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Congregationalism in the United States consists of
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
churches in the
Reformed tradition Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...
that have a congregational form of church government and trace their origins mainly to
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. ...
settlers of
colonial New England The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short-lived colon ...
. Congregational churches in other parts of the world are often related to these in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
due to American
missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
activities. Congregational churches have had an important impact on the religious, political, and cultural history of the United States. Congregational practices concerning church governance influenced the early development of democratic institutions in New England. Many of the nation's oldest educational institutions, such as
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, Bowdoin College and
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, were founded to train Congregational clergy. Congregational churches and ministers influenced the First and
Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...
s and were early promoters of the missionary movement of the 19th century. The Congregational tradition has shaped both mainline and evangelical Protestantism in the United States. It also influenced the development of American
Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
and
Unitarian Universalism Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth, guided by ...
. In the 20th century, the Congregational tradition in America fragmented into three different denominations. The largest of these is the
United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...
, which resulted from a 1957 merger with the
Evangelical and Reformed Church The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). A ...
. Congregationalists who chose not to join the United Church of Christ founded two alternative denominations: the
National Association of Congregational Christian Churches The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) is an association of about 400 churches providing fellowship for and services to churches from the Congregational tradition. The Association maintains its national office in Oak ...
and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.


History


17th century


Early settlement

The Congregational tradition was brought to America in the 1620s and 1630s by the
Puritans 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. ...
—a Calvinistic group within the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
that desired to purify it of any remaining teachings and practices of the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. As part of their reforms, Puritans desired to replace the Church of England's
episcopal polity An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*b ...
(rule by
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
s) with another form of church government. Some English Puritans favored
presbyterian polity Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or ...
(rule by assemblies of
presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning a ...
s), as was utilized by the
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
, but those who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized their churches according to
congregational polity Congregationalist polity, or congregational polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or " autonomous". Its first articu ...
(rule by members of the local church). The first Congregational church organized in America was First Parish Church in Plymouth, which was established in 1620 by
Separatist Puritans 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. ...
known as Pilgrims. The first Congregational church organized in the Massachusetts Bay Colony was First Church in Salem, established in 1629. By 1640, 18 churches had been organized in Massachusetts. In addition, Puritans established the
Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...
in 1636 and
New Haven Colony The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The history o ...
in 1637. Eventually, there were 33 Congregational churches in New England. According to historian James F. Cooper Jr., Congregationalism helped imbue the political culture of Massachusetts with several important concepts: "adherence to fundamental or 'higher' laws, strict limitations upon all human authority, free consent, local self-government, and, especially, extensive lay participation." However, congregational polity also meant the absence of any centralized church authority. The result was that at times the first generation of Congregationalists struggled to agree on common beliefs and practices. To help achieve unity, Puritan clergy would often meet in conferences to discuss issues arising within the churches and to offer advice. Congregationalists also looked to the ministers of the
First Church in Boston First Church in Boston is a Unitarian Universalist Church (originally Congregationalist) founded in 1630 by John Winthrop's original Puritan settlement in Boston, Massachusetts. The current building, located on 66 Marlborough Street in the Back ...
to set examples for other churches to follow. One of the most prominent of these ministers was John Cotton, considered by historians to be the "father of New England Congregationalism", who through his preaching, helped to standardize Congregational practices. Because of these efforts, agreement on
baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
,
church discipline Church discipline is the practice of church members calling upon an individual within the Church to repent for their sins. Church discipline is performed when one has sinned or gone against the rules of the church. Church discipline is practiced wi ...
, and the election of church officers were largely achieved by 1635. The colonists developed a system in which each community organized a
gathered church Under Charles I, the Puritans became a political force as well as a religious tendency in the country. Opponents of the royal prerogative became allies of Puritan reformers, who saw the Church of England moving in a direction opposite to what ...
of believers (i.e., only those who were thought to be among the
elect An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
and could give an account of a conversion experience were admitted as members).: "Likewise, though it had been practiced in New England for several years, they reaffirmed from First Corinthians that 'churches should be churches of saints' and must therefore require of members a test of grace, or conversion." Every congregation was founded upon a
church covenant A church covenant is a declaration, which some churches draw up and call their members to sign, in which their duties as church members towards God and their fellow believers are outlined. It is a fraternal agreement, freely endorsed, that establi ...
, a written agreement signed by all members in which they agreed to uphold congregational principles, to be guided by ''
sola scriptura , meaning by scripture alone, is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of au ...
'' in their decision making, and to submit to church discipline. The right of each congregation to elect its own officers and manage its own affairs was upheld. The major offices were elder (or presbyter) and
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
. Teaching elders or
ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...
were responsible for
preaching A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...
and administering the
sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the real ...
. In some churches, prominent laymen would be elected for life as ruling elders to govern the church alongside teaching elders (lay elders could preach but not administer sacraments). In the beginning, deacons largely handled financial matters. By the middle of the 17th century, most churches did not have lay elders, and deacons assisted the minister in leading the church. Congregations also elected messengers to represent them in
synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
s (church councils) for the purpose of offering non-binding advisory opinions. The Puritans created a society in which Congregationalism was the
state church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
, its ministers were supported by taxpayers, and only full church members could vote in elections. To ensure that Massachusetts had a supply of educated ministers,
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
was founded in 1636.


