, Aristotle in Aquinas’s Theology, and The Reception of Vatican II. Translator of Gilles Emery, O.P.’’s The Trinity. Co-editor of two quarterly journals, Nova et Vetera and the International Journal of Systematic Theology. Director of the Center for Scriptural Exegesis, Philosophy, and Doctrine; past president (2021-22) of the Academy of Catholic Theology; and longtime member of Evangelicals and Catholics Together.

**Kevin Vanhoozer**

**Trinity Evangelical Divinity School** | Dr. Vanhoozer has long been interested in what it means to be biblical in theology and life, and thus in the dialogue between exegesis and systematics. He has also served on the faculty at Wheaton College and Graduate School (2008-11) and the University of Edinburgh (1990-98). He has edited several books, including The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology and the Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Christianity Today Best Biblical Studies Book of the Year, 2006), as well as a collection of essays by Trinity students entitled Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Influence Trends. (Baker, 2005). He is the theological mentor of the Augustine Fellowship at the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is married to Sylvie, from France, author of The Art of Living in Season: A Year of Reflections for Everyday Saints. They have two adult daughters, one son-in-law, and lots of books, as they both enjoy reading.

Panelists

Fr. Gregory Edwards

Abp. Joseph Marino

Bp. Glenda Curry

Michael Root

Collin Hansen

Stefana Laing

Timothy George

Sarah Gronberg

Conference Schedule

Monday, January 12, 2026

Holy Trinity + Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Birmingham.

5:30 - 6:15 p.m. | Registration: Holy Trinity + Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Birmingham
6:25 p.m. | Welcome: Dean Douglas A. Sweeney, Beeson Divinity School, Executive Director, Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology
6:30 p.m. | Session 1: “History, Time, and the Nicene Creed” by Professor Marcus Plested, Marquette University (Facilitator: Father Justin Rose, St. George Melkite Catholic Church, Birmingham, AL. Respondents: Professors Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary and Kevin Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
7:40 p.m. | Evening Prayer: Fr. Gregory Edwards, Dean, Holy Trinity + Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral
8:00 p.m. | Reception

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham.

9:00 a.m. | Morning Prayer: Pastor Carol Fryer, North American Lutheran Church
9:30 a.m. | Session 2: “Paul and Nicaea: The State of the Question in Catholic and Protestant Scholarship” by Professor Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary (Facilitator: Professor Michael Root, Catholic University of America. Respondents: Professors Marcus Plested and Kevin Vanhoozer)
10:40 a.m. | Break: Commons Room, Divinity Hall, Beeson Divinity School
11:00 a.m. | Session 3: “The Nicene Legacy in Protestant Theology: Evangelical Grammar, Hermeneutic, or Ontology?” by Professor Kevin Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Facilitator: Professor Timothy George, Beeson Divinity School. Respondents: Professors Marcus Plested and Matthew Levering)
12:30 p.m. | Lunch: Commons Room, Divinity Hall, Beeson Divinity School
1:30 p.m. | Session 4: Panel Discussion: Nicene Catechesis in the Parish Today (Panelists: Father Gregory Edwards, Dean, Holy Trinity + Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral; Archbishop Joseph Marino, former apostolic diplomat and President, Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, Member of the Dicastery for Evangelization; Bishop Glenda Curry, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. Facilitator: Professor Joel Scandrett, Trinity Anglican Seminary)
2:40 p.m. | Session 5: Panel Discussion: Transmitting Nicene Faith in a Media-Driven Age (Panelists: Sarah Gronberg, Social Media and Website Coordinator, Holy Trinity + Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral; Dr. David Anders, Host, Called to Communion, EWTN; Collin Hansen, Vice President for Content and Editor in Chief, The Gospel Coalition. Facilitator: Dr. Joel Lawrence, President, The Center for Pastor Theologians)
6:00 p.m. | Banquet: The Club Birmingham
Banquet Speech: “Renewed Commitment to Visible Unity at the CCET: What We Are Doing and How You Can Help” by Dean Douglas A. Sweeney, Beeson, Executive Director, Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology

Wednesday, January 14, 2026