Baptist Service

[ez3714]

I went to a Baptist service this past Sunday. Wow. I was shocked when I walked in; throughout all of it really. I couldn’t worship God there. It just seemed to; fake?
I still can’t find the word for it. It just doesn’t work. I was unable to take it seriously. I’m not trying to be offensive. I just can’t connect it and God.

Congratulations! You are well on your way to becoming a Baptist!

I am familiar with that particular type. Mom is 88; she and all her friends have attitudes you might recognise:

The Almighty is not in the service unless the choir director sings her favorite hymns. Nothing “Contemerry” is ever Godly; 1932 seems to be the dividing point in history between the Holy and the Contemerry. Song lyrics should come only from a hymnal and never Ever shown on a screen. Anyone wearing jeans is a drug dealer newly escaped from death row and should be pummeled by at least three Deacons while the Ladies Prayer Circle hold the scofflaw immobile. It’s o-k to sing the verses of a song, but never the choruses because that’s too much repetition. Each week, the Board of Trustees shall appoint a Designated Cougher. This person shall immediately commence a Death Rattle should any sermon go more than 15-seconds long or - God forbid - imply any one in the congregation may have comitted any sin in the past week / month / year.

Bottom line attitude is: If I ain’t comfortable, God ain’t here and I shouldn’t be either; the Church office will Hear about This!

But thank goodness that the first time I ever went to Mass, I realized every other church I’d been in did things incorrectly.

 

[RobbyS]

The canned prayer quote exactly describes how I felt when I started going to Mass with my then girlfriend and now wife. As a Baptist for my entire life, I saw it simply as canned prayers and thought it was just going through motions that seemed pointless. I could not wait to get outside! On the other hand, I saw something special in the Eucharist and could not reconcile the teachings of my church with those of the Bible.

The point of Catholic worship is the Real Presence of Christ. Once I realized that, nothing else seemed that important. I have to confess that I get annoyed when it appears people are just going through the motions, satisfying an obligation, or whatever, blowing into Mass late, not participating, etc. I now focus on Christ being right there and the rest goes out of focus.

“Canned prayers” have the advantage of being tried and true, and beautiful. One thing that bothers me about the new mass in English is how unpoetic the language is, at least as compared with the Anglican service. People used to complain about the old Latin mass because they couldn’t understand the words. But if one understood the meaning of the ritual,one could get as much out of the gestures as the words. A high mass was high theatre, and one could easily be caught up in the performance, to participate in it as a music lover participates in a familiar symphony, even though he can’t read music or play an instrument, or even sing himself.

 

[Tonks40]

That’s the gist in the differences between the Catholic Mass and a Baptist service. There is meaning, history, revelation, purpose, Divine Providence, Biblical support, tradition, beauty, unity, awe, and the Real Presence at each and every single Mass all over the world! Sure at Baptist church services, they may have a scripted agenda at best, but it was established because the pastor felt this would be the best way to conduct an hour or two.

When I participate at Mass, I participate as a member of the Body of Christ. We have a profound calling to His Supper, a desire by Him to be one with Him and his Church. We are not worthy to be called to sit at the table of the Bridegroom, yet He calls and asks us to partake in Him. And He will live in us. Really.

I’m glad you saw this Baptist service. It nice to have that reminder every once in a while as to what we have in the Mass.

 

[1edyson]

I’ve been to a handful of non-denominational and baptist services on the count of my gf, and I find some good fellowship, great music, and good preaching. But I did have a hard time finding a sense of reverence.

 

[sixofseven]

One thing I love about the Catholic Church is that I can go to any Catholic Church, anywhere in the whole world and know that I am getting the same thing. We truly are one body with ourselves here on earth and our brothers and sisters in purgatory and Heaven, all praying the same prayers, singing the same hymns, participating in the same Eucharist.

That alone is enough to get me through some of the Mass’s that are a bit less exciting than others.

I have found that the more I have studied my faith, the more each word at Mass means, the more I can apply the Homilies into my own life and the more I get a step closer to holiness.

Amazing.