Defining Congregationalism

In the aftermath of the
Antinomian Controversy The Antinomian Controversy, also known as the Free Grace Controversy, was a religious and political conflict in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. It pitted most of the colony's ministers and magistrates against some adherents of ...
(1636–1638), ministers realized the need for greater communication between churches and standardization of preaching. As a consequence, nonbinding ministerial conferences to discuss theological questions and address conflicts became more frequent in the following years. A more substantial innovation was the implementation of the "third way of communion", a method of isolating a dissident or
heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
church from neighboring churches. Members of an offending church would be unable to worship or receive the
Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
in other churches. In the 1640s, Congregationalists were under pressure to craft a formal statement of congregational church government. This was partly motivated by the need to reassure English Puritans (who favored presbyterian polity) about congregational government. In 1645, residents of Massachusetts who resented the limitation of voting rights to full church members threatened to appeal to the
English Parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
, raising fears that the English government might intervene to change the churches' restrictive membership policies. It was also thought necessary to combat the threat of
Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
at home. Conflict erupted in the churches at Newbury and Hingham when their pastors began introducing presbyterian governance. The
Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
called for a
synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
of ministers and
lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...
representatives to meet in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
to craft such a statement. The Cambridge Platform was completed by the synod in 1648 and commended by the General Court as an accurate description of Congregational practice after the churches were given time to study the document, provide feedback, and finally, ratify it. While the Platform was legally nonbinding and intended only to be descriptive, it soon became regarded by ministers and laypeople alike as the religious constitution of Massachusetts, guaranteeing the rights of church officers and members. Missionary efforts among the Native Americans began in the 1640s. John Eliot started missionary work among the natives in 1646 and later published the
Eliot Indian Bible The ''Eliot Indian Bible'' ( alq, Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God; also known as the ''Algonquian Bible'') was the first translation of the Christian Bible into an indigenous American language, as well as the first Bible publishe ...
, a
Massachusett language The Massachusett language is an Algonquian language of the Algic language family, formerly spoken by several peoples of eastern coastal and southeastern Massachusetts. In its revived form, it is spoken in four communities of Wampanoag people ...
translation. The Mayhew family began their work among the natives of
Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
around the same time as Eliot. These missionary efforts suffered serious setbacks as a result of
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
. By 1696, New England had over 130 white churches and 30 Native American towns with Native American preachers.


Half-Way Covenant and Puritan decline

In the years after the Antinomian Controversy, Congregationalists struggled with the problem of decreasing conversions among second-generation settlers. These unconverted adults had been baptized as infants, and most of them studied the Bible, attended church, and raised their children as Christians. Nevertheless, they were barred from receiving the Lord's Supper, voting, or holding office in the church. In the 1660s, the
Half-Way Covenant The Half-Way Covenant was a form of partial church membership adopted by the Congregational churches of colonial New England in the 1660s. The Puritan-controlled Congregational churches required evidence of a personal conversion experience befo ...
was proposed, which would allow the grandchildren of church members to be baptized as long as their parents accepted their congregation's covenant and lived Christian lives. Some churches maintained the original standard into the 1700s. Other churches went beyond the Half-Way Covenant, opening baptism to all infants whether or not their parents or grandparents had been baptized. Other churches, citing the belief that baptism and the Lord's Supper were "converting ordinances" capable of helping the unconverted achieve salvation, allowed the unconverted to receive the Lord's Supper as well. The decline of conversions and the division over the Half-Way Covenant was part of a larger loss of confidence experienced by Puritans in the latter half of the 17th century. In the 1660s and 1670s, Puritans began noting signs of moral decline in New England, and ministers began preaching
jeremiad A jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in verse, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminen ...
s calling people to account for their sins. The most popular jeremiad,
Michael Wigglesworth Michael Wigglesworth (1631–1705) was a Puritan minister, physician, and poet whose poem ''The Day of Doom'' was a bestseller in early New England. Family Michael Wigglesworth was born October 18, 1631 in Yorkshire, England. His father was Edw ...
's "
The Day of Doom "The Day of Doom: or, A Poetical Description of the Great and Last Judgment" is a religious poem by clergyman Michael Wigglesworth that became a best-selling classic in Puritan New England for a century after it was published in 1662 by Samuel ...
", became the first
bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
in America. The
Savoy Declaration The Savoy Declaration is a Congregationalist confession of Faith. Its full title is ''A Declaration of the Faith and Order owned and practised in the Congregational Churches in England.'' It was drawn up in October 1658 by English Independents a ...
, a modification of the
Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...
, was adopted as a Congregationalist confessional statement in Massachusetts in 1680 and Connecticut in 1708. In 1684, Massachusetts' colonial charter was revoked. It was merged with the other Bible Commonwealths along with New York and New Jersey into the
Dominion of New England The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure represe ...
.
Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...
, an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
, was appointed royal governor and demanded that Anglicans be allowed to worship freely in Boston. The Dominion collapsed after the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
of 1688–89, and a new charter was granted in 1691. However, the power of the Congregational churches remained diminished. The governor continued to be appointed by
the crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
, and voting rights were now based on wealth rather than church membership.


