IN THE year 1931 the Congregational and the Christian churches discovered that while they had been separated for many years, they were identical in their ideals and principles. A merger of the two bodies was then brought about, with a forward look toward soon merging with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. We can well understand why the Congregationalists have given strong leadership for the union of churches in both the National and World Council of Churches.
Recent historians have proved that Robert Browne and other separatist leaders developed beliefs similar to the early Congregationalists, but that the two groups were then wholly distinct. John Robinson was one of the early influential leaders of Congregationalism. He was a separatist until he met the distinguished Con-gregationalist theologian, William Ames, and Henry Jacob, a pamphleteer and organizer. Both had fled British ecclesiastical pressure. They were instrumental in converting Robinson from separatism to their faith.
For more than a decade Robinson's congregation had enjoyed peace and freedom under the Dutch. In 1620 this group sailed on the historic Mayflower to found the American commonwealth. Their venture into the New World may have been slow and painful, but it is to this group that the United States owes its freedom of state, its schools, and its social and political life.
Between 1630 and 1640 the Puritans arrived in Massachusetts and numbered some twenty thousand. Some had come from England and some from the Netherlands, to establish on American soil an all-powerful theocratic government. Church and state then presented a stern intolerant regime, causing the banishment from their colony of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. Often Quakers and Baptists alike were in trouble until in 1689 the Act of Toleration brought relief.
Thomas Hooker in 1636 led a group of one hundred to what is now Hartford, Connecticut. He had drawn up a freeman's agreement that was later used as a model for the American Constitution. Many New England colonists had clashed views with Jonathan Edwards' rigid Calvinism. When the Great Awakening in 1734 brought the eloquent George Whitefield on the scene, Edwards' vigorous writings continued, to become a part of the American classics. Congregationalists had an active part in the Revolutionary War. They also contributed strength to higher education, missions, the formation of a national council, and a statement of beliefs. Great colleges were founded, such as Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Middlebury. In 1953 there were forty-eight colleges and ten theological seminaries of Congregational origin.
Missions in America
Interest in missions began with the landing of the Pilgrims. Men like the Mayhews, David Brainerd, and John Eliot worked among the Indians, and printed the Bible and a catechism in their language for them. By 1674 there were four thousand "praying Indians" in New England. These were taught by native preachers.
The organization of the American Board for Home and Foreign Missions, with representatives from the Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, and Associate Reformed churches, became an interdenominational project. At this time we should fit into the picture the famous "hay-stack" meeting at Williams College in Massachusetts, when five young missionaries were first sent abroad. It was a noble beginning that soon sent another thirty to foreign fields. Perhaps the more history-making venture was the Christianizing of beautiful Hawaii. Congregational influences and education taught a mixed-race people, and within a quarter of a century, the religion of the Bible. The secrets of racial harmony, understanding, and Christian helpfulness were learned from the Book. A whole nation was taught to read and to write. This laid a solid foundation for constitutional and democratic government, so that today Hawaii is marked as a great sociological experiment with due credit to the church.
Growth and Expansion
As the Congregationalists moved westward with the Presbyterians to save duplication of missionary effort, these two groups adopted a union plan. By 1850, however, the Presbyterians were stronger in the then-known West, but the Congregationalists were in the lead in New England. With the establishment of Unitarianism in 1825, the older Congregational churches in eastern Massachusetts, with one exception in Boston, had gone Unitarian.
By 1871 Congregationalism had grown to the extent that there was need for a guiding body, which became known as the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches. It helped to unify the objectives of the churches functioning in this connection. Congregationalists have been adaptable. Their large youth work became the Christian Endeavor, an international society known all over the world, with decidedly interdenominational tendencies. It is claimed by them that Congregationalists remain Puritans, having a passionate regard for truth. They have been called the world's greatest creed makers. While allowing freedom to each local congregation to make its own creed, and claiming affinity for Catholicism, they do not recognize the sovereignty of the pope, although admitting the Roman Catholic Church is one of the true branches of Christianity. They disclaim the Roman or Anglican apostolic succession per se, believing that the whole Church of Christ is the succession from the apostles. The humblest church member can dispense the richness of the grace of Christ as well as the greatest prelate. (See A Guide to the Religions of America, Simon and Schuster, N.Y.)
