 Each town in the colony was considered a single church congregation ; in later years , some of the larger towns split into two or three congregations . Church attendance was mandatory for all residents of the colony , while church membership was restricted to those who had converted to the faith . In Plymouth Colony , it seems that a simple profession of faith was all that was required for acceptance . This was a more liberal doctrine than some other New England congregations , such as those of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , where it was common to subject those seeking formal membership to strict and detailed cross @-@ examinations . There was no central governing body for the churches . Each individual congregation was left to determine its own standards of membership , hire its own ministers , and conduct its own business . 
