Congregationalists

Definition

Members of a Christian movement characterized by a system where each local church congregation governs its own affairs. It's most common in Protestant churches, particularly those with Puritan roots.

Analogy

Congregationalists are like individual teams in a sports league. Each team manages its own strategies and players, but they all play by the same basic rules of the game.

Related terms

Puritans: A group of English Protestants who sought to purify the Church of England from what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church was only partially reformed.

Separatists: A group within Puritanism that believed the Church of England was so corrupt that true Christians should separate from it altogether. Many Separatists became Congregationalists after migrating to America.

Mayflower Compact: The first governing document of Plymouth Colony, signed by Pilgrims who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower seeking religious freedom. This compact established self-government based on majority rule, which is an early form of congregationalist principles.