Church and sacraments

Baptism, Holy Communion, the creeds, and the churches themselves: what Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Episcopalians teach, and how they differ from Catholic, Orthodox, and evangelical Christians.

Baptism
Christians should be baptized, the ordinary way into Christ’s church, and God’s grace also reaches beyond the font, as Jesus’ promise to the thief shows.
Going to church
Christians have met on Sundays since the first century to pray, hear Scripture, and share Communion, and the church welcomes back all who have been away.
Catholics and Protestants
Catholics and Protestants share the Trinity, Christ, and the creeds. They differ on Scripture and tradition, the pope, sacraments, and Mary and the saints.
Orthodox and Catholic Christians
Catholics and Orthodox were one church until the Great Schism of 1054. They differ over the pope and the filioque but share bishops, sacraments, and Mary.
The Apostles’ Creed
The Apostles’ Creed is the ancient baptismal creed of the Western church, said at baptisms and in daily prayer by most Protestant churches.
What Lutherans believe
Lutherans believe God saves people by grace alone, through faith in Christ. They confess the ancient creeds and the Augsburg Confession of 1530.
What Methodists believe
Methodists believe God’s grace reaches every person, forgives sinners through faith in Christ, and makes them holy in love, as John Wesley taught.
What Episcopalians believe
Episcopalians hold the faith of the creeds, read Scripture with tradition and reason, worship from the Book of Common Prayer, and are led by bishops.
What Presbyterians believe
Presbyterians believe in the sovereign grace of God, the authority of Scripture, and church government by elders, as taught by John Calvin and John Knox.
Latter-day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses
Latter-day Saints call themselves Christians and honor Jesus, but their view of God departs from the Nicene Creed, so other churches rebaptize them.
Episcopalians and Catholics
The Episcopal and Catholic churches share creeds, bishops, and sacraments. Episcopalians reject papal authority, ordain women, and allow married priests.
The mainline churches on baptism
Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians baptize infants and adults by pouring or immersion, only once, and accept other churches’ baptisms.
The mainline churches on Holy Communion
Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians teach that Christ is truly present in Communion and welcome Christians from other churches.
Mainline Protestantism
Mainline churches are the historic American Protestant denominations, such as the ELCA, the PC(USA), the United Methodist Church, and the Episcopal Church.
Mary, the mother of Jesus
Christians honor Mary as the mother of Jesus, and the creeds confess Christ born of the Virgin. Churches differ on her later life and on praying to her.
Leaving a church and finding a new one
Christians may leave a congregation for good reasons. Leave with grace, give church hurt time to heal, and look for a healthy church to call home.
The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the statement of faith from the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), confessing one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Holy Communion
Holy Communion is the meal Jesus gave the church at the Last Supper. Most churches teach that Christ is truly present in it and received by faith.
Confession
Confession to a priest is not required in the mainline churches. You can confess directly to God, and private confession is there for those who want it.
Disability and the body of Christ
People with disabilities bear God's image and belong fully to Christ's body. Jesus rejected blaming disability on sin, and the risen Christ bore wounds.
Modern saints and witnesses
Bonhoeffer, King, Romero, Tutu, Pauli Murray, Dorothy Day, and other modern Christians the churches remember as saints and witnesses to Christ.
Operation Reformation
Operation Reformation, first called Operation Reconquista, wants young conservatives to retake the mainline churches. The doors were already open.