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Methodist Vs. Baptist? My money is on the Baptist, because you know 100% he'll be sober and thus harder to knock off his feet. As to the Methodist: Are we talking a tae-kwon-do-using Korean Methodist? Otherwise, it's just a retired white person from Iowa who will try to reason the Baptist into submission.
The Seventh Day Adventist we know is a vegetarian, so he'll lose to anyone but the really drunk Catholic (unless Italian) or the Unitarian (who just wants to hug it out). Jewish--well, there's krav maga, but if they've just eaten a big meal of either corned beef or matzoh, forget it; it's nap time. The Episcopalian is pretty iffy, having trained only twice a year (Christmas and Easter). Lutherans only fight when they're in the middle of playing hockey. Unless they've had too much brenevin or Finlandia.
I think a Mormon could probably take anyone; all that niceness--you know there has to be a ton of anger simmering below the surface!
The agnostic is probably not sure he wants to punch the other guy. The atheist believes the other guy isn't really there.
Last edited by Carlingtonian; 10-26-2015 at 03:42 PM..
Back to the serious topic -- I, too, am interested in how the same religious denomination might vary from where I live. Here, we have Methodists and Congregationalists (United Church of Christ) as our main Protestant denominations. I was baptized in a Methodist church at the age of five, not as an infant. So that part seems different.
I used to know some Methodists from Florida who worshipped differently--said long prayers around the dinner table while holding hands, and so on. Our Methodist religion was more casual.
At the risk of starting a heated debate, can anybody provide a layman's explanation of how they differ? It seems like these are two large denominations a lot of people attend in NOVA. I've never really participated in any religion except for attending a friend baptist church for few years during middle to high school years.
I've already ruled out Catholicism. I would appreciate it if people can focus on aspects like the type of people, feverishness of the ministers, unusual restrictions (e.g. consuming sodas). Trying to wiki this is not helping at all.
Also, which one is more common in this area?
Thx
I'm Catholic, but am familiar with both Baptist and Methodist denominations. The main universal difference is that Methodists baptize infants and Baptists do not.
There are many many different sub-denominations under Baptist that range from conservative southern baptists (which are the largest baptist group) to more liberal baptist groups and they all have different beliefs because there is no central governing body (they act as independent churches).
There are also some different Methodist groups, but the United Methodist Church is by far the largest. They tend to be similar to most basic Protestant churches. The Methodist church was originally part of the Anglican Church, and for that reason you may find a few Methodist churches that slightly resemble Catholic Churches, in terms of the ministers wearing robes and lots of candles, other more traditional things. You almost never see robes, candles, or anything resembling a Catholic rituals in a Baptist church. There is also a large African American Methodist denomination with really large African American churches, so again it depends.
If you want more detailed differences I would post in the religion forum.
Unfortunately that forum seems to be overrun by cult groups and/or other fringe sects pimping unorthodox views.
As to answer OP's question - you can sort different groups along several different axes, as you've probably seen from some previous posts.
Obviously one split would be believer's baptism vs. infant baptism, which gives the former group (primarily Baptists, also throw in a lot of non-denominationals) its distinctive.
Another would be their liberal/conservative theological bent, something that's really caused division over the past 200 years. Note this is quite different from 'liberal'/'conservative' in the political sense and should not be confused. Generally issues like inerrancy of scripture, exclusivity of salvation, gender roles, etc. fall in here.
Worship or litgurical style would be another.
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In terms of geography - I haven't noticed a disproportionate amount of Methodist or Baptist churches in Nova. We seem to have pretty much everything here.
Now, across the county that might be true for historical reasons, as those were two of the more prominent groups that pushed out onto the frontier as the country was expanding while your Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, etc. generally stayed back near the coast. Then you have denominations closely associated w/ European nations and thus immigration routes play a factor (e.g., Lutherans in northern parts of the Midwest)
hello, can't answer your question but I was raised Lutheran and the Spirit seems to have led me to Pentecostal churches and I'm loving it! I would recommend checking out a good Pentecostal church they have amazing music and practice many biblical things found in the book of Acts that other denominations just ignore.
Summit Church (fka Family Worship Center) in Springfield VA at 7719 Fullerton Rd (Saturdays at 5pm, Sundays at 10am) is an amazing church and has a great vibe unlike any I've ever seen.
would recommend checking out a good Pentecostal church they have amazing music and practice many biblical things found in the book of Acts that other denominations just ignore.
I wouldn't say they just callously ignore those sections, rather they have quite a different interpretive framework for the book of Acts than Pentecostal/Charistmatics. The latter group tends to regard all of the more miraculous narratives as normative for the church today, while the former views them as non-normative (possibly ceased depending on the group), whose purpose was confirm and demonstrate the new equal state of all believers - Jews, God-fearers, Samaritans, Gentiles - in the New Covenant.
If you are spiritually nourished and growing in a Pentecostal church - that's awesome, keep at it. But I'd consider using different phrasing for promoting your distinctives. Just my 2 cents.
