Differences between Catholicism and Methodism?

GoingByzantine said:

I recently discovered I am descended from a long line of Methodist ministers, something I was unaware about. I just want to attend the Methodist Church in town (one time) now for curiosities sake. What differences would I find compared to a RC Mass? Are methodist churches friendly towards outsiders? Just Curious, I would be excited to view the church of my ancestors. Note I would not take part in any Communion service, would that be acceptable or disrespectful?

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One of the big differences is that you will be encouraged to take communion with us. One of the other big differences is that many Methodist churches only have communion on the first Sunday of the month.

As for the order of worship, that varies from church to church. Some Methodist churches are very High Church that would be familiar to you while others are devoid of liturgy and full of guitar music.

I went to a Prayer Service for Christian Unity last week at the local Roman Catholic Church. It was similar to what I'm familiar with in my UM church. Keep an open mind and remember that you are still surrounded by fellow Christians.

With the order of worship, there was actually a thread for posting that a while ago:
http://www.christianforums.com/t7742420/

As you can see, there's some variation, but it does tend toward a 'liturgy of prayers' structure.


One very general difference is that the translation of some of the prayers and rites in the liturgy will probably be extremely similar or identical to the ones from the Book of Common Prayer. As I understand it, there's some stylistic differences in the English between the translations used in Catholic and Anglican liturgies. Methodists would use the Anglican versions.

Methodists do ordain women, so that's another pretty big difference. It may not be the case that the parish in question has a female elder assigned to it, though, but the possibility is there.

Another thing you might notice is the presence of altar rails. While the usage or presence of these in Catholic parishes has declined since after Vatican II (at least according to Wikipedia), they've remained a common feature in Anglican, Methodist, and Lutheran parishes.

Likewise, whether or not the sanctuary is lined with stained glass windows is a case of individual architecture. Our family UMC does have them, illustrating scenes from the Gospels and maybe one or two from Acts (unfortunately, there aren't any good pictures of them I can find online; the single image from inside the Sanctuary that I could find is a rather poorly-lit and washed-out one from the church's website). I'm not sure if it was the windows, or something else about the Sanctuary and Narthex areas, but one of my grandparents' neighbors was a Catholic nun and at my cousin's wedding reception my grandmother took her on a tour. She remarked that it looked like it could be a Catholic parish, so the architectural and design elements may be very familiar.



As to a couple of the questions in the OP, yes, chances are really high that they'll be friendly to everyone, regardless of whether you're an 'outsider'. And while Methodists do practice Open Communion, I doubt it would be construed as disrespectful to not partake, especially given the circumstances.

GoingByzantine said:

I recently discovered I am descended from a long line of Methodist ministers, something I was unaware about. I just want to attend the Methodist Church in town (one time) now for curiosities sake. What differences would I find compared to a RC Mass?

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Most UMC have not yet returned to celebrating the Eucharist every Sunday. Back in our beginnings we did, but that changed with the absence of an ordained clergy on the frontier, and now people mistakenly think "we've never done it that way before". So, some celebrate it quarterly, some monthly, in my present congregation we celebrate every other month.

Depending on the service you attend, you may find a very brief order for the liturgy of Holy Communion in which the words of institution are about all that is retained, or ones that are a bit more liturgical. I suspect that you will seldom find one that uses all of the congregational responses that one finds in the RC Mass unless you are attending on a special day like Maundy Thursday or some other high holy day.

Are methodist churches friendly towards outsiders? Just Curious, I would be excited to view the church of my ancestors.

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We like to think that we are. And as a denomination we really do make an effort to be open to and inclusive of all people. Our denominational slogan is "Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors." But reality in local congregations is going to vary with the temperment and personality of the individuals who attend there.

Note I would not take part in any Communion service, would that be acceptable or disrespectful?

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That is completely your choice. We would still invite you. But unless someone has to crawl over you to get out of their pew, no one is going to mind that you don't.

Hint: If you find yourself in that sort of situation, and it can happen, just step out of the pew with everyone else and then either go forward for a blessing (indicate by crossing your arms across your chest), or step to the side and then return to your seat once the others have vacated the pew. Oh, and if it isn't a very liturgically minded church, they may not even be familiar with the practice of crossing one's arms over their chest to indicate the desire to receive a blessing rather than the communion elements.

Most Methodists are very friendly.

Communion is open and not always served, but it is also fine not to participate.

As to the liturgy, it is closer to the RCC mass than a Baptist church would be, but there is some variation. Most of it should be familiar enough, I would think.

GraceSeeker said:

Most UMC have not yet returned to celebrating the Eucharist every Sunday. Back in our beginnings we did, but that changed with the absence of an ordained clergy on the frontier, and now people mistakenly think "we've never done it that way before". So, some celebrate it quarterly, some monthly, in my present congregation we celebrate every other month.

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We don't make a very big deal out of communion in the UMC. People are led to think of it as an accessory to the service and not really as a physical act of worship and...well...communion. I'd bet that I can go to my small group tonight and ask them what communion means, other than bread and grape juice on Sunday morning, and I won't get any good answers.

GoingByzantine said:

because I could not in good faith take communion from a church that I am not a part of and do not intend to join.

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As a Christian, you are a part of the church, as we all are.

