Puritan John Preston's religious conversion was attributed to Cotton.
 Preston had become a political force at Queens' College and later the Master of Emmanuel, and he held favor with King James.
In his college roles, he sent a steady stream of students to live with and learn from Cotton, giving Cotton the epithet "Dr. Preston's seasoning vessel."

When Cotton arrived at St. Botolph's in 1612, non-conformity had already been practiced for nearly 30 years.
 Nevertheless, he attempted to conform to the practices of the Church of England during his early tenure there, until his conscience no longer allowed him to do so.
 He then wrote a defence of his new position which he circulated among his sympathizers.

In time, Cotton's preaching became so celebrated and his lectures so well attended that three lectures were added to his week, in addition to the usual Sunday morning sermon and Thursday afternoon lecture.
 Puritans throughout the kingdom sought to correspond with him or interview him, including Roger Williams with whom he later had a strained relationship.
In 1615, Cotton began holding special services within his church where Puritanism could be practiced in its true sense and the offensive practices of the established church could be totally avoided.
 Some members were excluded from these alternate services; they became offended and registered their complaints with the bishop's court in Lincoln.
 Cotton was suspended, but alderman Thomas Leverett was able to negotiate an appeal, after which Cotton was reinstated.
 This interference maintained by Leverett and other aldermen was successful in protecting Cotton from Anglican church officials, enabling him to maintain his course of Puritanism under four different bishops of Lincoln: William Barlow, Richard Neile, George Montaigne, and John Williams.

The last 12 years of Cotton's tenure at St. Botolph's was spent under the tenure of Williams, who was a tolerant bishop with whom Cotton could be fairly frank about his non-conformist views.
 Cotton nurtured this relationship by agreeing with the bishop to the extent that his conscience allowed and being humble and cooperative when forced to disagree.
Puritan John Preston's religious conversion was attributed to Cotton.  Preston had become a political force at Queens' College and later the Master of Emmanuel, and he held favor with King James. In his college roles, he sent a steady stream of students to live with and learn from Cotton, giving Cotton the epithet "Dr. Preston's seasoning vessel."
When Cotton arrived at St. Botolph's in 1612, non-conformity had already been practiced for nearly 30 years.  Nevertheless, he attempted to conform to the practices of the Church of England during his early tenure there, until his conscience no longer allowed him to do so.  He then wrote a defence of his new position which he circulated among his sympathizers.
In time, Cotton's preaching became so celebrated and his lectures so well attended that three lectures were added to his week, in addition to the usual Sunday morning sermon and Thursday afternoon lecture.  Puritans throughout the kingdom sought to correspond with him or interview him, including Roger Williams with whom he later had a strained relationship. In 1615, Cotton began holding special services within his church where Puritanism could be practiced in its true sense and the offensive practices of the established church could be totally avoided.  Some members were excluded from these alternate services; they became offended and registered their complaints with the bishop's court in Lincoln.  Cotton was suspended, but alderman Thomas Leverett was able to negotiate an appeal, after which Cotton was reinstated.  This interference maintained by Leverett and other aldermen was successful in protecting Cotton from Anglican church officials, enabling him to maintain his course of Puritanism under four different bishops of Lincoln: William Barlow, Richard Neile, George Montaigne, and John Williams.
The last 12 years of Cotton's tenure at St. Botolph's was spent under the tenure of Williams, who was a tolerant bishop with whom Cotton could be fairly frank about his non-conformist views.  Cotton nurtured this relationship by agreeing with the bishop to the extent that his conscience allowed and being humble and cooperative when forced to disagree.
John Cotton (minister)