Before the Pilgrims could navigate the waters of the Atlantic, they had to navigate the economic challenges of raising funds. They sought God at every turn in the face of financial obstacles. Though the 1606 Charter of James I for exploration had a mission of “propagating (the) Christian Religion,” it took God’s intervention to allow…
About the time we get the first glimpse of the Pilgrim’s order of worship in 1612, Henry Ainsworth published his Book of Psalms. Containing lyrical and metrical versions of 39 Psalms from the Bible, it became the spiritual expression of musical joy brought by the Pilgrims to the new world 400 years ago. On July…
What kind of character did the Pilgrim Church embrace? It is apparent that Pastor Robinson and William Brewster did embrace and teach good character. In addition it is clear that they demonstrated it as an example as well. When the Pilgrim Church emigrated from Amsterdam to Leyden, they had to ask permission from the civil…
What was the goal of the Pilgrim Church? It was to be an example of the original Christian church recorded in Scripture, for as Bradford states “I know not but it may be spoken to the honor of God and without prejudice to any, that such was the true piety, the humble zeal and fervent…
Almost immediately after their conversion, the Pilgrims were persecuted by “the profane multitude.” Bradford then writes “Seeing themselves thus molested, and that there was no hope of their continuance there, by a joint consent they resolved to go into the Low Countries, where they heard was freedom of religion for all men.” Persecution, and eventually…
The Pilgrim or Separatist church began in the home but focused on the exaltation and presence of Christ. The revival of “hearth and home” in England was nurtured by families who had access to own the Geneva translation of the Bible in their own tongue. Fathers would read from the Scriptures in the morning and…
The doctrine of discovery was built on pride, aggression, and disrespect of others. It condoned methods of aggression for the “end” of “conversion.” But there was another movement, a remnant, born of true revival, that was arising as well. In that movement, true conversion was sought, one from the heart and voluntary. Though not as…
What makes the Pilgrim movement so unique is that it stands in such contrast to the coercion practiced by the State Church of England? The State (in this case King James) was the head of the Church and thus there was little religious liberty. Richard Clyfton had such pressure when pastoring in Babworth, England where…
In the United States which has benefited so much from the legacy of the Pilgrims who came in 1620, it is hard to imagine being forced to go to the parish church or face dire consequences. We have taken for granted that the State does not enforce religious belief and thus people are free to…
Consider for a moment the year 1820 at the two hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims. Daniel Webster came to Plymouth, Massachusetts and on Forefathers Day declared: …let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by…
Thomas Faunce, born in 1646 in Plymouth, is the key individual who preserves the memory of the rock the Pilgrims stepped on when landing in Plymouth in December of 1620. The fifth of eight children, his father John arrived on the Anne in 1623 at about 15 years of age and was thus considered a…
Conversion, or spiritual liberty, was the origin and root of why the Pilgrims came to the shores of New England. Conversion is an act of God whereby He regenerates the heart and puts His Spirit into the believer. It is an act of surrender on our part, choosing to follow the risen Lord Jesus Christ…
Queen Mary (“bloody Mary”) killed many who believed in Christ in the 1550’s. Many leaders prayed. They translated the Bible into the language of the people. The Geneva edition came in 1560. The result of this? The Great Reformation… and in its wake, the Pilgrim Church! The Pilgrims arrived at the peak of a revival…
To the historian cognizant of American history and its significance, 2020 does not simply mark a new decade. It marks the 400th anniversary of a tiny band of people called Pilgrims who braved an ocean to plant a church and a colony in the wilderness of New England in 1620. But why did they come? …
The Old Colony Club is reported to be the oldest men’s club in the western hemisphere! Formed in January of 1769 by seven Plymouth men, this is its 250th year! On December 22 of that first year they first commemorated the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. Known as “Old Colony Day” and later…