John Cotton’s New England Congregational Model Of Worship

In his book The Way of the Churches of Christ in New England, John Cotton, a leading Congregational pastor of the first generation of American colonists, provided a detailed description of worship practices in New England. Although conclusive evidence is lacking, it appears that English Congregationalists used the same basic order. Introduction This version of Cotton's description, with modernized spelling and capitalization, is taken from Bryan Spinks's Freedom or Order? (Allison Park, Pa. : Pickwick Publications, 1984), 3436. Text: First when we come together in the church according to the Apostle's direction (1 Tim. 2:1) wemake prayers and intercessions and thanksgivings for ourselves and for all men, not in any prescribed form of prayer, or studied liturgy, but in such a manner, as the Spirit of grace and of prayer (who teaches all the people of God what and how to pray, Rom. 8:26-27) helps our infirmities, we having respect therein to the necessities of the people, the estate…