BX 7232 .P8 1913 ONGREGATIONALISTS WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO * * * PRUDDEN Book f * iq . Copyrightible . COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. CONGREGATION ALISTS WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY DO BOOKS ON CONGREGATIONALISM THE PILGRIM FAITH By Ozora S. Davis. Provides a timely account of Congregational history and ideals. And while based on thorough research it is pre- sented in form suited to the general public. It is admirably adapted for the use of classes of young people. Price, $1.00 net. CONGREGATIONALISM By Charles E. Jefferson, D.D. A spirited summary of what Con- gregationalism has stood for ever since its inception in Puritanism to its achievement of the present day. Bound in boards. Price, 25 cents net. THE PILGRIMS By Frederick A. Noble, D.D. The account of the Pilgrims is car- ried on from the rise of the body in England till the Plymouth Colony was merged in the Bay Colony and aided in making the splendid Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 500 pages, 6 full-page half-tones. Size, 6i X 9J inches. Price, $2.50 net. CONGREGATIONAL ADMINISTRATION By Professor Charles S. Nash. Professor Nash discusses such ques- tions as our need of evolving efficient denominational machinery, ministerial leadership, forms of local fellowship, state unification, national unity, and congregational church union. About 200 pages. Price, 50 cents net THE NEW CONGREGATIONAL MANUAL By Rev. William E. Barton, D.D. Bound in flexible leather. $1.00 net. DEMOCRACY IN THE CHURCH By Edgar L. Heermance. A fresh and vigorous putting of the question of church unity. Price, $1.25 net, postage 12 cents. CONGREGATIONAL FAITH AND PRACTICE By Asher Anderson, D.D. Very brief statement of history, prin- ciples, and work of Congregationalism. Suitable for pastors to give to persons uniting with the church. 5 cents each, 30 for $1.00. THE COUNCIL MANUAL A brief presentation of the Congregational platform as defined by the National Council. Gives forms for letters missive, etc. 10 cents, postpaid, 25 copies for $1.50, by express. THE PILGRIM PRESS CONGREGATIONALISTS WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO BY THEODORE P. PRUDDEN BOSTON THE PILGRIM PRESS NEW YORK CHICAGO 1913 ^ • COPYRIGHT, 1913 Y THE CONGREGATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY PLIMPTON- PRESS 'OOD-MASS-U-S-A THE history of Congregational churches is so hon- orable and interesting, their influence has been so extensive, and is so connected with our national de- velopment and institutions, that the important facts about them should be more generally known by all Congregationalists. Such facts I have endeavored to set forth in a compact form for the information of both old and young, who do not read larger works, that they may perceive the heroic origin, the principles, the ideals, the spirit, and the notable achievements of Congrega- tional churches, and also the work which they are now doing. In preparing this statement of facts, I am chiefly indebted to Walker's History of the Congre- gational Churches in the United States in The American Church History Series, Vol. III., Dunning's Congrega- tionalists in America^ and Clark's Leavening the Nation. I have also gleaned valuable information from The Congregationalists by Leonard Woolsey Bacon, The Be- ginnings of New England by John Fiske, The Genesis of the New England Churches by Leonard Bacon, His- tory of New England by Palfrey, The England and Holland of the Pilgrims by Morton Dexter, and other books referred to in the notes. THEODORE P. PRUDDEN. Brookline, Mass., June, 1913. CONGREGATIONALISTS WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO Who are Congregationalists? They are a Protestant Christian denomination whose churches are chiefly in the United States and Great Britain, but many are in Australia, Canada, and foreign missionary fields. Why are they called Congregationalists? They are so called because the supreme author- ity is not in the officers, or in any body outside of itself, but in the people (or congregation) com- posing a local church. 1 What is the Congregational idea of a church? It is that a company of Christians covenanting together for religious worship and work is a com- plete and self-governing church, which is (1) re- sponsible only to Christ, and entirely independent ; but it also (2) recognizes and honors the princi- ple of fellowship, and exercises its independence 1 When the term "Congregational" came into general use is uncertain ; Rev. John Cotton entitled a treatise, issued in 1648, "Way of the Congregational churches cleared"; since no other churches existed for nearly a century in New England, Congrega- tional churches were frequently described as " The New England Churches. " 1 [ 1 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS in a spirit of fraternal regard for the welfare, approval, advice, and common interests of the whole brotherhood of churches. It is therefore different from the Presbyterian, Methodist, Epis- copal, or Roman Catholic churches, in which each local congregation is part of one great organiza- tion, and subject to some authority outside of itself. Are churches of any other denomination congrega- tional in form? Yes, the Baptist, the Plymouth Brethren, the Christian, the Disciples of Christ, the Unitarians, and some others — in all nearly thirty-eight per cent of the congregations in the United States. There are about ten times as many religious organ- izations congregationally governed as there are Congregational churches. 1 How are they different from Congregational churches? They differ frequently in some special doctrine which is emphasized in their name, as the Baptists 2 and Unitarians. Why is it inaccurate to speak of the whole de- nomination as the Congregational Church of the United States? It is inaccurate because each local Congrega- tional church is complete in itself, and to speak 1 Any self-governing and independent church is in fact a Con- gregational church ; it becomes a part of the Congregational denomination when it comes into fellowship with other Congre- gational churches. 2 Henry Ward Beech er once called the Baptists " Wet Con- gregationalists " and the Congregationalists " Dry Baptists." [ « ] CONGREGATIONALXSTS as if it were not, or as if the whole company of local churches made one church, is to ignore or deny one of its fundamental principles. Many people, however, use the word " church " to de- scribe a denomination. What binds the Congregational churches into a denomination? They are bound together by fellowship and mutual interests, 1 and while exercising no author- ity over each other, they exchange and defer to fraternal counsel, work together for common ends, unite in district conferences and associations, State bodies, and a National Council. What are the theological views of Congregation- alists? There is no distinctive Congregational theology, and excepting their views about the nature and government of a church, they have not materially differed from other bodies of evangelical Chris- tians. Until recent years their doctrines have been in general Calvinistic, and in harmony with the Westminster Assembly and the Church of England. Each Congregational church, however, can deter- mine its own creed, and such churches, while sur- passed by none in their exaltation of Christ and reverence for the Bible, have never been bound by an authoritative system of theology, but have con- stantly expected " more light," 2 and changed their 1 This tie has sometimes been derisively called "a rope of sand." 2 "lam confident the Lord hath more light yet to break forth from his Holy Word." — John Robinson's Farewell Address. [ 3 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS theological beliefs as they saw new aspects of truth. What is the attitude of Congregational churches toward other churches? They recognize the churchly character of organi- zations otherwise governed, and so far as possible, hold fellowship with all Christians. What are some marked characteristics of Congre- gational churches? They are a democratic spirit ; simplicity in wor- ship ; high standards of membership ; freedom of thought ; a progressive theology ; strong fellow- ship with a minimum of sectarianism ; zeal for education; great missionary activity. II Where and when did Congregational churches originate? They originated in England late in the sixteenth century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, chiefly in London and the eastern counties, where the Reformation had been most welcomed and the University of Cambridge was most influential. 1 Who were the first Congregationalists? They were a branch of the Puritans, 2 all of whom desired greater simplicity and freedom in 1 See The Beginnings of New England, pp. 62-66. 5 The Puritans desired " not liberty to withdraw from that National Church and to organize what would now be called a dis- [ * ] CONGREGATIONALISTS worship, a purer church-membership, and more de- vout and educated ministers than they found in the Established Church, but the Congregationalists differed from the majority of Puritans in separat- ing from the Church of England " without tary- ing for anie." Hence they (as well as others who were not Congregationalists) were called " Separatists " and " Independents." How did early Congregationalists differ from the Church of England? The Church of England was a State church, 1 of which the king was the head, 2 and any other church, or any gathering for worship, not in its buildings, or not using its forms, or not led by its clergymen, was illegal. The Congregationalists claimed, and exercised, the right to govern themselves, and wor- ship when and where and as their own consciences, instead of the king or queen, dictated. On what ground did early Congregationalists jus- tify their separation from the National Church? They justified it on the ground (1) that their churches were in harmony with the teachings of tinct ' denomination ' ; nor was it merely liberty in the National Church to worship according to their own idea of Christian sim- plicity and purity," but it was "reformation of the National Church itself by national authority. " — Genesis of the New England Churches, p. 67. 1 For one thousand years the people had been taught that the church was a national body, in which uniformity of creed and worship was " maintained by the State, and binding on all its citi- zens as members of a State church. " 2 The translation of the Bible made in 1611 is called "The Authorized Version " because it was authorized by King James I as head of the Church. [ 5 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS Christ, and the example of the apostles and other early Christians ; (2) that each apostolic church was composed of believers in Christ who united to- gether voluntarily and controlled their own affairs, but were in fellowship with each other ; (3) that the rightful authority of the national government did not extend to the manner in which men should worship God. 1 When and where were the first Congregational churches formed? There are traces of what may have been a Con- gregational church in London as early as 1567, but the earliest of which we know definitely are one in Norwich in 1580, and one in London in 1587 ; both of these were persecuted, their members imprisoned or driven out of England, 2 and the latter furnished three martyrs. Who was the earliest Congregational leader? He was Robert Browne, who was a graduate of Cambridge, a relative of Lord Burleigh, a popular 1 The Congregationalists held the then revolutionary ideas that only Christian believers constituted a church ; that the ultimate law for it and all religious life was the Bible ; that magistrates had no right to interfere ; that God alone and not the civil ruler ap- points what the Christian is to believe and practise in all spiritual concerns ; that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Head of the Church ; that its officers are to be chosen by the congregation to whom they minister, who shall also administer admonition and excommunication. — A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States, pp. 11, 12. See also Congregationalists in America, pp. 59-61. 2 All the other Congregational churches were broken up and their members forced to conform to the Church of England or become exiles. [ 6 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS preacher and clergyman of the Church of England. He gathered a church, thought to be Congrega- tional, at Norwich, but was compelled to flee to Holland, where he became the first and leading writer on Congregational principles. His books, 1 when introduced into England, greatly helped to spread Congregational ideas. Later he retracted, 2 was pardoned, and died as a clergyman of the Established Church. From his name the earliest Congregationalists were called " Brownists." 3 Who were the martyrs of Congregationalism? They were, in 1583, John Coppin and Elias Thacker who had been ministers of the Church of England and had distributed Browne's books ; and in 1593 John Greenwood, a graduate of Cam- bridge, and a clergyman of the Established Church, who became teacher of the Congregational church 1 The titles of Browne's two most important works are "A Treatife of reformation without tarying for anie, and of the wickedneffe of thofe Preachers which will not reforme till the Magiftrate commaunde or compell them," a strong argument for instant separation from the Church of England, and against the Puritans, who were waiting for the government to reform the church ; and " A Booke which sheweth the life and manners of all true Chriftians, and howe vnlike they are vnto Turkes and Papiftes, and Heathen folke, " the first systematic exposition of Congrega- tional principles. 2 Dr. H. M. Dexter thinks Browne's abandonment of his Con- gregational views was the result of a mental breakdown due to disappointments and imprisonment. 8 See The Beginnings of New England, pp. 66, 68 ; A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States, pp. 32-42 ; Con- gregationalists in America, pp. 58-61. Sir Walter Raleigh stated in Parliament in 1593 that " he feared there were 20,000 Brownists in England." [ ? ] CONGREGATIONALISTS in London; Henry Barrowe, 1 a gentleman and courtier of high social rank, a graduate of Cam- bridge, a lawyer, and one of the most prolific Separatist authors ; John Penry, a Welsh evan- gelist and a graduate of Cambridge ; and William Denis of Thetford, Norfolk. 