Congregationalists. – Name given to Protestants who profess absolute independence from every community (congregation) of the faithful. The pseudo-Reformation in England developed along three different lines, culminating in Anglicanism, Puritanism, and Separatism. Anglicanism, especially in its primitive form under Henry VIII, had retained many doctrines and customs of the Catholic Church, and even today retains some, such as episcopacy. Puritanism, formed by Calvinizing elements, adhered to Anglicanism as the established church but desired a purer Church, i.e., one without so many vestiges of Catholicism and with greater participation by the faithful in the selection of ministers and in the governance of the Church. Separatism, made up of the so-called “Independents,” condemned the entire Church of England, from which they believed they had to separate on conscience, because they considered episcopacy contrary to Holy Scripture. For a long time the lines separating one party from another were not so clearly drawn that there were not found in one party partisans, at least partial, of the other.
CONGREGAZIONALISTI
