For my own knowledge, what are the core differences between denominations like Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, Pres etc??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’re all terrible dancers, I can tell you that.

[Anonymous]

In the US, the Methodist church (both UMC and GMC) is very similar to the low-church style of Church of England. John Wesley actually was both English and also a serving Church of England pastor. He was aiming for reform and did not intend to start a completely separate denomination. By contrast, the usual (British) Methodist church services are much more austere than the usual American Methodist church services.

By contrast, the US Episcopal Church and many US Anglican churches are more similar to the high-church style of Church of England. The Episcopal church nearest to our home has a Sunday service which is very very similar to a Catholic Mass; the main difference is that most local Catholic churches are crowded and our local Episcopal church is not.

The fundamental theology of all of these is nearly the same.

[Anonymous]

My grandmother always told me we were "Lutheran, but NOT Missouri Synod!"

I still don't know what that means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandmother always told me we were "Lutheran, but NOT Missouri Synod!"

I still don't know what that means.

LCMS is among the most socially and theologically conservative Lutheran denominations. Wisconsin Synod not far behind. If she was saying that you are ELCA, she is saying that you are main-line Protestants.

HTH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandmother always told me we were "Lutheran, but NOT Missouri Synod!"

I still don't know what that means.

LCMS is among the most socially and theologically conservative Lutheran denominations. Wisconsin Synod not far behind. If she was saying that you are ELCA, she is saying that you are main-line Protestants.

HTH

I grew up Missouri Synod (LCMS) and then tried out ELCA as an adult. Can confirm that LCMS is much more theologically conservative. There was a lot more focus on sin when I was growing up than there was in my experience with ELCA. Also, LCMS doesn't allow you to take communion unless you've been confirmed in the church, whereas ELCA just requires baptism. LCMS is anti-LGBTQ and does not ordain female clergy, among other differences about how each movement views scripture. LCMS was a very negative experience, what with all the focus on sin and the ways humans are all terrible and thus need Jesus to be saved. ELCA, in contrast, was much more positive, focusing on God's forgiveness and salvation (which still implies that we're all sinners who need to be saved, but they don't say that part quite as often).

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed this post and OP’s question. Yes, we can all look up the answer, but it is more interesting to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, and it would be a little bit awkward to ask someone in real life to explain their religion.

[Anonymous]

Worldwide Christians by denomination as of 2011[37]
  Catholic (50.1%)
  Protestant (36.7%)
  Orthodox (11.9%)
  Other (1.3%)

A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and, sometimes, a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any established Christian church. Unlike a cult or sect, a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream.

Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine; issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, biblical hermeneutics, theology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki
Christian denomination - Wikipedia

The Catholic Church, which has over 1.3 billion members or 50.1% of all Christians worldwide,[8][9] does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational Church.

Protestant denominations altogether have an estimated 800 million to 1 billion adherents, which account for approximately 37 to 40 percent of all Christians worldwide

Major Protestant branches include Adventism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, (Episcopalians are US branch of Anglican worldwide communion or the Church of England), Baptists, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism, Quakerism, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Reformed Christianity, and Waldensianism.

Reformed Christianity itself includes the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Evangelical Anglican, Congregationalist, and Reformed Baptist traditions. Anabaptist Christianity itself includes the Amish, Apostolic, Bruderhof, Hutterite, Mennonite, River Brethren, and Schwarzenau Brethren traditions.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 230 million adherents,[15][11][16] is the second-largest Christian body in the world and also considers itself the original pre-denominational Church. Orthodox Christians, 80% of whom are Eastern Orthodox and 20% Oriental Orthodox, make up about 11.9% of the global Christian population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren’t Anglican and Episcopal the same?

Anglican is the Church of England, Episcopalian is their American counterpart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worldwide Christians by denomination as of 2011[37]
  Catholic (50.1%)
  Protestant (36.7%)
  Orthodox (11.9%)
  Other (1.3%)

A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and, sometimes, a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any established Christian church. Unlike a cult or sect, a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream.

Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine; issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, biblical hermeneutics, theology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki
Christian denomination - Wikipedia

The Catholic Church, which has over 1.3 billion members or 50.1% of all Christians worldwide,[8][9] does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational Church.

Protestant denominations altogether have an estimated 800 million to 1 billion adherents, which account for approximately 37 to 40 percent of all Christians worldwide

Major Protestant branches include Adventism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, (Episcopalians are US branch of Anglican worldwide communion or the Church of England), Baptists, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism, Quakerism, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Reformed Christianity, and Waldensianism.

