The high-wrought spiritual impulse mani fested by the first settlers of New England was followed by a period of decreasing religious interest affecting the second, third and fourth generations on New England soil. This condi tion was terrninated by a series of "revivals,* of which the first manifestation was in that at Northampton, Mass., under the pastorate of Rev. Jonathan Edwards in 1734, and of which the culminating expression was witnessed in the two years following the preaching tour of Rev. George Whitefield in 1740. This spiritual quicicening is Imown as the "Great Awakening," and undoubtedly added many to the member ship of the churches. It was marked, however, by much excitement, and was followed by a period of spiritual decline lasting through the troubled years of public conflict and debate which ended with the adoption of the Consti tution of the United States. It resulted in serious controversy in the c.hurches of New England as to its merits, those who opposed it as on the whole harmful being called 'Old Lights* while those who favored it were nidc named "New Lights.* In the teachings of Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) a theological movement of importance in American religious history began; and the modified Calvinism of tbe Edwardean school was further developed by Joseph Bellamy (1719-90), Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), the younger Jonathan Edwards (1745-1801), Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), and Nathanael Emmons (1745-1840) into a distinctive New England theology. In eastern Massachusetts, ofi the other hand a "liberal* school arose before the Axnerican Revolution, which grew slowly and was made clearly evident in the Unitarian separation of the early years of the 19th century—a separa tion that had its most conspicuous manifesta tion in the adhesion of Harvard College to the "liberal* side in 1PA)5, though the full signifi cance of the division was not apparent until 10 years later.
With the decade beginning in 1791, the Con gregational churches of New England experi enced a series of revivals which were repeated at intervals until 1858. Under these impulses not only was the membership of the churches much enlarged, but a rapid development of agencies for missionary evangelization and religious education took place. The churches of Connecticut, which had already done home missionary work in Vermont and New York for more than 20 years, organized their "Gen eral Association)) in 1798 as the "Missionary Society of Connecticut.* A tnissionary society was formed in Massachusetts in 1799. In 1801 the "New Hampshire Missionary Society" was inaugurated, and in 1807 a similar organiza tion was effected in Vermont. These societies were chiefly engaged in home missions in the then Western States and Territories, though some work was done by them among the Indians; but in 1810, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions" came into being and enlisted the activities of the Congregational churches in evangelization abroad. This society was followed, in 1815, by the formation of what is now known as the "Congregational Education Society" for assist ing ministerial candidates and institutions of learning. In 1826 an "American Home Mis sionary Society," now known as the "Congre gational Home Missionary Society" was or ganized to undertake home missionary work. These were followed later by the formation of the "American Missionary Association," in 1846, for labor, especially, among the negroes and Indians of the United States—a society which has done a large missionary and educa tional work in the South since the Civil War. In 1853, the "Congregational Church Building Society" came into being, under the title of the "American Congregational Union"— an organization the work of which is sufficiently described by its more recent name. All these
societies still exist and serve as agencies for the missionary activities of the Congregational churches of the United States. By the action of the "National Council" of 1913, ratified by these societies, the voting membership of the council are voting members of each of these "national" societies, which are then brought into direct relations to the churches. A con siderable consolidation of these societies has been planned but the details have not been fully worked out.
Contemporary with this awakening of mis sionary activity and immediately consequent upon the passage of Harvard University to the "liberal" side occurred an extensive develop ment of theological. education, beginning with the opening of Andover Theological Seminary in 1808. Bangor Theological Seminary was founded in 1816; and, in 1822, the theological department of Yale University was organized. Local disputes in Connecticut growing out of the modified type of Edwardean theology pre sented by Prof. Nathaniel W. Taylor of Yale led to the organization in 1834 of what is now known as "Hartford Theological Seminary." The theological department of Oberlin College came into existence in 1835, and the westward growth of the denomination brought about the opening of "Chicago Theological Seminary" in 1858, and of "Pacific Theological Seminary," now at Berkeley, Cal., in 1869. The latest school for ministerial training is that opened at At lanta, Ga., in 1901. These eight theological seminaries are the principal agencies for the training of the ministry of the Congre gational churches of the United States. The Congregationalists of Canada have a seat of ministerial education in the "Congregational College of Canada," established in 1830 and now affiliated with McGill University at igont real. In Great Britain no less than 11 Congre gational "colleges" do a work similar to that of the "theological seminaries" on this side of the Atlantic.
To the close of the 18th century the Con gregational churches of the United States were practically confined to New England; and, in, the subsequent westward extension of New England emigration, Congregationalism and Presbyterianism long worked together in the formation of churches in the newer States under the so-called "Plan of Union" of 1801. This "Plan" was repudiated by the "Old School" wing of the Presbyterian body in 1837, and by the Congregational churches, through the "Albany Convention," in 1852. Congre gationalism has now extended in force to those parts of the United States, especially, which have been settled through New England emi gration. Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, the Congregational churches of the United States have felt an increasing de nominational consciousness, which has found its expression, among other ways, in the gathering of bodies representative of these churches as a whole. A "Convention" met at Albany in 1852, a "National Council" at Bos ton in 1865, and since 1871 a "National Coun cil" has met every three years. In 1913, by a new constitution then adopted, its sessions be came biennial. Besides this "National Coun cil" in which delegates of the churches of the United States are regularly assembled, the churches of each State are represented in an annual "Conference"; and the churches of smaller districts, usually counties, meet in more local "Associations." None of these bodies are in any sense courts of discipline, but they gather for deliberation, consultation and joint action by committees, or otherwise,. in matters of common concern.