Congregationalists Gather At TU For Annual Meeting
Fellowships of Congregational Christian churches are growing in the United States and around the world, representatives of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches were told Sunday at their 1978 annual meeting being held in Toledo.
Independent Congregational Christian churches, whose heritage dates back several centuries, are organized from Sun City, Ariz., to New Zealand.
Member churches in the United States association consist of congregations which declined to join what has become the United Church of Christ, with a membership now of 1.8 million members.
Membership Estimated At 100,000
The NACCC, with headquarters in Oak Creek, Wis., was organized in 1955 in Detroit by representatives of about 50 churches who believe in being self-governing and retaining the right of interpreting the scriptures for themselves.
Speakers said Sunday that although the association struggled for survival in its first two decades, the body has grown to almost 400 members congregations in 39 states with an estimated 100,000 members.
The American body now belongs to the recently formed International Congregational Fellowship, which met last year in London at a convention sponsored by its British counterpart, the Congregational Federation, based in Nottingham.
The Rev. John Travell, of Penge Congregational Church, in suburban London, traced the history of a number of international mission societies which last year formed a council for world mission, which will serve as a clearinghouse for a number of affiliated groups, he said.
Other Associations Discussed
He discussed a number of congregational associations in Europe, Africa, and the South Pacific, including the Congregational Union of Scotland, the Union of Welsh Independents, the Congregational Union of Northern Ireland, the Congregational Church of New Zealand, the United Congregational Church of South Africa, the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, and the comparable groups in Guyana, Samoa, and the Gilbert Islands.
The three-day meeting on the University of Toledo campus will close tonight with a dinner and program in the Student Union.
…
Their logo is the Mayflower, the ship that brought 102 men and women seeking religious freedom to American shores in 1620 and established Congregationalism in the colonies.
By coincidence, the church body they formed in 1955 in Detroit was launched with “102 lonely people,” a former moderator recalled in Toledo last weekend during the 1978 meeting of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.
…
A British congregational minister, the Rev. John Travell, one of the NA meeting speakers, is on a month-long pulpit exchange in Royal Oak, Mich. A former printer, he became a minister 12 years ago after training in several campuses and has done research in comparative religions.
He also has been active in the Congregational Federation of Great Britain counterpart of the NA here. Last year, NA members went to London for the International Congregational Fellowship. An American committee is planning the 1981 international meeting, in a city to be announced.
…
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19780626&id=nRBPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7032,3426056
Toledo Blade – 26 June 1978
Church Reported Growing
Congregationalists Gather At TU For Annual Meeting
Fellowships of Congregational Christian churches are growing in the United States and around the world, representatives of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches were told Sunday at their 1978 annual meeting being held in Toledo.
Independent Congregational Christian churches, whose heritage dates back several centuries, are organized from Sun City, Ariz., to New Zealand.
Member churches in the United States association consist of congregations which declined to join what has become the United Church of Christ, with a membership now of 1.8 million members.
Membership Estimated At 100,000
The NACCC, with headquarters in Oak Creek, Wis., was organized in 1955 in Detroit by representatives of about 50 churches who believe in being self-governing and retaining the right of interpreting the scriptures for themselves.
Speakers said Sunday that although the association struggled for survival in its first two decades, the body has grown to almost 400 members congregations in 39 states with an estimated 100,000 members.
The American body now belongs to the recently formed International Congregational Fellowship, which met last year in London at a convention sponsored by its British counterpart, the Congregational Federation, based in Nottingham.
The Rev. John Travell, of Penge Congregational Church, in suburban London, traced the history of a number of international mission societies which last year formed a council for world mission, which will serve as a clearinghouse for a number of affiliated groups, he said.
Other Associations Discussed
He discussed a number of congregational associations in Europe, Africa, and the South Pacific, including the Congregational Union of Scotland, the Union of Welsh Independents, the Congregational Union of Northern Ireland, the Congregational Church of New Zealand, the United Congregational Church of South Africa, the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, and the comparable groups in Guyana, Samoa, and the Gilbert Islands.
The three-day meeting on the University of Toledo campus will close tonight with a dinner and program in the Student Union.
…
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19780630&id=oRBPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5518,4698116
Toledo Blade – 30 June 1978
Went Through Struggle For Survival
Congregationalists Meet In Toledo, Reminisce About Beginnings Of Church’s Organization
By Lee Steele
Their logo is the Mayflower, the ship that brought 102 men and women seeking religious freedom to American shores in 1620 and established Congregationalism in the colonies.
By coincidence, the church body they formed in 1955 in Detroit was launched with “102 lonely people,” a former moderator recalled in Toledo last weekend during the 1978 meeting of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.
…
A British congregational minister, the Rev. John Travell, one of the NA meeting speakers, is on a month-long pulpit exchange in Royal Oak, Mich. A former printer, he became a minister 12 years ago after training in several campuses and has done research in comparative religions.
He also has been active in the Congregational Federation of Great Britain counterpart of the NA here. Last year, NA members went to London for the International Congregational Fellowship. An American committee is planning the 1981 international meeting, in a city to be announced.
…
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