Methodists vs Baptists

They’re all nuts, OP.

Fail.

Methodists have not yet let gays be clergy.

Methodists love to sing classics from the hymnal. They (we?) don't really approve of drinking lots of booze and gambling (we have juice, not wine, for communion). We are dignified. I haven't attended in a long time, but we used to have a lot of pot luck meals and stuff. Methodists are good, true, dignified Protestants.

I'm not religious, but I find religion to be really interesting. Does the culture influence the religious beliefs and practices or vice versa? For example, there are a lot of commonalities between protestantism and Germanic paganism. If you've noticed, most protestant buildings are very plain and simple in terms of architecture. Most of the popular protestant churches in my town look like warehouses. Some germanic pagan "temples" had interesting designs, but most looked like giant sheds. Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, however, have very elaborate and intricate design, and they share similar design features to the ancient Roman and Greek temples.

R2 Then it was some other gay-related decision made by the higher ups in the early 2000s that pissed off my dad.

Any religion that takes the Bible literarily is dangerous and creepy. In one scripture passage God supposedly sent she-bears to kill 42 kids for making fun of a bald man. WTF

I mean, making fun of people isn't nice. God wanted us to know it is wrong.

Yes, and we all learned our lesson from that.

I'm an Episcopalian and some fat ass Baptist woman with a lesbian spiked gelled hairdo snarled at me at a funeral then waddled off to the buffet table. I grew up in the Bible belt. I hate those Baptist fuckers.

^ Well at least you're not bitter.

R4, I don't think so. Protestants are more sensible and maybe less into wasting money, but some of the churches are nice. There are also a lot of more fringey denominations that probably can't afford churches that look like churches.

Baptist = more likely to get in a turf war with the Pentecostals over a strip mall space

The difference between Methodists and Baptists, besides a belief in total immersion baptism and a public profession of faith, is that a Methodist will speak to you in a liquor store.

Why don’t Baptists make love standing up?

It might lead to dancing.

White trash heretics. Same difference.

Baptists are always right, and Methodists are never wrong.

That's the difference.

Religion. It's wrong. It always has been wrong. Sit yourself down, seriously consider this thing we call religion and ask yourself why you believe. Is it guilt? Fear? The need to be obedient? Do you fear death and hope that if you believe in God, you will magically be transported to heaven upon death? Why do you believe in a deity?

I wonder about those that truly believe in the myth of God. Do you believe in a God because you have been taken to a place of worship as a child, since day one? Were you an innocent child that just sort of fell into step with your elders?

So many have suffered, warred, fought, and died, all in the name of religion. I often ask myself why. It feels like a massive waste of time, energy, lives, and of course MONEY. Could that be it? Is it the money? Is it the power? Is it a combination of both? IT IS. Religion is a way of controlling masses of people who will look to be and stay in favor, by giving their faithful time and of course, their money to help further promote The Cause ... get the message out... It is an easy way to gather money from these fearful, faithful followers.

Are you one of them?

Methodists are nicer in general.

Methodist: a Baptist who can read

Presbyterian: a Methodist with money

[quote]Methodists vs Baptists

It all comes down to the covered dish.

Southern Catholic here. Old classic and classist joke: Methodists are Baptists with shoes.

But I’m old so that might have been true in the 1950s in the Appalachian South but not today or in all parts of the South. In big cities in Texas Baptists are solidly middle class for instance.

Baptists believe in full immersion baptism after the “age of reason” (generally teenage or adult) and faith alone, Scripture alone. Methodists came out of the Wesleyan tradition which was a break away from the Church of England. I’m never sure what they believed, they seemed non-descript. They are now undergoing a big split over LGBTQ issues with many United Methodist churches actually leaving the denomination.

This is on Tubi.

Southern Baptist Sissies.

A Methodist minister and a Baptist minister were both in attendance at a posh wedding reception. One of the servers, carrying a tray with brimming champagne glasses, passed throughout the crowd, offering the celebratory libation to the many guests.

When offered a glass of champagne, the Methodist minister took one and said: “Thank you very much”; however, when the Baptist minister was then offered a glass, he got an angry, self-righteous look on his face and declared: “I’d rather commit ADULTERY than drink THAT!”

Immediately, the Methodist minister comes running over, puts his champagne glass back on the tray, and says : “My apologies! I didn’t realize we had a choice!”

Methodists don’t take the Bible literally. At least not in my childhood church.