2 For what crime were these men hanged? They were hanged for the crime of denying (or circulating books that denied) the queen's suprem- acy in religion, and for teaching and practising the right to worship God otherwise than according to the laws of the Church of England. 3 Ill Who were the first Congregationalists in America? They were the Congregational church which came to Massachusetts on the " Mayflower " in 1620. 1 Barrowe left a legacy to aid in the emigration of the London church, of which over fifty of the members were imprisoned. 2 Also twenty-five members of the church in London, after long confinement, mostly in Newgate, died in prison or a few days after release. Dexter's The England and Holland of the Pilgrims, pp. 209, 421. See also Genesis of the New England Churches, Chaps. VIII, IX ; Congregationalists in America, pp. 26-70 ; A His- tory of the Congregational Churches in the United States, pp. 39-50. 8 A law of 1581 made it a capital offense to write any book maliciously attacking the authority of the queen, or inciting to rebellion. The books are described in the queen's proclamation of 1583 as " sundry seditious, scismaticall, and erronious printed Bookes and libelles, tending to the deprauing of the Ecclesiastical gouernment established within this Realme." [ 8 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What is the history of that church? It was largely composed of people who had been members of the church at Gainsborough, 1 and was gathered, 2 probably, by Rev. Richard Clyfton about 1606, and met at William Brewster's home in the manor-house of Scrooby 3 in Nottingham- shire, one hundred and forty-six miles north of 1 The church at Gainsborough (ten miles east of Scrooby) emi- grated in 1606 to Amsterdam, where it, as well as the church from London, continued a feeble and inharmonious existence till 1701, when the remnant was received into the English Reformed Church of Amsterdam. The story of the attempt to establish a Congregational polity " is one of strength and courage, of suffering willingly undergone, of heroism and martyrdom. But it is a story also of weakness and division and failure. . . . Had Browne and Barrowe and Greenwood and Johnson and Penry and Ainsworth been all the leaders that early Congregationalism produced, the system which they loved would scarcely have survived them. They did a noble and an indispensable work ; but it was well that other workmen, more patient, more united, if less gifted, entered into their labors and reaped the harvest which they had sowed, but which they were not fitted to garner. " — A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States, pp. 54, 55. 2 This church was organized by the members ^covenanting " to walke in all his wayes made known, or to be made known unto them, according to their best endeauours, whatsoeuer it should cost them, the Lord assisting them." — Bradford. 8 The location of Scrooby was long unknown and not clearly established till 1854. The manor-house and manor, which both Queen Elizabeth and King James desired to possess, and where Cardinal Woolsey once spent some time, were owned by the Archbishops of York, and leased in 1575 to William Brewster, Sr., on whom devolved the duty of forwarding government despatches, and furnishing an inn and horses for travelers. Traces of the large house (demolished in 1637) are still visible, and parts of it have been embodied in the farmhouse still standing. The parish church remains as in Brewster's time ; Austerfield, whence William Bradford came, is about two miles north. [ 9 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS London. After much persecution and two vain attempts to escape from England (one by the port of Boston, and the other from Hull) this church succeeded in reaching Amsterdam in Holland in 1608, but in 1609 it removed to Leyden, where it remained eleven years. What was its. condition in Leyden? It was a company of from two to three hundred voluntary exiles, under the care of Rev. John Rob- inson, their pastor, and William Brewster, their ruling elder, meeting for worship in the pastor's house, supporting themselves as best they could, 1 and ever hoping that some change in the English government would enable them to return home. Why did not this church remain in Leyden? It did not (1) because its members were English people, who loved their country and its institu- tions and language, and would not willingly re- main foreigners, or have their children absorbed among Hollanders. (2) Because Holland afforded few opportunities to gain a living. (3) Because they feared that the church they loved, and its principles, would die. (4) Because America seemed to offer the opportunities they desired. 2 (5) Be- cause they wished to be useful as missionaries. 1 Brewster opened a printing-office and taught school ; Robin- son accepted a professorship in the university ; Bradford learned the trade of a silk-dyer and studied ancient languages ; Winslow learned printing ; others worked at over fifty different employ- ments. — The England and Holland of the Pilgrims, p. 488. 2 " The spirit of nationality was strong in them ; the spirit of self-government was strong in them ; and the only thing which could satisfy these feelings was such a migration as had not been [ io ] CONGREGATIONALISTS When and how did this church leave Holland? The physically stronger portion, leaving their pastor behind with the majority, sailed from Delfs- haven in the " Speedwell " in July, 1620, for South- ampton, where a ship and friends from England awaited them, and, after various vicissitudes, finally put to sea in the " Mayflower," from Plymouth, England, and landed at Plymouth, 1 Massachusetts, December 21, 1620. What besides a company of pilgrims were they? They were (1) an organized Congregational church, 2 which crossed the ocean as a Congrega- tional church, because it was a Congregational church, that it might continue a Congregational church, and for nine years it was the only Con- gregational church in America, and the only church in New England. (2) It was a self-governing State, organized by a compact 3 in the cabin of the " Mayflower " in the same manner as the church had been organized by a covenant. Sena- tor Hoar called that compact " the most impor- tant political transaction that has ever taken place on the face of the earth." Governor Roger Wol- cott said, " It contained the fundamental principles seen since ancient times, a migration like that of Phokaians to Massilia or Tyrians to Carthage. " — The Beginnings of New Eng- land, p. 74. 1 The name " Plymouth" was given by Captain John Smith in 1614. 2 It was settled at Ley den " that those who went should be an absolute church by themselves. " 3 This compact was signed when the " Mayflower " was an- chored off Cape Cod in the harbor of Provincetown. For a copy of the " Compact," see Appendix I. [ 11 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS of equal rights in a free State, equal privileges in a free church, and equal opportunities in a free school." 1 Were the first settlers in Salem and Boston Con- gregationalists when they arrived? No, they were Puritans, who knew little about Congregationalists and had not been attracted to them, 2 but intended to establish " a state and a state-church such as, in their view, England and the Church of England ought to have been." 3 What sort of churches did they organize? Though for some time they viewed themselves as members of the Church of England, they finally established Congregational churches and no others. Why did they do so? They did so (1) because severe sickness having befallen the people at Salem, the Plymouth colony sent to their assistance Doctor Samuel Fuller, a deacon of the church, who not only healed their 1 Introduction to The Bradford History. 2 Cotton Mather quotes Rev. Francis Higginson, the first pastor at Salem, as saying, when taking his last sight of England, " We will not say as the separatists were wont to say at their leaving of England, Farewel Babylon ! farewel Rome ! but we will say, fare- wel dear England! farewel the church of God in England, and all the christian friends there ! We do not go to New England as separatists from the church of England ; though we cannot but separate from the ^corruptions in it; but we go to practice the positive part of church reformation and propagate the gospel in America." — Mather's Magnolia, I, p. 328. 8 L. W. Bacon, The Congregationalists, p. 21. [ 12 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS sick, and won their hearts, but, with persuasive skill, gave them such new and attractive ideas of the Plymouth church and colony as to convince Governor Endicott, and most of the people, that the Congregational form of church organization was Scriptural and desirable. 1 (2) Because an independent and self-governing church harmonized best with their isolated circumstances and form of government: (3) Because it seemed wise to Gov- ernor John Winthrop and his company on arriving at Boston to follow the precedent already estab- lished at Plymouth and Salem. What makes this important? It is important because it was a turning-point in the history of Congregational churches, where their future existence and their position in New England were determined. Had some other form of church been established at Salem and Boston, there would have been two denominations, of which the Congregational would have been far the smaller. What was the Puritan exodus? It was the immigration to New England of about twenty-one thousand Puritans because of persecu- tions under Archbishop Laud between 1628 and 1 The Salem Church was organized by a covenant, and its ministers, though previously ordained in the Church of England, were reordained by the new church ; just as the exercises were concluding Governor Bradford and Dr. Fuller arrived as repre- sentatives of the church at Plymouth and gave the right hand of fellowship. See a letter from Governor Endicott to Governor Bradford; also the Covenant of the Salem Church, in Appendix II. [ 13 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS 1640. It ceased when the Long Parliament secured the Puritan ascendancy. 1 What kind of people were these immigrants? They were preeminently respectable, thrifty, and according to the standard of that time, well edu- cated ; many of them were country gentlemen ; ninety of them were university men, mostly from Cambridge. One clergyman said, in 1688, " God sifted a whole nation, that He might send choice grain into the wilderness." 2 What churches did this large number of Puritans establish or join? Though they had not been Congregationalists in England, yet they established or joined Con- gregational churches, and until 1674, when one Baptist church was formed in Boston, no churches excepting Congregational existed in Massachusetts or Connecticut. 3 What was the result? The result was that -in twelve years after the arrival of the " Mayflower " there were ten Con- gregational churches in New England; in twenty- seven years, forty-three ; in eighty years, about one hundred and thirty (exclusive of Indian con- gregations). They were legislated for by the General Court and sustained by town taxes;- they were the only churches in Massachusetts or Con- 1 See The Beginnings of New England, Chap. II. 2 The Beginnings of New England, pp. 141-143. 3 " The simple fact of removal from England converted all the Puritan emigrants into Separatists, as Robinson had already pre- dicted." — The Beginnings of New England, p. 108. [ 14 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS necticut for more than fifty years, and well-nigh the only churches for one hundred years, and the churches of overwhelming influence till long after the beginning of the nineteenth century. What became of the early Congregational churches in England and Holland? Those in England were disbanded or went to Holland ; those in Holland either ceased to exist or emigrated to America. IV Who were the chief officers in an early Congre- gational church? The chief officers were a pastor who exhorted or preached, a teacher x who taught doctrine, and a ruling elder who managed many important affairs. After the first generation, the offices of pastor and teacher were united in one person, the office of ruling elder was generally abolished, and the office of deacon made more prominent. Did the Puritans come to America to establish religious freedom? They did not, excepting for themselves. 2 Free- dom in religion, as we conceive of it, was at that 1 The Cambridge Platform says : " The Pastors special work is, to attend to exhortation : & therein to Administer a word of Wis- dom : the Teacher is to attend to Doctrine, & therein to Admin- ister a word of Knowledg : & either of them to administer the Seales of that Covenant [i. e., sacraments], unto the dispensation wherof they are alike called : as also to execute the Censures. " — Hist. Cong I Churches in U. S., p. 226. 2 " The notion that they [the Puritans] came to New England [ 15 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS time unknown, but intolerance in Massachusetts was slight in comparison with that which continued to prevail in England, and religious liberty was established among the Congregationalists in, New England earlier than in any other part of the English-speaking world. 1 Were Congregational churches approved of by Puritans in England? They were not. The English Puritans became Presbyterians, and during the latter part of the seventeenth century the two polities were defended and opposed in many and elaborate publications by leading ministers on both sides of the Atlantic. In England Congregationalism was called " The for the purpose of establishing religious liberty, in any sense in which we should understand such a phrase, is entirely incorrect. It is neither more nor less than a bit of popular legend. If we mean by the phrase ' religious liberty ' a state of things in which opposite or contradictory opinions on questions of religion shall exist side by side in the same community, and in which everybody shall decide for himself how far he will conform to the customary religious observances, nothing could have been further from their thoughts." " The religious liberty that we enjoy to-day is largely the consequence of their work ; but it is a consequence that was unforeseen." — Beginnings of N. E., pp. 145, 146. " Episcopacy to them meant actual and practical tyranny — the very thing they had crossed the ocean expressly to get away from — and it was hardly to be supposed that they would encourage the growth of it in their new home." — Beginnings of N. E., p. 109. 