Associations develop

In the 18th century, Congregational ministers began forming clerical associations for fellowship and consultation. The first association was the
Cambridge Association The Cambridge Association was an influential group of Congregational clergymen in the Boston area who regularly met in the Harvard College library between 1690 and 1697. The minutes of their meetings shed important light on the oft-debated question ...
, formed in 1690 for ministers in and around Boston. It met in Cambridge on the grounds of Harvard. Its purpose was to "debate any matter referring to ourselves" and "to hear and consider any cases that shall be proposed unto us, from churches or private persons". By 1692, two other associations had been formed, and the number had increased to five by 1705. In the 1690s,
John Leverett the Younger John Leverett (August 25, 1662 – May 3, 1724) was an early Anglo-American lawyer, politician, educator, and President of Harvard College. Early life John Leverett was the son of Hudson Leverett, an attorney, and Sarah (Payton) Leverett, (a ...
, William Brattle (pastor of
First Parish in Cambridge First Parish in Cambridge is a Unitarian Universalist church, located in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a Welcoming Congregation and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The church is notable for its almost 400-y ...
),
Thomas Brattle Thomas Brattle (June 20, 1658 – May 18, 1713) was an American merchant who served as treasurer of Harvard College and member of the Royal Society. He is known for his involvement in the Salem Witch Trials and the formation of the Brattle Str ...
, and
Ebenezer Pemberton Ebenezer Pemberton (1746 – June 25, 1835) was an American educator and 2nd Principal of Phillips Academy Andover from 1786 to 1793. Refusing to follow his uncle's wishes to become a clergyman, Pemberton pursued a teaching career that would ...
(pastor of
Old South Church Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, (also known as New Old South Church or Third Church) is a historic United Church of Christ congregation first organized in 1669. Its present building was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles ...
) proposed a number of changes in Congregational practice. These changes included abandoning the consideration of conversion narratives in granting church membership and allowing all baptized members of a community (whether full members or not) to vote in elections for ministers. They also supported the baptism of all children presented by any Christian sponsor and the
liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
use of the
Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
. These changes were strongly opposed by
Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and president of Harvard College for twenty years (1681–1701). He was influential in the administ ...
, president of Harvard. The result was that Thomas Brattle and his associates built a new church in Boston in 1698. They invited Benjamin Colman, then in England, to become the pastor. Coleman was ordained by Presbyterians in England before leaving for America because it was assumed that the conservative churches of Boston would have opposed his ordination in New England. After arriving in November 1699, his manner of ordination was controversial given that it had not been done by the congregation he was to serve, as was Congregational practice.
Brattle Street Church The Brattle Street Church (1698–1876) was a Congregational (1698 – c. 1805) and Unitarian (c. 1805–1876) church on Brattle Street in Boston, Massachusetts. History In January 1698, " Thomas Brattle conveyed the land on which the meetin ...
was organized on December 12, 1699, but without the support of the other churches in the colony. Despite the opposition of Mather and other conservatives, however, the church gained recognition, and in time it became indistinguishable from other Congregational churches. By the 1730s, Colman was the leading
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
pastor in Boston. Ultimately, the formation of Brattle Street Church spurred Congregationalists to modify their polity and strengthen the role of associations in order to promote greater uniformity. Representatives from the Massachusetts ministerial associations met in Boston in September 1705. They proposed a plan with two major features. The first was that associations examine and license ministerial candidates, investigate charges of ministerial misconduct, and annually elect delegates to a colony-wide general association. The second feature was the creation of "standing councils" of ministers and lay representatives to supervise the churches within a geographical area and to act as counterparts to the ministerial associations. The decisions of these councils were to be "final and decisive" but could be referred to a neighboring standing council for further review. If a church refused to adhere to a council's ruling, the neighboring churches would withdraw communion from the offending church. In Massachusetts, the proposals encountered much opposition as they were viewed as being inconsistent with congregational polity. The creation of standing councils was never acted on, but Massachusetts associations did adopt a system of ministerial licensure. While largely rejected in Massachusetts, the proposals of 1705 received a more favorable reception in Connecticut. In September 1708, a synod met at the request of the
Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...
to write a new platform of church government. The
Saybrook Platform The Saybrook Platform was a new constitution for the Congregational church in Connecticut in 1708. Religious and civic leaders in Connecticut around 1700 were distressed by the colony-wide decline in personal religious piety and in church discipline ...
called for the creation of standing councils called consociations in every county and tasked associations with providing ministerial consultation and licensure. The platform was approved by the General Assembly, and associations and consociations were formed in every county. The General Association of Connecticut was formed as a colony-wide organization of ministers and met for the first time in May 1709. The Saybrook Platform was legally recognized until 1784 and continued to govern the majority of Connecticut churches until the middle of the 19th century.
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
was established by the Congregational clergy of Connecticut in 1701.


