Mather, Richard (1596–1669)

English-born US Protestant minister and writer. He took the lead in defining New England Congregationalism, as seen in such works as Church Government and Church-Covenant Discussed (1643) and Platform of Church Discipline (1649). He was the chief advocate of the Half-Way Covenant (1662) that, by allowing for less than total spiritual conversion, broadened New England's established church membership and maintained the church's power.

Mather was born in Lancashire, England. He was educated locally and taught school nearby before attending Brasenose College at Oxford University, England. He was ordained as a minister in 1619 but was twice suspended (1633 and 1634) by the Anglican Archbishop Laud due to his nonconformist beliefs. He emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1635, served the Dorchester Church (1635–69), and is noted for collaborating on translations of the Psalms in the Bay Psalm Book (1640).