I have attended Baptist services with my fiance and I find them generally good but with a big gaping hole that everyone just steps around, makes me sad.

 

[Georgia]

One thing I love about the Catholic Church is that I can go to any Catholic Church, anywhere in the whole world and know that I am getting the same thing. We truly are one body with ourselves here on earth and our brothers and sisters in purgatory and Heaven, all praying the same prayers, singing the same hymns, participating in the same Eucharist.

That alone is enough to get me through some of the Mass’s that are a bit less exciting than others.

I have found that the more I have studied my faith, the more each word at Mass means, the more I can apply the Homilies into my own life and the more I get a step closer to holiness.

Amazing.

I have attended Baptist services with my fiance and I find them generally good but with a big gaping hole that everyone just steps around, makes me sad.

Yes, one yawning gaping hole is in not having the Eucharist! A symbolic communion once a month compared to the Real Presence is the difference in reading about a football game in the paper and that of being the one scoring the winning touchdown.

As I moved on the journey into the Church, the recited prayers became more meaningful, especially when I thought about what I had done in my Baptist past. Brother Jones would be called on to lead us in prayer while we had our heads bowed and our eyes closed. I stood like everyone else, sneaking glances around, covertly looking at my watch, rocking on my heels, and so on. The person called on to do the prayer would be fumbling around for something that sounded good, this was especially true when I was called on, and would use lots of filler words to make it last an appropriate time. When you are in a service like that, listen for how many times the word “just” is used in one of those prayers.

How the extemporaneous prayer is more reverent now escapes me. Either form of prayer is done by another, but we can be assured we won’t have misstated theology inserted into the ones approved by the Church. The prayers are going to fit with the theme of the Mass as a key goes into the proper lock.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Those “prepared” readings are from the Bible. Can you think of something that should properly take the place of the prepared readings?

First of all, not all of the prepared readings are from the Bible and I want to make it clear that I’m not against responsive reading or corporate affirmations (or whatever a given denomination may call them) on principle. I grew up in the Methodist church which has many responsive readings and I have no problem with them, in and of themselves.

I was only stating that they did not seem authentic to me when I was in the Catholic church and that reciting readings is not a way that encourages me to worship of that creates a worshipful or reverent atmostphere to me. Again, the key words here being TO ME.

Second, why do they have to be replaced with anything? Why can’t we just use that time for other kinds of corporate worship or the preaching and teaching of God’s word or perhaps for someone to ask for prayer or to offer a testimony?

The canned prayer is also found in the Bible. The Psalms–again from the Bible.

First, not all of the Psalms are prayers. Second, not all prayers in the Bible are meant to be prayed by us.

sixofseven:

One thing I love about the Catholic Church is that I can go to any Catholic Church, anywhere in the whole world and know that I am getting the same thing.

Precisely why I love being a Baptist.

I can go into any Baptist church and have a very good idea what I’m going to hear. And that doesn’t stop with Baptist churches. I can go into Methodist or Presbyterian church or a Calvary Chapel or a non-denom, and know that I’m going to hear the same Gospel, the same texts, the same hymns, the same creeds and confessions.

Tonks:

That’s the gist in the differences between the Catholic Mass and a Baptist service. There is meaning, history, revelation, purpose, Divine Providence, Biblical support, tradition, beauty, unity, awe, and the Real Presence at each and every single Mass all over the world!

Other than “real presence”, how is that different from a Baptist service?

We have “meaning, history, revelation, purpose, divine providence, Biblical support, tradition, beauty, unity, and awe”, as well.

Sure at Baptist church services, they may have a scripted agenda at best, but it was established because the pastor felt this would be the best way to conduct an hour or two.

First of all, it may interest you to know that the pastor usually doesn’t dictate the order of worship.

Second, are you saying that it’s a bad thing to have an order of worship?

Cody:

I go to an Independent Baptist Church. My Pastor preaches from the NT and OT in the King James Bible. I’m not sure why that Baptist Church didn’t preach from the OT, since there is a lot of references in the OT that relate to the NT, especially when reading the Book of Revelation.

