While on vacation in Vermont last week my wife Sarah and I (along with our webmaster/developer/designer Josh Benner and his wife) toured the First Congregational Church of Bennington, VT.

From their history:

"The Old First Church was gathered in 1762, the first Protestant church in Vermont. Much of the early history of Bennington and of Vermont took place in and around the original Meeting House, built in 1763, and the present church, built in 1805 and dedicated January 1, 1806. As a result, the Vermont Legislature, in 1935, designated the church as "Vermont's Colonial Shrine".

Over 200 years now since the dedication of the present building, we continue to be an active church community."

On our honeymoon three years ago Sarah and I stopped by this old church because Robert Frost is buried there.  We visited after hours last time, so we did not have the opportunity to tour the inside of the church. This time we fortunately did.

The inside is fashioned in the Puritan style with the pulpit high above the congregation and the lectern housed below it (see the below picture).

A member of the church was guiding visitors through the church with trivia and good nature, and there was an information table with some souvenirs to purchase (a book of Robert Frost's poems, some prayer aides, etc.).

Over on the left side of the church was a bookshelf filled with old hymnals.  A sign on the top said FREE.

I was very intrigued by this, to say the least, as a person who likes to look for old hymnals and prayer books in used book stores.  I guess I am a bit of a lectionary nerd.

Anyway, there were several different editions of The Pilgrim Hymnal to choose from, and by Providence (as the Puritan's would say) I stumbled upon a 1935 edition with "Old First Church, Bennington, VT" emblazoned on the front of the book and the church's Order of Service glued to inside of the front cover.  Jackpot!

The order of service, from 1935, was this:

Prelude
Doxology (Standing)
Call to Worship (Standing)
Invocation & Lord's Prayer (Sitting)
Responsive Reading (Standing)
Gloria (Standing)
Scripture
Hymn
Anthem or Solo
Prayer
Notices
Offertory
Hymn
Sermon
Hymn
Benediction (Seated)
Postlude

I have not explored the whole of the book yet, for in the coming weeks I plan on sharing wisdom from The Puritan Hymnal with you all.