Page 74 - American Stories, A History of the United States

Simply because a person happened to live in a certain community did not mean he
or she automatically belonged to church. The churches of Massachusetts were volun- 2.1
tary institutions. To join one a man or woman had to provide testimony—a confession
of faith—before neighbors who had already been admitted as full members. It was a
demanding process. But most men and women in early Massachusetts aspired to full 2.2
membership, which entitled them to receive the sacraments and gave some of them
responsibility for choosing ministers, disciplining sinners, and settling difficult ques-
tions of theology. Although women and blacks could not vote for ministers, they did 2.3
become members of the Congregational churches.

2.4

oLd Ship mEEtinGhoUSE This early Puritan meetinghouse in Hingham, Massachusetts, was called the Old
Ship Meetinghouse because its interior design resembled the hull of a ship. The oldest surviving wooden church in
the united States, it could accommodate about 700 people.

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