BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Every Sunday, members of the New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church attend service at the Old North End Community Center in Burlington.
“We are a family and we come together as a family and we love as a family and we worship as a family,” Church Administrator Adline Robertson said.
On Easter Sunday, the church will add a new member to the family.
“We do have a new pastor that’s coming in his name is Reverend Renee Chandler from Chicago, Illinois,” Robertson said.
Reverend Renee Chandler will get to join a congregation Robertson says truly brings the community together – despite not meeting at a traditional church.
“We have a purpose in this community, and we have been working in this community for 35 years,” Robertson said.
New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church is the only Black Baptist church in Vermont and has been around for over three decades.
“It really does make us very clear that we are special in that way and that we do worship in that tradition where most of us are people of color, especially Black Baptists who come from other places and migrate here to the state of Vermont,” Robertson said.
Georgia resident Lanae Buford says she enjoys coming each week.
“This was the first Black church that I’ve been to since being here in Vermont, I love this church. I also love children’s Sunday,” Georgia resident Lanae Buford said.
Deacan Roy V. Hill the second says this is a Black church where everyone is welcomed.
“I think it’s excellent because it’s consistent with what God is all about it is inclusive,” Roy V. Hill ll said.
Robertson says the Baptist church is a place for people to feel a sense of belonging.
“It helps to be able to keep our doors open and worship that way so that folks who come from far away don’t feel like they’re lost when they come to this particular area of Vermont,” Robertson said.
