So what exactly is the difference?

[Floweryfields]

I can tell you the pentecostal part from experience....

Basically pentecostal churches (named after when God sent down his holy spirit in the bible) believe in things of the holy spirit more than other churches. This usually manifests in a number of ways in the pentecostal church - lively worship (raising of hands, clapping [happy clappers], dancing), the speaking of tongues and interpretation of tongues. Praying for and laying on hands when you pray for someone as well. ETA I'm not sure I'd agree with the comment above that pentecostals are more concerned with the holy spirit than God or Jesus, yes He (the holy spirit) does play a role in the church, but they are a trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Salvation is through belief in Jesus.

We are encouraged to read our bibles and ask God to reveal himself to us through his word and to pray. Other denominations are given specific prayers to pray - but to me, prayer is more like an honest conversation with God.

Pentecostal churches believe the bible is the infalible word of God, as it was written without anyone's additions (like the catholic bible has eg). The version of bible doesn't really matter - everyone has their favourites - they are all the same just in a different tone of language if you like. We believe in full imersion baptism when the person is of the age to decide for themselves. A baby may have a dedication ceremony instead of a baptism - up to the parents really. Everyone is welcome to take communion regardless of their faith when attending (some parents choose to have their chidlren wait until they are old enough to make a decision before allowing them to take communion), there is no confirmation or anything required.

In my experience pentecostal churches are generous in their mission work - mine supports several orphanages in India and other poor countries. And we are usually good givers.

We have both male and female pastors - who have normally done some sort of bible college. And marriage is encouraged for sure!

I go to a pentecostal church and I also understand where your brother is coming from. 'Regular' churches (read standard denominational churches like anglican, uniting, etc) are far more sedate if you are a regular pentecostal attendee.



*Is your brother single and 35+ by any chance?

[leckert]

ETA I'm not sure I'd agree with the comment above that pentecostals are more concerned with the holy spirit than God or Jesus, yes He (the holy spirit) does play a role in the church, but they are a trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Salvation is through belief in Jesus.

I guess what I was trying to say is that Pentecostals place more of a focus on the work of the Holy Spirit than other denominations.
Lutherans tend to focus on grace - the salvation through faith rather than works (having to do stuff to get to heaven). Catholics have traditionally more focused works for salvation but that's not quite what it was. Lutherans do good works in response to the fact that we are saved. We do have a number of international aid agencies that we as a denomination support that are in troubled areas of the world.

Major denominations also have a range of worship styles within the wider denomination. You have high church (very formal and structured/highly traditional) through to contemporary (with bands, not always with set formats/liturgy) and combinations inbetween.

Pentecostal churches believe the bible is the infalible word of God, as it was written without anyone's additions (like the catholic bible has eg). The version of bible doesn't really matter - everyone has their favourites - they are all the same just in a different tone of language if you like

this is pretty much true for most denominations. When the bible was being written in it's current form, there were some disputes over a number of books in the bible which is why the Catholics have more books in their versions, typically called the Apocrypha. There were a number of criteria that the original compilers placed on which writings/books were going to be acceptable for inclusion and the Apocrypha ones didn't quite meet all the criteria but did meet most. The different versions are just different ways of translating the meaning of the bible - there are words in Ancient Greek & Latin that we don't have words for in English so the translations vary to show the different ways of getting those ideas across.

[HotI]

There can be big differences between different churches within the same denomination. Just like any community group, there are cultural variations between churches and what works for some people will not work for others.