Phillips arrived with Saltonstall at what is now known as Gerry's Landing in what was initially known as the Saltonstall Plantation, in the summer of 1630. He called the first church together in July, and in late August he had 30 acres along the
Charles River. It is claimed that Phillips was the author of the Watertown Covenant signed by the founders of the town, which not only served as an organizing document but also as a declaration of a bill of rights whose authority comes from "God": While Phillips was a Puritan, he expressed a greater tolerance and acceptance for differing Protestant thought. While critical of the Church of England, he was not an advocate of full separation. In fact, he signed a document entitled
The Humble Request on the Arbella, explicitly denouncing a desire for separation. He was a supporter of
Infant baptism and was tolerant of
Baptist religious views, much to the consternation of John Winthrop. Phillips drafted signed and filed with the State House a petition to pardon a man who had been fined for possessing a Baptist tract. Arguably Phillips, in deviating from the strictness of Winthrop on the other side of the Charles in Boston, helped to lay the groundwork for the more inclusive spirit of today's Congregational churches.
Cotton Mather once said of Phillips that he was "better acquainted with the true congregational church-discipline than most of the ministers who came with him to this country." Phillips served on the committee of the
Massachusetts General Court in the formulation of what became called the
Body of Liberties issues in 1641. In 1642 Phillips was appointed to the
Board of Overseers of the newly formed Harvard College in
Cambridge. == Family ==