ABSTRACT
A clear majority of the clerical members wanted a national Church without bishops and with little or no provision for nonconformity; and after an initial period of uncertainty they came down in favour of a Presbyterian form of church government, though with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The ministers who preached the fast sermons before the members of the Commons on 29 November consisted of a Presbyterian, William Mew and an Independent, William Bridge. Presbyterianism would ensure that there was a national Church which would meet their requirements in terms of both doctrine and worship; and that this would be organized on the basis of the existing parish system in which they often had a vested interest as patrons of ecclesiastical livings. Independency, on the other hand, filled them with alarm. Some of the most influential supporters of Independency were men who had been associated with the Saybrook project for the establishment of a Puritan colony in southern Connecticut.
