The Plan of Union of 1801 was an agreement between the

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

of New England and 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 ...

for mutual support and joint effort in

evangelizing In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...

the American frontier. It lasted until 1852.

Background

Prior to 1801, Congregationalists and Presbyterians had enjoyed friendly relationships. Both denominations shared a common

Calvinistic 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 Ca ...

theology, while differing in

church polity Ecclesiastical polity is the operational and governance structure of a church or of a Christian denomination. It also denotes the ministerial structure of a church and the authority relationships between churches. Polity relates closely to e ...

(with Congregationalists and Presbyterians having adopted 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 ...

and

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 ...

respectively). There were also many instances stretching back to colonial times where

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. ...

congregations embraced

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 ...

Provisions

The Plan of Union was initially agreed upon between the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

of the Presbyterian Church and the Connecticut General Association of Congregational Churches. The Plan was later approved by the Congregational associations in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. It enabled churches of either denomination to hire ministers from the other. Congregations were given the choice whether to be governed by

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 ...

or by the Presbyterian model of a session of ruling elders. The Plan also made it possible for the Middle Association of Congregationalists in New York to become a subordinate jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Synod of Albany. As part of the Plan, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church designated the Congregationalist

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 ...

(ABCFM) as its recognized missions agency in 1826. By 1831, the majority of board members and missionaries of the ABCFM were Presbyterians. As a result, most of the local churches established by the organization during this period were Presbyterian. Congregationalists essentially "turned over domestic evangelistic efforts to Presbyterians".

Termination

A consequence of this arrangement was that the Presbyterian Church received an influx of pastors and congregations sympathetic to the New England theology that prevailed within the Congregational churches. This ultimately led to 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, Ma ...

that divided the Presbyterian Church in 1837. The Old School Presbyterian Church ended cooperation with the Congregationalists in 1837, but the New School Presbyterian Church would remain in union with the Congregational churches until 1852. That year the Congregationalists ended their participation in the Plan of Union. By this time, Congregationalists had developed a greater denominational consciousness, which ultimately led to the creation of the National Council of the Congregational Churches in 1865.

References

Bibliography

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Background

Provisions

Termination

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading