Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-09-06
WEST BRATTLEBORO
Baptist County Convention.

ance considering the bad weather The
sessions opened Wednesday morning with
service OF praise and prayer led by
Rev. Thomas W. Sparks of West Gull
ford, followed by the business meeting. A
fair number were in attendance when the
| call to order was given by Rev. w. E.
Baker of Readsboro and more kept com
ing in all through the morning. DR.. H.
ID. Holton was elected moderator and Mr..
/ Baker was reelected clerk and treasurer.
one of the pleasing events of the meet
| ing was the return of Rev. j. A. Mitchell
| to his former parish for the meetings
| When the meetings were planned by the
| West Brattleboro church last year Mr..
Mitchell entered largely into the prepara-
tions and was able to come back to well
come the guests in a brief address at the
close of the business session. DR.. Hol-
ton responded briefly on the part of the
association. Rev. w. ]. Vile of West
Halifax was to have preached the an
nual sermon but In his absence Rev. H.
E. Buffum OF Putney preached an ear
nest sermon on Chosen for Service"
Rev. DIR. w. A. Dawson, state mis-
slonary, gave the welcome to new pas
tors, calling them up and introducing
| them. The new pastors who have come
into the association since the last meet
ing are Rev. Thomas w. Sparks Of West
Guilford, Rev. e. c. Clark OF South New
| fame, Rev. w. G. Boardman OF West
Wardsboro, Rev. Sidney Aldricn OF South
Windham, Rev. f. e. Bartlett OF Will
mington, Rev. John Vance Of East Dover
| and Rev w. w Gushee of Townshend.
AS two Of the 16 churches in the assocl-
alton are without pastors just half OF
| the ministers in the association are new
| corners. The letters from the various
churches indicated a generally prosperous
| condition with here and there an ex-
ceedingly encouraging report which
brought forth hearty applause. Before
| adjournment the following committees
were appointed: Resolutions. Rev. E. b.
| Clark, Rev. John Vance, Carl Hopkins
auditing, e. H. Davenport, James LeRay.
| A. ID. Chase; obituary, Rev. Thomas
| Sparks, Rev. Sidney Aldrich. Fayette
Niles; beneficence Rev. W. w. Gushee,
| Rev. w c. Boardman, Rev. w. c. Sun
| bury; enrolment Rev. W. f. Baker,
Mrs. o. G. Convey; state OF religion in the
churches, Rev. II. E. Buffum. Hon. A. A.
Butterfield, Edward Hall; committee on
next session, L. w. Bush G. L. Pierce,
l. w Shepherd.
After a dinner served by the women OF
the church and a social hour the sessions
were resumed with a devotional service
led Dy r. B. Thomas OF West Guilford.
Rev. G. b. Lamson was to have given an
address but as he was unable to be pres
ent Or. Dawson gave an address on
Lean churches: cause? cure?" He said
that the churches were lean because OF
internal disorders due to lack OF activity.
of the Bible and prayer. The addresses
were interspersed with frequent musical
selections. including a violin solo by Miss
Maud Barney Miller of West Brattle-
boro which was especially well received.
The last of the afternoon session was
given up to a missionary service in which
Rev. C. f. Boushfeld Of Shaohsing. China.
presented the cause Of the American
Baptist Missionary union, Miss Julia
Stickney of HenZada, Burma, spoke for
the Woman's Foreign Missionary society.
Miss Sarah A. Blocker of Jacksonville,
Fla. presented the cause of the Wom-
ans Home Baptist Home Missionary So
ciety and Rev. w. w. Gushee spoke for
the Northern Baptist Education society.
The church was hardly large enough 10
seat the people who came in for the
Wednesday evening session which open
ed with a devotional service led by
Rev. w. c. Sunbury OF Brookline. Adj
dresses were given by John L. Alger,
principal of Vermont academy, Rev.
Silas p. Perry of Richford and Rev.
w. F.. Baker of Readsboro and the must
cal program included selections by Fred
c. Adams and a song with violin accom-
paniment by Miss Jennie B. LeRay and
Miss Maud B. Miller
In the closing session yesterday morn
ing, Hon. A. A. Butterfeld of Jackson
VILE presided and Rev. Mr. Sunbury led
the opening devotional service. He also
gave address on the greatest need
of the Windham county churches which
was followed by discussion led by DIR.
Dawson. The last address was by Rev.
II. E. Buffum of Putney on Every
Christian a Soul Winner" The closing
conservation service was led by Rev.
Sidney Aldrich of South Windham and
the closing prayer was offered by Rev.
J. a. Mitchell
The most interesting event of the an
niversary occurred in the closing session
HeartwelVille was formally admitted TO
the association and given the right hand
of fellowship through its pastor. c. w.
Daniels. This church was organized with
"a members, 10 of whom were admitted
| by baptism Services were started there
largely through the influence of II. c.
Cushman of New York and ]. NJ. Canedy
of North Adams. 1t was noted in the
report of the committee on beneficence
that this church had given more gener-
ously than many of the older churches.
The committee on the state of religion
in the churches reported that the gem
eral outlook was encouraging. About
$1,000 more had been expended on repairs
this year than the previous year Nine
of the II churches in the association, !
counting the new church. reported 81 bap-
tisms The largest growth in member
ship was in the Readsville church. Rev.
w. E. Baker, pastor, where net gain
of 80 1-3 per cent had been made. The
Nottingham church came next with a
gain of % per cent. The benevolences
were practically the same as last year.
The committee on the next session re-
ported that 1t would be held in Brook
line the first Wednesday and Thursday
in September, 1908, The pastor of the
Brookline church, Rev. w. c. Sunbury,
Rev. w. c. Boardman and Rev. II. e.
Buffum were appointed a committee of
arrangements. Rev. w. w. Gushee was
appointed to preach the annual sermon.
The committee on obituaries reported
that there had been Is deaths in the
association within a year, four of them
being members of more than 40 years
standing. Three more had been active
25 years or more
The committee on resolutions offered
thanks to all who had made the meeting
success and recommended that the
churches in the association should con-
tribute to all the recognized benevo-
lences instead of selecting the few which
pleased them best.