page_title: National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States
section_title: Organization
hierarchical_section_title: National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States / Organization
caption_attribution_description: English: Old South Church, 2013
context_page_description: The National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States was a mainline Protestant, Christian denomination in the United States. It was established in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1865 and existed until 1931. In 1928, there were 5,497 Congregational churches in the U.S. with a membership of 939,130. These churches were served by 5,648 ministers.
  The Congregational churches originated from the Puritans of colonial New England. Congregationalists were traditionally Calvinists strongly committed to congregational polity, from which the denomination took its name.
  In 1931, the Congregationalists merged with the Christian Connection to form the Congregational Christian Churches. The National Council is a predecessor body to several American denominations, including the United Church of Christ, the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.
context_section_description: The Congregational churches adhered to congregational polity where local congregations remained legally autonomous and independent. Congregations managed their own internal affairs through church meetings where all church members were entitled to vote. The church meeting elected the congregation's minister and deacons.
  At the same time, congregations voluntarily cooperated together in district associations and state conferences. Meetings of the National Council occurred every two years. Each district association elected one delegate to the Council, and each state conference elected two delegates, one of which had to be a woman. District associations with more than 10 churches were entitled to send one delegate for each additional 10 churches. State conferences with membership greater than 10 thousand were entitled to send two delegates for each additional 10 thousand members, and half of these additional delegates had to be women.
  The purpose of the National Council was to provide a forum to coordinate common programs and organizations of Congregational churches, such as managing a pension fund for Congregationalist ministers. A moderator presided over sessions of the Council. An Executive Committee elected by the Council was responsible for overseeing the work of the various agencies of the Council in between biennial sessions. Day-to-day affairs were managed by a full-time Secretary of the National Council.
caption: Interior of Old South Church in Boston, built in 1873
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