Yeah, I thought this was a pretty odd claim when I heard it, too. That has to have been an issue with that individual church.

Of course, more likely is that the text just wasn’t on the OT the day the person in the OP went.

Every Baptist church I know of teaches and preaches extensively on the OT. In fact, our church has a small, unaccredited Bible school and we offer several classes on the OT. In addition, this past Easter, our preacher preached a series that had to have been at least 75% OT.

Also, the name of my church is actually, Trinity Baptist Church. We believe the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Again, I noticed this was a strange claim, too.

By definition, Baptists affirm the Trinity. Just because we’re not preaching on it on a given day doesn’t mean that we don’t believe in it or that it is not a crucial doctrine.

Not all Baptist churches are the same. If you want to hear the preaching from my church you can go to this link and listen to the sermons posted…

lookandlive.org/home.html

God bless

Unfortunately, we don’t have a website, but if you want to hear some outstanding Baptist preaching, go here:

hcmissions.org/resources/sermons

 

[twopekinguys]

I go to an Independent Baptist Church. My Pastor preaches from the NT and OT in the King James Bible. I’m not sure why that Baptist Church didn’t preach from the OT, since there is a lot of references in the OT that relate to the NT, especially when reading the Book of Revelation.

Also, the name of my church is actually, Trinity Baptist Church. We believe the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

1 John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” KJV

Not all Baptist churches are the same. If you want to hear the preaching from my church you can go to this link and listen to the sermons posted…

lookandlive.org/home.html

God bless

I don’t doubt that your particulary church believes in the Trinity. Many protestant churches do. I was simply stating that the Baptist church I attended for several years never really focused on it. They would focus on Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

The church I attended also focused mainly on the New Testament. There were occasional references to the Old Testament, but the vast majority of sermons, and scripture references were New Testament.

Many of the ministers that would be assigned to that church would say, “I’m going to preach what the Holy Spirit tell me”, and that is all good, but they would never really seem to bring the Old Testament into it,to give the whole picture, but rather focus on a specific area in the New Testament.

God Bless

 

[JohnDeereFan]

I don’t doubt that your particulary church believes in the Trinity. Many protestant churches do. I was simply stating that the Baptist church I attended for several years never really focused on it. They would focus on Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

The church I attended also focused mainly on the New Testament. There were occasional references to the Old Testament, but the vast majority of sermons, and scripture references were New Testament.

Many of the ministers that would be assigned to that church would say, “I’m going to preach what the Holy Spirit tell me”, and that is all good, but they would never really seem to bring the Old Testament into it,to give the whole picture, but rather focus on a specific area in the New Testament.

God Bless

Actually, ministers aren’t “assigned” in Baptist churches.

 

[twopekinguys]

Actually, ministers aren’t “assigned” in Baptist churches.

Actually, one of the definitions of the word “assign” is “To select for a duty or office; appoint:”

I realize that most Baptist Chuches have a council of some sort that vote for, or elect their new pastor, but ultimately he is “assigned” to the position of pastor.

 

[Monica4316]

When I was non denominational I went to the type of church you describe…

I liked it there back then, but now I have to say that liturgy has far more reverence and beauty to it.

I visited my old church a while ago, and it was interesting, I missed the artwork, the kneelers, the holy water…

but most of all, I missed the Eucharist. It just felt… empty, without it.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Actually, one of the definitions of the word “assign” is “To select for a duty or office; appoint:”

I realize that most Baptist Chuches have a council of some sort that vote for, or elect their new pastor, but ultimately he is “assigned” to the position of pastor.

Baptist preachers are not assigned to their churches.

 

[twopekinguys]

Baptist preachers are not assigned to their churches.

If God put them there, then he “assigned” them to that church.

Quibbling over semantics is silly, and really has nothing to do with the discussion at hand.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

If God put them there, then he “assigned” them to that church.

No, neither a church hierachy nor God assigns a pastor to a Baptist church.

Quibbling over semantics is silly, and really has nothing to do with the discussion at hand.

It’s not semantics. It’s a very important detail that calls into question your knowledge of the workings of Baptist churches.

