A Congregational society was founded in 1662, and its old church, dating from 1702, stood until 1906.
The government of the church is chiefly according to the congregational principle, and the women have an equal voice with the men; but annual meetings, attended by the bishops, teachers and other delegates from the several congregations are held, and at these sessions the larger questions involving church polity are considered and decided by a committee of five bishops.
These two movements coalesced in a single Congregational Union in 1897.
From New England, as has been seen, Puritan settlers established Presbyterian churches (or churches which immediately became Presbyterian) in Long Island, on New Jersey, and in South Carolina; but the Puritans who remained in New England usually established Congregational churches.
In 1801 a "plan of union" proposed by the General Association (Congregational) of Connecticut was accepted by the General Assembly, and the work of home missions in the western section of the country was prosecuted jointly.
