In a message dated 17/02/2004 17:43:59 GMT Standard Time, william.thompson1@att.net writes: > To add to Stan's informed reply: (snip) > Also, in hindsight I would have read up more on congregationalism - there > were some odd transitions and affiliations , which I determined later was > fairly typical for congregationalists. In combination with different > internal church changes, meeting house notices, church building, > mind-boggling probate among close relatives/church members/trustees - it can > get confusing. If congregationalism is a possiblity in your case, reading > ahead can save some time. > The congregations of many Presbyterian churches had definite leanings towards the Independants, (eg Malings Rigg in Sunderland), sometimes choosing an Independent Minister and sometimes accepting a Presbyterian one, and that led those who ended up that way to become members of the Congregational Union when it was formed. As a result some churches were described as Presbyterian (Scotch/Associate/Congregations of Burghers etc) for a time and them as Independants. In other words the Presbyterians had as many divisions and schisms as did the Methodists. When the United Reform Church was formed in the 1960s, the churches which joined it included the English Presbyterian Church, the Church of Scotland in England (ie the "Scotch" churches) and the Congregationalists. There were few, if any, English Presbyterian churches in the north-east: all or most of our Presbyterian churches owed some allegiance to the Church of Scotland, hence the name "Scotch". Geoff Nicholson 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne and Wear NE37 2BU Professional Researcher, NBL/DUR. Local research in depth by the local expert. NEW: - Record Searches: you specify the records, I search them!