1 Nowhere in Europe, save Holland, was freedom in worship possible. In England non-conformity to the Established Church frequently received the death penalty ; and according to an early code of Virginia " continued absence from daily services was punishable with six months in the galleys, and similar neglect of Sunday worship with death." — Hist. Cong'l Churches in U. S., p. 148. [ 16 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS New England way," and its subsequent growth was largely due to the influence and example of New England. What authority in religion did these Congrega- tional churches recognize? They recognized the authority of the word of God found in the Bible, " interpreted by reason x illumined by learning." Hence, they frequently revised their views. What was their theology? It was that held then by all Protestants of the school of Calvin and by the Church of England. In 1651 they set forth what is called " The Cambridge Platform," which approved of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and became the recognized standard for one hundred and fifty years ; and in 1708, the " Saybrook Platform," which reaffirmed the principles of Congregational- ism and the authority of the Bible both in doctrine 1 "In the conviction that religious opinion must be consonant with reason, and that religious truth must be brought home to each individual by rational argument, we may find one of the chief causes of that peculiarly conservative yet flexible intelligence which has enabled the Puritan countries to take the lead in the civilized world of to-day." — Beginnings of N. E., p. 149. Even the witchcraft panic lasted in Massachusetts less than a year, and then was deeply deplored as a sin, a judge publicly confessing his mistake, although a belief in witchcraft was uni- versal in Europe, and held by such lawyers as Blackstone and Sir Matthew Hale, and the law against it was not repealed in England till forty-three years later. " It has been estimated that in the British Islands 30,000 suffered death for witchcraft; 75,000 in France ; 100,000 in Germany; in New England, 32." — Congrega- tionalists in America, p. 199. 2 [ H ] CONGREGATIONALISTS and polity. Until the middle of the eighteenth century the topics most discussed pertained rather to the government of churches and colonies than to theology. What was the attitude of early Congregationalists toward learning? Since they believed that both Church and State were to be governed by the people, they considered education the safeguard of religion and the civil government ; * and having had graduates of Eng- lish universities for their first pastors, they de- manded thoroughly trained and scholarly ministers. Therefore Harvard College 2 was founded in 1636 by Congregational ministers, and took the name of a Congregational minister; Yale was founded by Congregational ministers in 1701. Boston had a school in 1635, Hartford in 1637, and New Haven before the church was organized. In 1647 a school was ordered in every township of fifty families in Massachusetts, and a grammar-school 1 See Beginnings of N. E., pp. 150, 151; also Hist. Cong'l Churches in U. 8., pp. 149-152. 2 Beginnings of N. E., pp. 110, 111. "Mr John Harvard, a reverend, and excellent minister of the gospel, who dying at Charlestown, of a consumption, quickly- after his arrival here, bequeathed the sum of seven hundred, seventy nine pounds, seventeen shillings and two pence, towards the pious work of building a Colledge. . . The other colonies sent some small help to the undertaking, and several particular gentlemen did more than whole colonies to support and forward it ; but because the memorable Mr John Harvard, led the way by a generosity exceeding the most of them, that followed his name was justly seternized, by its having the name of Harvard Colledge im- posed upon it." — Mather's Magnalia, II, p. 7, ed. 1820. Andrus, Hartford. L 18 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS in every town of one hundred families ; and the same was done in Connecticut three years later. On what grounds can legislation in early New England be attributed to the influence of Con- gregational churches? It may be so attributed (1) because religion, cultivated in Congregational churches, was the first interest of early New Englanders, who also held that morality was necessary for the State, and that it must be founded on religion; (2) many towns had been settled by churches under the lead of a pastor; (3) in the Massachusetts and New Haven colonies only church-members could vote or hold office, and " the ' Great and General Court ' was, in a very practical sense, a church court." 1 What influence had the early Congregational churches on our form of government? (1) Self-government in a church suggested and educated men for self-government in other respects, and the practise of liberty in worship led to civil liberty. (2) The idea of independent towns, ruled by a majority of citizens assembled in a town meeting, was exactly the idea of government in a Congregational church. (3) The Constitution of Connecticut, which " clearer and more fully than any political document hitherto formulated, recog- nized the foundation of authority as existing in the people, and the responsibility of all officers to them," and which largely guided the founders of our national government, was elaborated and set forth by Rev. Thomas Hooker in a sermon before 1 L. W. Bacon, The Congregationalists, p. 53. [ 19 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS the General Court at Hartford in 1638. 1 " The idea of a ' government of the people, by the people, and for the people,' was conceived in Congregational churches ; was by them urged and developed into a practical scheme, and without them would never have been realized. The blessings of our Republic have come to us through Congregationalism and through the men who found in its faith and polity the principles of self-government, together with un- swerving loyalty to God." 2 Did early Congregational churches attempt any missionary work? Yes, among the Indians. It was begun by Thomas Mayhew and his son at Martha's Vineyard in 1643. In 1646 two persons from each church were assigned to " spread the gospel among the Indians," and John Eliot 3 began to gather them into villages. Similar work was done in Connecti- cut. In England a society to carry it on was organized, and in 1661 contributed more than six hundred pounds. In 1674 more than four thou- 1 " Mr. Hooker . . . maintained that ' the foundation of au- thority is laid in the free consent of the people,' ' that the choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people by God's own allow- ance,' and that ' they who have power to appoint officers and magistrates have the right also to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place unto which they call them.' On the 14th of January, 1639, all the freemen . . . assembled at Hartford and adopted a written constitution in which the hand of the great preacher is clearly discernible. ... It was the first written con- stitution known to history, that created a government. " — Begin- nings of N. E., p. 127. 2 A. E. Dunning, Congregationalists in America, p. 276. 3 Eliot's first sermon to the Indians was preached in a hut on the banks of the Charles River near Watertown. [ 20 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS sand " Praying Indians " were gathered in seven churches. David Brainerd and Jonathan Edwards were missionaries among them in Stockbridge. Though this work was interrupted by the Indian wars, it continued till near the middle of the eight- eenth century, when the Indian tribes virtually disappeared from New England. 1 Who was John Robinson? John Robinson (1575-1625) was a graduate and fellow of the University of Cambridge, a clergyman of the English Church, and probably teacher of the Pilgrim Church at Scrooby. He was its pastor at Amsterdam and Leyden and nominally at Plymouth, though he died in 1625, before he was able to come to New England. He was a distinguished author, a man of great learn- ing, rare tolerance, and broad views, who prompted the Pilgrim Fathers to settle in America and en- encouraged them with his letters. 2 In his memory the National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States erected in 1891 a tablet on the exterior walls of St. Peter's Church, Leyden, underneath which he was buried, and opposite to which stood his house. Who was William Brewster? William Brewster (1560-1644) was a man of fair classical education, good judgment, wide knowledge 1 See Hist. Congl Churches in U. S., pp. 164-170. 2 Beginnings of N. E., p. 72 ; Hist. Congl Churches in U. 8., pp. 57, 61, 64, 71, 72 ; Genesis of the N. E. Churches, Chap. XII. [ 21 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS of the world, and master of the Post Station at Scrooby on the highroad from London to York. He was the ruling elder of the Pilgrim Church, under whose guidance it came to Plymouth, and its only substitute for a minister during the try- ing years from 1620 to 1629. He has been called the " most eminent person in the movement " that brought the Congregational church to New England. 1 Who was William Bradford? William Bradford (1588-1657) was a member of the church at Scrooby, the governor of Plymouth Colony for thirty years and its historian, to whom we owe most of our information. 1 Brewster entered St. Peter's, or Peterhouse, the oldest college at Cambridge, but his name is not on the list of graduates. His patron and friend was Davison, Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State, under whom he went to court, and had served on a diplo- matic mission to Holland, and by whom he was entrusted with the seal of Flushing after its surrender. He was living in the large and dilapidated house at Scrooby, as his father had done since 1675, and was about forty-five years old when the Pilgrim Church was organized, probably at his instigation. Of all the Pilgrims, he had the largest experience of public life, had seen the most of the world, had been in closest touch with politics and statesman- ship, and had personally known and seen most of the glories of the age of Elizabeth. Mr. Edwin D. Mead says, "If we had the original draft of the compact signed on board the ' Mayflower,' it is an even chance that we should find it in his hand." The poet Spenser was seven years older than Brewster ; Sir Philip Sidney was six years older ; Sir Walter Raleigh was eight years older ; Shakespeare was four years younger ; Brewster was twenty-seven when Mary Queen of Scots was executed, and twenty-eight when the Spanish Armada was destroyed. See Pioneers of Religious Liberty in America, First Lecture. [ m ] CONGREGATIONALISTS Who was John Endicott? John Endicott (1589-1665) was the governor of the colony at Salem, through whose influence a Congregational church was established. Who was John Winthrop? John Winthrop (1588-1649) was a wealthy gentleman, a graduate of Cambridge, a lawyer, and the first governor of Massachusetts. Who was Roger Williams? Roger Williams (1599-1683) 1 was a graduate of Cambridge, and pastor at Salem, but was ban- ished from Massachusetts for holding and pro- claiming extreme and illegal views of liberty before the people could receive them, and which the mag- istrates thought dangerous. He settled in Rhode Island, where he continued to trouble the magis- trates, but became a Baptist and founded the first Baptist church in America, from which, however, he withdrew within a few months. Who was Thomas Hooker? Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) was a graduate of Cambridge, who for twenty years had been a popular and influential preacher in the English Church. He was pastor of the first church in Newtown (now Cambridge), Massachusetts, from which he and a large proportion of its numbers withdrew and founded the First Church in Hart- ford in 1636. He was the author of many works, and " the father of the Connecticut Constitu- 1 See Beginnings of N. E., p. 114. [ 23 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS tion," 1 which " marked the beginnings of American democracy." 2 Who was John Cotton? John Cotton (1585-1652) was a brilliant grad- uate of Cambridge, who, after being rector for twenty years at St. Botolph's Church, Boston, " in the most magnificent parish church in England," came to Boston, Massachusetts, when he was forty- eight years old, and became teacher of the First Church. Who was Richard Mather? Richard Mather (1596-1669) was for seventeen years a clergyman of the Church of England, but emigrated to Massachusetts in 1635, and became pastor of the church at Dorchester and a leader in developing the young Congregationalism of his time. Who was John Eliot? John Eliot (1604-1690) was a graduate of Cambridge, who came to Massachusetts in 1631, and was for fifty-seven years teacher of the church in Roxbury. He became proficient in the Indian language, into which he translated the Bible, and several other books, and is known as the great missionary and apostle to the Indians. Who was John Davenport? John Davenport (1597-1670) was a graduate of Oxford, and had been vicar of a church in 1 Life of Thomas Hooker, by G. L. Walker, pp. 123-128. 2 Beginnings of N. E., p. 127. See page 20, note 1. [ 24 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS London. With his friends he founded the colony and church at New Haven, and later became pastor of the First Church in Boston, thereby occasioning the withdrawal 1 of some of its members who organ- ized the third, or " Old South," Congregational Church. Who was Increase Mather? Increase Mather (1639-1723) was the son of Richard Mather ; a graduate of Harvard ; a preacher in England during the last days of the Commonwealth; pastor of the Second Church in Boston for fifty-nine years, during forty of which his son Cotton Mather was his colleague ; Presi- dent of Harvard College from 1685 to 1701 ; the envoy from Massachusetts to King James II and King William. Through his efforts a new charter was obtained, and Plymouth Colony was added to Massachusetts instead of to New York. He was the leading citizen as well as most influential min- ister in his colony. Who was Cotton Mather? Cotton Mather (1663-1728) was the son of Increase Mather, and grandson of John Cotton. He was graduated from Harvard in 1678, when fifteen years of age. In 1685 he became the col- league of his father and succeeded him as pastor of the Second Church, Boston. He was the author of three hundred and eighty publications, and " the most famous minister in New England." 