Vermont history

Vermont

Northern New England has often been characterized as spiritually cold; the liberal church there is often the only sign of religious activity. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine difficult states for the Gospel and in particular a New Testament church.

An assembly in Woodbury, north of Montpelier, first started to function as an assembly in 1947, and was known as the Woodbury Gospel Hall. Edwin Corliss and his wife and brothers and sisters, with their families, were the principal people starting the assembly.

Edwin and Nina Corliss had been saved in the early or mid-1920s through contact with Nick Vandetta while working in Connecticut. Concerned for his relatives who had never heard the Gospel, Mr. Corliss returned to Vermont and invited Mr. Vandetta and others to come preach the Gospel. His sister, Flossie Parker, made her home available for this purpose. By about the mid-1920s, many in the extended Corliss family and others had accepted Christ.

Through the influence of brethren preachers such as Samuel Rea, Sr., the Christians desired to gather to the Lord’s name alone. Flossie and Glenn Parker gave the building across the road from their home in Woodbury to be used as a hall in 1946; local Christians remodeled the building, and within a year, the first Remembrance meeting was held there. Many locals were saved, and the Sunday School was active.

People from the Hardwick area, five miles north, began coming to Woodbury to fellowship in the meeting. In 1960, property was purchased in Hardwick and a hall was built on Lower Cherry Street. The assembly continues as the Hardwick Gospel Hall. Until the 1980s, various members of the Corliss family were the leaders of the assembly. Since then, leadership has been taken by Royce Griffith, Robert J. Rea, Jr., and William Scott. About 45 adults and youngsters attend the assembly today.

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Rutland is a city of modest size in central Vermont. Bethany Bible Chapel in Rutland started in 1994 in the home of Robert and Bonnie Lucas. Having lived in Philadelphia for several years while Robert attended the Philadelphia College of the Bible, and fellowshipping at Ardsley Bible Chapel, they had felt a burden to return to Vermont and start a work in the area.

They and another brother began the work, but it never grew beyond a few. When this brother left, the Lucas’ had sole responsibility for the work, and soon just Robert and Bonnie were Breaking Bread each Lord’s Day. Their home now serves as a haven of rest for the Lord’s servants who are passing through the area. Their witnessing activity is mainly on a one-to-one basis and through weekly Bible studies. Mr. Lucas is active in a teaching ministry throughout the northeast, and Bonnie Lucas writes a newsletter for women entitled Abigail Voices, which is mailed to about 500 women throughout the US, Canada, and Australia.

Sources

• Questionnaire responses and other correspondence
• 50 Years, Kept Safely Kept, A History of Hardwick Gospel Hall, 1997