In the spring of the year 1610, 401 years ago, the congregation of Englishmen from Scrooby left Amsterdam to take up residence at Leiden after a contentious few months with the Ancient Brethren. It was a heart-wrenching move to leave the Brethren who had helped them survive in Holland, but the Scrooby people feared that constant bickering among the Brethren would poison their own risky venture before it had been firmly established.
Their pastor, Richard Clyfton, did not make the move to Leiden, believing that the Brethren were sincerely trying to follow their faith. John Robinson and William Brewster became Pastor and Elder of the Scrooby congregation facing a difficult adjustment for English yeomen (farmers) to an urban society speaking a strange language. How would these countrymen fare in a culture so different from their own?