1 The withdrawal was because of Davenport's strong opposi- tion to the popular " Half- Way Covenant." See page 28. [ 25 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS VI When and where were the first Congregational churches founded in Connecticut? They were at Hartford, Windsor, and Wethers- field x in 1636; at New Haven and Milford in 1639; at Guilford in 1643. What were the first Congregational churches founded in other New England States? The first in New Hampshire were at Dover and Exeter, in 1638. The first in Maine was at York, in 1673 ; in Rhode Island, at Barrington, in 1674 ; in Vermont, at Bennington, in 1762. What churches were in New England in 1700? It is estimated that there were in Massachusetts 2 (aside from Indian churches) 84 Congregational 2 Baptist 1 Episcopal: in Connecticut 39 Congregational: 1 These three churches went to Connecticut from Newtown (now Cambridge), Dorchester, and Watertown, Massachusetts, and are said to have taken one fourth of the strength of the churches in Massachusetts. The name "Newtown" was changed to "Cam- bridge" after the college was established there, in honor of the English university. The church in Windsor is, since the Unitarian Separation, the oldest Congregational church in America. It was organized in England in 1630, came to Dorchester as a church, and soon removed to Windsor. Hartford, Windsor, New Haven, Mil- ford, and Guilford were each settled under the leadership of a Con- gregational minister, most of whose followers had become attached to him in England. 2 Maine was a part of Massachusetts till 1820. [ 26 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS in New Hampshire 4 Congregational: in Rhode Island 3 Baptist 3 Congregational: in all one hundred and thirty Congregational and six that were not (but only one which was not Congregationally governed). What were the religious services of the Congre- gational churches about 1700? They were, on Sunday morning, (1) A prayer " of about a quarter of an houre." (2) A passage from the Bible expounded by the teacher (reading without exposition was called " dumb reading," and regarded as liturgical, and did not become general till near the close of the eighteenth century). (3) A psalm, lined out for the congregation to sing. (4) The sermon (about an hour in length, and delivered from memory or with notes, though writ- ten sermons became " extremely fashionable " by 1727). 1 (5) A short prayer. (6) The benediction. A second and very similar service began at 2 p. m. A lecture was delivered on a week-day afternoon. There were no evening meetings or prayer-meet- ings until the nineteenth century. No musical in- struments 2 were used until near the middle of the 1 An hour-glass was often placed on the pulpit to time the sermon. 2 Instrumental music was thought to be forbidden in Amos 5 : 23. [ 27 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS eighteenth century. The marriage ceremony, which had previously taken place before a magistrate, was first performed by a minister in Massachusetts in 1686, and in Connecticut in 1690, and the cus- tom of a prayer at a funeral began in 1685. 1 What was the condition of the Congregational churches at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries? They were in a condition of religious decline, the people being absorbed in conflicts with the Indians, and perplexing questions of politics and the Church. 2 What was "The Half-Way Covenant"? It was a nickname given by its opponents to a partial church-membership acquired by baptism and a promise to walk in fellowship and under the discipline of the church, but which required no re- ligious experience, and did not admit to the Lord's Supper. The right to such partial membership was desired for the political privileges which it conferred, and was claimed for the children of par- ents who had been baptized, but had not entered into full church-membership. It was, therefore, a lowering of previous standards, and practically established two grades of members. It occasioned vigorous controversy for more than a century and a half, and was adopted by a majority of the churches, but owing largely to the influence of i For other items see Hist. Congl Churches in U. S., pp. 237- 246. 2 See Hist. Cong'l Churches in U. S. , pp. 252, 253 ; also Con- gregationalists in America, Chaps. X, XI. [ 28 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS " The Great Awakening " it was entirely abolished after 1800. 1 What was "The Great Awakening"? It was a revival of religion, which, beginning in 1734 at Northampton, where Jonathan Edwards was pastor, extended through western Massachu- setts and Connecticut, and under the preaching of George Whitefield and others deeply moved the churches of New England, and continued for about ten years, but was followed by a wide-spread reaction. 2 What were some of the results of " The Great Awakening "? They were (1) The organization of one hundred and fifty new Congregational churches in New England within twenty years, and the addition of many thousands to the church-membership. (2) An excited and prolonged theological controversy. (3) The founding of Princeton College. (4) The birth of a new and progressive New England theology. 3 i See Hist. Cong'l Churches in the U. 8., pp. 160, 170-182, 262, 283, 287 ; Congregationalists in America, Chap. IX, also pp. 239, 240. 2 Hist. Congl Churches in the U. S., pp. 251-266 ; also Congre- gationalists in America, Chaps. XII, XIII. On account of the great excitement which prevailed, and the abundant censorious remarks about the " unconverted clergy," etc., a large number of the ministers, and the faculty of both the colleges, opposed the evangelists, and a heated controversy fol- lowed, in which those favoring revivals were nicknamed " New Lights," and their opponents, "Old Lights." 8 " The quickening of religious feeling, the deepening of religious conviction, the clearing and denning of theological opinions, that [ 29 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What was the theological controversy? It was a controversy which arose when people began to question Calvinism, and, in the light of Edwards' theology, to discuss such topics as " The Trinity," " Foreordination," " Free-will," " Origi- nal Sin," " Total Depravity," " Human Ability," " The wisdom of God in permitting sin," etc. Why was Princeton College founded? It was " founded by New England and ' New Light ' influence, in the interest of a more advanced theology and a larger ' liberty 1 of prophesying ' than were encouraged by the conservative ortho- doxy of Harvard and Yale." 2 VII Who were the chief Congregational theologians of the eighteenth century? They were (1) Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), a graduate of Yale, a pastor at Northampton, a profound thinker, a powerful preacher, the author of thirty-six publications, a missionary among the Indians, and, at the time of his death, the presi- dent of Princeton College. He has been called by writers in Great Britain " The greatest of theo- logians," 3 " The greatest of the sons of men," 4 were incidental to the Great Awakening, were a preparation for more than thirty years of intense political and warlike agitation." — Hiit. of American Christianity, by L. W. Bacon, p. 181. 1 Liberty to conduct revivals after the manner of Whitefield. 2 L. W. Bacon, The Congregationalists, p. 138. 8 Dr. Chalmers. 4 Robert Hall. [ 30 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS and " The man whose power of argument was un- surpassed among men " ; 1 and by American writers, " Our greatest seer," 2 and " Perhaps the only American intellect that deserves a place in the ranks of the world's great thinkers." 3 To defend Calvinism he modified it, and his views, changed somewhat by his pupils, were called " The New Divinity " and " The New England Theology," which influenced the religious thought of the Con- gregational churches and a large portion of the Presbyterian Church for more than a centurv. (2) Charles Chauncy (1705-1787), a graduate of Harvard (of which his grandfather had been the second president) and pastor of the First Church in Boston ; he opposed Whitefield and revivals, and the establishment of an Episcopal church, and be- came a leader among the opponents of Edwards' theology, who brought about " The Unitarian Deflection." (3) Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790), a graduate of Yale, pastor at Bethlehem, Connecticut, a pupil and friend of Jonathan Edwards, a brilliant preacher and writer, and the teacher of at least sixty theological students. (4) Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), a graduate of Yale, a pupil and intimate friend of Jonathan Edwards, a pastor at Great Barrington, Massa- chusetts, and at Newport, Rhode Island, a strong writer and controversialist, and one of the earliest opponents of slavery. (5) Jonathan Edwards, Jr. (1745-1801), a son of the great Edwards, a graduate of Princeton, a pastor in New Haven, the developer of his father's 1 Sir James Mackintosh. 2 Professor Egbert Smyth. 3 Rev. George A. Gordon, D.D. [ 31 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS theology, the instructor of many ministers, an op- ponent of slavery, and president of Union College. (6) Nathaniel Emmons (1745-1840), a gradu- ate of Yale, a friend and pupil of Hopkins, a pastor for forty years at Franklin, Massachusetts, a voluminous author, the instructor of one hundred theological students, and " a great power in the religious life of New England." (7) Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), a grandson of Jonathan Edwards, a graduate of Yale, a chap- lain in the army, a pastor in Connecticut, a presi- dent of Yale, where as Professor of Divinity and college preacher he exerted a wide influence both in training ministers and in overcoming the infi- delity which prevailed among the students. VIII What influence had Congregational churches on national independence? They had great influence because they made the public sentiment of New England, where the war began, and whence came nearly one-half of the soldiers. Their history and principles were a constant training in independence, and their ex- istence as churches depended on resisting the government which still sought to persecute them. Their ministers constantly taught civil rights and the duty of free men to resist civil wrongs, and seek liberty even at the sacrifice of life. Churches and ministers cooperated in every revolutionary movement. 1 1 See Congregationalists in America, Chap. XIV. From a meet- ing in the Old South Meeting House the party went forth to empty the tea into Boston harbor. [ 32 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What churches were in New England near the close of the Revolutionary War? In all New England there were about 770 Congregational churches. In Massachusetts there were 3 Universalist 68 Baptist 6 Quaker 1 Roman Catholic 11 Episcopal 330 Congregational 1 The proportion was about the same in other New England States, 2 excepting Rhode Island. There were also a few Congregational churches on Long Island and in eastern New York. What important event in the history of Congre- gational churches took place near the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries? It was a series of revivals which, beginning in 1791, spread through New England, the Middle States, and farther west, and continued till 1805, with results far more permanent than those which followed " The Great Awakening." 3 What were some of the results? (1) Jonathan Edwards' theology became an abiding and powerful influence among most of the Congregational churches. (2) The churches hold- ing Unitarian views formed a new denomination. (3) Religious activities were stimulated and sev- 1 Leavening the Nation, p. 25. 2 In Massachusetts, including Maine, were 413 Congregational churches ; in Connecticut, 174 ; in New Hampshire, 102 ; in Ver- mont, 73 ; in Rhode Island, 7. 3 See Hist. Cong'l Churches in the U. S., pp. 319-329. 3 • [ 33 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS eral missionary societies were formed. (4) Sunday- schools, prayer-meetings, and evening meetings were introduced, and the idea became established that revivals were the normal and necessary method of cultivating religious life. IX What was the Unitarian controversy? It was a theological conflict among Congrega- tional churches chiefly in and about Boston, which began in the reaction after " The Great Awaken- ing," and continued for more than fifty years. It centered in opposition to the doctrine of " The Trinity," the nature of man, many points of the theology of Edwards, and at length to the use of all creeds and confessions. It reached its culmina- tion in 1815, when the Unitarian denomination was practically formed. What was the result? The result was great excitement and theological bitterness. Ministers, churches, and families were divided; churches and ministers withdrew fellow- ship from one another ; each party had its own periodicals and inclined to extremes. The first church to declare itself Unitarian was the Epis- copal " King's Chapel," in 1787 ; Harvard College became Unitarian * in 1805, and was followed by all the ten Congregational churches in Boston save the Old South, and twenty of the oldest churches 1 This was done by the election of a pronounced Unitarian to the professorship of Divinity. [ 34 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS in Massachusetts, including the Pilgrim at Ply- mouth. Litigation over church property 1 inten- sified the division, which was not only theological but social, the prestige and wealth being decidedly in favor of the Unitarians, but the majority of church-members with the Congregationalists. Did the Unitarian churches cease to be Congre- gational ? No, they are still Congregational in government, and often in name, and share equally with the Congregationalists the honor of being descendants and heirs of the early churches and founders of New England. Both Congregationalists and Uni- tarians unite now in the annual meeting of " The Massachusetts Association of Congrega- tional Ministers." The Unitarian churches be- came a denomination not because they seceded from the Congregational churches, but because the latter withdrew fellowship from them. They did not generally adopt a separate name till 1825, nor distinctly decline to use the Congregational name till 1865. The denomination grew slowly, 2 and extended very little into western Massachusetts or 1 The Massachusetts Supreme Court, after arguments in which Daniel Webster took part, decided in 1820 that " a church exists only in connection with a society, and in case of division in the church only that faction which is recognized by the society has a right to the name and the use of the property. " A committee of the Massachusetts General Association in 1836 enumerated " 81 cases ... in which 3900 evangelical members withdrew, leaving property to the value of more than $600,000 for the use of 1282 Unitarian fellow-members who remained." — Hist. Cong'l Churches in the U. S., p. 343. 