The Church opposes evils such as slavery, inhumane prison conditions, capital punishment, economic injustice, child labor, racism, and inequality.

Also, we drink and dance.

I can add that growing up as a Methodist (until I was 16)--and then we left what I still call my "hometown church" and went to a Baptist church where it was ingrained in everyone that homosexuals go to hell--I didn't realize until years later how traumatizing that was. The Methodists are currently splitting over the gay issue (as well as several other minor issues). My hometown church has not split (and don't plan to), but other churches in the same vicinity have left the denomination. I'll have the last laugh, though...my mum already asked their Southern Baptist pastor if my celebration of life could be held in the Baptist parlour. (Not the fellowship hall/gym...over my dead body.) My parents has probably tithed half a million to that church, so the least the church could do would be to let them have my cremains showcased in the parlour during an informal gathering.

Baptist churches were filled to the rafters with Trump voters; Methodist churches we only half filled -- that's one major difference.

*have probably tithed. Even if they don't want to have a celebration of life for me in the Baptist parlour, I prepaid for everything and just told my mother to scatter me in the front yard. All out the door, I got a cross-country cremation for $2800.

American religious codswallop. When is this going to end?

[...]

[quote]I grew up in the Bible belt. I hate those Baptist fuckers.

I've lived all over the world and in 7 states. I now live near Atlanta, Georgia and without a doubt, the Baptists are the worst people that I've ever met. They're racist, bigoted scum. And they're proud of that fact.

[...]

In my experience, men raised Southern Baptist -- even if they don't practice as adults -- are extremely entitled and smarmy in a way that's hard to describe. A number are also womanizers (eg Bill Clinton -- whom I like -- but he kind of embodies the qualities I've noticed in Southern Baptist men.)

I haven't noticed this with men raised in other Christian denominations (including LDS)

[...]

ALL men are entitled, r33, regardless of creed. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, atheist, pagan.

But Southern Baptist men are entitled in a very particular way.

Less than 1% of the population of the entire planet have a clue what the OP is talking about?

Am I mistaken in thinking that an inordinate number of sects came about in the UK, especially as compared to the rest of Europe. If so, the question is why? Did the same thing happen in the US?

I grew up Methodist rural Ohio & despite going to church for years, I can honestly not tell you what they believe, but they do sing the best hymns (unlike the Catholics). In my area, black people tended to go the Baptist church, so it seemed to be as much a racial thing than "beliefs." But as others have noted, many people don't go to church anymore & the ones that do tend to go to the big mega (MAGA) churches. I think the kind of church that most of knew as kids: not political, love your neighbor, relatively small congregations, all that - is largely a thing of the past, particularly in rural areas

One has church picnics, the other has dinner on the grounds.

Raised Catholic in Dallas. No big fan of the Catholics either, though at least most Catholics don't take pride in their ignorance, which does seem to be a feature of even the wealthiest of Baptists, as an above poster mentioned. (I am grateful for the intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church, though I still enjoy watching it slip further into irrelevance.) The richest Baptists, of which there are many here in this pretentious city of ours, are still mostly just hicks with money. I will say - there are a LOT of gay cowboys though, many of which have done the mental gymnastics necessary to maintain their self-hating beliefs as adults. Every now and then, when I feel like slumming it, I'll help myself to a cowboy for an evening (they're always Baptists - or raised Baptist) and, brother, let me tell you - they sure can throw a mean fuck. Woof! Would never marry one though; I'd like my future husband to be able to read.

Marry me, r39!!

Methodists are definitely nicer and more likely to have a college education. Their community is very important and they take care of their members. There's also a social gospel element that Methodists follow to evangelize through good deeds and charity. I think black Baptists are more like Methodists in they lean more liberal than white Baptists and have a stronger community and interest in social justice. White Southern Baptists are mean, judgmental and materialistic and most are bigoted. White Pentecostals are even worse. Non-denominationals or independents are a mixed bag, some are tolerant and do good work, others are hardcore fundies.

I don't know if you've heard the following joke:, OP, :"What's the difference between baptists and Methodists?" "A methodist will say hi to you if you see him in the liquor store!" I was raised southern Baptist, and became a methodist after attending a methodist college. I'm from the deep south, and that joke is SO TRUE! Once I realized I am a lesbian, I never really felt comfortable in a baptist church. The Methodists are at least friendly/welcoming. When I moved to the small town in which I live, Methodists went out of their way to let my partner and I know we would be welcomed in their church.

