Recently, I have been thinkin about going to a Lutheran church. I have always went to Baptist and I am really not sure what the differences are between these. Can someone please give me a little insight.
P.S. This is a serious question...please no silly answers from atheists or satan worshippers or anything like that. :)
2007-12-26 05:32:41 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
My husband is a Baptist pastor. If we weren't Baptist's we would either be Lutherans or Presbyterians.
Baptists tend to be unformal. We tend to have a "family feel" in our churches. People talk a lot before worship starts. Unfortunately in a lot of Baptist churches the scripture is light. This means that the pastor preaches a small section of scripture and then tells a story to help the congregation understand. Baptist churches also tend to give a salvation message frequently. They ask people to "Ask Jesus into their hearts".
Lutherans and Presbyterians have a "formal feel". The sanctuary tends to be quiet and you have the feel as if you are entering a "holy place". They may not give a salvation message every week because they assume that the congregation is already saved and they need the meat of the Bible.
Recently the Lutheran church has had to deal with ordination of homosexual ministers.
Some Presbyterian church allows women to be preachers.
Many Baptists still hold that a woman should not be a preacher.
Our Baptist church believes that a woman shouldn't teach men inside the church but they are to work with the children. In our Baptist church we are serious. We try to have a friendly atmosphere that ushers you into the throne room of god with a lot of scripture. We have adopted some things from other denominations like focusing on the Advent.
There a many positive things about each denomination. We had a strong Christian leave our church for the Lutheran church. He likes the formality of it but he still comes back to visit us sometimes because he misses the family feel and friendliness of our church.
As long as the church has a high view of scripture, a Lutheran church may be the right church for you.
Blessings to you during your searching.
2007-12-26 05:54:16 · answer #1 · answered by Red-dog-luke 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I, too, grew up in a Baptist church. My childhood church was great. It was a small-town church - very helpful, very friendly, and outreaching. I received a strong biblical foundation from there.
I then moved to Georgia and attended a Baptist church there. the Pastor had a Doctorate in Theology and his sermons were challenging, thought-provoking, and entertaining. He left to move to another church and the church called a new seminary graduate. This guy turned the church into an NRA meeting. It was like the Rush Limbaugh show every week. Politics soon subverted the Bible so I left.
I attended a Methodist church there but moved to Ohio shortly after because of work. I visited many churches but felt led to the Lutheran church. I found it biblically sound and pretty-centered (not right-wing wacky or off-the-wall liberal).
I've remained a Lutheran ever since.
The BIG difference is the manner of joining the church. The Baptists believe in "coming forward" and making a public statement of faith during the altar call. They also believe in baptism through submersion and do not baptize infants. You must be old enough to accept Chist as your Savior by your own volition.
Lutherans baptize by "sprinkling" and they allow infants to be baptized. Youth join the church through the Confirmation process.
My experience is that the Baptist service is a little more "free form" while the Lutheran service a more formal and litugical. However, the Liturgy is biblically-based with three Bible readings and a Psalter - I find it very fulfilling spiritually.
Is that what you are looking for? I hope that helps. Feel free to email me if you have any further questions.
2007-12-26 13:45:31 · answer #2 · answered by Antioch 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are different types of Lutheran
Liberal :Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
Conservative: Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod among others
Check out their official sites
The biggest difference between Baptists and Lutherance is the sacramental: Lutherans baptize babies and believe in baptismal regeneration and Baptists do not
Lutheran sbelieve the Jesus is actually present in Holy Communion and Baptists do not.
Lutherans are more liturgical than baptists
Check out the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Large and Small Catechisms(available on the Web)
2007-12-26 13:46:21 · answer #3 · answered by James O 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm an atheist, but I'm not giving a 'silly' answer. Even if I were a believer, I would not join the church founded by Martin Luther under ANY circumstances. By his own words, he is guilty of EXTREME anti-semitism, saying that Jewish homes, shops, and torahs should be burned, and the Jews themselves driven out. He said that women are fit only to keep bearing babies until they die, or else as whores. He was NOT a nice man. I don't say that this necessarily indicts the church that bears his name, but you might want to look into his other beliefs before joining. Just google Martin Luther, plenty of information is out there.
2007-12-26 16:50:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
If you're interested, this is a popular forum for Lutheran Christians, you may find more answers here...
http://christianforums.com/f367-theologia-crucis-lutherans.html
2007-12-27 14:50:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't it Lootherans?
2007-12-26 13:35:30 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