 

[Paul3144]

I’m sorry some people find Baptist services lacking. I find that worshiping God through prayer, music, study of the Word, and celebration of the ordinances to be very spiritually uplifting.

And to those that were implying that we have no set liturgy, you’re wrong. We don’t typically use the word liturgy, but we do have a way of doing things that fulfills the church’s purposes.

 

[Georgia]

Two points here:

The way the pastor was picked when I was a Baptist was first, a pastor had to leave, either by his choice or by being forced out. A committee, usually the twelve active deacons of the church, would begin a search for a new pastor. Candidates were invited to preach a Sunday morning service. Once the committee found a candidate it liked, the matter would be referred to the congregation for a vote. If that passed, and I never saw one motion fail, the potential pastor would get a letter calling him to be pastor of the church. It was up to him at that point. Some found other places to go or chose to stay where they were and others took the job.

Liturgy was a very fluid thing and still is at my old church. Some Sunday services will be given over to cantatas, programs about missions, presentations from traveling groups, or the standard preaching service. There could be any combination of the above. Once a month, we had a communion service after the regular sermon was ended. The elements were grape juice and broken saltine crackers. They were passed out the same way the offering plates were. We had a five minute or so sermon about being guilty of the Body and the Blood of Christ if we partook unworthily, but it was viewed as only a symbolic communion and not as the Real Presence. The bottom line is that there were no fixed rules in place to govern liturgical practice.

If it happened to be a normal Sunday, the order of service was this:
Begin with the congregation standing and singing a hymn.
A prayer from the pastor.
Congregation is seated and there are opening remarks.
Song
Announcements
Welcome to the visitors
Stand, shake hands and sing a welcome chorus
Prayer
Be seated and the offering plate is passed. A hymn is sung during the offering.
Choir sings or some group from the choir or from the congregation does a song
Sermon - The sermon was normally given by the pastor or by an associate pastor, but it could be a deacon or from the laity.
Prayer
Invitation (altar call) with the congregation or the choir singing an invitation hymn such as “Softly and Tenderly” or “Just As I Am.” How long that ran was up to the preacher. It would be one, two, or three songs.
Closing prayer by someone from the congregation while the pastor made his way to the rear of the church to greet the people.

If we had a college singing group from a fundamentalist college it could be opening prayer, announcements, welcome to the visitors, introduce the group, its presentation, and closing prayer.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

That’s really unfortunate. I find that our worship is very meaningful and I’m always disappointed when the service ends.

On the other hand, I remember my days in the Catholic church, when we’d recite this canned prayer and that prepared reading and everything was just so mechanical that it was more like going through a ritual than any kind of worship.

Before I “poped”, I attended two Baptist Churches, & I’m grateful I did; there were some admirable people in them ​

It’s an awful pity that Catholic worship should seem “canned” - people are not encouraged to appreciate the character of liturgical worship; & devotions are no replacement. Catholics have so much - & are encouraged so little to appreciate it. To be brutal, I think Christ is wasted on Christians . How can people possibly call the Liturgy “boring” ?!?!?! BTW - all worship is a form of ritual

 

[Monica4316]

I don’t think that liturgy (ie: the Mass) is boring at all… how can it be boring with Christ physically present there?

 

[JOL]

I was raised Catholic and married Baptist. For the first 12 years of my married life I was happy to be in a Baptist church. I really was not well catechized as a child and did little to improve on that in my adult life. It was not until Baptist missionaries likened Catholicism to a cult during a question and answer period that I really started to learn. See, I was not looking to revert (that would be difficult in my marriage) I just wanted to defend my families religion in front of my children. I could not raise my children to believe my family was cultists. I just didn’t know how to do that, so I started reading. Now I am a revert (and I am right, it has been VERY difficult with the husband, phew).

I used to love the Baptist service. The music, the sermons, the fellowship. It was in the Baptist faith that I realized a need for a more in depth relationship with my God and creator. I remember when I realized I could no longer be Baptist. I cried. (during a Wed night service). I love each and every one of those people at my old church. And they love me. Even now.

