Congregationalism in the United States

Congregationalism in the United States consists of Protestant churches in the Reformed tradition distinguished by having a congregational form of church government and who 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. Congregational churches have had an important impact on the religious, political and cultural history of the United States. Congregationalism played an important role in both the First and Second Great Awakenings. 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 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.

The Congregational tradition was brought to America in the 1630s by the Puritans—a Calvinistic group within the Church of England that desired to purify it of any remaining teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. As part of their reforms, Puritans desired to replace the Church of England's episcopal polity (rule by bishops) with another form of church government. Some English Puritans favored presbyterian polity (rule by assemblies of presbyters), as was utilized by the Church of Scotland, but those who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized their churches according to congregational polity (rule by members of the local church).

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