Blacks in Vermont See Church as Their Haven

Strains of black gospel music, punctuated by the ringing of tambourines and rhythmic clapping of hands, pulsate from a small church on the campus of the University of Vermont.

It is a joyous sound, with booming voices singing, “I got a feeling everything is going to be all right,” and bodies joining in, with hips, feet and shoulders moving to the beat.

Black gospel music is not unusual in most states, but it is in Vermont, the whitest of all states. With a population of 546,000, the Green Mountain State has only 2,000 black residents, 1988 U.S. census figures show.

Longed for Own Place

The New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church, the first black church in the state, was formed in August, fulfilling the dreams of its young pastor, the Rev. Rodney Patterson, and about 40 other black residents who longed for their own place to worship God in their own way. It is a way that has its origins in the deep South but is common in many urban areas.

But the church means more to Georgia Lynch, 37, a computer analyst who moved to Vermont from South Carolina 15 years ago.

Hers was the only black family in her neighborhood--a difficult situation for a woman who grew up in an integrated town and chose to attend an all-black college.

“Just to see other black people means a lot. When I first moved up here I knew there weren’t going to be many, but I never dreamed there would be so few,” Lynch said.

She said the church has done a lot to alleviate the feeling of isolation she had endured.

“It has really solidified the black community here, as small as it is,” she said. “It’s a place where we can share our own culture, talk about things that my (white) co-workers would never comprehend. Small things like where to get your hair done. I’ve had to drive to Albany, Plattsburgh and even Montreal.”

Fred Ralston, a contractor for General Electric Co. and president of the Black Professional Network of Vermont, said his group had talked about a church for several years. He said group members felt a church of their own would provide a solid base for blacks in the state to do a number of things to enhance their lives, as well as provide them with spiritual guidance.

“All we were waiting for was a minister,” he said.

The nonprofit group of 200 black professionals found what they were looking for in Patterson.

Patterson, 27, director of cultural affairs at the University of Vermont, has been preaching since he was a teen-ager. He started the New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church in August. Since then, his congregation has been meeting Sunday afternoons in the sanctuary of Christ Church Presbyterian on campus, after the mostly white parishioners finish their 9:30 a.m. service.

Patterson said that having a separate church is important.

“You have to remember that historically, blacks had been forbidden to worship with just anybody,” he said.

Lynch and other parishioners agreed.