Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches; Congregationalism) are
Protestant churches in the
Reformed tradition practising
congregationalist church governance, in which each
congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs.
Congregationalism, as defined by the
Pew Research Center, is estimated to represent 0.5 percent of the worldwide Protestant population;
though their organizational customs and other ideas influenced significant parts of Protestantism, as well as other Christian congregations. The report defines it very narrowly, encompassing mainly denominations in the United States and the United Kingdom, which can trace their history back to
nonconforming Protestants,
Puritans,
Separatists,
Independents,
English religious groups coming out of the English Civil War, and other
English dissenters not satisfied with the degree to which the
Church of England had been reformed.
Congregationalist tradition has a presence in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and various island nations in the Pacific region. It has been introduced either by immigrant dissenter Protestants or by missionary organization such as the
London Missionary Society. A number of
evangelical Congregational churches are members of the
World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship.
In the United Kingdom, many Congregational churches claim their descent from Protestant denominations
formed on a theory of union published by the theologian and English separatist
Robert Browne in 1582. Other accounts trace these origins further back to the
London Underground Church of the 1560s. Ideas of
nonconforming Protestants during the
Puritan Reformation of the
Church of England laid foundation for these churches. In
England, the early Congregationalists were called ''
Separatists'' or ''
Independents'' to distinguish them from the similarly
Calvinistic Presbyterians, whose churches embrace a
polity based on the governance of elders. Congregationalists also differed with the Reformed churches using
episcopalian church governance, which is usually led by a
bishop.
Congregationalism in the United States traces its origins to the Puritans of
New England, who wrote the
Cambridge Platform of 1648 to describe the autonomy of the church and its association with others. Within the United States, the model of Congregational churches was carried by migrating settlers from New England into
New York, then into the
Old North West, and further. With their insistence on independent local bodies, they became important in many
social reform movements, including
abolitionism,
temperance, and women's
suffrage. Modern Congregationalism in the United States is largely split into three bodies: the
United Church of Christ, the
National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the
Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, which is the most theologically conservative.
Beliefs
Congregationalism is a
Protestant movement within the
Reformed tradition that occupies a theological position between
Presbyterianism on one end and the
Baptists and
Quakers on the other end. Through the years, Congregationalists have adopted various
confessional statements, including the
Savoy Declaration, the
Cambridge Platform and the
Kansas City Statement of Faith.
Unlike Presbyterians, Congregationalists practise
congregational polity (from which they derive their name), which holds that the members of a
local church have the right to decide their church's forms of
worship and confessional statements, choose their own officers, and administer their own affairs without any outside interference. Congregationalist polity is rooted in a foundational tenet of Congregationalism: the
priesthood of believers. According to Congregationalist minister
Charles Edward Jefferson, the priesthood of believers means that "Every believer is a priest and ... every seeking child of God is given directly wisdom, guidance, power."
Congregationalists have two sacraments:
baptism and the
Lord's Supper. Unlike Baptists, Congregationalists practise
infant baptism. The Lord's Supper is normally celebrated once or twice a month. Congregationalists do not use the
sign of the cross or invoke the
intercession of saints.
Origins
The origins of Congregationalism are found in 16th-century
Puritanism, a movement that sought to complete the
English Reformation begun with the separation of the
Church of England from the
Roman Catholic Church during the reign of
Henry VIII (1509–47). During the reign of
Elizabeth I (1558–1603), the Church of England was considered a Reformed or Calvinist church, but it also preserved certain characteristics of medieval Catholicism, such as
cathedrals,
church choirs, a formal
liturgy contained in the ''
Book of Common Prayer'', traditional clerical
vestments and
episcopal polity (government by
bishops).
The Puritans were Calvinists who wanted to further reform the church by abolishing all remaining Catholic practices, such as clerical vestments, wedding rings,
organ music in church, kneeling at
Holy Communion, using the term ''priest'' for a minister, bowing at the name of Jesus, and making the sign of the cross in baptism and communion. Many Puritans believed the Church of England should follow the example of Reformed churches in other parts of Europe and adopt
presbyterian polity, in which an egalitarian network of local ministers cooperated through regional
synods. Other Puritans experimented with congregational polity both within the Church of England and outside of it. Puritans who left the
established church were known as
Separatists.