18th century


Great Awakening

By 1740, there were 423 Congregational churches in colonial America—33.7 percent of all churches. Nevertheless, at the start of the 18th century, many believed that New England had become a morally degenerate society more focused on worldly gain than religious piety. Church historian
Williston Walker Williston Walker, D.D., L.H.D., Ph.D. (1860–1922) was an American Church historian, born at Portland, Me. He graduated at Amherst in 1883, and at the Hartford Theological Seminary in 1886, then studied at Leipzig (Ph.D., 1888). Walker was emplo ...
described New England piety of the time as "low and unemotional." To spiritually awaken their congregations and rescue the original Puritan mission of creating a godly society, Congregational ministers promoted
revivalism Revivalism may refer to: * Christian revival, increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or society, with a local, national or global effect * Revivalism (architecture), the use of visual styles that consciously ...
, the attempt to bring spiritual renewal to an entire community. The first two decades of the 18th century saw local revivals occur that resulted in large numbers of converts. These revivals sometimes resulted from natural disasters that were interpreted as divine judgment. For example, revival followed after the earthquake of October 29, 1727. In 1735, Jonathan Edwards led his First Church congregation of
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...
, through a religious revival. His '' Narrative of Surprising Conversions'', describing the conversion experiences that occurred in the revival, was widely read throughout New England and raised hopes among Congregationalists of a general revival of religion. These hopes were seemingly fulfilled with the start of the Great Awakening, which was initiated by the preaching of
George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at th ...
, an Anglican priest who had preached revivalistic sermons to large audiences in England. He arrived at Boston in September 1740, preaching first at Brattle Street Church, and then visited other parts of New England. Though only in New England for a few weeks, the revival spread to every aspect of the region in the two years following his brief tour. Whitefield was followed by the
itinerant preacher An itinerant preacher (also known as an itinerant minister or evangelist or circuit rider) is a Christian evangelist who preaches the basic Christian redemption message while traveling around to different groups of people within a relatively shor ...
and Presbyterian minister Gilbert Tennent and dozens of other itinerants. Initially, the Awakening's strongest supporters came from Congregational ministers, who had already been working to foster revivals in their
parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
. Itinerants and local pastors worked together to produce and nourish revivals, and often local pastors would cooperate together to lead revivals in neighboring parishes. The most famous sermon preached during the Great Awakening, for example, was " Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," delivered by Edwards at
Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Longm ...
, in July 1741. Many in the congregation were affected by Edwards's sermon, with minister Stephen Williams reporting "amazing shrieks and cries" caused by the heightened religious excitement. By 1742, the revival had entered a more radical and disruptive phase. Lay people became more active participants in the services by crying out, exhorting, or having
visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
. Uneducated men and women began to preach without formal training, and some itinerant preachers were active in parishes without the approval of the local pastor. Enthusiasts even claimed that many of the clergies were unconverted themselves and thus unqualified to be ministers. Congregationalists split into Old Lights and New Lights over the Awakening, with Old Lights opposing it and New Lights supporting it. A notable example of revival radicalism was
James Davenport James Davenport may refer to: *James H. Davenport (born 1953), professor of information technology at the University of Bath *James Davenport (clergyman) (1716–1757), American clergyman from Connecticut *James Davenport (Connecticut politician) ( ...
, a Congregational minister who preached to large crowds throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. Davenport denounced ministers who opposed him as being "unconverted" and "leading their people blindfold to hell." In March 1743, he held a
book burning Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or politi ...
of the works of Increase Mather,
William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 194 ...
,
John Flavel John Flavel (c. 1627–1691) was an English Puritan Presbyterian minister and author. Life Flavel, the eldest son of the Rev. Richard Flavel, described as 'a painful and eminent minister,' who was incumbent successively of Bromsgrove, Worceste ...
, and others. Concerns over the revival led the Connecticut General Assembly to call a synod in 1741, which was the last Congregational synod convened under state authority. This "General Consociation" consisted of both lay and clerical representatives from all of the consociations in the colony. It ruled that itinerant ministers should preach in no parish except with the permission of the local pastor. In May 1742, the General Assembly passed legislation requiring ministers to receive permission to preach from the local pastor; violation of the law would result in the loss of a minister's state-provided salary. In 1743, the annual Massachusetts Ministerial Convention condemned "the disorderly tumults and indecent behaviors" that occurred in many revival meetings.
Charles Chauncy Charles Chauncy (baptised 5 November 1592 – 19 February 1672) was an Anglo-American Congregational clergyman, educator, and secondarily, a physician. He is also known as the 2nd President of Harvard. Life Charles Chauncy was born at Arde ...
of Boston's First Church became the leader of the revival's opponents with the publication of his ''Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England'', which attacked the enthusiasm and extravagant behaviors of revival meetings. Other Congregationalists met at Boston in 1743 under the leadership of Benjamin Colman of Brattle Street Church and Thomas Prince of
Old South Church Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, (also known as New Old South Church or Third Church) is a historic United Church of Christ congregation first organized in 1669. Its present building was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles ...
. They issued a resolution supporting the revival as the work of God and downplaying the impact of "irregularities" that had occurred. Nevertheless, the atmosphere toward revival had changed by 1744 when Whitefield returned to New England. The faculties of Harvard and Yale issued statements critical of his methods, and ministerial associations throughout the region spoke against allowing him to preach in their churches. While most New Lights stayed within the established Congregational churches, there were still those in New England who embraced the radical wing of the Awakening–with its trances, visions and shouting. When radical revivalists could not control their local churches, they separated from the state churches and formed new congregations. These Separate or Strict Congregationalists were often poor. They rejected the necessity of an educated ministry, ministerial associations (which had tried to control the revival), and the Half-Way Covenant. Prone to schisms and forced to pay taxes for the state churches, Separate Congregationalists did not survive long. The more traditional ones returned to the established Congregational churches, while the most radical embraced
adult baptism Believer's baptism or adult baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word meaning "I believe") is the practice of baptizing those who are able to make a conscious profession of faith, as contrasted to the practice of baptizing ...
and became
Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
. Shubal Stearns, a Separate Congregationalist missionary to the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, became the founding father of the
Separate Baptists The Separate Baptists were an 18th-century group of Baptists in the United States, primarily in the South, that grew out of the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening was a religious revival and revitalization of piety among the Christian churche ...
.


