Chap. 0. 



RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS. 



177 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 



ASSOCIATIONS AND CONSOCIATIONS. 



held each other in fellowship, and ac 

 knowledged a kind of undefined respon 

 sibility to each other. 



The church in Newbyry originally com 

 posed of members living on both sides of 

 Connecticut river, was organized in the 

 " fall of 1764." Having given Mr. Peter 

 Powers an invitation to settle, they voted, 

 that tlie council should " meet for said 

 installment down country, where it is 

 thought bestj' " Mr. Powers was in- 

 stalled at Hollis, (N. H.) February 27, 

 176r), over the church in Newbury," and 

 preached his own installation sermon. 



The church in Thetford was the only 

 one in Vermont, so far as can be ascer- 

 tained, which was organized on tlie prin- 

 ciples of the " halfway covenant." Du- 

 ring the short ministry of Mr. Sumner, 

 persons were " admitted to own the cov- 

 enant and put tlieniselves under the watch 

 and care of tlie church" without coming 

 to the sacrament of the Lord's supper. 

 Respecting IVIr. S. Dr. Burton, his suc- 

 cessor observes : " in the time of tlie revo- 

 lutionary war, he being a warm tory soon 

 found the times too warm for him, and 

 secretly absconded." 



The following is supposed to bo a com- 

 plete list of the congregational churches, 

 that were organized in Vermont previous 

 to the revolution in 1776 : 



Bennington, 1762 



Newbury, 1764 



Westminster, 1767 



Windsor, about 1768 



Norwich, 1770 



Brattleborough, about 1770 



Guilford, about 1770 



Rockingham, about 1770 



Thetford, 1773 



West Rutland, 1773 



Newfane, J 774 



Putney, 1776 



Marlborough, 1776 



While New York waa exercising juris- 

 diction over the south part of Vermont, a 

 ministerial association was formed, Octo- 

 ber, 1775, in what is now denominated 

 Windham county, and was composed of 

 the Rev. Messrs. Abner Reeve of Brat- 

 tleborough, Ilezekiah Taylor of Newfane, 

 Joseph Bullen of Westminster, and Sam- 

 uel Whiting of Rockingham. Their pre- 

 amble begins, " we the subscribers, min- 

 isters of the gospel in the county of Cum- 

 berland and state of New York," &c. 

 ♦' think it expedient and our duty to asso- 

 ciate and unite in an ecclesiastical body." 

 They retained the name of Cumberland 

 till June 2, 1785. No other association 

 appears to have been formed for 13 years. 

 The following ministers were ordained 

 or installed before the revolution : — Jede- 



diah Dewey, Bennington, August 14,1763; 

 Peter Powers, Newbury, February 27, 

 1765; Jesse Goodell, East Westminster, 

 June 11, 1667 ; James Wellman, Windsor, 

 September 29, 1768 ; Abner Reeve, Brat- 

 tleborough, 1770; Ebenezer Gurley, Guil- 

 ford, 1770 ; Samuel Whiting, Rocking- 

 ham, October 27, 1773; Joseph Bullen, 

 East Westminster, July 6, 1774 ; Heze- 

 kiah Taylor, Newfane, August 1774 ; Bc- 

 najah Roots, West Rutland, October 1774 ; 

 Clement Sumner, Thetford, 1775 ; Lyman 

 Potter, Norwich, August 31, 1775. 



The associations consist of ministera, 

 who meet for mutual improvement. While 

 they aim in various ways to promote the 

 interests of the church, and have of course 

 a constitution or a few bye-laws, they 

 neither exercise nor claim any ecclesiasti- 

 cal authority. By common consent tho 

 licensing of candidates for the ministry 

 devolves on them, though in some instan- 

 ces tliis is done by the consociations. 



Associations of congregational minis- 

 ters in Vermont: Windham, formerly 

 Cumberland, October 17, 1775; Rutland, 

 probably, 1788 ; Royalton, February 1, 

 1791; Orange, probably, 1798; Addison 

 from Rutland, June 13,1804; Northwest- 

 ern from Addison, June 15,' 1808; Cale- 

 donia from Orange, January 0, 1811; 

 Pawletfrom Rutland, September 25, 1811; 

 V/indsor, OctoI)er 1822; Orleans, June 

 17, 1823; Montpelier from Royalton, 

 October 11, 1826; Black River, afterwards 

 Chester, November 6, 1827; Lancaster 

 from Caledonia, August 13, 1833. 



Most of the congregational churches in 

 the western counties, including Lamoille, 

 are united in consociations, with constitu- 

 tions that much resemble each other and 

 those in Connecticut, which were doubt- 

 less their prototype. In some of their 

 constitutions, it is stated that as " great 

 advantages may be derived from visible 

 fellowship and union among churches of 

 similar sentiments respecting the great 

 doctrines of the christian religion and the 

 government and regulation of churches, 

 where their local situation will admit," 

 they propose " to unite and walk together 

 in all acts of visible fellowship and union, 

 mutually watching over and assisting 

 each other as sister churches." These 

 consociations generally consist of the pas- 

 tor and a delegate from each church, or 

 two delegates where there is no pastor, 

 and meet annually to hear reports on the 

 state of religion ; to recommend meas- 

 ures to promote the interests of the church- 

 es ; to give counsel on practical questions 

 wlien requested ; and to add impulse to 

 tlie benevolent operations of the denom- 

 ination. Most of tiiese consociations. 



Pt. II. 



23 



