Congregationalism in the United States
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Congregationalism in the United States consists of Protestant churches in the Reformed tradition that have a congregational form of church government and trace their origins mainly to Puritan settlers of colonial New England. Congregational churches in other parts of the world are often related to these in the United States due to American missionary activities.
The steeple of North Church, a historic Congregational church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Pilgrims Going to Church by George Henry Boughton (1867)
Recreation of Plymouth's fort and first church meeting house at Plimoth Plantation
The Old Ship Church, a Puritan meetinghouse in Hingham, Massachusetts. The plain style reflects the Calvinist values of the Puritans.
Puritans
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The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. Puritanism played a significant role in English and early American history, especially during the Protectorate.
Gallery of famous 17th-century Puritan theologians: Thomas Gouge, William Bridge, Thomas Manton, John Flavel, Richard Sibbes, Stephen Charnock, William Bates, John Owen, John Howe and Richard Baxter
The Westminster Assembly, which saw disputes on Church polity in England (Victorian history painting by John Rogers Herbert).
Interior of the Old Ship Church, a Puritan meetinghouse in Hingham, Massachusetts. Puritans were Calvinists, so their churches were unadorned and plain.
Death's head, Granary Burying Ground. A typical example of early Funerary art in Puritan New England