HISTORY
Congregational Churches were first organized in England in the Sixteenth Century. The Church developed as a result of the perceived abuses of power in the State Church. The Separatists sought to reproduce a Church according to the New Testament model of simplicity and democracy. Separatists wanted to choose their own ministers rather than to be forced to accept the choice of the bishop. They wanted no elaborate garments or ritual. They wanted the earnest prayers of the people led by Christ, instead of set prayers chanted from the Book of Common Prayer. They declared themselves subject only to Christ and the covenants they would draw up in independent churches.
Congregationalists thus trace their heritage to the Separatist Movement in England and the settlers of Plymouth Colony. The important factor in the founding of Plymouth was the deeply held belief that a person should be able to worship God free from imposed outside regulation. It was maintained that liberated men and women would then be encouraged to develop their personal and congregational spiritual experience.
OBJECT
Congregationalists seek democratic life and organization, simplicity and vitality of faith, intellectual freedom to follow the dictates of conscience enlightened by the Holy Spirit, educational quality, evangelistic purpose, missionary zeal, social passion, nonsectarian fellowship, and unselfish devotion to the kingdom of God.
The object of a Congregational Church shall be to bind together the followers of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing in the worship of God and in making his will dominant in the lives of men and women, individually and collectively, especially as that will is set forth in the life, teachings, death, and living presence of Jesus Christ.
POLITY
A Congregational Christian Church is a church of self-governing Christian believers organized on a democratic basis. Congregationalists believe in a free church, one unfettered by established creeds and outside control, under the sole authority and leadership of Jesus Christ represented by the Holy Spirit. The free church insures true freedom of the individual before God, liberty of conscience, the autonomy of the local church, and the free fellowship of churches.
A Congregational Church acknowledges Jesus Christ as its head and finds in the Holy Scriptures, interpreted by the Divine Spirit through faith, conscience, and reason, its guidance in all matters of faith and practice. The government of the Church shall be vested in its members, who exercise the right of control in all its affairs.
While Congregational Churches recognize no superior denominational law, they accept all the obligations of mutual council, courtesy, and cooperation involved in the free fellowship of the Congregational Christian Church, and pledge themselves to share in the common aims and work of the Congregational Christian Churches in state associations or fellowships and in the national association.
For more of an understanding, copy and paste this web site in your computer browser:
http://www.lesandhelga.com/cong_ism.html
Congregational Churches were first organized in England in the Sixteenth Century. The Church developed as a result of the perceived abuses of power in the State Church. The Separatists sought to reproduce a Church according to the New Testament model of simplicity and democracy. Separatists wanted to choose their own ministers rather than to be forced to accept the choice of the bishop. They wanted no elaborate garments or ritual. They wanted the earnest prayers of the people led by Christ, instead of set prayers chanted from the Book of Common Prayer. They declared themselves subject only to Christ and the covenants they would draw up in independent churches.
Congregationalists thus trace their heritage to the Separatist Movement in England and the settlers of Plymouth Colony. The important factor in the founding of Plymouth was the deeply held belief that a person should be able to worship God free from imposed outside regulation. It was maintained that liberated men and women would then be encouraged to develop their personal and congregational spiritual experience.
OBJECT
Congregationalists seek democratic life and organization, simplicity and vitality of faith, intellectual freedom to follow the dictates of conscience enlightened by the Holy Spirit, educational quality, evangelistic purpose, missionary zeal, social passion, nonsectarian fellowship, and unselfish devotion to the kingdom of God.
The object of a Congregational Church shall be to bind together the followers of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing in the worship of God and in making his will dominant in the lives of men and women, individually and collectively, especially as that will is set forth in the life, teachings, death, and living presence of Jesus Christ.
POLITY
A Congregational Christian Church is a church of self-governing Christian believers organized on a democratic basis. Congregationalists believe in a free church, one unfettered by established creeds and outside control, under the sole authority and leadership of Jesus Christ represented by the Holy Spirit. The free church insures true freedom of the individual before God, liberty of conscience, the autonomy of the local church, and the free fellowship of churches.
A Congregational Church acknowledges Jesus Christ as its head and finds in the Holy Scriptures, interpreted by the Divine Spirit through faith, conscience, and reason, its guidance in all matters of faith and practice. The government of the Church shall be vested in its members, who exercise the right of control in all its affairs.
While Congregational Churches recognize no superior denominational law, they accept all the obligations of mutual council, courtesy, and cooperation involved in the free fellowship of the Congregational Christian Church, and pledge themselves to share in the common aims and work of the Congregational Christian Churches in state associations or fellowships and in the national association.
For more of an understanding, copy and paste this web site in your computer browser:
http://www.lesandhelga.com/cong_ism.html