Baptist vs. Methodist - can anyone tell me the difference?

[weregoingtodw]

Cliff's Notes version or a longer explanation, I'll take either!

 

[Pop Daddy]

more money to be a Baptist

 

[lovetoscrap]

I can give you the humorous answer!

I grew up in a small town that basically had 2 churches that everyone attended, the Methodist Church and the Baptist Church. But being a small town we were all good friends. But we would often share the differences in our religion.

I always remember this one that was told as the differences in the Baptism Ritual. Generally Methodists just sprinkle/pour Holy water on the baby/person, and the Baptists in my town did a full immersion (not sure if all Baptists do?).

So we were in High School and sitting around discussing this and my friend says " Well the difference is that Methodists do it THEIR way, we Baptists do it HIS way!" We all thought that was pretty funny. We were not easily offended!

 

[babytrees]

loves is right...the big one is the baptism.

I attend a church that is Christian with a link to Baptists and work at a Methodist church and grew up Catholic

Depending on the Methodist church it is closer to Catholicism than Baptist is.

Gosh I know there is more but I am a little fuddle brained right now.

 

[weregoingtodw]

more money to be a Baptist

Shoulda known I could count on you!

 

[DMRick]

Don't most Baptist believe once saved always saved, and the Methodists believe once saved, if you mess up you are back to square one? (Cliff note version)

 

[weregoingtodw]

I can give you the humorous answer!

I grew up in a small town that basically had 2 churches that everyone attended, the Methodist Church and the Baptist Church. But being a small town we were all good friends. But we would often share the differences in our religion.

I always remember this one that was told as the differences in the Baptism Ritual. Generally Methodists just sprinkle/pour Holy water on the baby/person, and the Baptists in my town did a full immersion (not sure if all Baptists do?).

I'm reasonably sure all Baptists do full immersion, but not positive.

So we were in High School and sitting around discussing this and my friend says " Well the difference is that Methodists do it THEIR way, we Baptists do it HIS way!" We all thought that was pretty funny. We were not easily offended!

NICE!

 

[weregoingtodw]

Don't most Baptist believe once saved always saved, and the Methodists believe once saved, if you mess up you are back to square one? (Cliff note version)

Really? I have no idea actually!

 

[weregoingtodw]

loves is right...the big one is the baptism.

I attend a church that is Christian with a link to Baptists and work at a Methodist church and grew up Catholic

Depending on the Methodist church it is closer to Catholicism than Baptist is.

Gosh I know there is more but I am a little fuddle brained right now.

My goodness! I've heard of non-denominational but never multi-denominational.

(Is it funny that I kept accidentally typo'ing DEMONinational?!!)

 

[mytwotinks]

Don't most Baptist believe once saved always saved, and the Methodists believe once saved, if you mess up you are back to square one? (Cliff note version)

I'm no expert, but I think Baptists beleive once saved always saved, BUT................they seem to think that if someone really seems saved and then seems not saved that they were not truly saved in the first place.

I am attending a southern Baptist Church in my small town, but I was raised in a fairly conservative Church of Christ, so this is just my observation of the people I go to Church with now.

Baptists don't baptize babies. Don't methodists baptize their babies????

 

[tonilea]

Not all Baptists believe "once saved, always saved". Southern Baptist do, but Free-Will do not. Not sure about other types of Baptists.

 

[babytrees]

Don't most Baptist believe once saved always saved, and the Methodists believe once saved, if you mess up you are back to square one? (Cliff note version)

not that I know of....another difference I thought of....the "work" you do counts toward heaven in Methodism, Baptists are all about the relationship.

 

[babytrees]

I'm no expert, but I think Baptists beleive once saved always saved, BUT................they seem to think that if someone really seems saved and then seems not saved that they were not truly saved in the first place.

I am attending a southern Baptist Church in my small town, but I was raised in a fairly conservative Church of Christ, so this is just my observation of the people I go to Church with now.

Baptists don't baptize babies. Don't methodists baptize their babies????

Yes ma'am.

Baptists do a baby dedication...the Methodists do a sprinkling and then Confirmation in 7th/8th grade.

 

[Barb D]

Here's a recent thread with an almost identical thread title:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1550169

 

[lovetoscrap]

Don't most Baptist believe once saved always saved, and the Methodists believe once saved, if you mess up you are back to square one? (Cliff note version)

Actually I am Methodist, my friend was Baptist.

Methodists actually believe that God's love is available to all and that forgivess is always available. We do baptize babies, or people of any age. We believe in an open Communion Table that anyone can partake in, you do not need to be a Methodist.

I have always felt that Methodist is a bit "laid back". I have a lot of Catholic Friends and they tease me about the fact that we don't dress up very much for church. Now that does vary from family to family but often our teens wear jeans and t-shirts and I typically wear fairly casual pants. Some dress up but some don't, it isn't a big deal. In our last church we would have "Casual Sunday" and my Catholic friends wanted to know if we showed up in pajamas! In reality we usually we just wore shorts and tshirts and had a picnic afterwards.

