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Thanks for the help circuitrider!!! Your info will be very helpful. Could you please elaborate on the most difficult things you experienced in the transition from Baptist to Methodist? What was your biggest issue doctrine wise and how did you overcome it? What type of Baptist were you? Why did you change? Have you been happy with the change? If you had it to do over again would you do it? Any info you could pass along would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks and blessings to you.Chickenman1, I'm a United Methodist pastor (Elder in full connection) who used to be Baptist clergy. I'd be happy to answer any questions I can about the differences and what that switch is like.
As to our note about baptism, we do as United Methodist believe baptism is a sacrament and a grace filled act of God on the person being baptized. It is more than a dedication or consecration.
Yes. I think it is that way everywhere from what I can tell.I've thought about switching to the UMC from the SBC because of the divorce issue but couldn't get past the infant baptism. It does seem to almost be a running joke that if you are a Baptist minister switching to the UMC its because you've been divorced. Has the OP found that to be the case in Mississippi?
Thanks for the help circuitrider!!! Your info will be very helpful. Could you please elaborate on the most difficult things you experienced in the transition from Baptist to Methodist? What was your biggest issue doctrine wise and how did you overcome it? What type of Baptist were you? Why did you change? Have you been happy with the change? If you had it to do over again would you do it? Any info you could pass along would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks and blessings to you.
Yes. I think it is that way everywhere from what I can tell.
If I desire to become a member of the UMC what do I do?? In the Baptist church those desiring membership go forward at the end of the service. From what I can tell the person desiring to be a member of the Methodist Church just meets with the Pastor to let him know?? I thought about going by and visiting with the Methodist Pastor to get acquainted and let him know of my desires about becoming a local pastor. How would you advise me on that??I was an American Baptist pastor for 17 years, though I started out in the SBC as a young person.
I made the switch because my theology became more and more Methodist over time. I had attended a Walk to Emmaus retreat and was introduced to John Wesley's concepts of grace. Over about a ten year period of studying and reading Wesley and examining my theology I really felt much more Methodist than Baptist.
Because of my own journey, I didn't have a lot of doctrinal issues to overcome. But understanding baptism and communion as sacraments greatly helps with understanding the value of infant baptism. Baptists tend to think of baptism as an act of the individual in response to their receiving salvation.
For United Methodists, baptism is an act of God and a gift of God's grace, so it doesn't matter if the person being baptized understands baptism or is yet a professing believer as a child or infant to receive it.
Also the Wesleyan understanding of "perfection" takes some thinking about. It has been so misrepresented by non-Methodists that many people completely misunderstand the doctrine. I'm happy to talk more about that with you as well.
Probably the biggest learning curve is polity (church structure) rather than theology. The United Methodist connectional system is very different from Baptist local church autonomy. I like the difference. But it was a lot to grasp at first.
Clergy in the UMC are not free agents. You are under the supervision of your Bishop and your District Superintendent. You are appointed to your ministry by your Bishop. You are not a member of the local church. Clergy are members of the annual conference. Ordained clergy who are "elders" (the title for most persons in pastoral ministry who are ordained) are itinerant and offer themselves "without reserve" to be appointed where they are sent.
I have been very happy with my change to the UMC. I got my first UMC appointment in 2010 where I was an Associate Pastor for just two years and then was given my own congregation. I've served in that church now for five years and am being appointed to another congregation starting this July 1st. The churches I've served in the UMC have been the best churches I've ever served!
Just a couple other things to think about:
1. Don't try to become United Methodist if you disagree with key doctrines of the Church. If you can't whole heartedly support connectional ministry, the sacraments, and a Wesleyan understanding of theology you'll not be happy and the UMC won't be happy with you. (In fact if you can't articulate a Methodist theology after appropriate training and time, you won't be approved by a Board of Ordained Ministry or other body for a transfer or orders.
2. If you aren't willing to be itinerant clergy, don't become a United Methodist. We go where we are sent.
Feel free to ask more questions! Also, I know a number of UMC pastors who have been through a divorce. That alone is not a barrier to ministry in the UMC.
If I were in your position, Chickenman, I'd be cautious about switching to the Methodist church. That's because the theology is substantially different, even though the people and style are as you said--friendly, not legalistic and all the rest. Are there not other denominations that are more similar to the Baptists that you could look into...and also perhaps put your wife more at ease, too?
Not that I should really be surprised at the replies, but the differences are actually quite significant. "Circuit rider," himself a Methodist pastor, addressed most of the same issues that I had mentioned earlier.It is a matter of opinion I suppose. I would not say that the theology is substantially different between Baptist and Methodist. I was United Methodist for about 30 years and I know quite a bit about the Baptists. Yes, there are differences, but not major differences, in my view anyway.
