What Bible version do United Methodists most commonly use in church?

[Ave Maria]

Hi everyone. I am planning on visiting a United Methodist Church this Sunday and possibly joining them. However, I have no idea what Bible version to bring with me. I have the following: KJV, NKJV, NIV, HCSB, and NLT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Qyöt27]

I know that the church I go to supplies Bibles in the pew racks. Of course, I don't know if that's standard or not. I also have no clue what version it is, I don't think that's standard either, but the church I attend definitely doesn't use the KJV.

 

[seeking.IAM]

I can't speak for Methodists everywhere, but at my UMC the pew racks hold NIV Bibles.

seeking.IAM

 

[Origen]

Hi everyone. I am planning on visiting a United Methodist Church this Sunday and possibly joining them. However, I have no idea what Bible version to bring with me. I have the following: KJV, NKJV, NIV, HCSB, and NLT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Best guess would be NIV or NRSV. Let us know. And Welcome!

(Pew bibles are not uncommon, perhaps even the norm, so no one is going to look at you funny if you don't carry your own, they'll likely have one waiting on you with your name on it.)

 

[Ave Maria]

Best guess would be NIV or NRSV. Let us know. And Welcome!

(Pew bibles are not uncommon, perhaps even the norm, so no one is going to look at you funny if you don't carry your own, they'll likely have one waiting on you with your name on it.)

Ah ok. Thanks for the info guys! I'll probably just not take one with me and see if they have pew Bibles. Anyway, I'll let you know what kind of Bible they use!

 

[overnight]

just fyi the UMC as a whole kinda looks at the KJV as the least important version of the Bible (a big distiction between the UMC and Baptist). However, the church I attend has CEV in the pews. I use NLT. (just fyi)

 

[Islander]

Almost all UMC's, all the ones have been in, have pew Bibles. My congregation and most others I've been in hands out a bulletin as you enter the sanctuary that tells you what songs (and page numbers) will be used in the service and also has the Bible passage printed out.

The most common translations used in the UMC are NRSV, RV, and NIV but KJV and NKJV are used in some. HCSB is new so I haven't seen any congregations use it yet but some UM's were translators so I would imagine congregations that know those individuals use that translation.

 

[wvmtnkid]

Another church checking in with pew bibles. Our pew bibles are NIV as well. Personally, I use an NIV. I have recently bought a New Century Version that I like pretty well. I also have The Message, but the jury is still out on that one. It's ok, but I just use it to get another perspective. We have some folks at my church that use the KJV and NKJV. I think that is just what you are used to using and what you have used the most and are comfortable with. We don't have a "must use" policy on any version or translation. We usually let folks make their own decision on that. Actually, in my Sunday School class, it is nice to have people with different translations, because our teacher will ask us to read passages from the different translations so that we can compare and contrast them.

 

[ClementofRome]

herev can comment on this as a more recent observation than mine, but in the past 10 years or so most UMC seminarians are using the NRSV.

 

[jangnim]

My church uses the revised standard version in the pews but many of us who attend use whatever our preference is personally. I use NIV myself.

 

[kayanne]

Since most UMCs mentioned here have pew Bibles, I'm curious, do most people not bring their own Bible so they can highlight verses and make notes in it? Or do you mark in your Bible in your home Bible study? (like I said, I'm just curious, because growing up in a UMC I never marked in a Bible--would have almost thought it was disrespectful!)

 

[Celticflower]

Since most UMCs mentioned here have pew Bibles, I'm curious, do most people not bring their own Bible so they can highlight verses and make notes in it? Or do you mark in your Bible in your home Bible study? (like I said, I'm just curious, because growing up in a UMC I never marked in a Bible--would have almost thought it was disrespectful!)

It has been my experience that the people who do not go to Sunday School often do not bring a Bible with them to church.
As for marking in a Bible--the RSV that I was given by the Women's Society at church when I entered third grade now looks like one of those "rainbow" coded Bibles you can buy now. We were encouraged to mark passages that had meaning for us as we read and studied, to make notes in the margins or on the endpages etc. When I was growing up about the only disrespectful thing you could do to a Bible was let it gather dust on the shelf.

Celtie

 

[Carrye]

do most people not bring their own Bible so they can highlight verses and make notes in it? Or do you mark in your Bible in your home Bible study? (like I said, I'm just curious, because growing up in a UMC I never marked in a Bible--would have almost thought it was disrespectful!)

I always wondered what others did about that too.

 

[kitkat60]

Funny . My mom saw my bible (NIV) and was horrified at all the highlightings and underlinings and notes that I had in it. I am looking for a new bible, and believe me, important things include cross references, space to write, and easy-on-the-eyes font.

On another board, one member said that every year they use a different color highlighter. I thought that was kind of a clever idea.

 

[WiredSpirit]

Every UMC I've been in, and that includes dozens of them, has used the NRSV as their primary Bible but our pastors often cite the NIV, CEV, or NAS in their sermons. I'd say most of the congregation owns NIV Bibles, so you'd be safe bringing that. I personally like to stick with my New Oxford Annotated Bible which is in the NRSV translation.

 

[Islander]

One UMC I attended had a big blank area on the church bulletin for people to take notes and sometimes had some of the information in the sermon or an outline of the sermon with that blank space.

 

[kelco]

The UMC I attend has NRSV for pew bibles. I personally use the NAS and our pastor uses the NKJV.

I also mark in my bible and write notes, thoughts, etc. I think that a bible that is marked and highlighted becomes more valuble to the user as time goes on.

 

[AngelAmidala]

Our church used to have RSV bibles in the pews and whoever was reading read from whatever version they wanted while my pastor read out of the NIV. As it seemed more and more people were reading out of the NIV, we bought new pew Bibles (we needed them anyway) and bought NIV Bibles.

I was bringing a good Bible with me to church at the start of the year so I could read the scripture for Sunday before church (my sister and I drive into church together and she has to be there for choir between 10:15 and 10:30). But then I started taking care of my pastor's son and he would get into my Bible.

Recently though, I started bringing a notebook with me where I try to take notes on the sermon (depending on how the pastor's son behaves) and I read from the pew Bible before church the planned scripture and note in my notebook verses and things I'd want to put in my regular Bible I use for note-taking at home.

 

[WiredSpirit]

One UMC I attended had a big blank area on the church bulletin for people to take notes and sometimes had some of the information in the sermon or an outline of the sermon with that blank space.

Almost every church I've been to left space to take notes on the message outline. Our church also has notepads on the backs of the seats.

 

[Ave Maria]

Thanks for the info everyone! I really appreciate it!