2 In 1815 there were 125 Unitarian churches ; in 1863, 205; in 1905, 463, in the United States. [ 35 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS other parts of New England, and not at all in Connecticut, but was mostly confined to within fifty miles of Boston. 1 What effect did the Unitarian separation have on the Congregational churches? It roused them to close fellowship and great activity, and caused them to attribute additional importance to what seemed to them correct (or orthodox) theology. It led to the founding of Andover Theological Seminary (the first Protes- tant seminary in the United States) in 1808, Park Street Church, Boston, in 1809, and one hundred and ninety-seven new churches in Massa- chusetts between 1815 and 1840. It brought about the use of creeds as tests for both ministers and church-members, and sometimes the substitution of them for the ancient covenant. 2 What great work had the Congregational churches done before 1800? They had molded the people and institutions of New England, where dwelt 1,300,000 out of the 5,000,000 inhabitants of the country, and ninety- eight per cent were of pure English ancestry, from whom, John Fiske 3 estimated, " have come at least one-fourth of the present 4 population of the United States." 1 See Hist. Cong'l Churches in the U. S., pp. 329-369 ; Congrega- tionalists in America, Chaps. XV, XVI ; The Congregationalists, L. W. Bacon, Chaps. XIII-XV, XIX. 2 As, for example, in the First Church in Hartford. 8 Beginnings of N. E., p. 143. * In' 1889. [ 36 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS X What was the first home missionary movement in the United States? It was begun by the Congregational churches of Connecticut in response to appeals from old neighbors who had emigrated to northern New England and central New York, and as early as 1788 a few ministers had made short missionary journeys into these regions. After the Revolu- tionary War, and before 1797, the Connecticut churches sent twenty-two ministers (all but three pastors of churches) as missionaries for four months to Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York, paying them $4.50 a week, and $4 more to supply their pulpits, at a total cost of $4,000. 1 What was the first home missionary society in the United States? It was the society organized by the Congrega- tional churches of Connecticut in 1798, which be- fore 1828 had subscribed $100,000 (all of which was spent outside the State), had sent out nearly two hundred missionaries, and established four hundred churches in new settlements. 2 What was the second home missionary society in the United States? It was the society organized by the Congrega- tional churches of Massachusetts in 1799, and was 1 Leaveninc/ the Nation, pp. 26, 27. 2 Leavening the Nation, pp. 28, 29, 43. [ 37 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS followed by a similar society in New Hampshire in 1801, by the Baptist Domestic Missionary So- ciety in 1802, and by the Congregational Mission- ary Societies of Vermont and Maine in 1807. What was the motive of the Congregational churches of Connecticut and Massachusetts in sending home missionaries? The motive was " love of humanity and love of country." It was wholly undenominational, patri- otic, and statesmanlike, its purpose being to extend Christian knowledge and influences through the nation, that new regions might not develop without churches and schools and Christian homes. 1 Where did these early missionaries go? They went to New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and before 1815 they had estab- lished one hundred and five churches, of which twenty-six were Presbyterian, in New York and Ohio. 2 The first Presbyterian church in St. Louis was founded by one of them in 1814, and because of the report of religious destitution in the West brought by another, 3 the American Bible Society was organized in 1816. 1 " The happinefs of the rifing generation and the order and liability of civil government are moft effectually advanced by the diffufion of religious and moral fentiments, through the preaching of the gofpel." — Preamble of the Constitution of the Missionary Society of Connecticut. 2 Leavening the Nation, pp. 29, 41, 42. 8 Samuel J. Mills, leader of the " Haystack Band " at Williams College, to whom sometimes the beginnings of American Foreign Missions is attributed. [ 38 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS Where and when was the first Congregational church established in Ohio? It was at Marietta, where Manasseh Cutler led a New England colony in 1796 ; within thirty years ninety churches were gathered in northern Ohio, all by missionaries sent out and supported by the Congregational churches of Connecticut and Massachusetts. 1 Who was Manasseh Cutler? He was a Congregational minister 2 from Mas- sachusetts, and the chief promoter of the " Ordi- nance of 1787," 3 by which slavery was forever excluded from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and self-government was estab- lished in the territories, and which affirmed that " Religion, morality, and knowledge, being essen- tial to good government and the happiness of mankind, are to be forever encouraged." 1 Leavening the Nation, pp. 42, 43. 2 Cutler was " by turns a storekeeper, lawyer, clergyman, phy- sician, army-chaplain, an author ... a pioneer, a state legislator and member of Congress." . . . He declined a commission as Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio tendered him by Washing- ton, and ended his career as a Congregational minister in eastern Massachusetts. 3 Leavening the Nation, pp. 47-49, 57. The region to which this ordinance specifically applied has for more than forty years been the center of our population and our manufactures. From it have come since 1860 six presidents of the United States, such leaders during the Civil War as Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, Stanton, Chase, and one million soldiers ; here, too, the final battle between slavery and freedom began and was practically settled. See also pp. 51, 52. [ 39 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS Where did the region called "Out West" begin in 1800? It began a few miles west of the Hudson River. 1 What religious denominations were found there? There were Congregationalists from New Eng- land, and Presbyterians from the Middle States. What was the Presbyterian Church at that time? It was the prevailing church in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The first Presbyterian church had been gathered in Philadelphia in 1690, but the General Assembly was not organized till 1789, when " The whole Presbyterian Church con- sisted of one hundred and seventy-seven ordained ministers, and one hundred and eleven licentiates (two hundred and eighty-eight in all), with four hundred and nineteen congregations, of which two hundred and four were without pastors." 2 It began home missionary work in 1802. 3 What relations then existed between the Congre- gationalists and Presbyterians? The relations were very close and cordial. The Connecticut ministers had declared that their sys- tem was Presbyterian rather than Congregational, and many Presbyterian ministers having studied 1 Leavening the Nation, pp. 33, 34. Outside of New England, the population of the remaining eleven states was about four mil- lion, clustered along the Atlantic, and the western boundary of the United States was the Mississippi River. 2 Historical Sketch of Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 1802-1888. 8 Leavening the Nation, p. 36. [ 40 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS with Congregational pastors, had adopted the New England theology. 1 XI What was the " Plan of Union"? It was a plan by which Congregationalists and Presbyterians, with sincere desire to sink denomi- national issues, agreed to work together in home missionary fields, and did work from 1801 to 1852. What were the reasons for such union? They were (1) that in worship, spirit, and to a great extent in ancestry and theology, the two de- nominations were similar. (2) That in new com- munities but one house of worship and one pastor would be needed. (3) That such a union would prevent schism. (4) It was thought that a uni- form system of church government for both could be easily arranged. What was the plan? It was that a Presbyterian church might be served by a Congregational minister, or a Con- gregational church by a Presbyterian minister, and each minister and each church should be governed by the principles of his or its denomination. 1 An annual joint convention of representatives of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, and the General Associations of Massachusetts and Connecticut, met from 1766-1775. After 1794 delegates from the Presbyterian General Assembly, and the Gen- eral Associations of both Massachusetts and Connecticut, attended the meetings of the other body, and had power to vote, till the rupture with the Presbyterians in 1837. — Hist. Cong'l Churches in the U. &,pp. 315,316. [ 41 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What may be said of this plan? It was fair; it left each community to manage its own concerns ; it was wholly unselfish, and to carry it out both pastors and people sacrificed " personal preferences and cherished usages and traditions, to the interests of the kingdom of heaven." * What great misconceptions prevailed among the Congregationalists of New England? They had no conception of the future develop- ment of the country, and viewed the territory west of the Hudson as if it would remain a sparsely settled frontier. They held the delusion that Con- gregational churches belonged exclusively to New England and would not flourish elsewhere, and that the Presbyterian Church was not congenial to New England, but was especially adapted to new communities. Therefore, Congregational pastors advised their people moving west to become Pres- byterians ; students in theological seminaries were taught that " Congregationalism is a river rising in New England and emptying itself South and West into Presbyterianism " ; 2 and the Congre- gationalists thought their mission was to build up Presbyterian churches. What was the result? The result was that while two-thirds of the money 3 and a majority of the missionaries came 1 L. W. Bacon, The Congregationalists, p. 153. 2 Leavening the Nation, p. 40. 8 Leavening the Nation, p. 41. [ M ] CONGREGATIONALISTS from Congregationalists, two-thirds of the churches became Presbyterian. Congregational strength, polity, and influence were sacrificed in a most patriotic and unsectarian, but, as far as its own denominational future was concerned, short-sighted manner. A Presbyterian authority estimates that before 1828 " over 600 churches had been added to the Presbyterian body," and a Congregational authority * estimates that before the plan was abol- ished in 1852 " over 2,000 churches which were in origin and usages Congregational had become Presbyterian." The Presbyterian Church became strong in New York, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, while the Congregational churches were compara- tively few, because for fifty years the Congrega- tionalists not only did not seek the growth of their own denomination, but put their strength into building up another denomination. Hence " a large part of their greatest work for the nation stands without credit to themselves, and is even credited to others." 2 It is doubtful if church history records another act of such heroic and unsectarian self-sacrifice for the public welfare. What caused the plan to be given up? (1) The withdrawal of the old-school Presby- terians in 1837. (2) The awakening of the Con- gregationalists to denominational consciousness in 1852, when it was seen (a) that though they were furnishing eighty-one per cent of the funds, and the Presbyterians nineteen per cent, yet the Con- gregationalists had few more churches in New 1 Dr. A. H. Ross. 2 L. W. Bacon. [ 43 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS York and Ohio than had been founded by mis- sionaries of Connecticut and Massachusetts thirty years before; (b) that Congregational churches were as well suited to the West as they were to Massachusetts and Connecticut; and (c) that the unsectarian Congregationalists of New England had been, as one historian has said, " the Lord's silly people." 