If I desire to become a member of the UMC what do I do?? In the Baptist church those desiring membership go forward at the end of the service. From what I can tell the person desiring to be a member of the Methodist Church just meets with the Pastor to let him know?? I thought about going by and visiting with the Methodist Pastor to get acquainted and let him know of my desires about becoming a local pastor. How would you advise me on that??
It largely depends on which Baptist denomination you are talking about. But Southern Baptists are more different from Methodists than American Baptists. And, the UMC is most definitely not a place for ardent Calvinists. Methodists are very much Wesleyan Arminian in our theology. We don't believe in predestination. We don't believe in "Once Saved Always Saved." We believe in the possibility of apostasy.
Yes, when I talked about Methodists and Baptists being fairly close, I was mostly referring to American Baptists, not Southern Baptists. However, the comparison may not be entirely true. United Methodists in the American South probably tend to be more conservative than their UMC cousins in the American North, East and West Coast. Hence, United Methodists in the South might not be real far removed from Southern Baptists, though still not as close as they would be to American Baptists.
What would Methodist congregations think if I switched to Methodism and she stayed Baptist? From a Baptist perspective I would see that they might not like that too well.
What would Methodist congregations think if I switched to Methodism and she stayed Baptist? From a Baptist perspective I would see that they might not like that too well.
Good News everybody!!! I have been attending a Methodist Church for the last month with my wife and we are adapting slowly. She has been very open minded and willing. I have been learning a lot. The church we have been attending is really high church and I have always been accustomed to low church worship services so that is taking some getting used to. I have been in contact with the district superintendent and will be faxing in my background check release and my letter of Good Standing from my Baptist pastor. The Methodist folks have been very friendly, encouraging and compassionate when they learn of my situation. The DS said not to join the church so I am taking her advice. What will happen next??? When will I start my Course of Study classes???
As I start my Methodist journey, if I seek to follow after John Wesley in all I do will everything be good to go or will I encounter difficulties??? Wesleyanism seems to be a little different than modern day United Methodism from what I can tell here on the front end. Am I correct in my assumption???
I was an American Baptist pastor for 17 years, though I started out in the SBC as a young person.
I made the switch because my theology became more and more Methodist over time. I had attended a Walk to Emmaus retreat and was introduced to John Wesley's concepts of grace. Over about a ten year period of studying and reading Wesley and examining my theology I really felt much more Methodist than Baptist.
Because of my own journey, I didn't have a lot of doctrinal issues to overcome. But understanding baptism and communion as sacraments greatly helps with understanding the value of infant baptism. Baptists tend to think of baptism as an act of the individual in response to their receiving salvation.
For United Methodists, baptism is an act of God and a gift of God's grace, so it doesn't matter if the person being baptized understands baptism or is yet a professing believer as a child or infant to receive it.
Also the Wesleyan understanding of "perfection" takes some thinking about. It has been so misrepresented by non-Methodists that many people completely misunderstand the doctrine. I'm happy to talk more about that with you as well.
Probably the biggest learning curve is polity (church structure) rather than theology. The United Methodist connectional system is very different from Baptist local church autonomy. I like the difference. But it was a lot to grasp at first.
Clergy in the UMC are not free agents. You are under the supervision of your Bishop and your District Superintendent. You are appointed to your ministry by your Bishop. You are not a member of the local church. Clergy are members of the annual conference. Ordained clergy who are "elders" (the title for most persons in pastoral ministry who are ordained) are itinerant and offer themselves "without reserve" to be appointed where they are sent.
I have been very happy with my change to the UMC. I got my first UMC appointment in 2010 where I was an Associate Pastor for just two years and then was given my own congregation. I've served in that church now for five years and am being appointed to another congregation starting this July 1st. The churches I've served in the UMC have been the best churches I've ever served!
Just a couple other things to think about:
1. Don't try to become United Methodist if you disagree with key doctrines of the Church. If you can't whole heartedly support connectional ministry, the sacraments, and a Wesleyan understanding of theology you'll not be happy and the UMC won't be happy with you. (In fact if you can't articulate a Methodist theology after appropriate training and time, you won't be approved by a Board of Ordained Ministry or other body for a transfer or orders.
2. If you aren't willing to be itinerant clergy, don't become a United Methodist. We go where we are sent.
Feel free to ask more questions! Also, I know a number of UMC pastors who have been through a divorce. That alone is not a barrier to ministry in the UMC.
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