| National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Orientation | Mainline Protestant |
| Theology | Reformed Congregationalist |
| Polity | Congregational |
| Associations | Federal Council of Churches (1908) |
| Origin | 1865 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Absorbed | Evangelical Protestant Church of North America (1927) |
| Merged into | Congregational Christian Churches (1931) |
| Defunct | 1931 |
| Congregations | 5,497 in 1928 |
| Members | 939,130 in 1928 |
The National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States was a mainline Protestant, Christian denomination in the United States. Its organization as a denomination was delayed by the Civil War. Congregational leaders met again in Boston, Massachusetts in 1865, where they began to hammer out standards of church procedures (polity) and adopted a statement of faith, known as the Burial Hill Declaration. Denominational organization came in 1871 with formation of the National Council of Congregational Churches, which existed until its merger in 1931.[1] In 1928, there were 5,497 Congregational churches in the U.S. with a membership of 939,130. These churches were served by 5,648 ministers.[2]
The Congregational churches originated from the Puritans of colonial New England. Congregationalists were traditionally Calvinists strongly committed to congregational polity, from which the denomination took its name.[3]
In 1931, the Congregationalists merged with the Christian Connection to form the Congregational Christian Churches.[4] The National Council is a predecessor body to several American denominations, including the United Church of Christ, the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.
- ^ "History Matters, Becoming a Denomination" Congregational Library & Archives
- ^ Executive Committee of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States 1928, pp. 256.
- ^ "General Council of Congregational Christian Churches". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
- ^ "National Council minutes". The Congregational Library and Archives. Retrieved January 25, 2015.