Congregationalism may have first developed in the
London Underground Church under Richard Fitz in the late 1560s and 1570s. The Congregational historian Albert Peel argued that it was but accepted that the evidence for a fully thought out congregational
ecclesiology is not overwhelming.
Robert Browne (1550–1633) was the first person to set out explicit congregational principles and is considered the founder of Congregationalism.
While studying for
ordination, Browne became convinced that the Church of England was a false church. He moved to Norwich and together with
Robert Harrison formed an illegal Separatist congregation. In 1581, Browne and his followers moved to
Holland in order to worship freely. While in Holland, Browne wrote treatises that laid out the essential features of Congregationalism. Browne argued for a church only of genuine,
regenerate believers and criticised the
Anglicans for including all English people within their church. The congregation should choose its own leaders, and the ministers should be ordained by the congregation itself not by bishops or fellow ministers. Each congregation should be founded on a written
church covenant, and the congregation as a whole should govern the church: "The meetings together… of every whole church, and of the elders therein, is above the apostle, above the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, and every particular elder" and "The voice of the whole people, guided by the elders and the forwardest, is said
n Scriptureto be the voice of God".
While each church would be independent, separate churches would still come together to discuss matters of common concern.
Short lifespans were typical of Separatist churches (also known as
Brownist congregations). These were small congregations who met in secret and faced persecution. They were often forced to go into exile in Holland and tended to disintegrate quickly. Notable Separatists who faced exile or death included
Henry Barrow (c. 1550–1593),
John Greenwood (died 1593),
John Penry (1559–1593),
Francis Johnson (1563–1618), and
Henry Ainsworth (1571–1622).
In the early 1600s, a Separatist congregation in Scrooby was founded through the efforts of
John Smyth (who later rejected infant baptism and became a founder of the Baptist movement).
John Robinson was the congregation's pastor and
William Brewster was an
elder. In 1607, the congregation moved to Holland fleeing persecution. In 1620, the group (known in history as the
Pilgrims) sailed to North America on the ''
Mayflower'', establishing the
Plymouth Colony and bringing the Congregational tradition to America.
In 1639
William Wroth, then
Rector of the parish church at
Llanvaches in
Monmouthshire, established the first
Independent Church in
Wales "according to the New England pattern", i.e. Congregational. The Tabernacle
United Reformed Church at Llanvaches survives to this day.
During the
English Civil War, those who supported the Parliamentary cause were invited by Parliament to discuss religious matters. The
Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) was officially claimed to be the statement of faith for both the Church of England (Anglican/Episcopal) and Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), which was politically expedient for those in the Presbyterian dominated English Parliament who approved of the
Solemn League and Covenant (1643).

After the
Second Civil War, the
New Model Army which was dominated by Congregationalists (or
Independents) seized control of the parliament with
Pride's purge (1648), arranged for the
trial and
execution of Charles I in January 1649 and subsequently introduced a republican
Commonwealth dominated by Independents such as
Oliver Cromwell. This government lasted until 1660 when the
monarch was restored and
Episcopalism was re-established (see the
Penal Laws and
Great Ejection). In 1662, two years after the Restoration, two thousand Independent, Presbyterian and congregational ministers were evicted from their parishes as dissenters and not being in Holy Orders conferred by bishops. In 1658 (during the
interregnum) the Congregationalists created their own version of the Westminster Confession, called the
Savoy Declaration, which remains the principal
subordinate standard of Congregationalism.
A summary of Congregationalism in Scotland see the paper presented to a joint meeting of the ministers of the United Reformed Church (Scottish Synod) and the Congregational Federation in Scotland by Rev'd A. Paterson is available online.
By country
Argentina
The mission to Argentina was the second foreign field tended by German Congregationalists. The work in South America began in 1921 when four Argentine churches urgently requested that denominational recognition be given to George Geier, who was serving them. The Illinois Conference licensed Geier, who worked among Germans from Russia who were very similar to their kin in the United States and in Canada. The South American Germans from Russia had learned about Congregationalism in letters from relatives in the United States.
In 1924 general missionary John Hoelzer, while in Argentina for a brief visit, organised six churches.