1 XII What is the Congregational Home Missionary- Society? It is a society in which, under the name of the " American Home Missionary Society," Congrega- 1 See Hist. Congl Churches in the U. 8., pp. 316-318, 381, 382 ; also Congregationalists in America, Chap. XVII. The Presbyterians " were nearer the scene of missionary labor ; their denominational spirit was more assertive than that of the Congregationalism of the day ; their Presbyteries were rapidly spread over the missionary districts, and the natural desire for fellowship where the points of separation seemed so few led Con- gregational ministers to accept the welcome oifered therein." — Hist . Congl Churches in the U. S. , p. 318. " To the zealous propagandist, eager to belong to a big sect, [this] must seem nothing less than 'disastrous.' . . . Others will reckon it among the highest honors of a sect which in many ways has been nobly distinguished in the service of the Church Catholic, that it was capable of so heroic an act of self-abnegation. There are some competitions in which the honors and the ultimate re- wards of victory belong to the defeated party. " — The Congrega- tionalists, pp. 153, 154. " If it be true that Congregationalism is poorer by two thousand churches, many of them among the strongest of the land, it is an honorable poverty, which, like that of the Apostle, has made many rich." — Leavening the Nation, p. 41. [ 44 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS tional, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches united for Home Missionary work in 1825. The Re- formed churches withdrew in 1832, a part of the Presbyterian in 1837, and the remainder in 1861. Since then this society has belonged wholly to the Congregationalists, who adopted the present de- nominational name in 1893. What have the Congregational churches done through this organization? They have organized, or aided, over six thou- sand 1 churches, besides schools and colleges, and conducted missionary work in every state and ter- ritory. They have not only established nearly all the Congregational churches in the West and Northwest and four-fifths 2 of all in the entire country, but they have aided many in depleting communities to maintain themselves. In 1912 they contributed for this work $594,691, and employed 1,178 missionaries, who ministered to 2,513 con- gregations. Among these Home Missionaries have been such men as Rev. J. D. Pierce, 3 to whom the educational system of Michigan and of other states 4 is due ; Rev. George H. Atkinson, 5 the chief promoter of Oregon's social, commercial, edu- cational, and religious progress ; Joseph Ward, the founder of Yankton College, of whom the gov- 1 This is as many as now exist, and includes nearly all of the oldest and strongest churches west of New York. 2 Leavening the Nation, p. 332. 3 Leavening the Nation, pp. 79, 80. 4 " The new states of the Union, in framing their educational systems, have been glad to follow the example of Michigan, and • have had fruitful and satisfactory success in proportion as they have adhered to it." — Judge T. M. Gooley, in " Michigan," p. 328. 6 Leavening the Nation, pp. 200-206. [ 45 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS ernor of Dakota (who was an Episcopalian) said, " Ward has more influence than any other man in this Territory " ; * and many others who have per- manently shaped the religious, educational, and political institutions of great states. In what states have the largest number of home missionaries been employed? From 1826 to 1861 the largest number were in New York; from 1861 to 1874, in Iowa; from 1874 to 1882, in Kansas; from 1882 to 1890, in Michigan and Kansas ; from 1890 to 1900, in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska. In 1912 the six states employing the largest number of Home Missionaries are in order Massachusetts (163), Washington (100), California (97), Maine (90), Connecticut (87), and North Dakota (80). What was the first foreign missionary society organized in the United States? It was The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, a corporation founded by Congregational ministers in 1810, and from which have come the Foreign Missionary societies of the Baptist, the Presbyterian, and the Reformed churches. Through it the Congregational churches in 1912 carried on missionary work in nearly 2,000 different places, among about seventy-five million people, with a force of 612 American missionaries (of whom 402 are women, and 220 are men) and 5,033 native laborers, including 322 ordained pas- tors, and 1,713 unordained, at an expense of i Leavening the Nation, p. 130. [ 46 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS $1,062,442. To this work the native contributions were $314,040. For what purpose do the Congregational churches carry on this work? Their purpose is to plant and nurture native Christian institutions (including Christian homes, churches, schools, society, and principles) so as to form " self-supporting, self-perpetuating, and aggressive native Christian communities." * Into what five departments is this work divided? It is divided into — (1) The industrial work, which is done through industrial schools, and aside from the salary of the supervising missionaries is practically self- supporting. (2) The medical work, which is managed by forty-four missionary physicians, and not only trains natives to become doctors and nurses, but maintains twenty-nine hospitals and forty-two dis- pensaries, and is very largely self-supporting. (3) The literary work, which consists of prepar- ing and publishing educational and religious books in twenty-six different languages, which are spoken by three hundred million people. (4) The educational work, which embraces 1,359 schools, of which fourteen are colleges with 5,000 students, fourteen are theological seminaries, and one hundred and fifteen are boarding or high schools, in all of which 2,703 teachers are engaged, and there are 76,953 students. (5) The evangelistic work, which is done i Dr. Barton. [ 47 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS through preaching, churches, Sunday-schools, etc. 1 What then is the work which the Congregational churches of the United States are doing abroad? It is a widely extended, highly organized, and many-sided Christian business, conducted to benefit our fellow men morally, intellectually, spiritually, and physically, in which a force of 5,645 people are employed at an expense annually of over a million dollars, and from the beginning 2 of $40,000,000. 3 What is the Congregational Education society? It is a society organized by Congregationalists in 1815 as " The American Education Society " (and in its earlier years supported somewhat by Presbyterians), to aid "young men of ability and Christian character to fit themselves to preach the gospel." Into it have been merged several socie- ties formed to promote education ; its present name was adopted in 1893. What have the Congregational churches done through it? They have aided nearly ten thousand men to be- come ministers, at an expense of $1,901,734; they have collected and distributed $2,563,000 to thirty colleges and seminaries ; they have established schools and academies in Utah and New Mexico, where there was no school system till within a few years ; and they now annually aid 4 colleges, 11 academies, 16 other schools, about two hundred 1 See Five Departments of the American Board, by Dr. Barton. 2 Till 1912. 3 See Appendix III. [ 48 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS students at an expense of $125,000, the salaries of Congregational pastors in six state universities, and the foreign departments of two theological seminaries. What is the Congregational Sunday-school and Publishing Society? It is a society for establishing and cultivating pioneer Sunday-schools, mainly in the newer re- gions, which may develop into churches, and to cooperate with churches in their work of religious education through the Sunday-schools. It pub- lishes Sunday-school and other literature of im- portance to the denomination. It employs about 70 state superintendents and missionaries, and has founded 12,308 Sunday-schools from which have grown 1,559 Congregational and many other churches. Its Business Department, conducted under the name of The Pilgrim Press, publishes The Congregationalist and maintains a Congrega- tional bookstore in Boston and Chicago, and offices in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and San Fran- cisco, and its profits are devoted to its missionary and educational work. What is the American Missionary Association? It is a society founded by Congregationalists in 1846 " to conduct missionary and educational oper- ations in our own and other countries," because other societies did not sufficiently disclaim affilia- tion with slavery. It inherited the work of a mis- sion in West Africa, a mission in Jamaica, and a mission among the Indians of Minnesota, started by Oberlin College, and after the war it assumed [ 49 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS the work of " The Freedmen's Bureau." Through it the Congregationalists during the last forty years have carried on Christian and civilizing work among the negroes in the South, the white people of the mountains of North Carolina, Ken- tucky, and Tennessee, the Indians, the Chinese in California, and the West-Indians of Porto Rico. What are the Congregational churches doing now through the American Missionary Association? In 1912 they maintained six colleges with 2,963 students ; three theological seminaries with 203 students ; forty-three normal and graded schools ; twenty-three ungraded schools ; in all one hundred schools with 15,710 pupils. They also cared for 208 churches, and Sunday-schools in which are 12,707 pupils — all with a force of 856 mission- aries and teachers, at a cost of $543,914. Where are these colleges located? Fisk University is at Nashville, Tenn., and has 430 students. Talladega College is at Talladega, Ala., and has 722 students. Tougaloo University is at Tougaloo, Miss., and has 441 students. Straight University is at New Orleans, and has 620 students. Tillotson College is at Austin, Texas, and has 356 students. Piedmont College is at Demorest, Ga., and has 394 students. 1 i The Theological seminaries are at Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga., at Howard University, Washington, D. C, and Talladega, Ala. [ 50 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS Where are the normal and graded schools located? In Alabama, 8 In North Carolina, 10 In Florida, 2 In South Carolina, 2 In Georgia, 11 In Tennessee, 3 In Kentucky, 1 In Texas, 1 In Louisiana, 1 In Virginia, 1 In Mississippi, 3 Where are the ungraded schools? All of them are in Georgia and North Carolina. What do the Congregational churches do through this society for the Indians? They maintain fifty-five missionaries and teach- ers in various stations, and also twenty-one churches. Where are these stations? South Dakota Montana North Dakota Alaska Nebraska What is the Congregational Church Building Society? It is a society organized in 1853 under the name of The American Congregational Union, to aid young and weak churches to build meeting- houses and parsonages. Through it in sixty years Congregational churches have helped in building 4,300 houses of worship and 1,132 par- sonages at an expense of $5,376,613. 1 i In 1912 aid was given in the construction of 99 churches and 29 parsonages, at an expense of $226,405. [ 51 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS On what conditions is this aid granted? It is granted on the invariable conditions that buildings when finished shall be free from debt, shall be kept insured, and if they cease to be used for church purposes, the Building Society shall have the first claim on them. What is the Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief? It is an organization for the relief of aged and infirm Congregational ministers and their widows. 1 What other benevolent work is done by the Con- gregational churches? They aid many interdenominational societies, organized in part by them, like The American Bible Society, The American Tract Society, The Seaman's Friend Society, The American Sunday- school Union ; also schools in the South not under The American Missionary Association, as well as city missionary work, hospitals, and other local institutions. What agencies for the good of humanity (aside from their own self-sustaining churches and educational institutions) do the Congregation- alists carry on in the United States and abroad? They carry on a vast religious, educational, and civilizing work in over 6,000 different places. They sustain over 2,900 missionaries (of whom twenty per cent are in foreign fields). They employ 2,900 teachers, i In 1912, its invested funds, only the income of which can be used, was but $221,017, with which and contributions from the churches it aided 390 persons. [ 52 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS They maintain 35 colleges, 16 theological semi- naries, several medical and manual training schools, 200 boarding and high schools, and over 1,500 other schools, in all of which (not includ- ing Sunday-schools) 84,000 persons are under instruction. They assist and guide 3,500 churches, and to do this work they keep a total army of over 7,500 persons actively employed, and spend annually about $2,500,000. Is not this a crippling burden to them? The whole of it costs an average of less than one cent a day from each member of the Congre- gational churches. XIII What have Congregational churches done in estab- lishing educational institutions in the United States? (1) Congregational ministers founded the edu- cational systems of Ohio, Michigan, and Oregon, and a Congregational minister secured the passage of the ordinance which reserved every sixteenth section of land in several western states for main- taining free education. (2) Congregationalists founded Harvard Col- lege in 1636, with the motto " Christo et Ecclesise," and it was a distinctively Congregational college till 1805. (3) A company of Congregational ministers founded Yale College in 1701, and until 1899 [ 53 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS its presidents were invariably Congregational clergymen. (4) A school for Indians founded by a Congre- gational minister in Connecticut was removed to Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1769, and became Dartmouth College. A majority of its trustees and all of its presidents (save one) have been Congregational ministers. (5) Williams College, beginning as an academy under a Congregational minister, was incorporated in 1793, — the principal of the academy being its first president ; of his successors one was the first president of Amherst, and all have been Congre- gational ministers. (6) In response to a petition of Congregational ministers, and others, a college was organized at Brunswick, Maine, in 1794, and called Bowdoin, after a governor of Massachusetts. In 1842 its overseers and trustees declared that " from its foundation it has been, and still is, of the orthodox Congregational denomination." (7) Middlebury College (Vermont) was opened as a Congregational institution in 1800. (8) Amherst College was founded with a dis- tinctively religious aim in 1821, and has been endowed and managed by Congregationalists. (9) Illinois College, at Jacksonville, was founded by a band of Congregational home missionaries from Yale College in 1829, and exerted a wide in- fluence on the educational institutions of the State. (10) Oberlin College (Ohio) was founded by a Congregational colony from New England in 1833. (11) Marietta College (Ohio) was founded by a Congregational