What Baptists Can Learn from Catholics

What Baptists can learn from Catholics should not be dismissed simply because there is along a distinct divide between these two faiths. Their common creeds and their shared Christianity make t hem closely enough related to be able to derive improvement for themselves from the positive aspects of the other faith. As a lay pastoral associated within the Catholic tradition, as well as an occasional visitor to a variety of Baptist congregations some ways in which Baptists can learn from Catholics seem to stand out.

In visiting Baptists communities and hearing their preaching I can't help but be impressed by the effort that goes in to the long sermons sometimes lasting close to an hour and always marked by countless scriptural citations. As much as the sheer determination of ministers to pack every possible bit of preaching into their service as seems advisable, my Catholic tradition seems to offer a suggestion. My own parish priest used to cling to the concept that if you couldn't fit it on a single sheet of paper you might as well start over.

The thought was that the concentration level of human beings is limited. After about the first 10 minutes those who are actually taking in what you are saying begins to fall off drastically. This was not a theological point over which dedicated folk of divergent faiths might disagree. This seemed to me a statement that apply any time people got together and listened to a speaker. While audiences certainly can be trained and hopefully learn to listen a bit longer with good comprehension, there is reason to think that what Baptists can learn from Catholics is that "more" is not always "better". If your goal is to get a particular point across to a congregation there is a lot to be said for reducing your talk time and making your words count. You can pass out written material that will allow your congregation to pursue your point later at their convenience if you think that will help them get your message in depth. But honestly all the citations and page turning may not be getting the results you hope to produce.

It was amazing to me how the Baptist congregation is brought through what to Catholics seems like a very long service only to discover that- there's more. Many Baptist congregations follow Sunday service with more scripture study in Sunday School programs for all generations. Extending the Sunday gathering through some type of spirit centered fellowship would seem worthwhile, but for Catholics the idea of adding more study of scripture, to what is already an extremely prolonged study of scripture is frankly overkill.

What Baptists perhaps can learn from Catholics in this regard is to lighten up a bit. Sure bring folks together after service but make sure that the programs you offer to folks aren't too repetitious or too book heavy. It is possible to continue to share fellowship and to live the Word, without more preaching and scripture searches. A softer post service approach might be something valuable that Baptists can learn from Catholics.

As much as both Catholics and Baptists use basically the same Bible it is interesting to note how different the liturgical centerpieces are. In the Catholic faith all aspects of the liturgy are directed towards the eventual celebration of the Eucharist. For Baptists, a different emphasis is noted. In the Baptist churches I have visited the Eucharist is only celebrated once a month. The liturgy points to and centers on the breaking open of God's word. Perhaps the communion celebration would have more meaning in the Baptist church, if, as was the case with the earliest Christians, it was a regular part of the liturgy each week. This would not have to diminish the breaking open of the word but would allow for a continuation of practices found in scripture.

Finally, perhaps Baptists could learn from Catholics a lesson in organization of worship. I have noted that the custom has been in several Baptist churches that I have visited to institute 4 or 6 or even 8 week series of study on a particular topic. The most recent one I heard was a month long look at Satan and evil in the world. While this approach is not without merit on its own, Baptist might learn something from Catholics by considering the Catholic liturgical year. Like clock work Catholics walk through Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary time as to a drummer. Each year the seasons are celebrated to the tune of a different Gospel. But every Catholic Church is on the same basic topic universally. The sermons will vary but the focal point for all Catholics everywhere is the same. People come to know what will be discussed seasonally and don't need lots of introductory framework to get to the point.

There are rich traditions of worship in both the Catholic and Baptist faith. But there is room for improvement in both. There certainly is no reason why one Christian group can not benefit from the successful practices used by another as they both work to follow Christ.