The story of Congregationalism briefly told

by Erik Routley

177 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this historical book because I am exploring my family history, with ancestors arriving in South Australia from a Staffordshire Congregational church. I wondered what would move members of a church to move to the other side of the world. In this work I found a very interesting rendition of English History from times when church and state were one. The reformation brought many changes and the protestant church was one. But Congregationalism arose from the ‘Dissenters” and was deeply influenced by Calvinism from Holland. Dissenters believed that church and state should not exist together, because the Gospel was comprised by Law. With this background it was interesting to see how a Congregational based expression of Christianity spread through the United Kingdom and eventually the rest of the world. Congregationalism is one of the parts of what is now the Uniting Church in Australia, and forms part of the colonial History of this penal colony and its free settlers and the imperial and racist bias that came with their members.