Grand Canyon University SOC-412: Protestant Denominations Analysis

This assignment, completed for SOC-412 at Grand Canyon University, compares and contrasts two major Protestant denominations: Baptist and Methodist. The first part of the assignment involves a chart detailing the beliefs, lifestyles, rituals, and organizational structures of each denomination. The second part is a comparative analysis, discussing the similarities and differences between the two denominations. The analysis highlights key distinctions such as differing views on biblical interpretation, communion practices, and the role of church leadership, emphasizing how these differences shape their respective approaches to faith and practice. The assignment references relevant academic sources to support the comparison.

Running head: DIFFERENTIATING TWO MAJOR PROTESTANT DENOMINATORS
Differentiating Two Major Protestant Denominators
Name of the university
Name of the student
Author note

1DIFFERENTIATING TWO MAJOR PROTESTANT DENOMINATORS
Part 1
DENOMINATION 1. Baptist DENOMINATION2. Methodist
Beliefs
Baptists believe in Bible freedom and prefer
to practice Bible lessons on their own
understandings. They do not trust the theory
of God’s presence in every element in this
universe.
Methodists considers new testament as
ultimate source of Bible. The root lies in the
theology and worship of Christianity.
Lifestyle
Baptists believe in a liberal religious ethics,
which involves regular worship, yet no
religious purpose cannot be fulfilled on
behalf of someone else. They do not
consider the uniformity of church and state
in their lifestyle.
According to John Wesley, Methodists are
not allowed to harm anyone and instructed
to avoid every evil company. As well as
public worship and family or private prayer
are the part of their lifestyle.
Rituals
They practice closed communion with the
group of believers of baptism.
Methodists’ rituals baptized people of all
ages by sprinkling holy water and prefers to

2DIFFERENTIATING TWO MAJOR PROTESTANT DENOMINATORS
observe an open communion.
Organization
Sothern Baptists society has been recently
identified as more strict and rigid than
American society of Baptists. Yet, both the
groups work for various social issues.
Methodists’ organizations have a
community of interlinked group of
churches.
Part 2
Denominational Protestantism refers to religious orientations of people of Christian
culture. They maintain different practices without disrespecting other religious beliefs.
Denominational or mainline Protestant rituals are flexible according to the circumstances and
differences of views within one group (Dougherty, Martinez & Martí, 2015). Regular
practice of worship is routine based and performed by adequately educated and professional
clergyman. Denominational Protestants believe in numerous opinions on morality, human
sexuality, divorce and abortion law. There are very few differences between protestant
denominators in United States. The culture has evolved beyond any denominational
discriminations. Still there are very few differentiating factors, which guide the society. Still,
we can consider Baptists and Methodists as two major denominators of protestant. Although
they both are part of Christianity, along with similarities, there are numerous differences of

3DIFFERENTIATING TWO MAJOR PROTESTANT DENOMINATORS
principles as well (Rhodes, 2015). Acknowledging the supreme authority of God, both the
denominators have separated themselves.
Baptists practice Holy Communion only with the believers. They are not dependant
on the leaders of the church and allowed to interpret the Bible as per their individual
understanding, it is important to highlight that they do not recruit any female pastors. They
are the believer of the lessons what Christ has elaborated as well as they symbolizes
Christianity based on water baptism and Holy Communion.
While Baptists practice a closed communion, Methodists are opposite in this case.
Methodists invite everyone irrespective of believer and non-believers to participate in their
Holy Communion. They have admitted the authority of the bishop to execute religious
purposes. Bishops have the authority to appoint and remove both the male and female pastors
to their church. Therefore, comparing these two denominators few key points can be derived.
 Baptists do not consider the authority of a governing body in the case of
churches. Whereas, Methodists are dependent on the lessons of John and
Charles Wesley mostly.
 The way they observed Holy Communion that is different. Baptists are the
believer of ‘closed’ communion while Methodists practice an ‘open’ one.
 The process of appointing pastors are not similar. Baptists’ pastors are male
and can be appointed by the native churches. On the other hand, Methodists
believe in appointing both the male and female pastors by Bishop only.

4DIFFERENTIATING TWO MAJOR PROTESTANT DENOMINATORS
References
Dougherty, K. D., Martinez, B. C., & Martí, G. (2015). Congregational diversity and
attendance in a mainline Protestant denomination. Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion, 54(4), 668-683.
Rhodes, R. (2015). The complete guide to Christian denominations: Understanding the
history, beliefs, and differences. Harvest House Publishers.