“Errand into the Wilderness” is the title of the book by the late Perry Miller, a distinguished historian of New England. Miller took it from the title of a sermon given in 1670. It was a common practice in colonial New England for the people of a town and their public officials to gather in church on election day to renew their commitment to God and good government. The sermon was billed as an election day sermon. The Puritan minister who gave it asked his congregation this question: “What purpose had sent them on this errand in the wilderness?”