The Congregational Way
Pilgrim Congregational Church is an independent Christian church which manages its own affairs, elects its own officers, and own its own property. It is a church bound together by a covenant of mutual devotion and service. It is devotional in emphasis, liberal in theology and family centered in its programs.
The Congregational Way is a way of following Christ. People of a Congregational Church do not seek to be led by a creed, but by the Spirit. Ours is the tradition of a free church, gathered under the headship of Christ and bound to others by love, not law.
When King Henry VIII of England broke with Rome and made the Church of England subservient to the English crown, many of his subjects thought he had not gone far enough in reforming the church. These people, sometimes called Puritans, wanted a church that was thoroughly reformed in its worship, governance, and outlook.
Some of them tried to purify the English Church from within. Others, known as Separatists, left the state church and formed local groups of believers bound together by mutual covenants. They found warrant for these gathered churches in Matthew 18:20, which says, "for where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." The Congregational Church traces its roots back to those Separatists who later came to America to establish a Separatist colony. Sailing on the
Mayflower from the port of Plymouth, England, in 1620, the 102 voyagers arrived off Cape Cod in late autumn and landed in a harbor they named Plymouth. Before stepping ashore, they drafted an agreement as the basis for the civil government of their colony. This Mayflower Compact was the first written expression in history of a social contract, in which the people agree among themselves to form the state.A more complete description of the Congregational Way may be found at the following website:
http://www.naccc.org/About_NACCC/CongregationalWay.htm