Liberals, Old Calvinists, and the New Divinity

The Great Awakening further aggravated theological divisions that had already existed. By the end of the 18th century, Congregationalists were divided between liberal, Old Calvinist, and New Divinity factions. Under the influence of Enlightenment thought, liberals rejected the Calvinism of their Puritan heritage, particularly the doctrines of
total depravity Total depravity (also called radical corruption or pervasive depravity) is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin. It teaches that, as a consequence of man's fall, every person born into the world is ensla ...
, unconditional election, and
double predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby ...
. These taught that sinners were deserving of damnation while helpless to achieve salvation. Liberals believed this was unfair and adopted an
Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...
theology that gave individuals a role in their own salvation. Liberal Arminians did not teach that
good works In Christian theology, good works, or simply works, are a person's (exterior) actions or deeds, in contrast to inner qualities such as grace or faith. Views by denomination Anglican Churches The Anglican theological tradition, including The ...
could earn salvation, but they did teach that a person who strove for
regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...
by virtuous living and the performance of good works could expect to receive eternal life. Liberals such as Charles Chauncy embraced
universal salvation In Christian theology, universal reconciliation (also called universal salvation, Christian universalism, or in context simply universalism) is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ult ...
and believed that
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
was a cleansing
purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
, not an eternal punishment. Many liberals rejected the doctrine of the
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
in favor of an
Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
Christology that preserved the unity of God. For this reason, their opponents disparagingly called them Unitarians, even though they called themselves liberal Christians or Arminians. Alongside Chauncy,
Jonathan Mayhew Jonathan Mayhew (October 8, 1720 – July 9, 1766) was a noted American Congregational minister at Old West Church, Boston, Massachusetts. Early life Mayhew was born at Martha's Vineyard, being fifth in descent from Thomas Mayhew (1592–168 ...
of Boston's West Church was another prominent liberal minister. At the opposite end of the theological spectrum were the Old Calvinists, who continued to adhere to Reformed
covenant theology Covenant theology (also known as covenantalism, federal theology, or federalism) is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall structure of the Bible. It uses the theological concept of a covenant as an organ ...
and the doctrines contained in the
Westminster Standards The Westminster Standards is a collective name for the documents drawn up by the Westminster Assembly (1643–49). These include the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Westminster Larger Catechism, the Directo ...
. The Old Calvinists included both Old Lights, New Lights, and Moderate Calvinists within their ranks. Moderate Calvinists avoided preaching on the doctrines of election and
reprobation Reprobation, in Christian theology, is a doctrine which teaches that a person can reject the gospel to a point where God in turn rejects them and curses their conscience. The English word ''reprobate'' is from the Latin root ''probare'' (''E ...
in response to attacks on Calvinism from Enlightenment philosophers. To make Calvinism less offensive, the Moderates preached on practical topics and emphasized preparing for conversion through the use of the
means of grace The means of grace in Christian theology are those things (the ''means'') through which God gives grace. Just what this grace entails is interpreted in various ways: generally speaking, some see it as God blessing humankind so as to sustain and emp ...
(preaching, catechizing, prayer) and
pastoral care Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from rel ...
.
Ezra Stiles Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...
was a notable Old Calvinist. In the two decades after the First Great Awakening, the tone of Congregational thought was set by New Light theologian Jonathan Edwards and his followers, the most notable being
Joseph Bellamy Joseph Bellamy (20 February 1719 – 6 March 1790) was an American Congregationalist pastor and a leading preacher, author, educator and theologian in New England in the second half of the 18th century. He was a disciple of Jonathan Edwards, and ...
and Samuel Hopkins. The New Divinity, as the Edwardsean school of thought, became known, sought to answer Arminian objections to Calvinism and to provide a theological basis for the revivalism that had been unleashed by the Great Awakening. The New Divinity would remain the dominant theological orientation within the Congregational churches into the 19th century.


