John Winthrop became governor upon the Puritans’ arrival in Massachusetts, but he established his expectations for the colony before they made landfall. Winthrop gave the following sermon to fellow colonists aboard the Arbella, in which he outlined his plan for a new society that would serve as an example to the world.

Herein are 4 things to be propounded; first the persons, 2ly the worke, 3ly the end, 4thly the meanes.

1: For the persons. We are a company professing ourselves fellow members of Christ, in which respect onely though we were absent from each other many miles, and had our imployments as farre distant, yet we ought to account ourselves knit together by this bond of love, and, live in the exercise of it, if we would have comforte of our being in Christ. . . . 2nly for the worke we have in hand. It is by a mutuall consent, through a special overvaluing of providence and a more than ordinary approbation of the Churches of Christ, to seeke out a place of cohabitation and Consorteship under a due form of Governement both civil and ecclesiastical. In such cases as this, the care of the publique must oversway all private respects, by which, not only conscience, but mere civil policy, doth bind us. For it is a true rule that particular Estates cannot subsist in the ruin of the publique. 3ly The end is to improve our lives to do more service to the Lord; the comforte and increase of the body of Christe, whereof we are members; that ourselves and posterity may be the better preserved from the common corruptions of this evil world, to serve the Lord and worke out our Salvation under the power and purity of his holy ordinances. 4thly for the meanes whereby this must be effected. They are twofold, a conformity with the work and end we aim at. These we see are extraordinary, therefore we must not content ourselves with usual ordinary meanes. Whatsoever we did, or ought to have done, when we lived in England, the same we must do, and more also, where we go. That which the most in their churches mainetaine as truth in profession onely, we must bring into familiar and constant practice; as in this duty of love, we must love brotherly without dissimulation, we must love one another with a pure hearte fervently. We must beare one anothers burthens. We must not look onely on our owne things, but also on the things of our brethren. Neither must we think that the Lord will beare with such failings at our hands as he dothe from those among whome we have lived. . . .

For this end, we must be knit together, in this worke, as one man. We must entertaine each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of other’s necessities. We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekeness, gentlenes, patience and liberality. We must delight in eache other; make other’s conditions our oune [own]; rejoice together, mourne together, labour and suffer together, allwayes having before our eyes our commission and community in the worke, as members of the same body. So shall we keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as his oune [own] people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways. So that we shall see much more of his wisdom, power, goodness and truthe, than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall finde that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when he shall make us a prayse and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, “the Lord make it likely that of New England.” For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deale falsely with our God in this worke we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.

Source: Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 3rd ser., vol. 7 (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1838), 44–47.