Australia
In 1977, most congregations of the
Congregational Union of Australia merged with all Churches of the
Methodist Church of Australasia and a majority of Churches of the
Presbyterian Church of Australia to form the
Uniting Church in Australia.
Those congregations that did not join the Uniting Church formed the
Fellowship of Congregational Churches or continued as Presbyterians. Some more
ecumenically minded Congregationalists left the Fellowship of Congregational Churches in 1995 and formed the
Congregational Federation of Australia.
Bulgaria
Congregationalists (called "Evangelicals" in
Bulgaria; the word "Protestant" is not used) were among the first Protestant missionaries to the
Ottoman Empire and to the Northwestern part of the European Ottoman Empire which is now Bulgaria, where their work to convert these Orthodox Christians was unhampered by the death penalty imposed by the Ottomans on Muslim converts to Christianity. These missionaries were significant contributors to the
Bulgarian National Revival movement. Today,
Protestantism in Bulgaria represents the third largest religious group, behind Orthodox and Muslim. Missionaries from the United States first arrived in 1857–58, sent to
Istanbul by the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). The ABCFM was proposed in 1810 by the Congregationalist graduates of Williams College, MA, and was chartered in 1812 to support missions by Congregationalists, Presbyterian (1812–1870), Dutch-Reformed (1819–1857) and other denominational members.
The ABCFM focused its efforts on southern Bulgaria and the Methodist Church on the region north of the
Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina, or "Old Mountains"). In 1857, Cyrus Hamlin and Charles Morse established three missionary centres in southern Bulgaria – in Odrin (
Edirne, former capital city of the Ottoman Empire, in Turkey),
Plovdiv and
Stara Zagora. They were joined in 1859 by Russian-born naturalized America Frederic Flocken in 1859.
American Presbyterian minister
Elias Riggs commissioned, supported and edited the work of Bulgarian monk
Neofit Rilski to create a
Bible translations into Bulgarian which was then distributed widely in Bulgaria in 1871 and thereafter. This effort was supported by Congregationalist missionary Albert Long,
Konstantin Fotinov, Hristodul Sechan-Nikolov and
Petko Slaveikov.
Reportedly, 2,000 copies of the newly translated Bulgarian language New Testament were sold within the first two weeks.
Congregational churches were established in
Bansko,
Veliko Turnovo, and
Svishtov between 1840 and 1878, followed by
Sofia in 1899. By 1909, there were 19 Congregational churches, with a total congregation of 1,456 in southern Bulgaria offering normal Sunday services, Sunday schools for children, biblical instruction for adults; as well as women's groups and youth groups. Summer Bible schools were held annually from 1896 to 1948.
Congregationalists led by Dr James F. Clarke opened Bulgaria's first Protestant primary school for boys in
Plovdiv in 1860, followed three years later by a primary school for girls in
Stara Zagora. In 1871 the two schools were moved to
Samokov and merged as the American College, now considered the oldest American educational institution outside the US. In 1928, new facilities were constructed in Sofia, and the Samokov operation transferred to the
American College of Sofia (ACS), now operated at a very high level by the Sofia American Schools, Inc.
In 1874, a Bible College was opened in
Ruse, Bulgaria for people wanting to become pastors. At the 1876 annual conference of missionaries, the beginning of organizational activity in the country was established. The evangelical churches of Bulgaria formed a united association in 1909.
The missionaries played a significant role in assisting the Bulgarians throw off "the Turkish Yoke", which included publishing the magazine Zornitsa (Зорница, "Dawn"), founded in 1864 by the initiative of Riggs and Long. Zornitsa became the most powerful and most widespread newspaper of the Bulgarian Renaissance.
A small roadside marker on Bulgarian Highway 19 in the
Rila Mountains, close to
Gradevo commemorates the support given the Bulgarian Resistance by these early Congregationalist missionaries.
