- F rom: Richard Pickering <rpickering@plimoth.org>;
Date: October 23, 202 3 at 10:41:13 MDT
To: Dell Fuller <dellfuller@gmail.com>;
Subject:&nb sp;Program Description: "To Walk in all His Ways: John Robinson's Minist ry and the Mayflower Compact"To Walk in all His Ways: John Robinson's Ministry a nd the Mayflower Compact"John Robinson, the Pil grims' pastor, served the English Separatist Church in Leiden, Holland until his death in 1625. He had longed to lead his< /span> congregation to America, but circumstances prevented him from sailing aboard Speedwell and Mayflower with his parishioners. Robinson, describing him self as "an unfeigned well-willer of your happy success in this hopeful voyage," wrote a pastoral letter that was read to&nb sp;all the passengers befor e the two ships departed the English port of Southampton in August 1620. The minister encouraged& nbsp;his listenersto exercise forbearance and fo rgiveness as they undertook the new responsibilities of "civil government" and said, "let your wisdom and godliness appear ... in choosing such persons as do entirely love, and will diligently promote the common good..." His description of a civil community held togeth er by commitment to on e another would shape the vision and language of the Mayflower Compact. It is the guiding document behind a foundational document. Robinson's letter w as revered by the colonists. It was first printed in London in February 1622, in the 1630s William Bradford copied the letter into his manuscript Of P limoth Plantation, and Bradford's nephew Nathaniel Morton printed the l etter in New Englan d's Memorial (1669), the first published book on Plymouth Colony's history.Richard Pickering, the Museum's Deputy Executive Director and Chief Historian, will explore church covenants, con gregational administration, and their influence on the Mayflower Compact an d Plymouth Colony's groundbreaking experiment in self-government. His brief talk will be followed by the chance&nb sp;to ask questions on lega l, economic, and church history in the colony.Richard Pickering
Deputy Executive Director
(508) 746-1622 ×8345
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