Church Denomiation Differences

Angela - posted on 07/02/2011

I'm a Christian first and foremost. Denominations are less important. Currently I attend the local parish Church where we live, it's a great Church and has a gifted vicar. It's Church of England.

If we moved house, I would find the right Church for me which mightn't necessarily be Church of England.

In the past I've attended Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Methodist and other churches. They all have something to offer. But my first loyalty is to Christ himself and being a Christian. It really sucks that there ARE so many different denominations.

Liane - posted on 03/10/2009

Tammy let me suggest that you take the time to visit churches of different denominations to help you choose which is right for you. Unfortunately, several of the responses you've received previously have contained very inaccurate reflections of several denominations. And since we are human, every denomination can vary considerably from one church body to the next. Once you've experienced what they have to offer, maybe follow up with a meeting with the pastor of any of the churches you like. They would be the best person to offer a "snapshot" of their particular churches beliefs. You may also want to check out their qualifications to preach. I have experienced several churches (especially in the southeast US) that have "preachers" who have never attended seminary, divinity school and what have you... Be patient, consider it in prayer and god will lead you where he wants you to be. It took me over 2.5 years of "testing out" churches to find my current church. I got very discouraged and almost gave up. I'm so glad I didn't because I have found a church that I truly love :)You'll know when you get the right fit for you and your family!

Katrina - posted on 03/10/2009

Hi!  I understand your concern to find a good church family for you and your family.  Like some of the others who have posted here I think that it is very important to messure everything by the Word of God-the Bible.  Take a look at their beliefs and study the Bible to see if they agree.  It is important to have a church family that understands the importance of training and nurturing the children and youth.  I am a Seventh-day Adventist because they teach what the Bible says.  We believe that Jesus Christ is our Salvation and that He is coming soon.  There is a big focus on the youth and children and helping them have a personal relationship with God from the time that they are born.  We also believe in helping our neighbor and reaching out to the community and the sick and those who have not heard the name of Jesus-around the world.  May God bless you and guide you in your walk with Him.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  katarien7@yahoo.com  Aloha!

Melinda - posted on 03/10/2009

Hi Tammy, I ws always Salvation Army but recently switched churches ( not that there is any thing wrong with the Salvation Army). My husband has always been Pentecostal and I like the beliefs of the Pentecostal and find myself more drawn to that.. I want a church that takes part in Holy Communion, water baptism and holy baptism. I want a church that follows all God's commandments and has a youth ministry for when my daughter gets older. My husband is a musician so we wanted a church that suited him that way. We do not celebrate Lent but we Christen children but when the child is old enough to decide for themselves that they want to follow Jesus through the water then they have that option. It is a personal choice. Pentecostal churches are known as Evangelical and I am truely enjoying myself. Hope this helps

Dawn - posted on 03/10/2009

hi tammy. i grew up Methodist but have switched to Calvery Chapel. they are a Bible based church and we read straight through starting in Genesis. we don't believe in celebrating lent really...we don't think you should give something up you should give something back and do something for other's. we also dedicate our babies and baptise them as adults. i don't attend the Methodist church anymore because (at least the one here) they don't preach the gospel anymore. they are an "entertainment" church and i don't feel like God is even there anymore. it's sad. before any Methodists bite my head off i didn't say they were all like that just the one's here are. what kind of church were you looking to attend?

Chasidy - posted on 02/20/2009

The main thing to worry about today, in my opinion,is if the church teaches the bible or not. Too many churches (even Christian) are symbolically tearing pages from their bibles to fit in with our culture. If God's word was bendable and twistable we wouldn't even have it, so first I'd make sure they stick with the scripture. Just speaking for myself, I was raised Southern Baptist in a very Catholic area so the tradition thing has always been a sticking point. I believe in believers Baptism, as Jesus demonstrated. A baby has no concept of right and wrong and can't feel the need for salvation. It's a personal faith thing in my eyes. We don't practice lent, but understand why it was instituted and had nothing to do with honoring Christ, it was about boosting the fish economy. We do go all out at Easter and recieve communion (the Lords supper). My church is great. It's more like a family than an organization. We do many outreach programs, angel food, camps, kids outings, youth retreats etc. Just last weekend we had our Valentines Banquet, all the couples got together. We have small group bible studies that have just started recently that are in-depth and interesting and a great place to just talk about life issues in context of scripture. Anyway, I hope you find a great church, whatever denomination, that makes you feel like family.

Ellen - posted on 02/19/2009

Not all Lutherans are alike.... Take each church as their own. Missouri synod (LCMS) vs ELCA - world of difference. LCMS is what we're attending now, but we get funny looks all the time for our Praise Services. Order the same - just the music has a little bit of an up beat. I know Lutheran's are about 1 step away from Catholic, but each church has their own take on things. My church baptizes babies, confirms teens, and does either when ever the spirit moves ya'. DH was Baptist and I was Catholic when we got married. We found a church together that we felt would help us in raising our children in the Word. We wanted a church community that our children would feel safe in and could rely on when they felt they couldn't talk to us. God will lead you to your church home.

