Congregational Church in the United States

United States   Church Records   Congregational Church Records 

History in the United States

 * In 1660, approximately 75 percent of the total population of the thirteen British colonies was either Anglican or Congregationalist.
 * Congregational churches trace their history back to nonconforming Protestants, Puritans, Separatists, Independents, English religious groups coming out of the English Civil War, and other English dissenters not satisfied with the degree to which the Church of England had been reformed. The Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Separatists of Plymouth Colony were the first of many groups known as Congregationalists.
 * Within the United States, the model of Congregational churches was carried by migrating settlers from New England into New York, then into the Old North West, and further. By 1776, there were 668 Congregational churches—21 percent of all churches in America.[39] Congregationalism had been a tradition largely confined to New England, but Congregationalists would migrate westward as the new United States expanded. Vermont was the first of these new territories to be opened up. The first church was established in 1762, but there were 74 Congregational churches in Vermont by 1800. Those churches organized a General Convention for that state in 1796. The University of Vermont and Middlebury College were founded by Congregationalists.[63]
 * Congregational churches had been present in eastern New York prior to the Revolution, but expansion into the central and western parts of that state took place in the 1790s as emigration increased from Massachusetts and Connecticut. As New Englanders settled in the Old Northwest, they brought Congregationalism with them. The First Congregational Church of Marietta, Ohio, gathered in 1796, is the oldest Congregational church in the region.[64]
 * Congregational churches have had an important impact on the religious, political and cultural history of the United States. Congregational practices concerning church governance influenced the early development of democratic institutions in New England, and many of the nation's oldest educational institutions, such as Harvard University and Yale University, were founded to train Congregational clergy.
 * In the 20th century, the Congregational tradition in America fragmented into three different denominations. The largest of these is the United Church of Christ, which resulted from a 1957 merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Congregationalists who chose not to join the United Church of Christ founded two alternative denominations: the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.''' Source: Wikipedia: Congregational Church and Congregationalism in the United States

Writing to Local Churches

 * National Association of Congregational Christian Churches Member Churches Map

Congregational Library
Congregational Library 14 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108 Telephone: 617-523-0470 Fax: 617-523-0470

Ministers
A list of Congregational ministers and the churches or circuits they served: https://www.ourfamtree.org/records/religion.php?denom=1695&