colony from New England in 1835. [ 54 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS (12) Olivet College (Michigan), a daughter of Oberlin, was founded in 1844, and has received most of its endowments and all of its presidents from the Congregationalists. (13) Beloit College (Wisconsin), organized in 1846, grew out of the efforts of Congregational ministers for Christian education in the West, and has been endowed and maintained by Con- gregationalists. (14) Iowa College, at Grinnell, was founded in 1848 by a band of Congregational home mission- aries from Andover. (15) Ripon College (Wisconsin) was founded in 1851, and aided for a time by Presbyterians, but since 1863 it has been maintained by Congrega- tionalists. (16) Tabor College (Iowa), incorporated in 1857, was founded by Congregational home mis- sionaries, and has been sustained by Congrega- tional churches ever since. (17) Washburn College, at Topeka, Kansas, was founded by Congregationalists in 1865, and is governed and supported by them. (18) Carleton College, at Northfield (Minne- sota), was established and endowed by the Con- gregational churches of Minnesota in 1866. (19) Howard University, at Washington, was founded by Congregationalists in 1867. (20) Atlanta University (Georgia) was es- tablished in 1867, and is largely supported by Congregationalists. (21) Hampton Institute was founded in 1868 and built up by the son of a Congregational mis- sionary, with funds secured largely from Con- gregationalists. [ 55 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS (22) Doane College, at Crete, Nebraska, was established by the home missionary ministers and churches of Nebraska in 1872, and took the name of a Congregationalist. (23) Drury College, at Springfield (Missouri), was organized and endowed by Congregationalists, after one of whom it was named, in 1873, and has since been maintained by the Congregational churches of Missouri. (24) Colorado College, at Colorado Springs, was founded in 1874, and has been endowed and always governed by Congregationalists. (25) Yankton College, South Dakota, grew out of the labors and sacrifices of the Congregational- ists in 1881, as did also Fargo College, North Dakota, in 1888, (26) Other colleges founded and sustained by Congregationalists are : — Pacific University in Oregon, founded 1854. Berea College, Berea, Ky., founded 1855. Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash., founded 1859. Wheaton College, Wheaton, 111., founded 1860. Gates College, Crete, Neb., founded 1881. Rollins College, Winter Park, Fla., founded 1885, The American International College, Springfield, Mass., founded 1885. Redfield College, South Dakota, founded 1887. Pomona College, Claremont, Cal., founded 1888. Fargo College, Fargo, North Dakota, founded 1888. Kingfisher College, Oklahoma, founded 1891. Fairmount College, Wichita, Kansas, founded 1895. Northland College, Ashland, Wis., founded 1892. [ 56 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS The Mount Hermon Schools of Mr. Moody, at Northfield, Mass., 1 founded in 1882. Windom College, Montevideo, Minn., founded 1913. Why were these colleges established? They were established to do the same work in their vicinities that early Congregationalists founded Harvard and Yale to do in Massachusetts and Connecticut. What women's colleges have been established and endowed by Congregationalists? (1) Mount Holyoke College, founded as a sem- inary in 1837, and became a college in 1888. (2) Smith College, founded in 1875. (3) Wellesley College, founded in 1875. (4) Wheaton College, Norton, Mass., founded 1912. What other well-known schools have been estab- lished and endowed by Congregationalists? Phillips Academy, Andover, 1778 Phillips Academy, Exeter, 1781 Bradford Academy, Mass., 1803 Adams Academy, Derry, Vt., 1823 Ipswich Academy, Mass., 1828 Abbott Seminary, Andover, Mass., 1829 Wheaton Seminary, Norton, Mass., 1834 Are these colleges and schools denominational? The church connected with them (excepting Har- vard) is usually Congregational. They are not, 1 This list does not include colleges under the American Mis- sionary Association, or the American Board, nor many founded by Congregationalists and Presbyterians jointly; as, for exam- ple, Princeton, Union, Hamilton, Western Reserve University, Knox, Lincoln. [ 57 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS however, denominational, but seek to give a liberal and unsectarian education under Christian but un- denominational influences. What theological seminaries have the Congrega- tional churches? Andover, opened in 1808, removed to Cam- bridge in 1909. Bangor, opened at Hampden, Maine, in 1816, later removed to Bangor. Yale, a department of the University, opened in 1822. Hartford, founded at East Windsor, Connecti- cut, in 1834, and removed to Hartford in 1865. Oberlin, founded in 1835. Chicago, founded in 1858. Pacific, at Oakland, California, opened in 1869. In addition are three seminaries conducted by the American Missionary Association, and fourteen conducted by The American Board. How many colleges and higher institutions o£ learning in the United States are directly due to the efforts of Congregationalists? Probably there are more than one hundred. XIV What was the attitude of the Congregational churches towards slavery? From the Congregational churches (including the Unitarian) came nearly all the early protests and teachings which removed slavery from New England, and formed its antislavery sentiments. Dr. Samuel Hopkins and Jonathan Edwards, Jr., championed the freedom of the negroes in the last [ 58 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS of the eighteenth century, as Dr. Lyman Beecher and Jeremiah Evarts and others did in the first of the nineteenth century. In 1833 Oberlin College was organized as an antislavery institution, where colored people could have the same privileges as white. From 1840 a large number of Congregational ministers 1 (of whom Henry Ward Beecher, Leonard Bacon, and J. P. Thompson are the most dis- tinguished) denounced slavery from their pulpits, and " The Independent " was founded by Congre- gational ministers as an organ for the opponents of slavery. The American Board in 1845 unani- mously adopted a report strongly condemning the system of slavery, and in 1846 The American Mis- sionary Association was founded on antislavery principles. The Congregational Convention at Albany in 1852 uttered its unanimous protest against the " stupendous wrong of slavery." " Uncle Tom's Cabin " was written by a woman whose father, husband, and brothers were Congre- gational ministers, and whose son is a Congrega- tional minister. Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, as well as other churches, took an active part in the efforts to keep slavery from Kansas. One Congregational church, which emigrated from Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, to South Carolina in 1695, but removed to Georgia in 1752, abolished the color-line, and 1 The Congregationalists were much more free to oppose slavery than either the Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, or Episcopal churches, because branches of each of the latter churches extended through the slaveholding states, whereas the Congregational churches, with two or three exceptions, were all in antislavery [ 59 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS had at one time eight hundred members who were slaves. 1 What are some of the well-known periodicals founded by Congregationalists during the nine- teenth century? The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, founded in 1800, and now The Missionary Herald. The Boston Recorder, 1816. The New York Observer, 1823. The New York Evangelist, 1831. The New Englander, 1843. The Bibliotheca Sacra, Andover, 1844 ; Oberlin, 1884. 1 This church was first planted near Charleston, South Carolina, but it divided in 1752, when a minority remained and maintained a Congregational church till 1861. The majority moved to Midway, Georgia. " It has sent out more than 100 ministers of the gospel. Its standard of purity and its discipline were severely maintained in times that tried men's souls, and during the Revolutionary War, when Georgia refused to send a delegate to the Continental Con- gress, this church sent its own delegate to that body ; and it was the Massachusetts blood of this old Dorchester-Midway Church that powerfully influenced the State of Georgia to enter the Union. ' It gave to the nation two of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence ; the first Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary that ever entered the Imperial court of China from any nation ; six congressmen, and among other blessings, the mother of a Vice- President of the United States. It gave to the State its first insti- tution of higher learning, four of its governors, several judges in its courts, State officials of many kinds, mayors of cities, educators in large numbers, including several college presidents. It gave its own name to one of the counties of the State, and the names of its mem- bers to five other counties. It gave to the Church six foreign mis- sionaries, bishops, and other officials. It gave to the world the first inventor of that blessing to womankind, the sewing-machine.' Its influence was boundless, and is still felt in Georgia and in the nation." — Leavening the Nation, p. 188. [ 60 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS The Independent, New York, 1848. The Congregationalist, Boston, formerly The Boston Recorder, 1849. The Pacific, San Francisco, 1853. The Congregational Quarterly, Boston, 1859. The Outlook, New York, formerly The Christian Union, 1866. The Advance, Chicago, 1867. The Andover Review, 1884. What writers of well-known hymns were Con- gregationalists ? Isaac Watts Leonard Bacon Philip Doddridge Washington Gladden Timothy Dwight Phoebe Brown Ray Palmer E. P. Parker What two Congregational ministers of the nine- teenth century are preeminently distinguished? (1) Horace Bushnell (1802-1876), a pastor at Hartford, Connecticut (1833-1859), and the author of several important theological books, in which, breaking away from the theology of Ed- wards, he led in the newer thought which has increasingly prevailed during the last forty years. (2) Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), the pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, from 1847 to his death ; author of many works ; editor of " The Independent " and founder of " The Chris- tian Union " ; probably the greatest pulpit orator of America. [ 61 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS Who are some of the men of especial distinction as theologians in the Congregational churches during the nineteenth century? Some of them are : — Leonard Woods (1774-1854), pastor at West Newbury, Massachusetts, professor of theology at Andover from 1808 to 1846, and the instructor of over one thousand ministers. Nathaniel W. Taylor (1786-1858), pastor of the First Church, New Haven, professor of theol- ogy at Yale and founder of the New Haven the- ology (which was the liberal type of the time). Bennett Tyler (1788-1858), a pastor in Con- necticut and in Portland, Maine, president of Dartmouth College, and founded at East Windsor, Connecticut, of what is now Hartford Theological Seminary. Lyman Beecher (1775-1863), pastor in Litch- field, Connecticut, and Boston, professor of theol- ogy in Lane Seminary, Ohio, and an eminent preacher. Moses Stuart (1780-1852), pastor of the First Church, New Haven, professor at Andover, and influential author and scholar. Edwards A. Park (1808-1900), professor at Amherst (1834-1836), professor at Andover Semi- nary from 1836 to 1881, by whom the theology of a very large number of ministers has been formed. What noted evangelists have been Congregation- alists? Charles G. Finney and Dwight L. Moody. [ 62 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What is The American Congregational Association? It is an association founded in Boston in 1851 to establish a Congregational library. By its efforts the present library and Congregational building in Boston were secured and are now held in trust and administered. XV Where has been the growth of Congregational churches since the Plan of Union was abolished? Their growth when contrasted with some other denominations has not been great, but it has been marked and continuous, and especially notable in recent years. (1) Congregational home missionaries first en- tered Michigan in 1832, and in 1837 there were about thirty Congregational churches ; in 1912 there were 320, with 326,382 members, benevolent contributions $75,993, and home expenses $327,880. (2) Congregational home missionaries entered Illinois in 1826, and were followed by seven young men from Yale, called " The Illinois Band," in 1829 ;* in 1844 there were 60 Congregational churches ; in 1913 there were 354, with 56,081 members, benevolent contributions $269,690, and home expenses $625,804. The first Congrega- tional church in Chicago was formed in 1851 ; in 1905 there were seventy-eight. 2 i Illinois at that time had but one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and the journey from New Haven consumed from four to six weeks. 2 Rev. Jeremiah Porter, a Congregational minister, preached the first sermon ever heard in Chicago, in 1833, and took for his text, " Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." [ 63 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS (3) Three young ministers from Yale College entered Iowa in 1838, and were followed five years later by eleven, called " The Iowa Band," and by 1858 there were sixty Congregational churches; in 1913 there were 296, with 36,838 members, be- nevolent contributions $72,482, and home expenses $381,436. (4) The first Congregational home missionaries went to Wisconsin in 1840 ; in 1912 there were 267 churches, with 27,619 members, benevolent contri- butions $57,630, and home expenses $352,883. (5) Congregational missionaries began work in California in 1848; in 1913 there were 240 churches, with 28,502 members, benevolent con- tributions $111,587, and home expenses $409,420. (6) Marcus Whitman, a missionary of the American Board, arrived in Oregon x in 1842, and by his famous ride to Washington, D. C, is thought to have saved the Northwest Territory to the United States. In 1848 one Congrega- tional home missionary came after a voyage of nine months, via Honolulu ; in 1912 there were 59 churches, with 5,601 members, benevolent con- tributions, $5,601, and home expenses $84,889. (7) Congregational home missionaries entered Minnesota in 1851 ; in 1912 there were 227 Con- gregational churches, with 22,694 members, benev- olent contributions $55,217, and home expenses $398,571 ; and in the ratio of its churchgoing people it now ranks in the same class as Massachu- setts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. 