Reformed Christianity itself includes the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Evangelical Anglican, Congregationalist, and Reformed Baptist traditions. Anabaptist Christianity itself includes the Amish, Apostolic, Bruderhof, Hutterite, Mennonite, River Brethren, and Schwarzenau Brethren traditions.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 230 million adherents,[15][11][16] is the second-largest Christian body in the world and also considers itself the original pre-denominational Church. Orthodox Christians, 80% of whom are Eastern Orthodox and 20% Oriental Orthodox, make up about 11.9% of the global Christian population.

Historical schisms and divisions

Christianity has not been a monolithic faith since the first century or Apostolic Age, though Christians were largely in communion with each other. Today there exist a large variety of groups that share a common history and tradition within and without mainstream Christianity. Christianity is the largest religion in the world (making up approximately one-third of the population) and the various divisions have commonalities and differences in tradition, theology, church government, doctrine, and language.

The largest schism or division in many classification schemes is between the families of Eastern and Western Christianity. After these two larger families come distinct branches of Christianity. Most classification schemes list three (in order of size: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodox Christianity), with Orthodox Christianity being divided into Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and the Church of the East, which was originally referred to as Nestorianism but in modern times is embodied by the Assyrian and Ancient Churches of the East Protestantism includes diverse groups such as Adventists, Anabaptists, Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists (inclusive of the Holiness movement), Moravians, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Reformed, and Unitarians (depending on one's classification scheme) are all a part of the same family but have distinct doctrinal variations within each group—Lutherans see themselves not to be a part of the rest of what they call "Reformed Protestantism" due to radical differences in sacramental theology and historical approach to the Reformation itself (both Reformed and Lutherans see their reformation in the sixteenth century to be a 'reforming' of the Catholic Church, not a rejection of it entirely). From these come denominations, which in the West, have independence from the others in their doctrine.

The Catholic Church, due to their hierarchical structures, are not said to be made up of denominations, rather, they include kinds of regional councils and individual congregations and church bodies, which do not officially differ from one another in doctrine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren’t Anglican and Episcopal the same?

Anglican is the Church of England, Episcopalian is their American counterpart.

Episcopalians are part of the Anglican world wide communion.

[Anonymous]

You haven't mentioned Unitarians, or the current merger giving Unitarian-Universalist. Very popular among the upper classes in the DMV. Historically, the Unitarians did not believe in the Trinity, as the name implies, but the current Unitarian church has little historical connection to the dispute, which involved a lot of famous people in the 17th Century, (e.g. Isaac Newton). The Universalist church is very popular in the Midwest. Among its members were Frank Lloyd Wright, Ernest Hemmingway, and Carl Sandburg.

In New England, the Congregational church was popular (it has died out, unfortunately). I am not sure, but I believe each congregation gets to develop its own liturgy (correct me if I am wrong). Congregatioal churches tend to be beautiful, simple structures, with no ornamentation.

And no one has mentioned the Mormons! Major presence in DMV due to temple in Kensington ("Surrender Dorothy).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You haven't mentioned Unitarians, or the current merger giving Unitarian-Universalist. Very popular among the upper classes in the DMV. Historically, the Unitarians did not believe in the Trinity, as the name implies, but the current Unitarian church has little historical connection to the dispute, which involved a lot of famous people in the 17th Century, (e.g. Isaac Newton). The Universalist church is very popular in the Midwest. Among its members were Frank Lloyd Wright, Ernest Hemmingway, and Carl Sandburg.

In New England, the Congregational church was popular (it has died out, unfortunately). I am not sure, but I believe each congregation gets to develop its own liturgy (correct me if I am wrong). Congregatioal churches tend to be beautiful, simple structures, with no ornamentation.

And no one has mentioned the Mormons! Major presence in DMV due to temple in Kensington ("Surrender Dorothy).

That is because Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, etc. are fringe groups and considered cults compared to mainline Christianity. Mormons are so far removed from the historical origins and teachings of Christianity. Many Christian denominations may differ on theology, but all the mainline Christian denominations are very clear about the historical origins of Christianity as supposed to Mormonism. The perception is that Mormonism is an outlier when he comes to Christian theology and Christianity as a whole. Their views are more aligned with Joseph Smith than anything having to do with Jesus Christ or the teachings of Christ. There are far too many historical inaccuracies and cult characteristics with Mormonism to place them in the same conversation as Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, etc.

[Anonymous]

All Christian Denominations explained in 12 Minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzLS4O7YaUg

[Anonymous]

Do missionaries from different denominations ever fight with each other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do missionaries from different denominations ever fight with each other?

Huh? I volunteered in Haiti and the Catholic and Episcopalian churches were down the street from each other. They didn't fight. The Catholic Church priest (a Haitian) did ask my husband and I if we wanted to adopt an orphan.