Comparing a Methodist and a Catholic Church

Authors Avatar

R.E. Coursework

Comparing a Methodist and a Catholic Church

Methodist

        The Pulpit is where the bible is read from. It is in the centre of the front of the church. This shows us Methodists believe in the word of god and it is the most important part of their services. The liturgy is usually 30-40 minutes long where as, for a Catholic the most important part of their mass is Communion and there is only a short liturgy. Methodist preachers choose their readings they do not have set readings as in the Catholic church. They may choose their readings to help people who come to church in their everyday lives. They may also reflect on issues that may involve everybody. The recent news stories for example. This shows use that a Methodist service is more free and open than a Catholic Mass. Baptism, the same in a Catholic church, is very important to Methodists they believe Baptism is used to bring people into the family of god. Unlike Catholics they believe this is the only sacrament needed to become a member of gods family. This shows Methodists believe you must be baptised to become a member of God’s family. This is because before Jesus began preaching he was baptised. It says this in the bible, which is the most important to Methodists because they see it as the word of God, as do Catholics.

The Organ was at the front of the church and very large. This shows that Methodists believe singing is a very important part of the service. They believe singing is the strongest and the best way to pray, as do Catholics. They believe God will listen more if you sing. The chapel was not highly decorated because they believe you do not need an elaborately decorated church to pray to God. They see it as a distraction which will stop them fully concentrating on what they are praying about. Unlike Catholics, they do not pray to statues of the saints because they believe you have a personal relationship with God so you do not need to pray to the saints because you can pray straight to God. They also believe that Catholics worship the Intermediaries, not ask them for help to pray. Methodists do not perform Communion every time they meet on a Sunday. They have Communion about once a month. They do not use unleavened bread they just use normal bread. This shows us more that they see the bible to be more important than Communion because they believe God is present during the Liturgy not during the Communion. They do not see Communion as a sacrament; they see it as reminder of what Jesus did. Wine is not used, just a grape juice. It is given out in small glasses not from one chalice as Catholics do. They see this as a sign of sharing.

Join now!

Catholic

        The layout of the Catholic Church is quite like a typical cruciform church with the exception of the North and South Transepts. From the outside you can see this building was made to be a church. Inside is highly decorated which shows us Catholics believe God is present in the church at all times, they see the church as holy ground especially behind the alter where the Tabernacle is. The church is open quite a lot so people can come in off the street and pray. In a Catholic Church Communion takes place every Sunday. They use ...

This is a preview of the whole essay