Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order

The 1658 Savoy Declaration stands as the defining confessional standard of English Congregationalism. Drafted in eleven days by a gathering of Congregational elders under the leadership of John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and Philip Nye, it adapts the Westminster Confession while articulating a distinctly independent ecclesiology — the gathered local church as the primary locus of Christ's rule. Spanning 32 chapters from Scripture and the Trinity through justification, the sacraments, and the last judgment, it is at once a theological manifesto and a covenant of fellowship among churches navigating the turbulent Interregnum.