The practice of Congregationalism in the United States began in the 17th century when Pilgrim settlers from England founded the Plymouth Colony in the southeastern portion of modern-day Massachusetts. Congregationalism slowly spread to New York as the Pilgrims migrated. Church of the Pilgrims, located in Brooklyn Heights, was the first Congregational church established in the city of Brooklyn in 1844. The neighboring Plymouth Church was founded in 1847, and was home to the famed Reverend Henry Ward Beecher. While Congregationalism flourished throughout the 19th century, membership in these Brooklyn churches declined in the mid-20th century. Plymouth Church and the Church of the Pilgrims consolidated in 1934, becoming Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, and many Congregational churches joined the United Church of Christ in the late 1950s.
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Sources
- Lindner, Eileen W. "Congregationalists." In
The Encyclopedia of New York City, ed. Kenneth T. Jackson, 275. New Haven: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 1995.
- Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. "Our History." Accessed December 3, 2010. http://www.plymouthchurch.org/our_history.php
From the guide to the Congregational churches of Brooklyn collection, 1847-1961, (Brooklyn Historical Society)
