The Congregational Union of England and Wales brought together churches in England and Wales in the

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

tradition between 1831 and 1966. The Congregational churches emerged from the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

movement, each church operating independently and autonomously. The movement grew with the

Evangelical revival The First Great Awakening (sometimes Great Awakening) or the Evangelical Revival was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its thirteen North American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affected ...

of the 18th century, and in urban areas following the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. Despite their independence, many churches built links with each other, and several county unions of churches were formed. In 1831, the Congregational Union of England and Wales was established. It had no authority over the affiliated churches, but instead aimed to advise and support them. By 1901, it claimed 400,000 members and 2,806 ministers. That year, its chairman, Joseph Parker, proposed that the churches set aside their independence to become the "United Congregational Church", but the idea was rejected. The Congregational Union was based at the

Congregational Memorial Hall The Congregational Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street, London was built to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Great Ejection of Black Bartholomew's Day, resulting from the 1662 Act of Uniformity which restored the Anglican church. The two tho ...

in London from 1875 to 1968. In 1966, the organisation became the Congregational Church in England and Wales, a change which prompted a few churches to leave and form the

Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches The Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (EFCC) is an association of around 120 independent local churches in the United Kingdom, each practising congregationalist church governance. The EFCC was founded in 1967 by those evangelica ...

. In 1972, it merged with the

Presbyterian Church of England The Presbyterian Church of England was a late-19th century and 20th century Presbyterian denomination in England. The church's origins lay in the 1876 merger of the English congregations of the chiefly Scottish United Presbyterian Church with vario ...

, to form the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

. Many of those churches which did not wish to join the new body instead formed the

Congregational Federation The Congregational Federation is a small Christian denomination in Great Britain comprising 235 congregations, down from 294 in April 2014. The Federation brings together Congregational churches, and provides support and guidance to member church ...

Associated organisations

The

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

was the overseas mission arm of the Congregational churches. Congregational ministers were trained at:{{Citation needed, date=October 2020 * Yorkshire United College, Bradford * Western College, Bristol * Cheshunt College, Cambridge *

New College London New College London (1850–1980) (sometimes known as New College, St John's Wood, or New College, Hampstead) was founded as a Congregationalist college in 1850. Predecessor institutions New College London came into being in 1850 by the amalgama ...

Lancashire Independent College The British Muslim Heritage Centre, formerly the GMB National College, College Road, Whalley Range, Manchester, is an early Gothic Revival building. The centre was designated a Grade II* listed building on 3 October 1974. History and descript ...

, Manchester * Paton Congregational College, Nottingham *

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist students. It moved to Oxford in 1886 and was renamed Man ...

The Congregational Library is administered by the Congregational Memorial Hall Trust and housed at

Dr Williams's Library Dr Williams's Library is a small English research library in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London. Historically, it has had a strong Unitarian focus. The library has also been known as University Hall. History The library was founded using the e ...

, London, which also holds the former library of New College London.

References

Congregationalism in the United Kingdom Congregational organizations established in the 19th century Reformed denominations in the United Kingdom