On 3 September 1901 Congregationalist missionaries came to world attention in the
Miss Stone Affair when missionary Ellen Maria Stone, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and her pregnant fellow missionary friend Macedonian-Bulgarian Katerina Stefanova–Tsilka, wife of an Albanian Protestant minister, were kidnapped while traveling between
Bansko and Gorna Dzhumaya (now
Blagoevgrad), by an
Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization detachment led by the
voivoda Yane Sandanski and the sub-voivodas
Hristo Chernopeev and
Krǎstyo Asenov and ransomed to provide funds for revolutionary activities. Eventually, a heavy ransom (14,000
Ottoman lira (about US$62,000 at 1902 gold prices or $5 million at 2012 gold prices) raised by public subscription in the USA was paid on 18 January 1902 in
Bansko and the hostages (now including a newborn baby) were released on 2 February near
Strumica—a full five months after being kidnapped. Widely covered by the media at the time, the event has been often dubbed "America's first modern hostage crisis".
The Bulgarian royal house, of Catholic German extraction, was unsympathetic to the American inspired Protestants, and this mood became worse when Bulgaria sided with Germany in WWI and WWII. Matters became much worse when the
Bulgarian Communist Party took power in 1944. Like the Royal Family, it too saw Protestantism closely linked to the West and hence more politically dangerous than traditional Orthodox Christianity. This prompted repressive legislation in the form of "Regulations for the Organization and Administration of the Evangelical Churches in the People's Republic of Bulgaria" and resulted in the harshest government repression, possibly the worst in the entire
Eastern Bloc, intended to extinguish Protestantism altogether. Mass arrests of pastors (and often their families), torture, long prison sentences (including four life sentences) and even disappearance were common. Similar tactics were used on parishioners. In fifteen highly publicized mock show-trials between 8 February and 8 March 1949, all the accused pastors confessed to a range of charges against them, including treason, spying (for both the US and Yugoslavia), black marketing, and various immoral acts. State appointed pastors were foist on surviving congregations. As late as the 1980s, imprisonment and exile were still employed to destroy the remaining Protestant churches. The Congregationalist magazine "Zornitsa" was banned; Bibles became unobtainable. As a result, the number of Congregationalists is small and estimated by
Paul Mojzes in 1982 to number about 5,000, in 20 churches. (Total Protestants in Bulgaria were estimated in 1965 to have been between 10,000 and 20,000.) More recent estimates indicate enrollment in Protestant ("Evangelical" or "Gospel") churches of between 100,000 and 200,000, presumably reflecting the success of more recent missionary efforts of evangelical groups.
Canada
In Canada, the first foreign field, thirty-one churches that had been affiliated with the General Conference became part of the
United Church of Canada when that denomination was founded in 1925 by the merger of the Canadian Congregationalist and
Methodist churches, and two-thirds of the congregations of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada. In 1988, a number of UCC congregations separated from the national church, which they felt was moving away theologically and in practice from Biblical Christianity. Many of the former UCC congregations banded together as the new
Congregational Christian Churches in Canada.
The Congregational Christian Churches in Canada (or 4Cs) is an evangelical, Protestant, Christian denomination, headquartered in Brantford, Ontario, and a member of the
World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship. The name "congregational" generally describes its preferred organizational style, which promotes local church autonomy and ownership, while fostering fellowship and accountability between churches at the National level.
Ireland
The
Congregational Union of Ireland was founded in 1829 and currently has around 26 member churches. In 1899 it absorbed the Irish Evangelical Society.
Samoa
The
Congregational Christian Church of Samoa is one of the largest group of churches throughout the Pacific Region. It was founded in 1830 by the
London Missionary Society missionary
John Williams on the island of
Savai'i in the village of Sapapali'i. As the church grew it established and continues to support theological colleges in Samoa and Fiji. There are over 100,000 members attending over 2,000 congregations throughout the world, most of which are located in Samoa, American Samoa, New Zealand, Australia and America. The
Christian Congregational Church of Jamaica falls under the constitution of the Samoan Church.
South Africa
Congregational churches were brought to the
Cape Colony by British settlers.
United Kingdom
The
Congregational Union of England and Wales was established in 1831.
It had no authority over the affiliated churches, but instead aimed to advise and support them.
In 1972, about three-quarters of English Congregational churches merged with the
Presbyterian Church of England to form the
United Reformed Church (URC). However, about 600 Congregational churches have continued in their historic independent tradition. Under the
United Reformed Church Act 1972 that dealt with the financial and property issues arising from the merger between what had become by then the
Congregational Church of England and Wales and the
Presbyterian Church of England, certain assets were divided between the various parties.
