1705-1787 Liberal Congregationalist

Boston Roots.

Charles Chauncy spent most of his life in Boston, becoming a leader of the liberal wing of New England Congregationalism from his post as pastor of the city's leading church. He was born on 1 January 1705 into a prominent family, the son of a leading merchant and great-grandson of the second president of Harvard College. After attending Boston Latin School he too graduated from Harvard, in 1721. Chauncy settled into the pastorate of Boston's First Congregational Church on 25 October 1727, where he stayed for sixty years. This position, combined with his intellectual power and strongly held opinions, enabled him tobecome the most prominent preacher in eighteenth-century Boston.

Old Lights.

Chauncy became best known for his leadership of the Old Light Party of Congregationalism. This group formed in opposition to the religious upheavals of the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s. Chauncy and his...