First Congregational Church of Naples is affiliated with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. Known as the NACCC, the National Association is a continuation of Congregational and Christian Churches that date back to the Pilgrims who landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, seeking religious freedom. The symbol of the National Association of Congregational Churches is the Mayflower, the ship that bore the Pilgrims to the new land where freedom of conscience was to be a way of life.
The Congregational Church is truly the church of the Pilgrims and is in every way an American heritage church. In the 15th Century, the Church of England separated from the Church of England because of political schism caused by King Henry VIII who wanted his marriage annulled, a request that was not granted. Seeing the condition of the church, a group calling themselves Separatists under the leadership of Robert Browne separated themselves from the Church of England and founded the Church of Norwich, and later moved to Holland. In 1604, John Robinson, an ordained minister of the Church of England, heard of the Separatists and joined them in Amsterdam. Although free to worship there, they became alarmed that their families were becoming Dutch. So they migrated back to England and under the leadership of such men as Brewster, Bradford, and Winslow, these brave people boarded a small ship known as the Mayflower and landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.
Joining another group known as the Puritans through the Cambridge Platform written in 1648, these people adopted the name Congregational to describe themselves and their form of church life in which the congregation would have the governing authority of the church as opposed to any ecclesiastical hierarchy.
These Congregationalists were noted for many first things including founding Harvard College in 1636 and Yale in 1701. After the War Between the States, the Congregationalists sent missionaries into the South to reconstruct a land that lay in ruins and also to elevate the plight of the former slaves. The founded many great universities that are today outstanding predominantly African-American institutions.
In 1931, Congregational Church united with the Christian Church, a southern church that was founded by James O'Kelly, and his followers in 1794. Rev. O'Kelly lived near Durham, North Carolina. Once a Methodist minister, he believed the Methodist system of assigning ministers was not fair to the ministers or the churches, and not biblical in that the people should have a voice in whom they called to be their pastor. His opposition to this principle caused him to leave the Methodist Church and form the Christian Church. He was joined by others of similar belief in Ohio and in New England.
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