In the beginning...
The Church of the Good Shepherd was officially created on September 21, 1890 as "the Mission at Barre". However, Good Shepherd's history begins two years earlier. In the Diocesan Convention Journal of 1888, Dr. Howard H. Hill, Rector of Christ Church in Montpelier, wrote the following:
“Have held services in Waitsfield, North Fayston and Elmore, where there are thirty-six communicants. Am soon to be at Barre where there are quite a number”
By June, 1889, he had held a number of services in Barre. Reverend Hill resigned his position in Montpelier on October 1, 1889, and on November 2, Reverend James C. Flanders began his service as Rector of Christ Church, continuing Reverend Hill’s work in Barre. By 1891, “the Mission at Barre,” organized formally on September 21, 1890, had an entry in the Diocesan Convention Journal:
“Families 13, comprising individuals 42, individuals not included in families 14, total 56; Communicants – male 6,
females 20, total 26.” The income of the Mission was $58.74 and total expenses were $57.25. Services were held every Sunday afternoon with Holy Communion on the second Sunday each month. In the initial years, neither the Presbyterians nor the Episcopalians had a house of worship in Barre, but the Presbyterians, who worshiped in a space in Thompson’s hall (which was located somewhere in the present-day parking lot between North Main Street and the current Presbyterian church), offered the Episcopalians the space to use for their services as well. This was an act of great ecumenical kindness. Later, while still homeless, both churches worshiped in the Worthen Block.It’s clear from these records that the Church of the Good
Shepherd owes its start to the kindness of others, Christ Church in Montpelier and the First Presbyterian Church in
Barre, as well as to the energy and commitment of its founding.
The Church of the Good Shepherd was officially created on September 21, 1890 as "the Mission at Barre". However, Good Shepherd's history begins two years earlier. In the Diocesan Convention Journal of 1888, Dr. Howard H. Hill, Rector of Christ Church in Montpelier, wrote the following:
“Have held services in Waitsfield, North Fayston and Elmore, where there are thirty-six communicants. Am soon to be at Barre where there are quite a number”
By June, 1889, he had held a number of services in Barre. Reverend Hill resigned his position in Montpelier on October 1, 1889, and on November 2, Reverend James C. Flanders began his service as Rector of Christ Church, continuing Reverend Hill’s work in Barre. By 1891, “the Mission at Barre,” organized formally on September 21, 1890, had an entry in the Diocesan Convention Journal:
“Families 13, comprising individuals 42, individuals not included in families 14, total 56; Communicants – male 6,
females 20, total 26.” The income of the Mission was $58.74 and total expenses were $57.25. Services were held every Sunday afternoon with Holy Communion on the second Sunday each month. In the initial years, neither the Presbyterians nor the Episcopalians had a house of worship in Barre, but the Presbyterians, who worshiped in a space in Thompson’s hall (which was located somewhere in the present-day parking lot between North Main Street and the current Presbyterian church), offered the Episcopalians the space to use for their services as well. This was an act of great ecumenical kindness. Later, while still homeless, both churches worshiped in the Worthen Block.It’s clear from these records that the Church of the Good
Shepherd owes its start to the kindness of others, Christ Church in Montpelier and the First Presbyterian Church in
Barre, as well as to the energy and commitment of its founding.