In England, there are three main groups of continuing Congregationalists. These are the
Congregational Federation, which has offices in Nottingham and Manchester, the
Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, which has offices in Beverley, and about 100 Congregational churches that are loosely federated with other congregations in the
Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, or are unaffiliated. The unaffiliated churches' share of the assets of the Congregational Union/Church of England and Wales is administered by a
registered charity, the Unaffiliated Congregational Churches Charities, which supports the unaffiliated churches and their retired ministers.
In 1981, the United Reformed Church merged with the re-formed Association of Churches of Christ and, in 2000, just over half of the churches in the
Congregational Union of Scotland also joined the United Reformed Church (via the United Reformed Church Act 2000
2000 c.ii
at legislation.gov.uk). The remainder of Congregational churches in Scotland joined the Congregational Federation.
Wales traditionally is the part which has the largest share of Congregationalists among the population, most Congregationalists being members of ''Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg'' (the Union of Welsh Independents), which is particularly important in Carmarthenshire and Brecknockshire.
The London Missionary Society was effectively the world mission arm of British Congregationalists, sponsoring missionaries including Eric Liddell and David Livingstone. After mergers and changes of name, the Society was succeeded in 1977 by the worldwide Council for World Mission.
United States
In the United States, the Congregational tradition traces its origins mainly to Puritan settlers of colonial New England. Congregational churches have had an important impact on the political, religious and cultural history of the United States. Their practices concerning church governance influenced the early development of democratic institutions in New England, and many of the nation's oldest educational institutions, such as Harvard and Yale University, were founded to train Congregational clergy. In the 21st century, the Congregational tradition is represented by the United Church of Christ, the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.
See also
*Arminianism
*Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches
*List of Congregational churches
*Continental Reformed church
*Reformed Baptists
References
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
United States
* McConnell, Michael W. "Establishment and Disestablishment at the Founding, Part I: Establishment of Religion" ''William and Mary Law Review'', Vol. 44, 2003, pp. 2105
* Swift, David Everett. “Conservative versus Progressive Orthodoxy in Latter Nineteenth Century Congregationalism.” ''Church History'' 16#1 (March, 1947): 22–31.
* Walker, Williston. “Changes in Theology Among American Congregationalists.” ''American Journal of Theology'' 10#2 (April 1906): 204–218.
* Walker, Williston. ''The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism.'' 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Pilgrim Press, 1960.
* Walker, Williston. “Recent Tendencies in the Congregational Churches.” ''The American Journal of Theology'' 24#1 (January, 1920): 1-18.
United Kingdom
* Argent, Alan. ''The Transformation of Congregationalism 1900-2000'' (Nottingham: Congregational Federation, 2013)
* Duffy, Eamon. ''The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, c.1400 to c.1580'' (Cambridge, 1992)
* Dale, Robert William
''History of English Congregationalism''
(London: Hodder & Stoughton / New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son, 1907)
* Hooper, Thomas.
The Story of English Congregationalism
' (1907)
*
* Ottewill, Roger Martin.
Faith and good works: congregationalism in Edwardian Hampshire 1901-1914
(PhD. Diss. University of Birmingham, 2015) Bibliography pp 389–417.
* Rimmington, Gerald. “Congregationalism in Rural Leicestershire and Rutland 1863-1914.” ''Midland History'' 30, no.1 (2006): 91-104.
* Rimmington, Gerald. “Congregationalism and Society in Leicester 1872-1914.” ''Local Historian'' 37#1 (2007): 29–44.
* Thompson, David. ''Nonconformity in the Nineteenth Century'' (1972).
* Thompson, David M. ''The Decline of Congregationalism in the Twentieth-Century.'' (London: The Congregational Memorial Hall Trust, 2002).
Older works by John Waddington
* ''Congregational Martyrs''. London, 1861, intended to form part of a series of 'Historical Papers,' which, however, were not continued; 2nd ed. 1861
*''Congregational Church History from the Reformation to 1662'', London, 1862, awarded the bicentenary prize offered by the Congregational Union
* ''Surrey Congregational History'', London, 1866, in which he dealt more particularly with the records of his own congregation.
* ''Congregational History'', 5 vols., London, 1869–1880
External links
Congregational Library and Archives in Boston, Massachusetts
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Category:Christian terminology