HCC History

During the 17^th and 18^th century in New England, the Congregational Church was not only the religious center of the community but also the local government. This meant that if you lived in this community in say, 1750, you had to belong to Huntington Congregational Church (in Full Communion) in order to vote or have other political rights. Full Communion meant that you had experienced a personal conversion moment. The problem was that not everyone had this kind of moment so church authorities eventually decided that if one of your parents was in Full Communion, you could be admitted to full membership as well even without the conversion experience. This controversial decision was called the Half Way Covenant. Some churches accepted it and some rejected it. Huntington Congregational instituted it here for most of its early history until a heated congregational meeting in 1817 abolished it. By that time it was no longer a political issue since government was moving out of the Congregational churches into secular institutions.