On 3 or 4 January 1644 , the five leading dissenting brethren signaled a break with the rest of the Assembly when they published An Apologeticall Narration , a polemical pamphlet appealing to Parliament . It argued that the congregational system was more amenable to state control of religious matters than that of the presbyterians because they did not desire the church to retain any real power except to withdraw fellowship from aberrant congregations . By 17 January , the majority of the Assembly had become convinced that the best way forward was a presbyterian system similar to that of the Scots , but the dissenting brethren was allowed to continue to state their case in hope that they could eventually be reconciled . It was hoped that by avoiding asserting that presbyterianism was established by divine right , the congregationalists could be accommodated .