The Province Charter of 1691 provided that there should be “a
liberty of Conscience allowed in the Worshipp of God to all
Christians (Except Papists)” who inhabited Massachusetts.
Despite these bold if less than all-embracing words, the faith
of the founding Puritans constituted the “establishment” of the
province. It continued as such beyond the time of independence
and well into the 19th century.1 As the discussion in Pierce v.
Wright, , suggests, however, the term “establishment” is here
used in a rather special sense. Local autonomy meant that
Massachusetts had neither an established religion nor quite an
established church. Nevertheless, there were established
churches. Within each town in the Province at least one church
or congregation—generally Calvinist in doctrine and
congregational in polity—was entitled under the existing laws to
receive special favors from the government. Statutes provided
financial and other support for the church with which a majority
in each “town or place” was affiliated. Tha