The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia Encyclopedia World Factbook Columbia Gazetteer American Heritage Coll. The term is applied especially to Protestant dissenters from the Church of England. The conflicts thus engendered within the Church of England were a major factor leading to the English civil war. As a result, nearly 2,000 clergymen left the Established Church.
Significant nonconformity dates from that time.
Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians, and Methodists are among the nonconforming denominations in England. In Scotland, where the established church is Presbyterian, the Anglicans, or Episcopalians, are among the nonconformists. In more recent usage, churches independent of the established or state church in both England and Scotland are often called Free Churches. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore .