Who Are the Puritans

The Congregational Episcopal Church receives many inquiries each month asking "Who are the Puritans?  I thought the Puritans are no longer in existence."

Well welcome to the Puritan Church in America.  Our "official" denominational name is The Congregational Episcopal Church.  We have a rich history which begins with the Puritans in England during the 17th century who fled England to France, Holland, and helped settle the American Colony (what is now the USA).

After the Anglican Church became the "official" church of the US colonies the Puritan movement broke into two factions.  One, the Congregationalists and the second, the Free Church.  Congregationalists kept much of the same traditions, although in 1842  it was seen that a leadership was needed so the Synod of Congregational Churches was formed with three "bishops", Presbyters, or elder pastors at the head.  Their presbyteries were in Plymouth, St. Louis, and Chicago.  Plymouth was the seat of the national office or Synod Office.  The Presbytery of Plymouth is still the main seat of the church, although the national synod is now headquartered out of Washington, DC.

Puritans during this time sought to protect their church completely from any government involvement and for this fact was able to help runaway slaves from the south find help in the New England states and in Illinois.  Puritans helped build and operate the "underground rail road".

After the Civil War, the title Puritan came to disuse because of negative connotations of a strict life without pleasure.  Congregational and Congregationalist were adopted as "official" monikers by the national synod.

In 1957 there was a three way split with the Congregational Church.  The nonprofit incorporating of churches and government accreditation of seminaries was the primary reason. One denomination became the (United) Church of Christ, the second the Community of Congregational Churches, and the Puritan Church in America (Congregational Episcopal Church).

Our churches are usually the homes of our pastors and none are 501 C3 corporations. Donations are given directly to the pastor who distributes donations as they see fit.  Our seminaries and bible schools are not accredited by any government agency.  We prefer home schooling to secular public schools.  We still insist on the King James (Authorized) translation of scriptures.  Although we do use the Douhey-Rheims for the apocrapha books.

The Puritan Church in America was the smallest of the new churches although it kept and is considered the protector of Puritan values and practice.  Our churches have no instrumentation with all hymns sung acapella, although instruments are allowed in moderation.  Puritans do not wish the music to take away the worship aspect of hymns.  Christmas and Easter are very solemn celebrations and Puritans have no decorating or special gifts in the churches, although individual Puritans may have very modest home decorations.

The Puritans believe God and His worship are important enough to reserve at least one full day out of the week, and we joyfully devote Sunday to the Lord. Sermons are central to the intellectual life of the Puritans are usually one to one and a half hours in length.  Our faith can be summed up in the Westminster Confession, and the Nicene Creed is the "official" creed of the church.

In keeping with their belief that every area of life should be molded by Christian principles, Puritans see all honorable work as a means of glorifying God. All of life is God's, and there is no distinction between secular and sacred work. God calls each person to a particular vocation or occupation, and the Christian should act as a careful steward of the talents and gifts God has given him. Working in one's calling or vocation is a means of serving God and men. Idleness is considered a great sin; diligence in one's calling a virtue.

Puritans believe in charity that will create independence and break dependence.  All works of charity are done with the benefit of the receiver and not as a means to buy one's way into the favor of Christ.  Puritans believe the home is the primary church, and the meeting house is simply a place where we come together to worship Jesus Christ.

Organized like a miniature church, the family is the most basic institution in Puritan society and is organized like a miniature church. Established by God before all other institutions and before man's fall, the family is the foundation of all civil, social, and ecclesiastical life. In the morning and evening the family assembles together for prayer, and on Sunday the family joins other families in worship.  Husbands are the head of the family, and we profess one marriage between one man and one woman.  Divorce is forbidden except in cases of adultery, and then only if reconciliation is refused by the cheated spouse.  

Directory 2014-2015

Use the Contact Form on the sidebar to the right to enquire more information for Puritan Church in America church and fellowship locations.  

Many of our churches are home churches, some meet in hotels or the congregation has had a building constructed. Some are very old churches.  There is no "typical" Puritan congregation.  Some have split from their denominations for various reasons and come to our call to be autonomous fellowships.  

A few simply wish to share unity with Puritans as a fellowship of believers where we welcome them and they welcome us.  All share the Puritan desire to give glory to God in all we do.

Presbyteries

Plymouth Presbytery (yellow)
Bishop Rev. James Hill

Houston Presbytery (striped)
Bishop Rev. Paul Duff 

San Francisco Presbytery (maroon)
Bishop Rev. Peter Morimoto



Churches in full communion

Free Reformed Churches of North America

Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly

Reformed Presbyterian Church North America

Church of Christ (Free Churches)

Traditional Church of Christ

Outside USA Puritan Church Missions and Churches

Christian Church of Japan

Bishop Daniel J. Rea

Nagoya, Japan

Hong Kong Puritan Mission

Pastor Paul Wong

Hong Kong, China

Puritan Church of Taiwan

Bishop Michael Zhou

Taipei, Taiwan

Puritan Church of the United Kingdom

Rev. Peter Masters

London, UK

Use contact form to inquire about UK church locations

New Ministries

We wish to take an opportunity to ask for prayers for our new ministries.

Rev. Paul Wong is beginning mission work in Taiwan.  Rev. Wong will work with drug addicts and homeless.

Bishop Daniel Rea and his wife, Deacon Itsuko Rea, will found the Christian Church of Japan.  They will be based out of Nagoya, Japan.  This is the first branch of the Congregational Episcopal Church since our founding, and we wish both the Bishop and Deacon the very best in their mission work.  The Christian Church of Japan will be an autonomous, national Church for Japan.  Their charter and Book of Common Prayer were approved January 1 by the USA Synod.