I think I am qualified to comment. I am a United Methodist, I am age 65, and have also attended quite extensively other Protestant services as well as Catholic services, countless times (being in a mixed-marriage as well as a very diverse local area).
United Methodist refers to the very large denomination in the U.S.A. that's overwhelmingly White (although a few local congregations such as in north-south border areas can be historically black). Centuries ago, it grew out of the Episcopal denomination which has a more formal and sacramental style of worship. The United Methodists are one of the "Mainstream" denominations and very middle of the road, both in their beliefs, their style of worship, their social class standing, and their position on social issues. For instance, on the acceptance of Gay lifestyle - and the acceptance of Women pastors -- you could say Methodists are "sitting on the fence" right at this point in time - not as accepting as the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Church of Christ, or Unitarians -- but more accepting than Baptists and other Fundamentalist churches are. Methodists (at least right now) and other "Mainstream" denominations feel the stories in the Bible, with their fantastic miracles like being swallowed by a whale, a talking snake, and the parting of the Red Sea, are at least in some cases, symbolic in nature.
Baptists on the other hand are "Fundamentalists". Baptists and other Fundamentalist groups insist that every word in the Bible is literally true, even though it was written by many sources over a period of thousands of years. They and other Fundamentalist denominations emphasize being "Born again" at which point a person has an epiphany or change of heart and is suddenly guaranteed of salvation (assured of going to heaven). Every single Baptist worship service ends with an "Altar call" which is a plea at the end of the pastor's sermon for attendees present to "come forward to the altar and make a public decision to accept Christ" if they have never done so. One example of this "Altar call" is at all the Billy Graham crusades - but it's done in small churches as well. Dr. Billy Graham is the most famous Baptist of all time. Baptist hymns sometimes are more rousing or old-fashioned, and their sermons perhaps a little longer, than the "mainstream" or more liberal denominations. The American Baptists and Southern Baptist denominations (primarily White) are less loud and demonstrative in their worship than are historically Black denominations such as National Baptist, A.M.E. Methodist, and Pentecostals who can shout very loud, dance, call-and-response, and - in the case of Pentecostals, mysteriously "speak in tongues" (gibberish). Baptists and other fundamentalist groups (including Mormons) emphasize "Tithing" - donating a full tenth of one's income - although I don't know what the actual statistics on this are.
Baptists believe in waiting until individuals are teenage or older to be baptized, so they can consciously make a profession of faith. Wearing a robe, they are held and momentarily lowered into an indoor pool of water (or outdoor body of water). Methodists and other "mainstream" denominations (and Catholic) on the other hand, baptize by the pastor rubbing water on a baby's head while the parents and worshipers read aloud a promise to encourage the baby in his Christian growth.
United Methodists are historically the largest denomination in the rural midwest, including rural Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, West Va., Delaware, and coastal Maryland. Their pastors are assigned to local churches by the regional headquarters (known as the "Conference").... Baptists local congregations on the other hand, have the freedom to hire their own pastors and make other decision.
There's also a relatively small denomination called "Free Methodists" and they are much more Fundamentalist - but you're unlikely to run into them much.
Baptists are the largest denomination by far, in all the Southern (former Confederate) states where they belong to the "Southern Baptist Convention" (except for black Baptists who are generally "National Baptist Convention)." Baptists in northern and western states (except for black) are generally of the "American Baptist" denomination which is less fundamentalist than the southern. Baptists used to be well-known for promoting the "separation of church and state" -- but I'm not sure if that's the case any more. The Southern Baptist national leadership got much more conservative, a few decades ago. President Jimmy Carter disagreed with this, and withdrew his membership. Some more conservative Baptists believe in trying to convert Jews to Christ (although most think this is wrong and rude or disrespectful).
The Rockefeller extended family are one of the few examples of affluent, society people who are Baptist rather than being a higher-status denomination like Episcopalian or Presbyterian.
Last edited by slowlane3; 10-27-2015 at 11:06 PM..
I wouldn't say they just callously ignore those sections, rather they have quite a different interpretive framework for the book of Acts than Pentecostal/Charistmatics. The latter group tends to regard all of the more miraculous narratives as normative for the church today, while the former views them as non-normative (possibly ceased depending on the group), whose purpose was confirm and demonstrate the new equal state of all believers - Jews, God-fearers, Samaritans, Gentiles - in the New Covenant.
If you are spiritually nourished and growing in a Pentecostal church - that's awesome, keep at it. But I'd consider using different phrasing for promoting your distinctives. Just my 2 cents.
Well as I said I was raised Lutheran, I know nothing about Baptists or Methodists. Okay so what you say maybe true about speaking in tongues and I myself am not sure about how I feel about speaking in tongues or prophesying , but I know that something as simple as laying on of hands was never practiced in my Lutheran church nor mentioned (unless reading from Acts to my recollection) so as for my church, which I was raised and confirmed in I think it was just ignored. Can't speak for all churches of all denominations.
I think Slowlane3 has given the best answer for the OP. I'll just note that Methodists an others mainstreamers can baptize people older than infants, if the parents did not do it immediately. I was baptized at age 5. Also note that Pentacostals can be whites as well as blacks.
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