When the Cambridge Platform was conceived, the autonomous congregations were a community. Over the years, we have forgotten the community aspect of our autonomy. A person entirely tied up in him or herself becomes a very small package. The same is true of congregations. We are nurtured by and stand under moral judgment in a convenantal relationship that affects all parties of the covenant.
Congregational polity is both the strength and weakness of our movement.
Congregational polity is our weakness when our congregations become social contract clubs, with no purpose or sense of obligation than themselves. When instead we realize that convenants are imbedded in our history, congregational polity can be our strength. But we have to remember that we are a religious movement. We come together at GA because we need the presence of other people to deepen our own lives. But GA can be an occasion for telling the rest of the world how to behave, while behaving badly ourselves.