This. I was raised in the Methodist Church. In least in my region, it was very progressive . They do not take the bible literally.. In a predominantly white church, we had a black minister in 1968 and a female one in the early 70's I saw my first R rated movie in the youth program when I was a young teen

Methodists are sober Episcopalians.

I was raised as a Methodist and went to summer Methodist Youth Camp for years. When I turned 13, the camp had a sexual awareness educational weekend for it's youth. That is where I got my cherry popped by my preacher's son in the woods. It was amazing. Thank you Jesus!

Your preacher's son was Jesus?

I can't believe there are so many religious yahoos here in the data lounge. WTH are you id-gits a-doin' on a gay site? Go pray to your false idols and leave this place alone.

I’m lucky in that my parents were raised Baptist but flipped denominations when I was a tot to more liberal ones like Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ. They moved around several times so we were Methodists in high school (when I stopped going), then Presbyterian, and finally Episcopal. I think it was a matter of finding a congregation they liked as much as dogma. Thank god they didn’t go all fundie. Life would have been hell. I think all the normal Protestant denominations are losing out to the more extreme ones, including the Baptists, Pentecostals, and non-denominationals. Scary churches.

Mind if I grab a few of you and slap you silly?

My grandfather always said a Baptist is a Methodist who stopped drinking.

Merhodists are mainstream Protestants without much of the extremist fringe.

Baptists verge on being bible thumping holy rollers half the time.

Methodists are cold cool and middle class. Baptists are hicks.

Thread closed.

Oh stop. Don't be silly.

R4, you’re looking at the wrong churches. Don’t look at post-war church buildings, nearly all of which are awful, including the Catholic ones. Instead drive through any older suburb or small city and look for pre-war Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist or Presbyterian churches (along with RC, of course). You’ll see many lovely old buildings, sometimes brick but often elegant stone, in a variety of traditional and graceful styles.

OP, Methodists are very middle-of-the-road on everything. They are nowhere near as liberal as Episcopalians but much more liberal that Baptists. In the South, the Methodist Church was the middle-class church, with the upper-middle class being Episcopalian and everybody else (the majority of people) being Baptist. The Methodist Church does not ban drinking, although it is officially “discouraged.” Nevertheless, pretty much every Methodist I ever knew growing up had at least the occasional cocktail. Then again, we were a DC-suburban parish, so far from the most conservative.

Methodists traditionally have the best hymns, but like most churches they have thrown out those beautiful old hymns in favor of ghastly modern shit that sounds like bad country music. They also historically were more liturgical than Baptists and Evangelicals - that is church services followed an established order rather than being spontaneous - but I think they've gone more "wave your hands in the air" and less "now it's time for the doxology."

There are significant doctrinal differences between the Episcopal and Methodist Churches, which are Anglican in origin, and Presbyterians, Lutherans and of course the Baptists. The average Methodist has no idea what any of these are (which can probably also be said of most of the other denominations) except for the total-immersion adult vs. sprinkling infant baptism thing. And even then, I doubt most could explain the reasons why each church does what it does.

Methodists, unlike Catholics (and Episcopalians in the past, although that might have changed), allow any believing, baptized Christian to participate in the sacrament of the Eucharist. I always thought that was a nice point in their favor.

As with the Episcopal Church, the blessing of same-sex unions and ordination of gay clergy has torn the denomination apart, and a slo-mo schism is in process. The Lutherans and Presbyterians already had smaller conservative branches that have been around for a century or more for those who dislike the ultra-liberal stance of the main churches.

If you’re really interested in learning about different American Protestant churches, have I got a youtuber for you! That’s all this guy does, and he does it very well. (No, I am not he, although I suspect he’s as gay as a goose.)

Churchgoing WASPs built themselves some magnificent churches back in the day.

R55, I don’t know if it’s Methodist-wide, but our congregation allows anyone of any faith or no faith at all to partake in the communion ritual.

Well, OP, only one of them produced this monstrosity:

Osteen has a face like Trump’s. One look at him and you can tell he’s a grifter. Too bad so many people are so gullible they can’t see it.

Osteen is neither Baptist or Methodist. He’s a prosperity gospel guy and I suspect independent.

Osteen is nondenominational according to Wikipedia and a lay preacher or lay minister meaning he never bothered to get ordained by anyone. Can he perform marriages?