BryanW92 said:

As a Christian, you are a part of the church, as we all are.

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Most Catholics would not disagree. But Catholics are not normally allowed to receive Communion outside the CC. If the OP intends to stay a faithful Catholic, his conscience is most likely against receiving Methodist Communion. Don't take it personally.

To the OP: I've been to a few Methodist services. One was basically a slightly altered form of the Roman Rite. Very familiar. Stand, sit (no kneeling, though), sing, pray, creeds, general confession, sign of peace, etc. I've also been to Methodist services that were more along the lines of Evangelical Protestantism: praise band, emotional, etc.

If your ancestors were Methodist and you want to see what it was like for them, look for a traditional service.

We need to be mindful that Roman Catholics view receiving communion outside of the RCC sinful. Though of course we would never turn anyone away and that's because we believe Christ is the inviter, and we do not believe we have been given the authority or discernment to turn people away from that Holy Table.

The Roman Catholic reverence for Holy Communion is something I think is worth rubbing off on us though. You'll find many United Methodists find it to be very important, others though truly know very little about it, as BryanW92 pointed out.

As mentioned, there are a lot of variations. My wife was born and raised Roman Catholic. She became a United Methodist when we got married. She had been 'seeking' for quite a while. When we met, I was a Southern Baptist. As we grew together, I was called into the ministry. In evaluating my own theology I realized I was called to the UMC. In watching me explore my own call and my own theology, my wife (then girlfriend) made the decision to join when we got married. So I have a bit of a grasp, I think, on the differences. Not as much as her, but in spending time with her devoutly Catholic family over the years (We started dating at 15!), I think I have a bit of a grasp anyway.

As mentioned, there are some variations in worship styles. One thing that hasn't been mentioned, is how the Sanctuary and even the clergy will look. You may find UM churches that have ornate, wood carved pulpits built into the walls of the church where the Pastor "steps up" above the congregation, with a finely decorated altar and looming pipes in the back with a massive cross (speaking of; generally in the UMC you will find a bare cross- keeping in the protestant understanding of focusing on the resurrection more than the cruicifiction. You will occasionally find a Crucifix in a United Methodist church though; something you'll not find in some other Protestant churches. But that's fairly rare). You'll also see churches that look more like a high school auditorium with perhaps a small, clean looking glass altar, no pulpit and some decorations that match the current sermon series. The clergy may be wearing jeans and a pullover, or a full pulpit gown and stole (maybe even a collar!). We are a connectional church that doesn't vary on theology and essentials; but are churches vary quite a bit in "style"!

P.S., in the Roman Catholic Church, the "Sanctuary" is a consecrated area of the church surrounding the Altar and Tabernacle (correct?). In our tradition, the "Sanctuary" is the entire room or area in which we worship, that includes the seating for the worshipers, the area, the pulpit, the musicians and choir, et cetera!

This is probably me being petty and anal about the things I observe, but I feel compelled to note it anyway...

RomansFiveEight said:

keeping in the protestant understanding of focusing on the resurrection more than the cruicifiction.

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I suspect that's a typo, but I still respond to it because of decade's long conversations I've had with friends and family who practice Islam. Some of whom have very pointedly spoken of the cruciFICTION, rather than the crucifixion. Given that it is a touchstone of our shared Christian faith, I don't even want to let a typo of that nature slide by. I hope you can appreciate that.

Jesus himself told us, "the Son of Man must be lifted up." According to Paul "we preach Christ crucified," and not as metaphor, but as an historical event with cosmic significance. So, it is important to me that we don't even accidentally set forth the idea of the Cross of Christ as any sort of fiction.

GraceSeeker said:

This is probably me being petty and anal about the things I observe, but I feel compelled to note it anyway...

I suspect that's a typo, but I still respond to it because of decade's long conversations I've had with friends and family who practice Islam. Some of whom have very pointedly spoken of the cruciFICTION, rather than the crucifixion. Given that it is a touchstone of our shared Christian faith, I don't even want to let a typo of that nature slide by. I hope you can appreciate that.

Jesus himself told us, "the Son of Man must be lifted up." According to Paul "we preach Christ crucified," and not as metaphot, but as an historical event with cosmic significance. So, it is important to me that we don't even accidentally set forth the idea of the Cross of Christ as any sort of fiction.

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Interesting perspective. I'll keep that in mind!

As others have said, the style will vary from church to church. I've been to a Catholic church (some of my family belongs to the CC), UMC that are a hybrid of traditional and modern, very modern UMC services (they felt more like a Christian concert), and a rural historic UMC that does an old-fashioned service every once in awhile for history buffs interested in reliving the past.

I think other the other responses pretty much have the major differences down. Another thing I've noticed is just how much more relaxed the UMC is. The pastor will crack jokes, we'll have guest speakers, and if anything goes wrong (like say they put the wrong song on the bulletin or something) everyone just sort of goes with the flow and is pretty chill about it. The catholic service I went to appeared was far more put together and not as laid back.

The UM church itself is also much more egalitarian and accepting. I've seen one that just put signs up saying that LGBT persons are welcome to their church. I've also had female pastors and grew up thinking every church had this until I was like 15 and read on a message board how most of the CC was opposed to those sorts of things.

how was it?

my mom is a member of the UMC, I have been to many services over the years