John Knox was a Scotsman who moved to England in protest against the Scots’ sticking with the Roman Catholic Church. Later, of course, when Elizabeth died childless, James the Sixth, of Scotland, became James the First, of England, and thus was established the “United Kingdom” of today. But when John Knox left, Scotland was stiull Roman. In England, he became an Anglican clergyman. Then, he went to Switzerland, where he became a devout Calvinist, and in time adapted Calvin’s views on church leadership into a form he called “Presbyterianism”. Presbyterians do not have Bishops. They are governed by groups of elected “elders”, or, in Greek, “presbyters”. There were other differences, but that was the big one.
In 1560, the government of Scotland adopted Knox’s plan as the established Church of Scotland. There were many within the Church of England who would have liked to see the same happen in England, as well, and some were willing to fight for it. There followed a series of religious wars that in England are still called “the Presbyterian Wars”. Much of that was happening, and so it should come as no surprise that many of the immigrants to the American Colonies were Presbyterians: Scottish, English, or whatever. That’s not to say they all were! By far the most were Anglicans, but the Presbyterians were always there. Many of them moved quickly to the west, thus avoiding the Church of England-dominated seaboard.
Another group of Calvinists did not leave the Church of England, at all, but rather set out to reform it on much the same order that the Church of England had reformed the Roman Catholic Church in England. These people were called “Puritans” based on their desire to “purify” the Church of England. A great many Puritans stayed in England, of course, and even fought (and won!) the English Civil War. After beheading the king, Charles I, they set up a republic of sorts, to be run by Parliament. It didn’t work. Oliver Cromwell, a professional soldier rose to power and became a de facto king, calling himself the “Lord Protector”. Eventually, he died and his son was completely inept, so Parliament threw him out and invited Charles I’s son to come back. He did, and reigned as Charles II.
The Puritan faction remained theoretically in power in the Church of England for quite a long time. Since they didn’t object ot Bishops, there was no need to change the structure of the Church, and eventually the Anglican Church became very understanding of some individual congregations where the clergy didn’t wear vestments, and of others where they did. Everybody used the Book of Common Prayer, and eventually everybody got along. Well, almost everybody. There were some who didn’t get along with either the Anglicans or the Presbyterians. It’s time to look at them.