Revolutionary-era

During the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, most Congregational ministers sided with the Patriots and American independence. This was largely because ministers chose to stand with their congregations who felt the British government was becoming tyrannical. Ministers were also motivated by fear that the British would appoint Anglican bishops for the American colonies. This had been proposed as a practical measure; American bishops could ordain Anglican priests in the colonies without requiring candidates for ordination to travel to England. Congregationalists, however, remembered how their Puritan ancestors were oppressed by bishops in England and had no desire to see the same system in America. Ministers preached patriotic sermons on Sundays and during
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
musters. Jonathan Mayhew, for example, preached an early revolutionary sermon on ''The Danger of Unlimited Submission''. Many went to war as
chaplains A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...
, and some actually bore arms in times of extreme danger. Because of their overwhelming support for independence, Congregational ministers were called the "Black Regiment" or "Black-Robed Regiment" by the British.


Domestic expansion

By 1776, there were 668 Congregational churches—21 percent of all churches in America. Congregationalism had been a tradition largely confined to New England, but Congregationalists would migrate westward as the new United States expanded. Vermont was the first of these new territories to be opened up. The first church was established in 1762, but there were 74 Congregational churches in Vermont by 1800. Those churches organized a General Convention for that state in 1796. The
University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
and
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...
were founded by Congregationalists. Congregational churches had been present in eastern New York prior to the Revolution, but expansion into the central and western parts of that state took place in the 1790s as emigration increased from Massachusetts and Connecticut. As New Englanders settled in the
Old Northwest The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
, they brought Congregationalism with them. The First Congregational Church of
Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Mar ...
, gathered in 1796, is the oldest Congregational church in the region. In 1798, the Connecticut General Association created the Connecticut Missionary Society to provide for the religious needs of the new settlements. Between 1798 and 1818, the society sent 148 ministers to the frontier settlements of northern New England, Pennsylvania, and the Old Northwest. Initially, the society recruited settled pastors to undertake four-month tours in the new settlements. When this approach proved unworkable, the society shed its opposition to itinerant ministry and began ordaining young men to serve as full-time evangelists. These operated similarly to the Methodist circuit riders, "moving from town to town, preaching revival sermons, catechizing youth, administering the sacraments, and distributing religious literature." The society distributed tracts, hymnals, sermon collections, and theological treatises for use in religious worship and education. Reflecting the ideology of its leaders, the society's literature heavily favored the writings of Jonathan Edwards and the New Divinity. Its most widely circulated publication was the '' Connecticut Evangelical Magazine'', which provided coverage of revivals and missions around the world and which was read as far south as Georgia. In 1799, the
Massachusetts Missionary Society Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
was established under the leadership of Nathanael Emmons. Like its Connecticut counterpart, it was dominated by Edwardseans and published its own periodical, the '' Massachusetts Missionary Magazine''. The New Hampshire Missionary Society was organized in 1801, and the Vermont General Convention organized its own missionary society in 1807. Besides those dedicated to missions, Congregationalists created voluntary societies for encouraging education, Bible reading, and moral reform. Some of these became national organizations, such as the
American Education Society American Society for the Education of Pious Youth for the Gospel Ministry was organized in 1815 for the purpose of aid in the education of Protestant clergymen. It was renamed American Education Society (AES) in 1820, 1911-1913 It was formed under a ...
in 1815 (which provided financial aid for
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
students), the
American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...
in 1816, the
American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...
in 1817, and the
American Temperance Society The American Temperance Society (ATS), also known as the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance, was a society established on February 13, 1826, in Boston, Massachusetts. Within five years there were 2,220 local chapters in the U.S. wit ...
in 1826. Some of these were joint projects with Presbyterians.


19th century


Foreign missions

Following the example of the churches in Connecticut and Vermont, Congregationalists in other parts of the Northeast formed statewide associations. The Massachusetts General Association was founded in 1803 by the Old Calvinists and Edwardseans of that state. In 1808, the churches in Rhode Island organized the Evangelical Consociation of Rhode Island. The New Hampshire General Association was established in 1809. The General Conference of Maine was founded sometime in the 1820s, and the New York General Association was formed in 1834. In 1810, a group of students at
Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...
, led by
Samuel John Mills Samuel John Mills Jr. (April 12, 1783 – June 16, 1818) was an American preacher and missionary from Connecticut. He is known for contributing to the organization of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and to the formation of t ...
and
Adoniram Judson Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Judson was sent from North America to preach in B ...
, convinced the Massachusetts General Association to support the creation of a foreign missionary society. The Connecticut General Association was invited to participate as well and hosted the first meeting of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...
. Through the American Board, Congregational churches supported missionaries in India, Ceylon, South Africa, Turkey, and the Hawaiian Islands. The American Board also established missions among Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Tetons, Blackfeet, and Winnebagos. As a plaintiff in
Worcester v. Georgia ''Worcester v. Georgia'', 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832), was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court Vacated judgment, vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal ...
, American Board missionary
Samuel Worcester Samuel Austin Worcester (January 19, 1798 – April 20, 1859), was an American missionary to the Cherokee, translator of the Bible, printer, and defender of the Cherokee sovereignty. He collaborated with Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) in Georgia to ...
fought to prevent the forced relocation of the Cherokees, and the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
ruled in his favor. When President
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
refused to enforce the decision, the Cherokee were sent to Oklahoma, and American Board missionaries followed them there.


