Check.Church

Congregationalists

Congregational · 1581–1658 · England; New England; Commonwealth

Radical Puritans who, despairing of reform from within, gathered self-governing congregations of professed believers outside the establishment — reformation 'without tarrying for any'; the Mayflower Separatists planted the tradition in New England. Successor mergers (UCC 1957, URC 1972) are encoded in the mergers pass.

Congregationalists was formed between 1581 and 1658, as a process rather than a single event. Congregationalists continues today. Congregationalists's institutional line runs back through Church of England, Roman Catholicism to the post-apostolic church. No body on this tree is the assembly of Acts 2; where a body claims that, the claim appears in the claimed-lineage layer.

Between the post-apostolic church and Congregationalists stand 3 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.

At a glance

Formed
Between 1581 and 1658, as a process rather than a single event
Family
Congregational
Region
England; New England; Commonwealth
Key figures
Robert Browne, Henry Barrowe, John Greenwood
Cause tags
Governance, Doctrine
Also known as
Separatists; Brownists (early exonym); Independents

What it separated from

Bodies organized out of it or separated from it: General Baptists, Particular Baptists, United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ, Uniting Church in Australia, United Reformed Church, United Church of Christ in Japan.

On the tree

Congregationalists and its institutional line back to the post-apostolic churchAD 33today1004244314511054153415811609163319251941195719721977The post-apostolic church (The spine)The post-apostolicchurchThe spineChurch of the East (Church of the East)Church of the EastChurch of the EastThe conciliar church (The spine)The conciliar churchThe spineThe Chalcedonian church (The spine)The Chalcedonian churchThe spineOriental Orthodoxy (Oriental Orthodox)Oriental OrthodoxyOriental OrthodoxEastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodox)Eastern OrthodoxyEastern OrthodoxRoman Catholicism (Catholic)Roman CatholicismCatholicChurch of England (Anglican)Church of EnglandAnglicanCongregationalists (Congregational)CongregationalistsCongregationalGeneral Baptists (Baptist)General BaptistsBaptistParticular Baptists (Baptist)Particular BaptistsBaptistUnited Church of Canada (United and uniting churches)United Church of CanadaUnited and uniting churchesUnited Church of Christ in Japan (United and uniting churches)United Church of Christin JapanUnited and uniting churchesUnited Church of Christ (United and uniting churches)United Church of ChristUnited and uniting churchesUnited Reformed Church (United and uniting churches)United Reformed ChurchUnited and uniting churchesUniting Church in Australia (United and uniting churches)Uniting Church inAustraliaUnited and uniting churches

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2.

Notes

  • Successor unions now encoded: ucc-usa (1957), urc (1972).

Sources

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-10.