^^ Even I can perform marriages. I am ordained by the Universal Church of the Internet!

Joel Osteen's estimated worth is $100M....WFT

Anyone who looks at Osteen's smug face and obnoxious veneers and doesn't see his grift deserves to be separated from their money

Betty Butterfield says Methodists are "A poor man's Presbyterians, or people who has left the Anglican Church because they got tired of squatting, or Baptists who've gone back to drinkin' and didn't wanna get judged."

Joel Osteen is certainly more Baptist than Methodist

Do Baptists speak in tongues, or is that just Pentecostals?

[quote]they got tired of squatting

Pics please.

[quote] ... there are a lot of commonalities between protestantism and Germanic paganism. If you've noticed, most protestant buildings are very plain and simple in terms of architecture. Most of the popular protestant churches in my town look like warehouses. Some germanic pagan "temples" had interesting designs, but most looked like giant sheds.

r4 Fascinating observation. I'm an atheist who loves to study religion as well.

I never looked at Protestantism as a resurgence of Teutonic paganism before. I always assumed it was a rejection of Roman and Byzantine complexity and philosophical ornamentation. Back to basics. Calvinism and austerity.

But now I see the link.

So sure this applies to Lutherans (the German church).

The Church of England, the Anglicans, what Americans call Episcopalians, are more-or-less Catholics. But Methodists are the English puritans yet again who rebelled against Rome & London.

Paganism is all throughout Protestantism which makes their bashing of Catholics and accusing them of polytheism quite hilarious. And despite their racist views, white Baptists, Pentecostal and "Bible-believing" Evangelicals adopted the West African animistic rituals of post-Civil War blacks like speaking-in-tongues, call-and-response, ring shouting, energetic fiery sermons and "catching the Holy Ghost" which is not only present in black Baptist and Pentecostal churches but was later adopted by black Methodist, Presbyterian and even Catholic churches as well. This is something that also makes them distinctive from white mainline Protestants.

R66 Definitely. That's why he's popular with non-denominational and Evangelical churches. Most non-denominational churches are "Baptist-" or "Pentacostal-lite." The prosperity gospel and New Age type of preaching he does is very much against a lot of Methodist and other Protestant teachings. Running Christianity like a pyramid scheme essentially. Creflo Dollar, Paul Crouch, Jim Bakker, etc and their wives are all the same type of con artists as the Bible-loving Chrisleys. The difference is they are smart enough to be in the religious business, so don't need to worry about taxes.

But Methodists are the English puritans yet again who rebelled against Rome & London.

Methodism was more of a revival movement than a reform movement of the Puritan kind.

[quote] Methodism was more of a revival movement than a reform movement of the Puritan kind.

I'm not saying Methodism is like Puritanism - theologically. I'm saying it was a reform against the Church of England, which is Catholicism Lite.

[quote] white Baptists, Pentecostal and "Bible-believing" Evangelicals adopted the West African animistic rituals of post-Civil War blacks like speaking-in-tongues, call-and-response, ring shouting, energetic fiery sermons and "catching the Holy Ghost"

r70 Bingo. American Protestantism was influenced by the pagan ritualism of African slaves. If there had never been slavery in America, would there be any white holy roller churches?

If your house gets hit by a hurricane…

And a United Methodist shows up, the disaster response volunteers will pull up to the curb, pray for you, jump into action clearing debris from both inside & outside the house, work with you shoulder-to-shoulder to make things right, help you enroll in the government system so you get all of the federal disaster survivor benefits you deserve, rebuild your house with volunteer teams and experts, put on a potluck dinner to celebrate you moving back into your house, hold a toy drive to replace what your kids lost and offer you a job in the church office if you are having trouble making ends meet.

And a Southern Baptist shows up, they will knock on your door and offer help…but only provide the assistance if you sign the affirmation paperwork saying you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and do not consume drugs & alcohol. No form, no help. They will subtly remind you that “bad things only happen to bad people”. Later, they will ask you about the storm and press you to share “how was Satan present in that moment?” (Factual statements.)

Protestantism has no self-referential humor which speaks volumes about their collective sense of privilege.

White Protestants are the most boring people in the world. That's why most comics are Jewish or Catholic. Mormons have a sense of humor too especially ex-Mormons.

Black Protestants definitely have humor about self-deprecating church though like the TV show Amen. But that's because they've been marginalized and the black church was more of a social support system than an oppressor.