Union with Presbyterians

The challenge of building churches and providing ministers for western settlements motivated many Congregationalists to engage in closer cooperation with the Presbyterians. While the two denominations had different systems of church government, they were both parts of the Calvinist tradition. This shared heritage and the necessity of evangelizing the west led them to form united Presbyterian-Congregational institutions and churches in areas where ministers and resources were in short supply. This cooperation was formalized in the Plan of Union, first adopted in 1801 between the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...
and the General Association of Connecticut. The plan was later adopted by the Vermont General Convention, the New Hampshire General Association, and the Massachusetts General Association. The plan allowed for churches to hire pastors from either denomination and the creation of mixed churches that could belong to either a Congregational association or a local presbytery of the Presbyterian Church. Church discipline, however, was to be administered by a committee with members from both denominations. When disputes arose, churches could appeal to councils representing both Congregationalists and Presbyterians. Union colleges were also created, such as Knox College in Illinois, which continues its dual affiliation with the
United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...
and the
Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
. The Presbyterians gained more from the union than the Congregationalists. Around 2000 churches founded as Congregationalists in the states of New York, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan switched allegiance to the Presbyterian Church. The union was also damaged by a conflict between conservatives and liberals in both denominations. A major blow to the plan occurred in 1837 when the Presbyterian Church split as a result of the
Old School–New School Controversy Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...
. The Old School Presbyterians withdrew from the union, but the New School Presbyterians remained. The union was further damaged by tensions over slavery. In 1852, a national convention of Congregational churches met in Albany, New York, and ended the Plan of Union.


Unitarian controversy

Since the 17th century, Congregationalists had managed to maintain unity despite disagreements over the role of man and God in salvation and the adoption by liberals of
nontrinitarian Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...
theological ideas. By the start of the 19th century, however, there was less willingness to tolerate theological liberalism. The
Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...
had initiated a new wave of revivalism and a more aggressive stance from conservatives. Old Calvinists and Edwardseans, while not ignoring their own differences, agreed that they needed to work together to defend the "evangelical truth" from liberalism. The "
orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
" or
evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
, as they came to be known, were united around the omnipotence of God, the necessity of conversion, a converted church membership, and the literal truth of the Bible. They were actively involved in evangelism and expansion through voluntary societies. By the 19th century, the liberals had evolved into Unitarians. Not only did they deny the doctrine of the
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
as unscriptural, they believed the Bible should be interpreted rationally, not in a literal manner. Their preaching focused on
ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
rather than on doctrine and did not limit church membership to the converted. Unitarians did not participate in evangelistic societies due to their conviction that people informed by reason and scripture should be free to believe what they wanted. When they did organize, they tended to focus on education and philanthropic causes. The Unitarian controversy was initiated when conservatives, led by Yale-educated geographer and Boston-area minister
Jedidiah Morse Jedidiah Morse (August 23, 1761June 9, 1826) was a geographer whose textbooks became a staple for students in the United States. He was the father of the telegraphy pioneer and painter Samuel Morse, and his textbooks earned him the sobriquet of "f ...
, opposed the appointment of liberal Henry Ware to the
Hollis Chair of Divinity The Hollis Chair of Divinity is an endowed chair at Harvard Divinity School. It was established in 1721 by Thomas Hollis, a wealthy English merchant and benefactor of the university, at a salary of £80 per year. It is the oldest endowed chair in t ...
at Harvard University in 1805. While unsuccessful, Morse was able to form a network of conservative ministers from the Boston area, mainly outside the city itself, as Boston's churches were overwhelmingly liberal. Conservatives began closing their pulpits to liberal ministers, and
Park Street Church Park Street Church, founded in 1804, is a historic and active evangelical congregational megachurch in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts. The Park Street Church is a member of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. Typical attendance a ...
was established in 1809 to provide Boston with an evangelical church. In the years after the Ware controversy, Harvard became increasingly partisan, supporting only the liberal party. In 1808, Edwardseans and Old Calvinists joined forces and established
Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...
as an alternative to liberal Harvard. Andover was the first Protestant seminary in North America. In 1815, Morse published ''Review of American Unitarianism'', which accused Unitarians of
infidel An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or the irreligious. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church ...
ity and heresy.
William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
, pastor of the Boston's Federal Street Church, responded by accusing conservatives of instigating theological controversy. In 1819, Channing went on to deliver an important sermon in defense of liberal religion titled "Unitarian Christianity". The split was complete by 1825 when the liberals established the
American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
, thereby acknowledging a separate denominational identity.