However, when I go to a Baptist service (as I must because I have three small children with a very good Baptist man) I long for much more. All the singing, sermons and fellowship was nice on the first level. But now I need more. Beginning with the call to repentance, the bowing for God (true bible study worship really), the gathering and listening to not one, not two but THREE Bible passages read to the crowd (and not just one or two lines as often happens in my old church). The singing of Psalms, which connects me to old Testament believers of God. Imagine, they may been odd tunes but they have been sung to the same glorious God through the ages!

Then the prayers. Where EACH and EVERY mass we pray for the leaders, the poor, the sick, the lost, the unborn etc… Just last week I was at my old church and we didn’t pray for any of those this time. We prayed for ourselves. That we would hear the message and apply it to our lives and live it. Which is great, but during an hour we can’t pray for more as a group?

Then where we tell God how great he is. How we just spend time adoring Him, reverencing Him, bowing to Him, spending time in silence just being in awe of HIM. Together and united with all the angels and all the saints in heaven. Wow!

Then we get to the Eucharist.

Now my husband HATES the liturgy of the Mass. It is boring. He doesn’t learn anything. He doesn’t feel like we have worshipped (fellowshipped, learned and sang songs he knows). He dissects every word said and twists them around. He won’t even offer the sign of peace and say “Peace be with you”. I mean, really.

I even gave him Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, where Mr. Warren says something to the effect, “If you have ever left a service and said ‘I got nothing out of that’ then you were there for the wrong reasons. Worship is not to make you feel better, it is for giving glory to God”. But he hasn’t read that book yet.

So as weird as the Baptist service is to us, the Catholic Mass is equally puzzling to non-Catholics who don’t understand it, and are not used to it.

I am very inconsistent when it comes to coming here and posting, but when I first started reading your post, I had to check the poster name to be sure I didn’t write it, because I swear, it was like reading my own journey. I will post my thoughts in a few, I just wanted to say this at the moment.

God bless,
JOL

 

[pattynicole]

I’m sorry some people find Baptist services lacking. I find that worshiping God through prayer, music, study of the Word, and celebration of the ordinances to be very spiritually uplifting.

And to those that were implying that we have no set liturgy, you’re wrong. We don’t typically use the word liturgy, but we do have a way of doing things that fulfills the church’s purposes.

I’m sorry some people find Baptist services lacking. I find that worshiping God through prayer, music, study of the Word, and celebration of the ordinances to be very spiritually uplifting.

And to those that were implying that we have no set liturgy, you’re wrong. We don’t typically use the word liturgy, but we do have a way of doing things that fulfills the church’s purposes.

Then you would fall in love with the Mass.

Yes we are light on “study of the word” . We gather to hear God’s word read. First from the old scriptures, then we sing the Pslams, and then hear the letters the Apostle’s wrote to the early Christians always concluding with the Gospels. The homily is very short. Just a few words to reflect on the meaning and provide guidance for when we “go now to love and serve the Lord”. If you are unfamiliar with that quote, it is a charge to us at the end of every Mass.

We don’t do full out study of the word, roll up our sleeves and dig deep into it. Anyone wishing to do that is encouraged to do it, outside of the Mass.

The Mass is for God’s benefit. We bow to him, kneel to him, repent, ask forgiveness, tell God how unworthy we are and how Holy He is, how Glorious he is, ask God to have mercy on us and grant us His peace and finally to receive him in the Eucharist (which IS for us). I realize that whole Eucharist thing is hard for someone raised Southern Baptist to believe. I can appreciate that. Even if you are under the mind set of “no way!” you should pray about it, ask God for discernment on this issue, read John 6, the Early Church Father’s to get some perspective as to where “we Catholics” get these ideas.

Liturgy is more than just the order of worship. Certainly the majority of denominations has a set order to follow (or chaos ensues really!!). People need order, organization and certain guidelines to follow to complete what they set out to do. Liturgy is more than that. It is not a value statement to say you are or are not liturgical. So please do not stress when we speak of liturgy. We just really like it, most of us anyways.

Peace be with you.