Veronica - posted on 02/19/2009

I am with you Angela Jarrett, seek God first and for most for every direction of you and your families life, He will never fail you. I am praying for you.

Jacquelyn - posted on 02/19/2009

It is important to understand to purpose of the bible. God put into the bible "..All things that pertain to life and godliness." ( 2 Peter 1:3). So what ever we need to know regarding our spirituality can be found in the bible. It is our instruction manual on how to get to heaven. So therefore, it is also our guide on how to find the right church. If you look at a doctrine from some church and you cannot find it in the New Testament, then that church is not the one for you. The bible is the gold standard and all churches need to meet the standard that the bible has set. Only go to a church that can show you from the bible where they got their doctrines.

I am a member of the Church of Christ.

Marsha - posted on 02/19/2009

I'm trying to figure out what denomination to attend myself. I googled 'denomination comparison charts' and I got a side by side comparison of all the beliefs and practices. I'm using this as a guideline to see which denomination matches our family best. I hope this helped.

Angela - posted on 02/19/2009

I pray the Lord will lead you to the right church that will help you and your family to grow in you relationship with Him. The most important thing is to make sure wherever you go they are teaching God's Word. If you feel like the sermons are based on the Pastor's thoughts or ideas or maybe on what he thinks his congregation wants to hear then stay away! Listen for a Pastor who is willing to teach the word chapter by chapter and verse by verse so that you know you will not be lead astray. There are so many new doctrines coming into the church today that have no place being taught. Be aware of the lies and seek after the truth. My husband and I are a part of Calvary Chapel and have been most of our lives. My husband is the Youth Pastor at our church and my Father-in-law is the Senior Pastor. Calvary Chapels are known for teaching the Word, though every church is made up of sinful men so just be on gaurd wherever you go. God bless you!!

Amy - posted on 02/19/2009

I'm non-denominational so I don't know if I'd be much help. But I would do what Linda said and check their statements of faith to see how they line up with the Bible and if they have a website you can check that out and it usually tells you a little more about it. If you want to have lots of opportunity to be involved it would tell you what kinds of ministries they have. As for my church...if you want you can do a baby dedication which isn't the same as baptism. When a person has accepted Jesus, understands their faith, and decides to take that step they are then baptized. We believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Another thing you might want to consider is worship. How important is it to you and what style do you like? For example, my mom loves the hymns and organs. I love the contemporary music with piano and drums and guitar and stuff. For my husband worship isn't quite as important. He connects with God the most through the message. For me I need worship for that one-on-one time with God. It makes it tough because there's a lot of churches that don't seem to have both. Either the speaker seems a little dry to my hubby or the worship is more of a performance.
Anyways, I pray that you find an amazing home church!

Linda - posted on 02/19/2009

There are so many different denominations and so many non-denominational churches, that to adequately respond to your questions would require a book. You need to check each individual's church's statement of faith against the Bible. Even among one denomination, you will find wide ranging differences among churches. In the northeast, the Baptist and charismatic churches (like Assembly of God) most often reflect Biblical teaching, but you will find an occasional Lutheran or Presbyterian who does. You will also find Baptist churches which do not follow the Bible. Unfortunately, on the whole, many of the mainstream denominations have become very liberal, not following the Bible anymore. If you can find a church which has an Awana program for kids, it will probably be a good church, no matter what the denomination. You can look for churches with awana at www.awana.org.

Andrea - posted on 02/18/2009

Hi Tammy, I understand how difficult it is to find a home church. My husband was military for 12 yr and it seems that every time I found a good church family, I had to move and start all over. I am Baptist, myself. There are many different types of Baptists. My church is a "stick to the Bible" type church, which I really appreciate. We do not baptize infants since there is no such practice in the Bible, but we do a dedication ceremony to dedicate the child to God. We do not celebrate lent. Baptists tend not to be be extremely ritualistic, although we do take Lord's Supper every month. I tend to gravitate toward the Baptists because they are Bible-preaching, yet very down-to-earth (the joke is, if you want to get on the good side of a Baptist, feed him or her! - We love to eat and we have lots of church suppers and potlucks, lol). My advice is to just visit different churches in your area and pray about it. God will lead you to the right place where you feel that you are getting the word and serving the Lord. Good Luck!

Heather - posted on 02/18/2009

I use to attend Assembly of God, and I loved it!

They do a baby dedication for when the baby is born or very young, and after the age of 7 they can chose to be baptised if they show that they truly have excepted Jesus as thier personal savior.

They do not as a whole celebrate lent like catholic churches, but some individule members do, and the church doesn't have any problem with it. They believe that as long as you have excepted Jesus you will be welcomed in Heaven and your denomination does not matter. They want Heaven to be a crowded place full of Catholics, Baptists, everyone in the world as long as they know Jesus.

I have attended both methodist and presbyterian churches in the past, but I didn't like them all that much. The ones that I went to didn't teach me about having Jesus as my personal savior, it could have just been the specific ones or maybe I was just too young to remember. The Presbyterian church tried to teach me about the Holy spirit and that God was only like wind. I was way too young (8) to grasp that and never liked it after that. However I have been to another one since that didn't give me the nasty vibe as that one did.