Disestablishment

At the start of the 19th century, Congregationalism remained the
established church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. This meant that Congregational churches were financially supported through taxation. In 1818, however, Connecticut's new state constitution required
disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...
. New Hampshire followed a year later with the passage of the Toleration Act, which stripped Congregational churches of their special status. Massachusetts was slower to end state support of Congregationalism, but disestablishment was made more likely after the Unitarian schism. Congregational parishes were divided into two groups: parishioners who lived within the parish's geographical boundaries and full church members, who tended to be a numerical minority. In many parishes, the majority of parishioners supported the more liberal Unitarians, but the church members remained Trinitarian. In 1820, the
Massachusetts Supreme Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functi ...
ruled in the Dedham case that the majority of the parish (not just the church members) could hire ministers and manage church business. This effectively disenfranchised conservatives in the Boston area, who were usually the minority. Between 1821 and 1833, Trinitarians lost control of over a hundred churches to the Unitarians. The Dedham case ruling by Justice
Isaac Parker Isaac Charles Parker (October 15, 1838 – November 17, 1896), also known as “Hanging Judge” Parker, was an American politician and jurist. He served as a United States representative from Missouri and was appointed as the first United Stat ...
, who happened to be a Unitarian, determined that the minority in a church split not only lost its claim on the church property but also lost its status as an established church. As tax-supported congregations continued to defect to Unitarianism, the Dedham case increased conservative support for disestablishment. In 1833, the state constitution was amended to eliminate church taxes.


Other theological disputes

As the Unitarian division was solidifying, the New Divinity was itself fracturing into different branches. Timothy Dwight, who became president of Yale University in 1795, ensured that Edwardsean theology dominated at that institution. He was also responsible for creating a theologically moderate party among Edwardseans that placed more emphasis on human action through means of grace. Yale professor
Nathaniel William Taylor Nathaniel William Taylor (June 23, 1786 – March 10, 1858) was an influential Protestant Theologian of the early 19th century, whose major contribution to the Christian faith (and to American religious history), known as the New Haven theology o ...
carried this further in what became known as the New Haven theology, which essentially claimed that humans could reject sin and choose God. Critics found in the New Haven theology echoes of Unitarianism and
Pelagianism Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from t ...
, and the Edwardseans were enmeshed in the Taylorite Controversy through the 1830s. Traditional Edwardseans such as Asahel Nettleton, Bennet Tyler, and
Edward Dorr Griffin Edward Dorr Griffin (6 January 1770 – 8 November 1837) was a Christian minister and an American educator who served as President of Williams College from 1821 to 1836 and served as the first pastor of Park Street Church from 1811 to 1815. Water ...
opposed it. Tyler founded
Hartford Seminary The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connectic ...
in 1833 to counteract New Haven theology.


20th century

In 1931 the
National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States The National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States was a mainline Protestant, Christian denomination in the United States. Its organization as a denomination was delayed by the Civil War. Congregational leaders met again in B ...
and the General Convention of the Christian Church, a body from the
Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (17 ...
tradition of the early 19th century, merged to form the
Congregational Christian Churches The Congregational Christian Churches were a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United ...
. The Congregationalists were used to a more formal, less evangelistic form of worship than Christian Church members, who mostly came from rural areas of the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
. Both groups, however, held to local autonomy and eschewed binding creedal authority. In the early 20th century, some Congregational (later Congregational Christian) churches took exception to the beginnings of growth of regional or national authority in bodies outside the local church, such as mission societies, national committees, and state conferences. Some congregations opposed liberalizing influences that appeared to mitigate traditional views of sin and corollary doctrines such as the
substitutionary atonement Substitutionary atonement, also called vicarious atonement, is a central concept within Christian theology which asserts that Jesus died "for us", as propagated by the Western classic and objective paradigms of atonement in Christianity, which ...
of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. In 1948, some adherents of these two streams of thought (mainly the latter one) started a new fellowship, the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC). It was the first major fellowship to organize outside of the mainstream Congregational body since 1825, when the Unitarians formally founded their own body. In 1957, the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches in the U.S. merged with the
Evangelical and Reformed Church The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). A ...
to form the
United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...
. About 90% of the CC congregations affiliated with the General Council joined the United Church of Christ. Some churches abstained from the merger, while others voted it down. Most of the latter congregations became members of either the CCCC (mentioned above) or the
National Association of Congregational Christian Churches The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) is an association of about 400 churches providing fellowship for and services to churches from the Congregational tradition. The Association maintains its national office in Oak ...
. The latter was formed by churches and people who objected to the UCC merger because of concerns that the new national church and its regional bodies represented extra-congregational authorities that would interfere with a congregation's right to govern itself. Thus, the NACCC includes congregations of a variety of theological positions. Still, other congregations chose not to affiliate with any particular association of churches or only with regional or local ones.


See also

*
Presbyterianism in the United States Presbyterianism has had a presence in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence over broader American religion and culture. History European origins Reformed Protestantism, of which Presbyterianism is a sub ...
*
Evangelical and Reformed Church The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). A ...
, German Reformed *
Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Protestant, mainline Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 unti ...
, Dutch Reformed


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* Hooker, Thomas
''A Survey of the Summe of Church-Discipline''
* * Mather, Richard
''Church-Government and Church-Covenant Discussed''
* {{refend Unitarianism