Deacon James Mutombo returns to Zimbawe to minister to his country men after receiving his nursing degree from UCLA.  He shall work along side Anglican missionaries.

For all of these ministries we thank the Lord for sending laborers to the vineyard.  We ask that you keep them in your prayers.

New Year Message

From Synod President
Bishop Peter Morimoto

It is not the case that Christians are at risk of their lives or liberties in this country simply for being Christians. Whenever you hear overheated language about this, remember those many, many places where persecution is real and Christians are being killed regularly and mercilessly or imprisoned and harassed for their resistance to injustice. Remember our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and in Iraq, the Catholic communities of southern Sudan fearing the outbreak of another civil war, the Christian minorities in the Holy Land facing the extinction of their two-thousand year old presence there; or our own Anglican and Catholic friends in Zimbabwe, subject to routine attack from the security forces and locked out of their churches. That's not our situation, thank God, and we need to keep a sense of perspective, and to redouble our prayers and concrete support. 

As we begin 2014, let us see through the lens of the scriptures the reality we are blessed to live in here in the USA.  May we become honest about the blessings we have as Christians.  Let us also begin real support for those ministries and those missionaries who leaving home, family, and nation are serving the Lord and doing His work.

May 2014 bring all joy and peace to all.

Remembering 9/11

Our prayers and hearts are with those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.  We also pray for peace of our world and for the courage to forgive those who hate us.

Synod Statement on Syria

We are deeply concerned about events in Syria. We grieve for our brothers and sisters who have suffered so deeply for so long. We yearn for an end to the bloodshed and renew our call for a cease-fire and a mediated process involving all parties to provide new choices for all Syrians.

We condemn the use of chemical weapons. Regardless of who perpetrated the attack, such a usage violates a longstanding international norm.  We recognize the authority and the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council to deal with this violation of international law. We call all nations to encourage the Security Council to address this illegal and immoral act. We do not doubt that justice is needed, but question the unilateral and inevitably selective role the United States has too often played, too often leading to greater violence, terrorism, and instability.

We call upon the President and the members of Congress to follow the example of other strong leaders in the past by exercising the courage and wisdom to refrain from military action that is likely to escalate the conflict further, and to bring our country directly into another war in the Middle East.

We applaud the President’s efforts to consult widely, conferring with international leaders and with Congress.  Now we ask him to spend time over this holiday weekend listening to what Americans want and fear.

Now is not the time to feed the violence and instability that has claimed the lives of over 100,000 Syrians, driven 3.4 million Syrians from their country, and displaced an additional 6.8 million Syrians from their homes. Most people affected by the conflict are noncombatants. Expanding the conflict will increase the suffering of the innocent. 

Now is the time to heed the voices of our church partners who pray and call and work for peace. Our partners look to us to challenge policies of our government that help to fuel conflict in Syria and proxy wars across the Middle East.

Now is the time to reflect on the lessons of 12 years of involvement in conflict in the Middle East by the United States. Limited engagement is never truly limited.

Now is the time to support the peacemakers of Syria who seek to end the violence and build a future. In any Congressional deliberations, we urge that nonviolent forms of intervention be considered, and that next steps beyond military force be grounded in defensible cooperative goals for the region.

Now is the time for all outside parties to cease all forms of military intervention in Syria. States and and non-state actors must stop feeding the conflict in Syria by sending weapons to the government and to opposition forces.

Now is the time to renew the efforts for a diplomatic solution. The United States must work with the United Nations and other governments to contain the violence, restore stability in the region, provide humanitarian assistance, and encourage the building of an inclusive society in Syria that protects the rights of all its citizens.

Now—in the grimmest of situations—is the time to build a coalition of nations and peoples willing to do the long, hard, and essential work of establishing interfaith relationships of respect and understanding.

Now—for Syria and all its neighbors—is the time to seek a new vision of cooperation and nonviolence that will support an intervention with the power of impartial justice that will lead to a just and lasting peace.

Now is the time to pray for wisdom for leaders, for courage to turn from violence, for grace to build and nurture relationships, for justice to roll down like waters, and for peace to prevail in Syria.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” For the people of Syria, may it now be a time for peace.

Congregational Episcopal Church USA Synod

USA Presbytery Puritan Church 

 

Christmas and Easter Directive

The synod of the USA has voted in favor of the following directives concerning the use of liturgical calendars, seasons (ie: Advent, Christmas, Lent, and so forth) and the celebration of Christmas and Easter in churches.




With a majority of parishes, clergy, and bishops deciding:

In keeping with our continual reformation around scriptures we the Puritan Church in America (Congregational Episcopal Church) do ordain the following.

The use of liturgical calendars needlessly divides the year into repetitive celebrations each year that have no basis in scriptures. Each minister, pastor, deacon, and bishop has the needed knowledge of scriptures to perform their duties as preachers without the unneeded crutch of calendars, seasons, and so forth.

Seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Whitsunday, and so forth have no scriptural basis and are an outdated tool of a time when the faithful had neither education nor personal used Bibles. These seasons are simply contrary to what reformers of our Puritan faith taught and preached to reform the church as a living body. Repetition of readings make for a lazy and uninventive church. Ministers of the Gospels need no such seasons to conduct their services, and the faithful need no such seasons to lift their hearts to God. These seasons are repugnant to faith.

As Christmas and Easter have been overly celebrated with a secular lean, which has found its was into Christian churches, these holidays are no longer recognized as "holy days" or as feasts in the church. Pastors are advised to treat these festivals as any other Sunday. There is no need to mark special services for such pagan festivals in the church when those called as saints need no special days for celebration being saved by the Lord Jesus other than the Sabbath.