Walk into a Methodist sanctuary on a Sunday and you might hear an organ swell, watch an infant be sprinkled at the font, and see a bishop's name printed in the bulletin. Walk into a service here at Christians in Honesdale and you'll hear voices only, watch a believer go under the water, and find no organizational chart above the local elders. Same Lord, same love for the Bible, but two very different pictures of what a church should look like on a Sunday morning.
Methodists and a congregation like ours share a real love for Jesus and a high respect for the Bible, but we differ in a few clear ways: where final authority rests, how the church is organized, how and why baptism is done, whether instruments are used in worship, and how often the Lord's Supper is observed. None of this is meant to run down Methodists, who do a great deal of good in the name of Christ. It's meant to lay the differences out plainly so you can compare them against Scripture for yourself.
Two Different Starting Points
Methodism traces back to John and Charles Wesley, two Anglican brothers who launched a renewal movement inside the Church of England in the 1730s, aiming to bring discipline and warmth back into a church they felt had gone cold. “Methodist” actually started as a nickname — a jab at how methodically they organized their prayer and Bible study — and it stuck. Charles alone wrote thousands of hymns still sung today, including “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” By 1784, the movement had become its own denomination, complete with bishops, conferences, and eventually the Book of Discipline that still governs it.
We're not trying to be a new movement at all. Here at Christians in Honesdale, we are simply Christians, aiming to be nothing more than the church Jesus said He would build (Matthew 16:18), organized only the way the New Testament describes, with nothing added since.
The Big Five, at a Glance
Where Does Final Authority Rest?
This is the root difference, and most of the others grow from it. Methodist churches are guided by a body of teaching beyond the Bible: Articles of Religion, a Book of Discipline, and the Wesleyan tradition, all read alongside Scripture. These are meant to help, not to replace the Bible, but in practice they carry real authority.
We try to hold the Bible alone as the standard, with no creed, catechism, or discipline book added to it. Our aim is to speak where the Bible speaks and stay quiet where it is quiet, taking the Scriptures as complete for faith and practice: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). When the Bible is the only rulebook, you don't need a second one.
How Is the Church Organized?
Methodism uses a connectional structure. Bishops oversee regions, clergy are appointed through conferences, and congregations answer upward through that system.
We have no such hierarchy. Our congregation is self-governing, led by its own elders — men who meet the qualifications the New Testament lists (1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9). Peter told these elders to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Peter 5:2), each caring for the local church, not for churches elsewhere. There's no headquarters and no office above the local congregation — a decision made here doesn't clear a regional board, and a struggling congregation two states away doesn't answer to us, either. Christ alone is the head of the whole church (Ephesians 1:22–23).
What About Baptism?
Here the difference is easy to see on a Sunday. Methodist churches baptize infants as well as adults and accept sprinkling or pouring, understanding baptism mainly as a sign of God's grace.
We practice baptism only for those old enough to believe and repent, and only by immersion, understanding it as the point at which a penitent believer's sins are washed away. And it could be on any day of the week, any time of the day. Peter's instruction was, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Paul describes the act itself as a burial: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). A burial calls for immersion, and a burial with Christ calls for a faith the person already holds.
What Does Sunday Worship Sound Like?
Most Methodist services include instrumental music and choirs, following a set liturgy.
Our worship is a cappella — sung by the whole congregation without instruments, following the New Testament's own description: “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Ephesians 5:19). It's not that we think instruments are wrong to own or enjoy — it's that when the New Testament describes the church at worship, it describes voices, and we've chosen to stick to the pattern as written.
How Often Do We Observe the Lord's Supper?
Most Methodist congregations observe the Lord's Supper monthly or quarterly.
We observe it every first day of the week, the pattern seen in the early church: “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them” (Acts 20:7). “To break bread” there most likely refers to the Lord's Supper, and it's why they gathered that day in the first place.
What Do We Agree On?
It's worth pausing here, because the differences above can make two churches sound like they have nothing in common. They have quite a lot in common. Methodists and a congregation like ours both confess one God in three persons, the full deity and humanity of Jesus, His atoning death and bodily resurrection, and His promised return. We both hold the Bible to be the inspired word of God, we both baptize in obedience to Christ's command, we both gather to remember His death at the Table, and we're both trying, imperfectly, to love God and love our neighbor. The differences we've described are real, but they sit on top of a shared foundation, not in place of one.
Quick Questions People Ask
Is a church of Christ the same thing as a Methodist church?
No. They're two distinct traditions with different starting points. Methodism grew out of the 18th-century Wesleyan revival inside the Church of England. A congregation like ours isn't trying to be a denomination at all — we're aiming to look like the New Testament church, without an organizational structure layered on top.
Do Methodists and the church of Christ baptize the same way?
No. Methodists baptize infants and adults by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, understood mainly as a sign of God's grace. We baptize by immersion only, and only for those old enough to believe and repent, understanding baptism as the point where a penitent believer's sins are washed away (Acts 2:38).
Why doesn't a church of Christ use instruments in worship?
Because the New Testament's own description of church music — “singing and making melody… with your heart” (Ephesians 5:19) — describes voices, not instruments. We've chosen to follow that pattern rather than add to it.
How often should the Lord's Supper be observed?
We take our cue from Acts 20:7, where the earliest Christians gathered “on the first day of the week… to break bread.” That's why we observe it every Sunday rather than monthly or quarterly.
So Which One Should You Look Into?
Differences like these can make it sound like the goal is to win an argument. It isn't. The goal is to read the New Testament for yourself and ask a simple question: what did the first Christians actually believe and do? We'd only add one honest note — we're an independent congregation with no central office speaking for us, so we can only tell you about ourselves. What we describe here is how we understand the Bible, and other groups may land differently. What we can promise is that this is who we are.
Come See for Yourself
The best way to compare any two churches isn't to weigh their traditions against each other, but to lay both beside the Bible. Open the New Testament, read how the earliest church, while the apostles were still alive, worshiped and organized and came to Christ, and measure everything — including us — against what you find. We'd be glad to open it with you and answer anything you want to ask.
You can schedule a free Bible study, read more about who we are, or reach out to plan a visit. Come and see for yourself, and take all the time you need.
When we gather:
We meet at 416 Main Street, Suite D, Honesdale, PA 18431. For your convenience please park and enter at the rear of the building.