192 



CIVIE HISTORY OF VERMONT?. 



Part. IL 



TJNIVF.RSALIST CHURCHES. 



RISE AND ORGAKIZATION. 



vent fellowship and communion with the 

 head of the church. Any person who can 

 respond to the test, " If thou believest 

 with all thy heart thou mayest," the con- 

 fession of the Ethiopian, " I believe that 

 Jesus Christ is the Son of God," and who 

 lives a sober, righteous and godly life, they 

 profess to receive unhesitatingly, and to 

 welcome to all the privileges of the church 

 of God. They believe in the exercise of 

 true repentance for sin, the experience of 

 remission of sins through the forbearance 

 of God, and that witness of forgiveness, 

 which causes the soul to rejoice with joy 

 unspeakable and full of glory. 



The Elders and private brethren cho- 

 sen for the purpose, and living within a 

 territory convenient for that object, gen- 

 erally meet in conference annually, for 

 mutual edification and comfort, and to 

 consult upon subjects of general interest 

 to the cause of Christ. These associations 

 claim no power, legislative nor judicial, 

 each church acting independently of all 

 others, and meeting in conference, or not, 

 at pleasure, and without prejudice. The 

 number of preachers and communicants 

 belonging to this class of Christians has 

 not been ascertained with precision, but 

 has been estimated, in the whole, at 1000 

 preachers, and from 100,000 to 120,000 

 communicants. In Vermont there are 

 between 30 and 40 preachers and churches. 



Universaliit l.'li^pci, Woodstock. 



Section VII. 

 Universalist Churches in Vermont. 



BT REV. SAMUEL C. LOVELAND. 



The Universalists as a denomination, 

 began to be distinguished as such, in Ver- 



mont, in some of the closing years of the 

 last century. The first association of 

 preachers and other brethren of the order, 

 which we have on record, was a meeting 

 of what was called, " The General Con- 

 vention of Universalists of the New Eng- 

 land States and others," in Bennington, 

 in the autumn of the year 170.5. This 

 convention had been organized in Massa- 

 chusetts, ten years before. But we have 

 no account of its finding an open door be- 

 yond the boundaries of its native state, 

 till the time of its first meeting in Ver- 

 mont. In the year 1790, this convention 

 held its annual meeting at Woodstock. 

 These were all the meetings of an associ- 

 ational kind, which were held by Univer- 

 salists, in Vermont, previously to the 

 commencement of the present century. 

 At tliis early period, we have no means of 

 information, respecting the existence of 

 churches or societies organized among us 

 in this state, if we may calculate from 

 other circumstances, we shall be led to 

 conclude there were a very few. 



In the year 1604, the first ecclesiastical 

 body of the order, in this state, was organ- 

 ized by the name of •' The Northern As- 

 sociation of Universalists." Annual meet- 

 ings of this association have been held, 

 mostly in Vermont, from that period to 

 the present time. 



Sometime since the year 1830, the Uni- 

 versalists abolished their General Con- 

 vention, or, rather, it may be more prop- 

 erly said, resolved it into a United States 

 Convention, which w-as organized on a 

 new and difiTerent plan. Our annual 

 meetings,from this period soon underw'ent 

 a re-organization throughout the connec- 

 tion in the United States. Each state, 

 W'here organized bodies of our brethren 

 exist has its convention and so many as- 

 sociations, as the local situations of the 

 brethren require. The Convention of Uni- 

 versalists in Vermont, was organized in 

 the year 1833, and holds an annual meet- 

 ing in the state, on the fourth Wednesday 

 and Thursday in August. Besides the 

 r-nnvention, we have four associations. 

 T!ie Northern Association, wiiicli, since 

 ''if new organisation, embraces the coun- 



s of Orange, Washington, Caledonia, 

 ■ Orleans, Essex, and part of Lamoille, 

 with some societies in Lower Canada, for- 

 merly embraced the whole of Vermont, 

 and was sometimes carried to the adjacent 

 parts of New York and New Hampshire. 

 The Champlain Association includes the 

 counties of Addison, Chittenden, Grand 

 Isle, Franklin, and partof Lamoille, be- 

 sides some societies in Canada. The 

 Windham and Bennington Association 

 includes the counties of Windh.im and 