[quote]Atticus, Jem is up in the tree. He says he won’t come down until you agree to play football for the Methodists.

Since many Catholics and Mainline Protestants aren't Evangelicals or Restorationist, many people raised in these denominations end up becoming irreligious or become agnostic/atheist in adulthood which is why they are dying out. Same deal with many people who are raised Jewish, many end up becoming atheist or agnostic unless they come from super fundamentalist sects. There's little to no reason to really be religious in modern day unless you have been intensely indoctrinated or gone through a traumatic life and need a crutch.

Atticus Finch was a proud Methodist, but he wouldn’t play ball against the Baptists….

Yep, most of the replies are confirming what I experienced as well. If you google differences between Methodists and Baptists, you only get web pages that delineate the differences in beliefs. You don't get the differences in personality, behavior, or reputation of the two groups, which is more interesting to me. By the way, I'm not religious and I wasn't asking for advice on which group to join. I just wanted to discuss a subject regarding my personal history with people who aren't necessarily religious. (As in I didn't want to go into a Baptist or Methodist forum and ask the same question). I never got along with the other Baptist boys because, not only being gay, but I liked to spend my time reading or listening to indie pop or french dance music. They were more into sports, and the guys my age were really into trap music and soundcloud rappers, which goes along well with R74 and R70 observations.

[quote]Since many Catholics and Mainline Protestants aren't Evangelicals or Restorationist....

Huh? If you're Catholic, you're not Protestant or anything else.....you're Catholic! WTF do you mean by "since many Catholics aren't Protestant...."?

Most Catholics are not extremists

R82, there are charismatic Catholics who practice some of the same things as Pentecostals and Evangelicals, such as glossolalia. That may be what R79 is referring to. There are also very devout Catholics who are as immersed in the life of their church and as committed to their beliefs as Evangelicals are in theirs.

I think the underlying idea is that, despite these exceptions, most Catholics and mainline Protestants are not brought up to be fervently religious and thus are more likely to abandon their faith or simply see it a more of heritage/legacy sort of thing - "Christmas and Easter Catholics" or Protestants who turn to their church only for weddings, christenings and funerals.

Again, if they're Catholic they're not Pentecostal or Evangelical.

This thread has delivered and is a great example of why I continue to enjoy DL (despite the trolling ...)

Thanks, everyone!

R57, that's very nice and very welcoming, but why would anyone who's not a Christian want to participate in communion? You are symbolically partaking of the body and blood of Christ. Doesn't the pastor still say "this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for thee in remission of sins" or something like that?

It's been a while, as you can tell :-), so maybe the wording has changed, but the concept is still there, isn't it? It seems like an odd thing for a non-Christian to do.

I grew up going to nondenominational churches, Baptist churches and Pentecostal churches but this was in the Northeast, so many of my classmates were Catholic or Jewish. And the thing I noticed was they were far less involved with religion than me and my family and my family's friends. The Catholic kids would complain about their parents dragging them to Mass on Christmas or Easter and having to do CCD. I was surprised when they told me Mass was only an hour long.

The churches I went to the sermons would go over 2 hours and sometimes enter 4 hours. We also had so many programs like Sunday school, Bible study on Wednesday, Fellowship meetings on Saturday, Vacation Bible schools, prayers lock-ins (where we'd stay overnight), etc. We'd have Christian rock bands and pop stars perform at our church and there was a Bible bookstore in the lobby that sold CDs, WWJD bracelets and books by TD Jakes and Joyce Meyers. My mother watched TBN like crazy, the Crouch's "Praise The Lord" being her favorite. It was clear there was more indoctrination involved in these denominations. As an adult, I'm irreligious and far more interested in pantheism, Buddhism and metaphysics and rejected the Abrahamic faiths. When I met some Mormons, how they described their upbringing was very similar to my Evangelical upbringing in that they were heavily involved with church and their lives were centered around church activities.

Restorationist refers to Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Scientists and Seventh Day Adventists. They are very similar to Evangelicals in being extremely devoted to their faiths and obsessed with proselytizing and controlling its members in ways that veer into cultic. There's also strong cult-like personalities that dominate many of the churches since they are independent while Catholics and mainline Protestants have strong hierarchy. Mormonism has some structure but there's also many sects like the fundamentalists who practice polygamy.

Good post, r89. Thanks