a form of Protestant church government in which each local religious society is independent and self-governing.
(initial capital letter) the system of government and doctrine of Congregational churches.
First recorded in 1640–50; congregational + -ism
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The polity of the "federated" church is congregational; and extreme congregationalism and connectionalism do not mix readily so far as polity is concerned.
From Church Cooperation in Community Life by Vogt, Paul L. (Paul Leroy)
In church polity he held that congregationalism constituted the most fitting environment in which religion could achieve her work.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 9 "Dagupan" to "David" by Various
The principle of congregationalism, as opposed to nationalism and catholicism, is nowhere more fully established than in this admirable work.
From The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 3, March, 1852 by Various
When Bunny was 11, her father got a Fulbright Scholarship and temporarily moved the family to Ghana, where her parents converted to Quakerism from Congregationalism.
From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2018
The century’s most famous Catholic convert, a journalist named Orestes Brownson, tried Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, Universalism, Unitarianism, and Transcendentalism on his way to Catholicism.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2015
In the 19th century, he writes, almost every single person involved with early parks and forest conservation was within a generation of rural Northeast Congregationalism.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2015
After 15 years in Danville, Gaylord packed up his family and moved to Omaha, where he became known as the father of Congregationalism in Nebraska and helped found Doane College in Crete, Nebraska.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 18, 2014
Yale College was a “school of the prophets” which sent out to the West the young preachers and teachers so much needed if Congregationalism was to hold its own in that region.
From Expansion and Conflict by Dodd, William E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
