Sabbath preaching in Plymouth, MA. Anne Hutchinson held meetings in her home to discuss sermons

Anne Hutchinson was part of the Puritan settlement of Massachusetts Bay, while John Winthrop was governor. Hutchinson held meetings in her home for prayer and the discussion of sermons. She criticized the legalism of New England churches, which required a testimony of conversion for church membership. Hutchinson objected that grace could not be made into a requirement. She insisted that a person led by the Holy Spirit is not bound by the law; thus the controversy surrounding her was called antinomian, meaning "against the law." Her claims of receiving direct revelations from the Holy Spirit were perceived to undermine ministerial authority. Banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Hutchinson and her followers went to Rhode Island, founded by fellow-dissident Roger Williams.