If we take a thumbnail look at the history leading up to the first Thanksgiving celebration in America, perhaps we will be more likely to appreciate this year’s Thanksgiving.

In about 1570, the Puritan movement emerged in England.? The people were called Puritans because they wanted to reform or “purify” the Church of England.? They did not want to leave the Church, but reform it from within.? After about twenty-five years, with little progress toward reform having been made, another movement, the Separatists, emerged.? They were called Separatists because they concluded that it was impossible to reform the Church from within and began to “separate” from the Church and establish independent congregations. Read more…