I like to say that our religion does not TELL you how what to believe or how to behave. They tell you what the church believes and ask you to think about it, but believe that God gives us all free will to make our own choices. We believe in bible study at all ages--Sunday School is emphasized. The current message of the Methodist Denomination is "Open Hearts, Open Doors". We accept people no matter what. While we may not always agree with choices you may be making, we always believe that you are worthy of forgiveness and God's love and we still love you as a person.

I think Zip a Dee Doo Dah is a Methodist Minister so I hope he can come here and explain this better than I am.

 

[lovetoscrap]

not that I know of....another difference I thought of....the "work" you do counts toward heaven in Methodism, Baptists are all about the relationship.

Hmmm, I never heard that about Methodists. I have been Methodist most of my life and was the Volunteer Childrens Sunday School Coordinator and have never run across that concept. I would be interesed to hear more about it if anyone knows more.

 

[DMRick]

another difference I thought of....the "work" you do counts toward heaven in Methodism, Baptists are all about the relationship.

Although I left the Methodist church 25 years ago, I doubt it's changed. It was never about the work, but that you believed Christ died for you...although if you were a Christian, they believed the good work would happen.

 

[DMRick]

A lot of what you wrote is fairly new. The Methodist church has changed a lot in the past 20 or so years. I attended for about 30 years, and was a Sunday School teacher, youth leader and on the board. While the Methodist church is much more open than it used to be, there was a time when that wasn't so. It's much more liberal than it was in the far past. It started being much more "laid back" shortly before we left. We moved on to a church that broke off from the Methodists about 75 or more years ago, and it too has made changes, and has just about caught up to where the Methodist church was 30 years ago..but it's interesting, as it happens slowly, and people don't even see it.
The Methodist Church still has it's own doctrine, and if you join, you are saying you agree with it. While I believe the Methodist Church accepts people into the fold, no matter what, unless it's changed since a couple months ago, when I had a pretty good discussion at a fumeral no less, with a past Pastor, they expect you are not acting on what they might believe is sinful behavior. For instance, if you have been jailed for murder and released, you would be welcome, but not if you are still murdering people. I think the open minds, open door is more geared toward the gay community, or at least that is what I have been told. I've been away from the Methodist church for a long time, but still have many friends who attend.

Actually I am Methodist, my friend was Baptist.

Methodists actually believe that God's love is available to all and that forgivess is always available. We do baptize babies, or people of any age. We believe in an open Communion Table that anyone can partake in, you do not need to be a Methodist.

I have always felt that Methodist is a bit "laid back". I have a lot of Catholic Friends and they tease me about the fact that we don't dress up very much for church. Now that does vary from family to family but often our teens wear jeans and t-shirts and I typically wear fairly casual pants. Some dress up but some don't, it isn't a big deal. In our last church we would have "Casual Sunday" and my Catholic friends wanted to know if we showed up in pajamas! In reality we usually we just wore shorts and tshirts and had a picnic afterwards.

I like to say that our religion does not TELL you how what to believe or how to behave. They tell you what the church believes and ask you to think about it, but believe that God gives us all free will to make our own choices. We believe in bible study at all ages--Sunday School is emphasized. The current message of the Methodist Denomination is "Open Hearts, Open Doors". We accept people no matter what. While we may not always agree with choices you may be making, we always believe that you are worthy of forgiveness and God's love and we still love you as a person.

I think Zip a Dee Doo Dah is a Methodist Minister so I hope he can come here and explain this better than I am.

 

[babytrees]

Although I left the Methodist church 25 years ago, I doubt it's changed. It was never about the work, but that you believed Christ died for you...although if you were a Christian, they believed the good work would happen.

I stand corrected...it seems to be the church I work for then.

 

[lovetoscrap]

DMRick, there have been a lot of changes. It seems the the direction that the Methodist Church is trying to go as a whole these day is in a very Contemporary direction. It is a huge struggle in some churches where the financial base is coming from the older members of the congregation that have been around for 50 years and want things to stay the same, and the young people that want the vibriant, hip Contemporary look and services. I am only 37 and really identify myself more with the older more conservative crowd as far as my church services go.

I have to admit that when I wrote what I did I wasn't thinking of murder! I was thinking more along the lines of some of the "legal" social issues that church has a stance on--like drinking and gambling. They do not outright tell you that drinking is a SIN and you will go to hell if you do. They just tell you that they prefer you didn't do it and that it can be detrimental to the social fabric of a community and family so they are against it, but if you are going to then please do it in moderation. KWIM?

I was in leadership in my church when Open Hearts, Open Doors came out. I agree that it is part of a campaign to let the homosexual community know that they are welcome in the Methodist church (unless they want to become ministers --the door is only 1/2 open I gues). But I know we also used it as a tool to encourage an even more open and laid back attitude and bring in more community members that may have previously felt unwanted in church, those that couldn't dress up, single parents, people with disabilities and we did have some success with it.