Dismissed by the Church: The Defiance of Richard Clifton

Richard Clifton (Clyfton) was a troublemaking minister during the late 1500s and early 1600s. He faced multiple disciplinary meetings for his noncompliance with church customs like announcing church holy days, making the sign of the cross during baptisms, or wearing a traditional white clergy robe. The Church of England dismissed him from his duties on March 15, 1605, when he would not pledge submission to new church laws. 

Finding kinship with Separatists in northern Nottinghamshire, Clifton joined the unauthorized church in Scrooby. There he became a crucial early mentor to William Brewster, William Bradford, and Pastor John Robinson who became the Pilgrims’ most cherished spiritual shepherd.  

After many Scrooby Separatists fled to Holland to escape English persecution, Clifton followed them to Amsterdam in 1608. He emerged as a prominent writer championing Separatist views and rebuking the English church. However, soon his views softened. Renouncing his earlier dogmatic positions, he began criticizing his former religious partners. 

The conflicts between Separatist churches in Amsterdam prompted John Robinson’s flock to move to Leyden. Clifton passed away in Amsterdam in 1616, four years before many among his former church left Holland for rugged New England.  

Despite Clifton’s surprising religious reversal, William Bradford remembered his former mentor fondly, describing him as a “fatherly old man” with a “great white beard, and it was a pity that such a reverend old man should be forced to leave his country, and at that age go into exile. But it was his lot, and he bore it patiently.”

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“We are afflicted on every side, yet are we not in distress: we are in doubt, but yet we despair not. We are persecuted, but not forsaken: cast down, but we perish not.”

(2 Corinthians 4:8-9; 1599 Geneva Bible)

A Shepherd Rests in Holland

Captivated by the Puritan spirit at Cambridge University, John Robinson's convictions strengthened under the mentorship of the bold Separatist leader, Richard Clifton. And when Clifton went to Holland, Robinson and his flock soon followed. 

Away from King James' religious constraints and the unyielding Anglican church, Robinson's theology matured at Leiden University while faithfully leading a passionate community of English Separatists. His care for his congregation, theological depth, and heartfelt devotion earned him their love and admiration.

When rumors of war with Spain arose, Robinson was at the center of their plans to flee to the American continent. There they could plant a colony of like-minded Separatists, a community that championed holiness, faithfulness, and morality. As plans unfolded, they faced the harsh reality that not everyone could go. Robinson would stay with the remainder of the church and join his dear friends later in New England. This never happened. 

Nearly five years later, in late February, Robinson fell seriously ill but found the strength to preach one last time. One week later, on March 1, 1625, the fifty-year-old pastor died in Leiden, leaving a brokenhearted congregation. 

The Pilgrims of Plymouth, still anticipating Robinson's arrival, were devastated when they learned of his death. Governor William Bradford noted that Robinson's "adversaries had been long and continually plotting how they might hinder his coming here, but the Lord had appointed him a better place." A public plaque marks the site of Robinson's home in the city of Leiden, where he is now buried. 

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“Now we beseech you brethren, that ye acknowledge them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you. That ye have them in singular love for their work’s sake.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1599 Geneva Bible)