Early in his New England tenure, Roger Williams began to be noticed for his activity in the Salem Church.
 This church was founded in 1629 and had already become a separatist church by 1630, when it denied communion to John Winthrop and his wife upon their arrival in Massachusetts; it also refused to baptize a child born at sea.
 Williams arrived in Boston in May 1631 and was offered the position of teacher in the Boston church, but he refused the offer because the church was not sufficiently separated from the Church of England.
 He even refused to become a member of the Boston church, but he had been selected as the teacher at Salem by May 1631 upon the death of Francis Higginson.

Williams had a reputation for both non-conformity and piety, although historian Everett Emerson calls him a "gadfly whose admirable personal qualities were mixed with an uncomfortable iconoclasm".
 Boston's minister John Wilson returned to England to get his wife in 1632, and Williams again refused an invitation to fill in during his absence.
 Williams had distinctive theological views, and Cotton differed with him on the issues of separatism and religious toleration.
 Williams had gone to Plymouth for a short while but returned to Salem, and was called to replace Salem's minister Samuel Skelton upon his death.

During his tenure at Salem, Williams considered those who maintained ties with the Church of England to be "the unregenerate" and pushed for separation from them.
 He was supported by local magistrate John Endicott, who went so far as to remove the cross from the English flag as being a symbol of idolatry.
 As a result, Endicott was barred from the magistracy for a year in May 1635, and Salem's petition for additional land was refused by the Massachusetts Court two months later because Williams was the minister there.
 Williams was soon banished from the Massachusetts colony; Cotton was not consulted on the issue but he nevertheless wrote to Williams, stating that the cause of banishment was "the tendency of Williams' doctrines to disturb the peace of the church and state."
 Williams was going to be shipped back to England by the Massachusetts magistrates, but instead he slipped away into the wilderness, spending the winter near Seekonk and establishing Providence Plantations near the Narragansett Bay the following spring.
He eventually considered Cotton the "chief spokesman" for Massachusetts Bay Colony and "the source of his problems", according to one historian.
Cotton went to Salem in 1636 where he delivered a sermon to the congregation.
 His goal was to make peace with the parishioners, but also to persuade them of what he perceived as the dangers of the separatist doctrine espoused by Williams and many others.
Early in his New England tenure, Roger Williams began to be noticed for his activity in the Salem Church.  This church was founded in 1629 and had already become a separatist church by 1630, when it denied communion to John Winthrop and his wife upon their arrival in Massachusetts; it also refused to baptize a child born at sea.  Williams arrived in Boston in May 1631 and was offered the position of teacher in the Boston church, but he refused the offer because the church was not sufficiently separated from the Church of England.  He even refused to become a member of the Boston church, but he had been selected as the teacher at Salem by May 1631 upon the death of Francis Higginson.
Williams had a reputation for both non-conformity and piety, although historian Everett Emerson calls him a "gadfly whose admirable personal qualities were mixed with an uncomfortable iconoclasm".  Boston's minister John Wilson returned to England to get his wife in 1632, and Williams again refused an invitation to fill in during his absence.  Williams had distinctive theological views, and Cotton differed with him on the issues of separatism and religious toleration.  Williams had gone to Plymouth for a short while but returned to Salem, and was called to replace Salem's minister Samuel Skelton upon his death.
During his tenure at Salem, Williams considered those who maintained ties with the Church of England to be "the unregenerate" and pushed for separation from them.  He was supported by local magistrate John Endicott, who went so far as to remove the cross from the English flag as being a symbol of idolatry.  As a result, Endicott was barred from the magistracy for a year in May 1635, and Salem's petition for additional land was refused by the Massachusetts Court two months later because Williams was the minister there.  Williams was soon banished from the Massachusetts colony; Cotton was not consulted on the issue but he nevertheless wrote to Williams, stating that the cause of banishment was "the tendency of Williams' doctrines to disturb the peace of the church and state."  Williams was going to be shipped back to England by the Massachusetts magistrates, but instead he slipped away into the wilderness, spending the winter near Seekonk and establishing Providence Plantations near the Narragansett Bay the following spring. He eventually considered Cotton the "chief spokesman" for Massachusetts Bay Colony and "the source of his problems", according to one historian. Cotton went to Salem in 1636 where he delivered a sermon to the congregation.  His goal was to make peace with the parishioners, but also to persuade them of what he perceived as the dangers of the separatist doctrine espoused by Williams and many others.
John Cotton (minister)