180 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



P\RT 11. 



CONVENTION OF THE CONGREGATIO.VAt CHURCHES. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CH0RCH. 



be to promote brotherly intercourse and 

 harmony ; to yield mutual assistance and 

 excite in each other the spirit of christian 

 fervor ; to learn the state, and recommend 

 measures for the welfare of the churches ; 

 to obtain religious information respecting 

 the christian church in this country and 

 throughout the world ; and to co-operate 

 with other similar institutions in building 

 up the cause of the great Redeemer. 



"Art. 2. The general convention re- 

 ceive as articles of faith the doctrines of 

 Christianity as they are generally express- 

 ed in the assembly's shorter catechism. 

 These doctrines are understood by us to be 

 those, which from the beginning have 

 been generally embraced by the Congre- 

 gational and Presbyterian churches in 

 New England and especially in Vermont. 

 "Art. 3. Every association, county 

 conference, or consociation in Vermont, 

 or partly in Vermont, which receives the 

 doctrines above s])ecilied as the christian 

 faith, is entitled to send two delegates to 

 the convention ; and each association con- 

 Bistingof eightor more ordained ministers 

 may send three members : But no county 

 or district shall ever be represented by 

 both a consociation and a conference." 



The annual meeting of the convention 

 is held on " the second Tuesday in Sep- 

 tember, at 2 o'clock, V. M." 



The convention are in correspondence 

 with several ecclesiastical bodies. E.xcept 

 in the case of the general assembly, with 

 whom one delegate is exchanged, who 

 may debate and not vote, the convention 

 send and receive two delegates annually, 

 who are entitled to all the privileges of 

 members. " The corresponding bodies 

 were first represented in the convention 

 as follows : General Association of Con- 

 necticut, 1801 ; General Assembly of the 

 Presbyterian church, 1805; General As- 

 sociation of 3Iassachusetts, 1811 ; General 

 Association of N. Hampshire, 1811 ; (ien- 

 eral Conference of Maine, 1829 ; Evan- 

 gelical Consociation of Rhode Island, 

 1823;" General Association of New York, 

 1838. The convention, in 1833, acceded to 

 an overture from tlie Congregational Un- 

 ion of England and Wales, and establish- 

 ed a friendly correspondence. But hith- 

 erto it has not been convenient for either 

 body to send a delegation to the other. 



The anniversaries of some of the socie- 

 ties patronized by the convention are held 

 in connexion with the annual meeting of 

 the convention. The following is ordi- 

 narily the course of the public exercises : 

 Tuesday, 2 o'clock, P. M. convention 

 sermon ; in the evening, report of the 

 Sabbath School Union with addresses; 

 Wednesday, 2 o'clock, P. M., narratives 



of the state of religion ; evening, reports 

 of the Education Society with addresses ; 

 Thursday, half past 9 o'clock, A. M., re- 

 ports of the Domestic Missionary Society 

 with addresses and a contribution ; at 2 

 o'clock, P. M., a communion sermon and 

 the administration of the Lord's supper. 



The convention did not, for many years 

 after its organization, publish any statis- 

 tics, unless occasionally the number of 

 ministers. In 1803, it appears from the 

 records that there were in Vermont 33 

 settled ministers or pastors, 10 unsettled 

 ministers and 6 candidates. According 

 to the last report, (Sept. 1841,) there wero 

 in connection with the convention 203 

 churches, having 22,666 members; 103 

 settled ministers ; 42 stated supplies ; .'j2 

 destitute churches, many of them consist- 

 ing of a very few individuals, being in the 

 mountain districts, or in towns where the 

 inhabitants belong generally to other de- 

 nominations ; 37 unsettled ministers, and 

 21 candidates. 



Those who wish to examine the history 

 of the churches more in detail, may con- 

 sult as follows : For the State, the Advi- 

 ser, and the American (Quarterly Register^ 

 v. XI, pp. 32-44, especially the references, 

 pp. 34-3.5 ; for Addison county, v. XII, 

 p. 52 ; Franklin county, V. XII, p. 352; 

 Windham county, v. XIII, p. 29 ; Cale- 

 donia county, V. XIII, p. 280; Essex 

 county, V. XIII, p. 448; Rutland county, 

 V. XIV, p. 34 ; Lamoille county, v. XlV, 

 p. 129. 



Troy Conference Acarlomvi 



Section III. 

 Methodist Episcojxd Church in Vermont. 



BY REV. CYRUS PRINULE. 



In giving the outlines of a history of 

 the ivfethodist Episcopal Church in Ver- 

 mont, it is necessary to reiiiiad the reader 



