The Church of the Covenant has supported women since they were given the right to vote in all church matters in 1885. Member Abbie Child was the head of the Women’s Board of Missions of the Congregational Church in the late nineteenth century. Member Dr. Elsa Meder was one of the first women ordained to the office of elder in the Presbyterian Church in New England. Elizabeth Rice and Alice Hageman, who were ordained in 1974 and 1975, were the first women to serve as pastors at a Back Bay church.
When they were joined by Donna Day Lower, the church became the only one in the United States with three women clergy. The church sanctuary is noted for its Tiffany stained glass windows, including Four Women of the Bible, portraying Miriam, Deborah, Mary of Bethany, and Dorcas. In 1982, Jane Alexander and Eileen Riley opened the Women’s Lunch Place, a shelter which provides food and other resources to homeless women in a special space set aside in the church.
