Autonomous churches “gathered” under the reign of Christ

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of articles on the various denominations in North America, written by Robert W. Caldwell III, who is professor of church history at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

What is congregationalism?

In church history, the term congregationalism refers to that form of ecclesiastical rule (or church governance) which contemplates the spiritual authority of the church to reside in the local congregation. According to congregationalists, Christ is the head of the church; he does not exercise his lordship in the local church through intermediary institutions outside this congregation (such as bishops or presbyteries). Rather, he governs each individual congregation immediately by his Word. Because believing Christians are endowed with the Holy Ghost, they can correctly interpret the scriptures, “covenant” together under the kingship of Christ in local congregations, and ordain ministers who will faithfully lead them according to the scriptures. Therefore, no person or group outside the local congregation is therefore required for these ecclesiastical actions.

Historically, congregationalists have generally possessed the following characteristics:

• They emphasize the immediate authority of Christ in their midst (“where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them”, Matthew 18:20).
• They hold a high opinion of Scripture since it is the instrument by which Christ governs his people.
• They sometimes harbor a cautious and even suspicious attitude towards external “authorities” such as bishops, parsonages, Christian beliefs or “tradition”.
• They attempt to compel their members to uphold the high standards of morality found in the New Testament.
• They associate with other like-minded churches through groups known as “consociations”, “associations” and / or “conventions”, but will recognize that these bodies have no ultimate authority over them. individual congregations.

Baptists read this list and say “hey, these congregationalists are like us! This is because many Christian denominations embrace the congregational regime. Virtually all Baptists have a congregational church regime, as do most independent Bible churches, evangelical non-denominational churches, and many Pentecostal and charismatic groups. We will come back to some of these groups later in this series. For the remainder of this article, we will focus our attention on the main body of Congregationalists in North America, the New England Congregationalists. As we will see, Baptists and many evangelical churches today have roots in the “congregational way” they forged in the 17th century.

A brief history of congregationalism

Congregationalism originated in England at the end of the 16th century, as many Christian groups grew increasingly dissatisfied with the slowness of English reform. Leaders like Robert Browne argued the famous “No Attempt Reformation” (1582) that the true church is independent of the state and that congregational principles (described above) were the foundation of all true churches. In the early 1600s, congregationalists were vigorously persecuted in England, a fact that led many to leave their homeland. The famous Pilgrims, who migrated to the settlement of Plymouth in 1620 on the Mayflower, were separatist English congregationalists. In twenty years, twenty thousand English congregationalists settled in New England and established the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. It is because of their overwhelming presence throughout the region in the 1600s that the Colonial Church of New England is primarily characterized as Congregationalist.

New England congregationalism played a prominent role in the First and Second Great Revivals. America’s foremost theologian, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), who wrote extensively on the nature of revival, was a congregational pastor-theologian from Northampton, Massachusetts, during the First Great Awakening. The first great revivals of the Second Great Awakening occurred among congregational churches in rural New England in the 1790s. By the early 1800s, congregationalists were at the forefront of the growing evangelical empire of the United States. United :

• They founded Andover Seminary, the first Protestant seminary in North America (1808).
• They organized the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the first major mission-sending agency in North America (1810).
• They evangelized the great “Northwest” (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois) as America’s population patterns shifted west in the early decades of the 1800s.

For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Congregationalists were one of the largest evangelical denominations in America.

Congregationalism today

In the second half of the 1800s, however, that story changed. Many theologians associated with New England congregationalism found theological liberalism attractive, so much so that by 1900 many congregational seminaries had strayed from their evangelical heritage with its strong commitment to the scriptures as the Word of God, evangelization and missions. Within a generation, this attitude has spread to many of their congregations, so that today only a handful of congregational churches in the United States identify as evangelical and Bible believers. Two notable congregationalist denominations are:

• The United Church of the Church (UCC): the largest congregational denomination in America today.
  • UCC advocates for many social and political causes, including universal health care, social justice, LGBT rights, and environmentalism.
  • They currently have approximately 1 million members in approximately 5,300 congregations across the United States.
• The Christian Conference of the Conservative Congregation (CCCC): A much smaller denomination of the Congregation that is more conservative, evangelical, and Bible-centered.
  • Park Street Church (Boston) is perhaps their most historic church. Built in 1810, it was run in the mid-twentieth century by Harold J. Ockenga, the first president of Fuller Seminary.
  • CCCC has approximately 42,000 members in approximately 275 churches, which are located primarily in the northeast.

Congregationalism has a long and rich heritage. While much of New England congregationalism broadly embraced liberal theology, historic congregationalist ethics – one that valued the scriptures, cherished revival, and vigorously engaged in world missions – endures today in many Baptist and Evangelical churches.

Fast facts:

• Congregationalism: that form of ecclesiastical regime (or church government) which contemplates the spiritual authority of the church to reside in the local congregation.
  • Christ therefore governs his Church by his word alone (the Scriptures), and not by intermediary external authorities (bishops or presbyteries).
• Congregationalists and Baptists: The two have similar origins and share many points of ecclesiology. The only thing that sets them apart is their understanding of baptism:
  • Congregationalists baptize infants
  • Baptists do not baptize infants but practice baptism of believers
• Eminent representatives:
  • John Owen (1616-1683) – English Puritan theologian who was the architect of scholastic congregationalism.
  • Isaac Watts (1674-1748) – English writer of many hymns, including “Joy to the World”, “When I examine the wonderful cross”, “O God, our help in ages past” and “I sing about mighty power of God. “
  • Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) – influential North American theologian and pastor of Northampton, Massachusetts.
  • Harold J. Ockenga (1905-1985) – one of the founders of the National Association of Evangelicals and founding president of Fuller Seminary.