Congregationalism

Congregationalism is a Protestant tradition in which each local church governs its own affairs independently, without rule by bishops or a higher church authority.

Congregational polity: A church governance system in which authority rests chiefly with the local congregation. It names the governing principle that gives Congregational churches their defining autonomy.
English Puritanism: A movement seeking to reform the Church of England according to Reformed Protestant principles. Congregationalism developed within Puritan disputes over how churches should be organized.
Episcopal polity: A system of church government in which bishops exercise authority over clergy and congregations. It contrasts with Congregationalism by locating governing authority in bishops.
Puritan migration to New England: The seventeenth-century movement of English Puritans to establish communities in New England. Migrants carried Congregational church structures into colonial settlements.
Congregational meeting: An assembly of a local church's members to deliberate and decide matters of church life. Members exercise local authority through collective decisions in these meetings.
Separatism: The Protestant conviction that true churches should separate from institutions judged irreformably corrupt. Separatists supplied an early model of independent gathered churches.
Presbyterian polity: A system of church government in which elected elders govern through connected councils or assemblies. It connects congregations in governing bodies rather than leaving final authority locally.
New England town meeting: A local assembly in which residents of a New England town deliberate and decide civic matters. Local church governance developed alongside, but remained distinct from, New England's civic participation.
Church covenant: A mutual agreement by which members commit themselves to a local Christian church and its shared life. Covenants bind autonomous congregations through shared commitments rather than a central hierarchy.
Robert Browne: An English religious reformer associated with early advocacy of self-governing gathered churches. His writings helped articulate the independent church principles later linked to Congregationalism.

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