2 (8) Congregational home missionaries first went t Oregon included Washington and Idaho till 1853. 2 Leavening the Nation, p. 127. [ 64 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS to Nebraska in 1855; in 1912 there were 195 churches, with 17,381 members, benevolent contri- butions $36,602, and home expenses $204,842. (9) Four Congregational missionaries from Andover, called "The Kansas Band," entered Kan- sas in 1856; in 1912 there were 158 churches, with 21,549 members, benevolent contributions $23,528, and home expenses $191,374. (10) Congregational home missionaries went to Colorado in 1863 ; in 1912 there were 96 Congre- gational churches, with 10,284 members, benevo- lences $21,549, and home expenses $117,760. (11) One Congregational home missionary 1 went to South Dakota in 1868, and within eight years he had not only organized several churches, but devised the state constitution, and established a college at a cost of more than $100,000; in 1880 he was reenforced by nine young men called "The Yale Dakota Band"; in 1912 there were 211 Congregational churches, with 10,199 mem- bers, benevolent contributions $22,693, and home expenses $127,530. And in North Dakota there were 225 churches, with 7,383 members, benevo- lences $10,106, and home expenses $107,936; and the religious force in that state is as great in proportion to its inhabitants as it is in Ohio. 2 (12) The first Congregational church in Wash- ington was formed in 1871, and in 1890 six young men called " The Yale Washington Band " went to that state; in 1912 it had 189 churches, with 13,844 members, benevolences $76,706, and home expenses $216,168. i Rev. Joseph Ward. 2 Leavening the Nation, p. 137. [ 65 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS (13) The first Congregational church in Okla- homa was organized in 1889 ; twenty-three years later there were 63 Congregational churches, with 3,745 members, benevolences $3,238, and home ex- penses $35,512. (14) The first Congregational church in Florida was organized in 1875, and in 1883 there were five churches; in 1912 there were 56, with 2,490 members, benevolences $5,325, and home expenses $45,321. (15) The first Congregational church in Geor- gia since the war was organized in 1871 ; in 1913 there were 91, with 6,361 members, benevolences $3,478, and home expenses $23,008. (16) The Congregational churches in other states and territories were in 1912 — Alabama, 93 Montana, 64 Alaska, 4 Nevada, 1 Arizona, 8 New Jersey, 48 Arkansas, '3 New Mexico, 6 Dist. of Columbia, 6 North Carolina, 64 Hawaii, 102 Pennsylvania, 114 Idaho, 34 South Carolina, 12 Indiana, 40 Tennessee, 30 Kentucky, 8 Texas, 30 Louisiana, 30 Utah, 10 Maryland, 5 Virginia, 4 Mississippi, 5 West Virginia, 2 Missouri, 70 Wyoming, 22 How many Congregational churches are there in the United States? In 1912 there were 6,048, with 738,761 mem- bers. [ 66 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS How have these churches increased by decades since 1850? Churches Members In 1857 there were 2,315 224,732 " 1864 " " 2,667 262,649 « 1874 " " 3,403 330,391 " 1884 " " 4,092 401,549 " 1894 " " 5,342 583,539 " 1904 " " 5,919 673,721 " 1912 " " 6,048 738,761 In 1840 four-fifths of the Congregational churches were in New England. In 1912 seventy- three per cent (though only sixty-four per cent of the church members) were outside of New Eng- land, and one-third was west of the Mississippi. Nearly half of the money, and more than half of the men for missionary work now come from re- gions that from twenty to fifty years ago were Home Missionary fields. XVI What are some of the effects which Congrega- tional churches have produced in the nation? They have, among other things, (1) Caused the leading principles of Congrega- tional church government to be universally adopted in civil government. (2) They have leavened the West and North- west with New England ideals and institutions. ('3) They have done far more than any other denomination to lift up the negroes and train teachers and leaders among them. (4) They established the first schools in Utah and New Mexico, and have founded a large number of colleges which now do in newer states the work [ 67 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS that New England colleges have done and are doing in older states. (5) They have introduced a system of church government which has been adopted by a large proportion of the Protestant churches of America, and has caused a profound deference to the wishes of each local congregation to exist even in churches not congregationally governed. 1 How do Congregationalists in the United States rank with other denominations in numbers? They rank eighth, being surpassed in order by the Roman Catholics; the Baptists; the Meth- odists ; the Presbyterians ; the Disciples of Christ ; the Episcopalians, and the Lutherans. What States have the largest number of Congre- gational churches? In 1912 — New York, 298 Massachusetts had 598 Wisconsin, 267 Illinois, 354 Maine, 263 Michigan, 320 Ohio, 245 Connecticut, '331 California, 240 Iowa, 296 Minnesota, 227 In what cities are the largest number of Congre- gational churches? In 1912 there were 2 - — In Chicago, 78 In Los Angeles, 19 " Boston, 36 " Denver, 17 " Brooklyn, 28 " Worcester, 17 " Cleveland, 26 " New Haven, 15 " Minneapolis, 24 " San Francisco, 14 " Seattle, 20 " St. Louis, 13 1 See Pioneers of Religious Liberty in America, p. 36. 2 It should be noted that of these twelve largest Congrega- tional centers, nine are outside of New England; eight are west [ 68 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What States give the most money for benevolences? More than half of all benevolent gifts come from the New England States, where the pro- portion given per member averages nearly double what it is outside of New England. How many Congregational ministers are in the United States? In 1912 there were 6,116, of which 4,113 were actively engaged in pastoral work. What proportion of active Congregational minis- ters are home missionaries? More than forty-nine per cent. What proportion of all the churches and pastors seek the advice of a council for installation? In 1912 less than eleven per cent of the churches, and about ten per cent of the pastors. 1 What were the reported home expenses of the Congregational churches in 19 12? They were $9,356,122,— an average of $1,563 each, or $12.66 per member. 2 What were the reported benevolent contributions of these churches? They were $2,454,340 (that is, $3.32 per mem- ber), 3 or about one-quarter as much as their entire parish expenses, and of this sum over one- fifth was for other benevolent work than that done through denominational societies. of the Alleghany Mountains, and (with the possible exception of Cleveland) are in cities that in 1852 were on the frontier, or unknown; five are west of the Mississippi; and three are on the Pacific coast. For instructive statistics of church growth in these cities, see Appendix VI. 1 See Appendix V, 4. 2 See Appendix V, 3. s Probably a large proportion of the benevolent gifts of members of these churches is not reported. See Appendix V, 2. [ 69 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What is the estimated value of the church prop- erty of the Congregational churches? It is $75,424,037, of which the states having the largest amount are: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Wiscon- sin, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota. What is the average salary of Congregational ministers? It is $929. Aside from states having eight or less churches, the average salary in — New Jersey is $1,621 Missouri, $1,386 Massachusetts, $1,301 Illinois, $1,149 California, $1,143 Rhode Island, $1,094 Ohio, $1,069 Indiana, $1,038 In other states less than $1,000. 48 ministers receive over 49 74 117 266 803 2,167 1,356 £4,000 salary. 3,000 to 4,000 2,500 " 3,000 2,000 " 2,500 1,500 " 2,000 1,000 " 1,500 500 " 1,000 500 or less How are Congregational churches in the United States divided as regards church-membership? There were in 1912 — 31 churches having more than 1,000 members 181 t a from 500 to 1,000 " 529 i a " 250 " 500 " 702 i a " 150 " 250 " 2,195 a a 50 " 150 " 2,129 a a less than 50 " [ 70 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What are some of the reasons why there are so many small Congregational churches? The j are: (1) forty-five per cent of these churches have been organized within the forty years preceding 1912. (2) A large number of churches in hill towns of New England and decaying towns elsewhere have become small. (3) The aim of the Congregational churches has been to establish and sustain a church, though it be small, where it is needed and there is no other church. What has been the annual per cent of increase in membership of Congregational churches in recent years? It has been about one and a half per cent; in 1904 it was two per cent ; in 1912 it was less than one-half per cent. What was the origin of the Young People's Socie- ties of Christian Endeavor? They originated in the efforts of Rev. F. E. Clark, a Congregational minister in Portland, Maine, to devise a society for the young people of his church, in 1881. The societies extended rapidly not only among Congregational churches, but among the Presbyterians and Baptists, and their success incited other denominations to form various young people's organizations. The movement has now become world-wide, and there were in 1905 67,000 Christian Endeavor societies, in over fifty nations or large colonial dependencies, and among people speaking eighty languages. [ 71 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS What is the National Council of the Congrega- tional churches? It is a gathering of representatives of all the churches of the country to consider the common work and interests of the denomination. While the recommendations of this body are highly esteemed and may be adopted by the churches, it has no authority to legislate for them. Since 1871 it has met triennially. 1 XVII When did Congregational churches begin to be permanently established in England? They began with the passage of the " Act of Toleration " in 1689, nearly seventy years later than in New England, among Puritans who were attracted by " The New England Way." Their history " is the story of patient endurance for conscience' sake under long, persistent public odium and insult; of honorable achievement in education and learning and high public service, in spite of the protracted exclusion 2 from the universities ; and of self-denying mission work at home and in the ends of the earth." 3 Their problems and obstacles in the face of a strong established church are very different from those of the churches of the United States. The London Foreign Mission- ary Society was organized by them in 1795, fifteen years before the American Board, and in the extent and efficiency of its work it is surpassed only by The English Church Missionary Society. 1 Appendix IV. 2 This exclusion was not removed till 1871. 8 The Congregationalists, L. W. Bacon, p. 264 [ 72 ] CONGREGATIONALlfeTS How many Congregational churches are in Great Britain? In 1912 there were 5,028 churches, of which 358 are in and about London, 332 in Lancashire, and 318 in Yorkshire. 1 What Congregational churches are in other British possessions? Aside from churches established by The London Foreign Missionary Society, there are nearly five hundred in Australia and neighboring islands, about two hundred in Canada, over four hundred in South Africa, one hundred in Japan and about two thousand organized under the American Board. What is the total number of Congregational churches in the world? There are over 14,000. What are some reasons for holding Congregational churches in high esteem? They are deserving of such esteem — (1) For their early history, their honorable ancestry, and the part they have taken in found- ing and developing the United States. (2) For their contributions to political ideals, to freedom, to learning, to theology, and to a high standard of citizenship. (3) For their broad-minded and patriotic con- ception of the importance of religion and educa- tion for all communities, and the unsectarian spirit with which they have leavened the nation with i Other counties having more than 100 churches are Glouces- tershire and Herefordshire, 188; Essex, 172; Hampshire, 127; Devonshire, 126; Sussex, 126; Suffolk, 113. There are 4,615 Congregational churches in England and Wales; 218 in Scot- land; 45 in Ireland; 13 in the Channel Islands. [ 78 ] CONGREGATIONALISTS churches, colleges, and other institutions for the public welfare which are denominational only in having been established by Congregationalists, and which often bear another denominational name. (4) For maintaining churches which not only harmonize with prevailing religious opinion, but are both looking for, and free to accept, any " new light that may break forth from the Word of God." (5) For their distinguished preachers, authors, educators, and missionaries. (6) For the high intelligence, public spirit, morality, and the benevolent offerings of their members. (7) For their missionary work among all sorts and conditions of men in America, and their suc- cess in establishing self-sustaining, self-perpetu- ating, civilizing, and Christian institutions in many lands, the influence of which on the world no man can estimate. Of what may Congregationalists be confident? They may be confident that they have a distinct mission and place in establishing the kingdom of God, and that their polity and spirit appeal to a large class of thoughtful and patriotic people; that their churches tend to develop well-rounded and self-reliant Christians who wish to serve God by serving their fellow men ; that their fellowship is not " a rope of sand " ; that as champions of freedom in worship and thought, of education, and of missionary activities their task and influence are great, and must be greater in the future than they have been in the past. 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