Equalities of Congregationalism
Congregationalists on American soil advocated woman's place in ministerial service. Today, however, only about 4 per cent of their ministers are women. The principle holds throughout that where women can give better service than men, according to New Testament usage they should be recognized, without distinction in ecclesiastical status, and some who are "called" should be ordained for ministerial leadership. The example of the Congregationalists in this practice has influenced a sector of Protestantism to the extent that woman's work in recent decades has been greatly dignified within the Protestant churches. This attitude on the part of church officials is drawing consecrated womanhood into seminaries for theological training. Another branch of sendee points up her aptitude for clerical skills, so important today in the well-organized, large city church. From various indications there seems to be a growing emphasis on the need for consecrated, trained ministerial vocations for hospital and home visitation and counseling. These church vocations for young women of the future are already offering new challenges for Christian women interested in a church career.
But Congregationalism shows both liberal and conservative elements. Their Plymouth Rock heritage has characterized them as a people who were pious, hardy, and conservative; and they loved learning. Today Congregational ministers and Jewish rabbis exchange pulpits regularly in many cities, both servants of the church claiming the same ethical emphasis on the brotherhood of man. Congregationalists sincerely stress that fraternity with non-Christians expresses true Christian belief.
Our Changing Times
Although Americans may trace some of the grass roots of their heritage in Congregationalism, they recognize, nevertheless, various strange by-products, reactions, and paradoxes from the original pattern. Some may be justified in thinking that the propositions of contemporary movements indicate that America is fast losing its Protestant identity. This may be due to the fact that America has become the greatest national and racial melting pot of the world.
New England may be a good illustration of this, for the question is often asked: "Where is the typical New Englander of earlier times?" What happened to the people who first colonized its territory? Has not the Yankee turned over his farms to the whims of city vacationists who relax on his antique furniture? Are not his traditional landmarks now "shrines" to attract more tourists and sight-seers? Are his churches and colleges of yesteryear changing their religious emphasis, and why? Have not the streams, hills, and shores of beautiful New England attracted other national and racial groups, and many who have long forgotten God, who in their wild frenzy for a higher standard of living have never caught the vision of the first American colonists in their struggle for civil and religious liberty?
While this area under our foregoing discussion was the first American home of the Congregationalists, is it not true that mankind is not yet Godlike? Despite the church's best efforts for brotherhood, there seems to be more deterioration than progress heavenward. America needs a revival!
America's Eastern seaboard is fast becoming a chain of cities, many of them overcrowded. What a glorious opportunity for the church to evangelize, before the elements that are pressing in take over the Bible religion that should survive. Bear in mind that "churchianity" is not Christianity, and that institutions built by those who call themselves Christians may serve the poor and heal the sick but may fail to actually save the lost.
Is not this the hour of opportunity for our Missionary Volunteers and for all welfare and socially-minded Christians to evangelize? Youthful voices should be raised against America's common foe—intemperance! This task requires more than preparing for a prize in an oratorical contest, meritorious as such an incentive is; indeed, it must embrace the call for consecrated, zealous youth, with a true burden for souls. Let these fall into line and learn, so as not to miss the more important service in dealing with the problems of alcohol, narcotics, and tobacco—that of loving, intelligent, personal evangelism. It must lead to a full surrender of obedience to Christ our Master.
The church in any community must be more than a distributing center for food and clothing, a source of relief when calamities strike. Useful and basic as these ministries are, we must offer in each case the bread from heaven, the water of life, the robe of Christ's righteousness, and the eternal security of the new earth. Bible instructors should do all they can to minister to bodily needs, but should never forget that their true calling is to save both body and soul. We dare not scatter our interests so broadly that we to whom this ministerial, soul-saving service is given will let other pressures consume our time so that soulsaving receives secondary attention. We should remember that this is our real work!
At the close of our discussion on Congregationalism we would again refer to the far-visioned Congregationalist missionaries who under God performed miracles in their day. Let us refer to their noble work when we visit with Christians of this faith in our communities. It will produce a friendly atmosphere. It may also stimulate a new interest for another generation of Congregationalists to now help the "church universal" to complete the message of the everlasting gospel. Throughout the world we must make ready a people to meet our soon-coming Saviour. Many sincere Congregationalists will respond to such an invitation on the part of their Seventh-day Adventist neighbors.
